Till Death do us Together

Chapter 21

~Alex~

We'd driven for around an hour into the outskirts of Sicily before the sun started to blind me. I pulled down the visor and ended up retouching my lipgloss.

When I was done, air conditioning fanned the strands of hair off my cheek as I turned my head to follow the scenery.

The long, sleek road was almost empty which meant I got to enjoy the scenery without any blockages. It was so beautiful here it hurt. I wish I brought my new phone to capture it.

On my left was a still ocean, and my right had mountains blending into the sky, which was as blue was the water.

Leo's gaze moved onto my face for a split second and all thoughts of the scenery faded. We never spoke since we left the house. I knew that if I opened my mouth, I'd only be asking questions and I didn't want to ruin the afternoon by shutting him down.

But I can't say it wasn't tempting.

Everything was pushing me to question him, from the note on my dresser today to his holster I saw holding a gun. I even opened my mouth to ask about it, but quickly closed it. I needed to ease into the subject.

"So do you have any family here? I've never seen them visit the house."

He kept his gaze in front of him. "Cousins, aunts, uncles." He paused as if debating whether or not he should continue. "My father."

"And your mother?"

"Dead." The word came out detached, like he felt nothing about it. As a cold and clammy silence fell, I wondered how much he'd seen to harden him this much. He was a cold, brooding CEO who never involved himself in anything other than business.

On one side it was a benefit. His hard work was what made him so successful, but on another, it was sad. He didn't let himself enjoy life, or he didn't know how to.

I shut the air conditioning and rethought what I was going to say, but he saved me my worry.

"Before you ask, it was a gunshot."

Gunshot.

Concrete formed beneath my chest. Guns. Tinted SUVs. Money.

It must have been an accident, surely murder wasn't involved...

"How?" My word came out so quiet, I doubt he heard.

"My mother was rebellious, even before she married my father. He thought she'd change after the wedding, then after she had me." His eyes met mine, pale and dry. "She didn't. He caught her with the chef and..."

My expression stiffened as the oxygen in my lungs stood still. The natural thought of murder that occurred disturbed me enough to freeze, and I knew he noticed because he swiped a palm along his jaw and softened his tone.

"You know what, forget it."

"I want to know." I pleaded, but I could tell he thought he scared me and he was done with the conversation.

I didn't push him any more after that. This was the first time he'd opened up to me about a serious topic and I wasn't going to repel him. People in my neighbourhood always came to me to discuss their problems so I knew not to take advantage of that.