Vlado POV

I held Leah in my arms bridal style as I walked to my room.

There was a small groan and I looked at Leah. She had nuzzled her head further into my chest and hung onto my shirt as if her life depended on it. I felt a small smile creep onto my face as I looked at her now peaceful state.

Just a moment ago, she was crying her eyes out, but now, she slept as if she had no worries in the world.

I don't know what was going on with her, but I shouldn't focus on that right now. Because right now, I have to make sure she's ok.

I kicked the door of my bedroom gently and walked inside.

My room wasn't that fancy. Everything was basically black and white, like the bed, my table, the carpet. Although, they all looked very nice in my opinion, and worth the money.

I carefully laid Leah down on my bed and covered her calm body with the blanket folded at the end of my bed. I made sure it covered her shoulders, but before I moved away, I looked at her.

She looked so peaceful as she slept, and I hope it would become a regular occurrence with her sleeping in my bed.

What the hell? Where did that come from? This girl is really doing things to my head.

But I didn't mind.

I quietly walked into my walk-in wardrobe to grab a cleaner shirt. Part of my shirt was drenched in her tears, so I had to change it. I looked over my shoulder at Leah. She was still sleeping.

So I pulled my shirt over my head and chucked it in the laundry basket in the corner of the small space. Even though there were no lights on in the room, the full moon shone through the window in my room and lit up the space with a gentle light.

The light was bright enough to get into the wardrobe and I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror on the wall. The dark ink of my tattoos stood out on my skin, but that wasn't what I was looking at.

My torso was covered with small scars. Stab wounds. Bullets. The works. There were larger scars on my chest. Slashes from knives were scattered on my back and chest, their faints lines easily to spot on my tan skin. There were fewer of these scars, but they were much easier to spot.

Looking at the scars made me think.

Would Leah be able to accept me like this? I mean, she's probably looking for a pretty boy who doesn't lead a mafia group and doesn't have hideous scars like mine.

She'd also probably like to think that her boyfriend would come back from work every night.

A whine pulled me out of my thoughts. I quickly put on the clean shirt and walked out of the small space into the larger room and looked at the woman of my thoughts under the blanket.

Leah had a small frown on her face as she moved under the blanket. I felt a chill. And then I realised why.

It was winter, meaning it became very cold at night, and the thin blanket that was over Leah wouldn't be enough. But I didn't want to scare her and wake her up to get her under the thicker blanket. I always could keep her warm with body heat, but I don't think she would want me invading her personal space.

She whined again and shuffled under the blanket to turn onto her side and her hand slipped out from under the fluffy blanket. I kneeled next to Leah on the side of the bed and grabbed her hand in mine. Her hand was cold against my warm ones. I rubbed my thumb against her hand in an attempt to heat it up. Thankfully, it worked quickly.

I made sure both of my hands covered hers before I laid my head down on the soft mattress. I didn't miss the small smile she had before I closed my eyes, and fell into the peaceful darkness of sleep.

* * * * *

Leah was worrying me.

She was gone before I woke up, and I always woke up really early. My bed was made nicely, and I don't know why it took me so long to realise that Leah did that.

And just last night in the kitchen she had a breakdown, but now; she was laughing in the same place with Mary.

And she held onto me like she was going to die, but now; it's painfully obvious that she is trying to avoid me. Why is she acting like this?

I was looking through the door carefully as to not get caught to see Leah. I don't understand what was going on, but I had a feeling that she didn't tell Mary what happened last night because they both looked happy.

Well, they were trying to anyway.

Even though Leah had a happy smile on her face, you could see it in her eyes that she was anything but. Her eyes looked empty but sad at the same time.

I always knew that she was hiding something, but I chose to wait for her to tell me so I wouldn't have to snoop into her life in California. But what happened last night just made me aware that she wouldn't tell me for a long time, and I wanted to know now.

"Mary," I said and caught their attention. Leah looked at me with her lips pursed in a straight line before she turned her back to me to focus on the food she was making.

"Yeah?" Mary looked up from the fruits she was cutting to me with her smile still on her face.

"I need to talk to you." I nodded to the hallway on my side of the door. The smile on her face faded slightly as she looked at me confused and nodded her head.

She walked past the door and I closed it behind her. When I turned around Mary was already looking at me with her arms folded in front of her chest.

"What's up?" She asked. I waited a moment before talking.

"Is something wrong with Leah?" Mary stiffened. My brows furrowed at her reaction to a simple question. Although based on last night, I doubt it would have a simple answer.

"What do you mean?"

I scratched the back of my head. "Last night, she," I paused. There must have been a reason for Leah not to tell her best friend about last night. And if she didn't tell her, I probably shouldn't. "She was acting weird, and I was wondering if she was ok."

Mary looked at the closed door to the kitchen. "She's been happier than usual, but I wouldn't really consider that 'weird'." She looked back at me. I could tell she was lying. She might have been good at keeping a poker face, but the answers are always in the eyes. She was hiding something.

They both were.

"Alright then," I gave her a fake smile, "thanks for telling me. I just wanted to make sure she was ok."

She gave me a small smile. "No problem. I should probably get back to helping her make breakfast."

"Yeah, of course. See you at breakfast." I waved and walked off.

I felt my nails dig into my skin as I walked down the halls.

I was pissed.

It was so obvious they were hiding something from us. And if they weren't going to tell me, then I would have to find out by myself.

I fished my phone out of my pocket once I made it to my office. I dialed a familiar number and put the phone to my ear. It rang three times before the call went through.

"Vlado." A familiar digital voice spoke through the phone.

"Theo," I said.

"I want to find everything you can about Leah Aldaine."

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Hello, dear readers!

I just wanted to thank everybody who has made it this far into my book. I really appreciate every one of you, and if you have any suggestions or thoughts on the book, leave a comment and I will make sure to read every one of them.

Also, sorry for my messed-up schedule. I'll try to keep it consistent. :')

Thank you again, and I hope you all enjoy the rest of the book!