Chapter 5 - The Fall of the House of Cards
Upstairs in the grand foyer, the atmosphere was thick with champagne and impending doom.
Victoria Kensington stood near the crystal chandelier, wearing a silk robe, sipping a glass of wine while chatting on her phone with one of her socialite friends in downtown Chicago.
“Honestly, darling, the staff here are getting entirely out of hand,” Victoria laughed lightly into the receiver. “I had to lock the brat in the basement just to get five minutes of peace and quiet. Leo is such a softy with—ah!”
The phone was ripped violently from her hand.
Victoria spun around, her face twisting into outrage. “What the hell do you think you’re—Leo?”
Leo stood at the foot of the grand staircase, his overcoat gone, his sleeves rolled up to his forearms, revealing the lean, coiled power of a man who ruled an empire with blood and iron. Behind him stood two armed guards, and off to the side, standing quietly near the library doors, was Beatrice.
Victoria quickly replaced her panicked expression with a pouty, manipulative smile, stepping forward and fluttering her eyelashes.
“Oh, darling, you're back early! Thank goodness. You wouldn't believe how exhausting this household is. That dreadful maid, Beatrice, was screaming at me and—'
Leo didn't let her finish.
He didn't yell. He didn't curse. He simply crossed the foyer in three massive strides, grabbed Victoria by the front of her silk robe with one hand, and lifted her slightly off the polished marble floor.
Victoria let out a shrill gasp, her wineglass dropping and shattering against the marble, red liquid splashing across her bare feet like blood.
“Leo! Put me down! Have you lost your mind? I am Victoria Kensington! My father holds the port contracts! You can't—let go of me!”
“Your father’s contracts were canceled twelve minutes ago,” Leo said, his voice dropping into a register so chillingly cold that Victoria stopped struggling, paralyzed by the raw terror in his eyes. “Your assets have been frozen. Your personal accounts are currently being liquidated to pay for the medical damages you caused my daughter.”
“You’re bluffing!” Victoria shrieked, though tears of genuine panic sprang to her eyes. “We’re engaged! We’re partners!”
“You were a business arrangement,” Leo corrected quietly. “A mistake I am going to correct right now.”
He turned his head toward the front doors.
Marcus swung the heavy mahogany double doors wide open. Outside, standing in the cold Chicago rain, were two federal agents in dark trench coats accompanied by four of Leo’s private enforcers.
“Take her,” Leo commanded.
“You can’t do this!” Victoria screamed, thrashing wildly as Leo threw her forward into the arms of the waiting guards. “You’re a monster! You’re all criminals! You’ll pay for this!”
“In this city,” Leo watched coldly as she was dragged down the marble steps into the rain, “I don't pay. I collect.”
The heavy doors slammed shut, cutting off her screams.
Silence settled over the grand foyer once more—a heavy, absolute silence broken only by the ticking of the antique grandfather clock near the library.
Leo stood alone for a long moment, staring at the shattered glass of wine on the floor. Then, slowly, he turned his head and looked toward the hallway where Beatrice was standing, her hands still trembling, ready to pack her single suitcase and leave.
Leo walked over to her.
He stopped a foot away, his dark eyes softening just enough to reveal the profound gratitude hidden beneath the armor of a mafia king.
“Your cheek is bleeding,” Leo said quietly.
“It’s nothing, Mr. Rossi,” Beatrice whispered, keeping her eyes lowered. “I’ll... I’ll go pack my things now. I know a maid can't stay after something like this.”
Leo reached out, his thumb gently brushing the uninjured side of her jaw—a gesture so tender, so completely out of character for the feared boss of Chicago, that Beatrice stopped breathing.
“You are not a maid, Beatrice,” Leo said, his voice rich with an unshakeable promise. “You are family. And as of tonight, the head of household security is drawing up a new contract. One that gives you full run of this estate, any staff you require, and an office next to mine.”
Beatrice looked up, her heart hammering against her ribs, not with fear, but with a strange, sudden warmth she hadn't felt since she lost her own family years ago.
Upstairs, a soft, sleepy voice called down from the landing.
“Daddy...?”
May you like
Leo smiled—a real, genuine smile that reached his eyes for the first time in five years.
“Come on, Beatrice,” Leo said, offering her his hand. “Let's go check on our girl.”
