Chapter 11
Hannah
I followed the trail of blood, my body moving on autopilot while my brain screamed at me to run. The crimson path led around the corner into what appeared to be a dining area.
Three bodies lay sprawled across the floor. Two men in expensive suits, one woman in a cocktail dress. All very dead, with bullet holes where important parts of their anatomy should have been intact.
A whimper escaped my lips. I slapped my hand over my mouth to stifle the scream building in my chest.
The sound of a door opening made me spin around. Leonardo stepped out of what I assumed was the master bedroom. His blue shirt was now splattered with red. His hands were coated in blood. And in his right hand, he held a gun.
“Hannah,” he said casually as if greeting me for evening tea. “You’re early.”
I couldn’t s
speak. Couldn’t move. Couldn’t process what I was seeing.
‘I see you’ve met my business associates,” he continued, gesturing with the gun toward the bodies. “They were just leaving.”
A hysterical laugh hubbled up in my throat. They look pretty permanent to me.
His eyebrow arched in surprise, and then his lips curved into that same predatory smile I’d seen downstairs. “You have a sense of humor. Good. You’ll need it.”
“What happened?” I managed to ask, my voice barely above a whisper.
Leonardo glanced at the bodies as if noticing them for the first time. “Oh, this? They tried to kill me.” He shrugged like he was explaining why he’d chosen a particular the..“I killed them instead.”
My knees buckled. I grabbed the edge of a nearby console table to steady myself.
“You’re probably thinking I’m some sort of serial killer or psychopath,” he continued, casually tucking the gun into his waistband. I’m not. I’m a businessman with specific interests. I run what you might call an organization. One of several in Los Angeles. These people- he nudged one of the bodies with his expensive shoe -work for a rival organization.”
“You’re in the m
mafia.” I blurted out, my brain finally connecting the dots.
His lips quirked. “Thats such an outdated term. I prefer ‘alternative enterprise management,”
A bysterical giggle escaped me. “Is that what they’re calling it these days?”
*You’re taking this remarkably well,” he observed, studying me with those penetrating eyes. “Most women would be screaming or fainting by now.”
“I think I’m in shock,” I admitted. “Also, I read a lot of romance novels. The steamy kind. This is like one of those, except with more actual dead people.”
Leonardo laughed, a rich sound that seemed wildly inappropriate given the circumstances. “You continue to surprise me, Hannah Mitchell.”
The sound of the elevator doors opening echoed through the hallway. Three men in black suits entered, nodding respectfully to Leonardo,
“Clean this up,” he ordered, not even looking at them. “Discreetly.”
The men moved with practiced efficiency, pulling out plastic sheets and beginning to wrap the bodies. It was surreal watching them work like a twisted housekeeping service.
That
“I need to shower,” Leonardo announced, unbuttoning his blood–spattered shirt. “Feel free to pour yourself a drink. You look like
He pulled off his shirt, revealing
ling à torso L the right places.
you
need one.
belonged on a fitness magazine cover. His muscles rippled as he moved, not bulky but defined in all
111 just… wait here,” I stammered, trying not to stare.
12
Chapter 11
“Suites big enough for both of us,” he said with a wink. “But suit yourself.”
As he disappeared into what I assumed was the bathroom, I collapsed onto the couch, my mind racing. I’d just witnessed the aftermath of a triple homiride. The man I’d agreed to sleep with for money was some kind of crime lord. And instead of running for my life, I was sitting here
admiring his abs.
