Page 89 of Power & Punishment

“Tell me, Tesoro, what are you in the mood for?” he asks innocently. The question has potential for a dirty innuendo, and yet his eyes are full of genuine wonder.

“Silence.”

The corner of his lip quirks as he reaches up to grip my chin. His eyes roll over my face, searching for something I’m not willing to give.

“Are you okay? Today was⁠—”

“I know,” I say, cutting him off. I widen my eyes, hoping he’ll catch the silent plea, begging him to drop it.

And then his fingers smooth up my cheek, slowly caressing the curve of my face. My breath hitches. “You called me.”

“Yes,” I say, dragging my teeth across my bottom lip. “It’s not that big of a deal. I can acknowledge you’re useful in certain situations.”

“Oh really?” he asks, his fingers continuing to explore the side of my face and then down the slope of my neck. “I think it’s more than that.”

“Care to elaborate?” I challenge, barely getting the words out as his right hand begins to trace my collarbone and his left grips my hip.

“I think you needed me…and you hate needing anyone.”

“Can you blame me?” I ask.

Leo curls his bottom lip between his teeth, his face devoid of the tension from earlier. “Is it so bad that I want to protect you?”

The question unlocks something inside me.

Cracks spreading to the point of total combustion.

My breathing becomes shallow as the memory crashes into me without warning.

I look down at my hands and all I see is red. It soaks every inch of my skin, forcing me to remember how quickly the warmth seeped out of my father’s body while I screamed.

“Mia?” Leo asks, his voice sharpening.

I shake my head, squeezing my eyes closed until the pounding stops. “I can’t do this again.”

“Do what?”

I try to swallow, but every time my throat constricts, I remember how raw it was as I laid there next to him screaming for someone to help.

“I can’t watch someone I care about suffer while I can’t do a damn thing to stop it.”

Leo is quiet.

“My dad was shot and killed right in front of me,” I admit, finally gathering the courage to open my eyes and look up at him. “It’s been sixteen years and I still replay that moment in my head. I can’t stop wondering what I could’ve done differently.”

My vision blurs.

“I knew something felt off that night. If I had warned him or just⁠—”

“Stop,” Leo says firmly.

I press the heel of my palms against my eyes, begging the tears to stay in place.

“Then Vince died. Alice almost died. And now the only job I feel like I can make a difference in is gone because I got too close to all this again.” The breathing becomes more rapid and soon I feel like I’m drowning in oxygen. “E—verytime I care about someone in this world, t—they—I can’t stop it.”

The words become jumbled and I feel like I’m about to fall over before Leo reaches out and forces me into his arms.

“It’s not your fault.”