CHAPTER 4
"No, please! Mr. Moretti, I'm begging you!" Bradley sobbed, tears spilling over his cheeks as he took the pen with shaking hands. "I didn't know! If I knew she was carrying your child, I would have never said those terrible things!"
"That is your mistake," I interjected, my voice growing remarkably steady as I looked down at the man who had once made me feel entirely worthless. "You only respect people when you think they have power over you, Bradley."
Leo gestured with his hand, and Marco immediately pulled Bradley up by his collar, dragging him toward the private back office of the restaurant.
"Ensure he signs over his corporate equity before you release him onto the street," Leo instructed Marco casually. "And inform his landlord that his lease on Michigan Avenue is terminated effective tonight."
The heavy wooden door of the back office clicked shut, cutting off Bradley’s desperate pleas as the rest of the restaurant patrons kept their eyes glued to their plates.
Leo turned back to me, his dark eyes softening just a fraction as he noticed the faint, subtle flush returning to my pale cheeks.
"You didn't finish your steak," he noted, his tone shifting back into that quiet, uncompromising protectiveness that always made my heart skip a beat.
May you like
"I'm full, Leo," I murmured, resting my hand over my stomach where our baby moved ever so slightly. "Can we please go home now?"
For the first time since I had re-entered his world, Leo offered a tiny, almost invisible nod of agreement, signaling his driver to bring the Escalade around to the side entrance.
