Chapter 214: The Past [20]

Fucking pieces of shits!

I can’t believe they attacked me here, of all places. I can’t have a fucking date without them shooting at me.

The body dropped after I pulled the last trigger, and my irritation only grew when I saw the bodies. I lost two of my men to this ridiculous attempt at assassination.

Leon was trying to get under my skin or just make a fool of me. Either way, I was already cultivating a plan to wipe him out.

Before, the plan was to take my time and deal with him, since I loved savoring the moment, but not anymore. He lost any chance of a few days on earth when he interrupted my date.

"Don!"

I turned, seeing one of the assailants limping to get away.

For fucks sake, this kept getting more ridiculous.

I pulled the trigger, and he growled, collapsing onto the ground when the bullet hit his other leg.

"Grab him. I’ll question him later."

My men did as I ordered, my eyes sweeping around the mess before they settled on the table.

I walked close and crouched, pulling up the tablecloth when a hand smacked me right in the face, and I almost lost my balance.

"That’s a pretty good hit you got there." I rubbed my jaw, feeling the sting on my cheek; her nails must have cut me.

"Z-Zade?" She pulled the cloth away and gasped when she saw me. "I-I didn’t know it was you."

"Fair point there. You must have been so scared."

"Scared? There were freaking men who came out of nowhere and started shooting at us. I was terrified. Is this a normal thing for you getting shot at?"

"Certainly not today."

She scoffed at my words. I meant what I said; this was just as unexpected for me, and if I had known Leon’s men were targeting me, I wouldn’t have gone through with dinner.

"T-There could be more of them."

"They are all dead."

"Sure?"

"Yes. Now come out, kitten, or do I need to drag you out?" I teased, hoping to put her at ease because her eyes screamed dread.

She puffed her cheeks so cutely before crawling out, and I helped her up.

A gasp slipped from her lips when she saw the bodies and blood.

I studied her closely, waiting for a panic that never came, but I could tell this was a new thing for her. She may be a mafia princess... but she was a sheltered one. That explained a lot.

I placed my gun beneath her chin and tilted it upwards, a smile playing on my lips

"Unfortunately, our date has been cut short. We were just getting to the interesting part."

"Thinking about our date right now is just ridiculous!" She snapped. "But of course, you’re not affected by all this, are you? How could you be so calm?"

"Baby, a lot of people in this city want me dead. You’ll get used to this."

I shoved the gun into the waistband of my pants.

"Get used to this?"

"Well, dating a Don has its perks. This is one of them. Don’t worry. I’ll make sure this doesn’t happen often."

She blushed. "Who says we’re dating?"

"For the love of God, what happened here?" Ricky came into view, distraught by the mess, but he was more heartbroken by the dishes on the floor to care about the bodies. "Who is the fuck is evil enough to ruin such delicacies? This damn city!"

"Ricky..." I said.

"Yo, Zade, what happened here?" He tossed his toque aside. "No one said there was gonna be a bloodbath. It was a romantic dinner, yes? What’s with this then?"

"Yes, it was, but you know, the usual. Fools making foolish decisions." I pointed out to the wounded assailant my men dragged out. "And if you don’t mind, I need to use your cold room for that one."

Ricky snorted. "All kinds of shits follow you around. It stinks. What did I tell you about bringing work here?" He picked up his plate and cursed under his breath. "I just got these fine plates from Europe last week."

"Send me the bill."

"With bonus!"

"F-For what it’s worth, the meal was delicious," Anastasia said as if she meant to ease the tension but there wasn’t really much of this.

This was just Ricky being Ricky.

Ricky smiled at her. "Thank you, missy. Zade, you should bring her here more often. The meal will be on me. Just for her, not you. I’m charging you double the amount next time."

"Go back to your kitchen, Ricky."

"Only if you clean this mess up by the time I get back," he mumbled the rest of his words as he left.

Elliot came into view, having a small talk with Ricky before coming towards us.

"I heard what happened..." His eyes swept the bodies. "Seems to me like you have it handled already."

"Leon had the nerve to attack me, which means he’s already making his move," I said.

"What’s the plan?"

"There’s no more plan. Wipe him out."

Elliot sighed. "It’s gonna get messy."

"And I want it to be."

"I-I think it’s time for me to head home," Anastasia said nervously.

"No," I replied.

"H-Huh?"

~☆~

The ride to the Salvero estate was the longest I’ve ever experienced, even though I had been down this road many times.

"Is this really necessary?" Anastasia asked, breaking the silence.

"Yes," I replied, finally taking notice of the space between us.

"Why the space?"

"What?" Her eyebrows furrowed.

"Not so long ago we were intertwined in each other’s arms, and now it seems like you don’t wanna be near me."

She straightened her spine. "That was until we were attacked."

"Still worried about that?"

"Not..." She paused as she clenched her teeth.

"Come on, tell me."

She exhaled sharply. "I-I guess I was so consumed by our date that I must have forgotten that—"

"I’m a Don?" I teased, finishing her words for her.

"My father’s a Don too, and I don’t see assails trying to kill him all the time."

"That happens when people fear you," I said. "Fear makes people do silly things..."

She gulped.

The car pulled up at the entrance, and I got out first and rounded the car to open the door.

Anastasia stepped out. I took off my suit jacket and draped it over her shoulders.

"You sure you don’t need to call anyone and tell them where you are?"

She huffed, clenching the jacket tightly around her frame. "Now you ask that question after kidnapping me?"

"That’s a strong accusation. I’m doing this for your protection, until I have rooted out whoever tried to kill me."

"So I’m stuck with you?"

"Until tomorrow. But you make it sound like a bad thing."

She looked away. "Going on a date with you is one thing, but coming to your home is..."

"What?" I asked, amused. "Go on, kitten. Don’t hold out on me. You know I don’t like when you do that."

"Meeting a strange man at the club, bleeding out and chased by mean-looking men is... manageable..." she blurted out. "But finding out he’s also a Don and CEO..." She paused again. "Look.. It’s all too much to process in one day."

"Understandable. Now, let’s go in. I can tell you’re stalling."

"I need to go home and process—EEK!" She squealed as I suddenly scooped her up and slung her over my shoulder.

"Zade, put me down!" I ignored her tantrums as I walked into the house, navigating the hallways lit by the wall sconces.

When Anastasia realized pounding her fists on my back and screaming my name wasn’t doing any good, she slacked in my hold.

I made it to my room, headed straight for the bed, and dumped her against it. She bounced momentarily before glaring up at me."

"There... you made your way inside. Did anything happen?"

"I didn’t say—"

"You always hold back." I cut her off. "Don’t, especially when it comes to me, because I’m not either."

"It’s not that simple," she said sternly.

I chuckled as I crouched. "It can be. It’s all up to you, little kitten. Everything that happens around you shouldn’t be as difficult as you want it to be."

Her chest shuddered at my words, and it seemed like I had hit on a sensitive topic. There was so much going on with her internally, and it wasn’t just about the inferiority complex.

"A hotel would have sufficed," she stated, changing the topic.

"Really?"

"Yes!"

"Why?"

"Because bringing me to your home means... this isn’t so much a secret."

"I’m all for this to be a secret, little kitten."

She blinked, confused.

"I have a very annoying enemy on my neck. I don’t want them to find out about you just yet."

"T-The person behind the men who attacked us at the restaurant?"

"Yes." I rose to my feet, and her eyes followed my every move, as though looking away from me simply wasn’t an option.

I took off my waistcoat and tossed it onto the sofa before unbuttoning my shirt.

When I was halfway through, her gaze caught on the small bandage covering the lower side of my abdomen.

To put her mind at ease, I peeled it off, showing the fresh scar, yet she didn’t look away as if her mind had wandered to the time we met.

Slowly, her hand traced the uneven scar. "Does it still hurt?"

"Not anymore."

She looked up to me with a softness in her eyes. I could tell there was much she wanted to say but chose to keep it in.

But it was alright. We had all the time in the world.