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You had always been somewhat of an outcast growing up and in college. You weren't really experienced in relationships either. You're not exactly sure how you managed to pull someone like Leon. He was rich and it felt like he had swept you off your feet when he walked into the small coffee shop you worked at, asking to speak with the owner. When you first saw him, you were intimidated, but he spoke to you kindly, unlike 99% of the usual bitchy customers you had to deal with. He had asked you out to dinner one of the times he had dropped by to meet with your boss, flanked by some armed men. You thought he was just rich rich, and he probably needed the protection, or something? It wasn't your business, anyways, but you reluctantly accepted his offer.
Since then, it had been almost a full year, and he had introduced you to his whole, very large, family. The aunties and uncles were all so sweet and welcoming to you, your oblivious nature amusing them greatly.
Because, you see, Leon wasn't just some rich eccentric man. Neither was his family. He was the head of Passione, one of the most prevalent mafia gangs in the city. And those ‘sweet’ uncles and aunties you had met and always loved to chat with were high ranking members of it. After the death of his parents, he was the sole inheritor of the role of ‘boss’, one which he had to accept, despite his hesitations. With him as the head, Passione had prospered greatly, and he had strict rules about their dealings, especially the drug kind, prohibiting all members from selling to children and vulnerable people, like mothers. And even though, at first, the other high ranking members had protested such rules, when business kept booming, they all accepted his decree. He had proven to be quite an adequate leader, ruthless when he needed to be, and cold and calculated when the time called for it.
He had worked hard to keep the family's name clean, the cops being kept happy with bribes to look the other way, and successful businesses, like the coffee shop you still worked at, to launder their large shares of money. He had worked even harder, however, to keep you out of his world. He didn't want to taint you, you see. He wanted you to see him as your sweet Leon, the man who didn't hesitate to spend hundreds of dollars on you, much to your frantic pleading and hesitation of accepting his gifts.
Things were great between you two, truly.
Until, one day, Leon heard whispers from some of his informants. About you. Digging into the family, the history of Passione, anything and everything you could get your hands on, apparently. To say he had been displeased, would be an understatement. You were an honorary Kennedy by this point, so to be told that you were a spy, a mole? It was gut wrenching. He planned to confront you in this family get together.
He had watched you all evening, chatting with the uncles and aunts, happily exchanging recipes and shyly telling them about your life when asked, his mood becoming worse and worse. You had to be quite a good actress to be able to play this role so convincingly.
He approached you, placing a small kiss atop your head as his arm snaked around your waist, the action feeling hollow to him as he sipped on some whiskey. How could you do this to him? Make him fall for you, only to betray him.
“You have some explaining to do, amore,” he smiled, though it did not reach his eyes.
You looked at him in confusion, “hm? I do?”
His grip on the glass tightened slightly, his eyes searching yours for any deception. You look so innocent and lost, genuinely confused about his question. He let out a huff of a laugh, the sound sarcastic rather than amused. “Dont play coy with me, amore, it doesn't suit you.”
He doesn't want to embarrass you to the rest of the family, but he is seething. The high ranking members that attended this gathering were already waiting for him to bring you to his office to interrogate you. They couldn't tolerate any moles, period, end of story. “Youve been digging. Tell me, what exactly were you hoping to find?”
He had been steering you towards his office ever so slowly, so neither you, nor the rest of the cousins, would be alerted to it.
“Digging? I don't own any shovels, Leon???”
He stared at you for a beat too long. For a second, he wonders if you truly are this dense, or if you're just that great of an actress. The way you stare at him, all wide eyed and lost, would usually have him cooing at you sweetly, but he can't, with what he's been told. “Right. Very funny,” he deadpans as he keeps guiding you slowly towards his study. “You can play the oblivious sweetheart all night if you want, amore. It might work on others, but not on me. So, let's try again. What have you been looking for in my family's history?”
You were getting more and more stressed and confused the more he kept asking. What the fuck was he on about?? ‘Family's history?’ you felt as lost as when he brought you with him to lunches with his uncles, where they spoke in italian and you just sat there blinking like a frog. “I am so confused, what are you talking about?”
He shut his eyes for a moment, trying to calm his temper down, exhaling a slow, controlled breath. He had immense patience, hell, he was known for it, but right now you were finding his last nerve and tap-dancing on it. “God, you are something else.”
He finally pushes the door to his study open, pulling you in with him and pushing you down in one of the chairs. The aunts and uncles that were oh so fondly chatting with you moments prior, now all looked like calculated people, there to decide your fate. The atmosphere is suffocating, the scent of leather and expensive whiskey thick in the air. Trish a tall older, no-nonsense woman, his aunt, who ran the execution squad, Bruno, a shorter man in his late 50s, dressed in an eccentric white suit, his uncle, who ran the bodyguard squad, and Narancia, the uncle responsible for the ‘special unit’, who intercepted traitors and protected the Boss, Leon, were all there, waiting.
You felt your face grow warmer and warmer the more they questioned you. You had truthfully answered every question they threw at you, hands trembling in your lap. You tried to explain that you thought they were a very intense family of business people, a heavy silence fell over the room. They were all scrutinizing your every facial expression and move, searching for the lie, but, no, you weren't lying. You truly believed that.
“She's… she's serious,” Leon mutters as he looks at everyone else in the room. “She actually has no idea.”
You were so stressed from being put on the spot this much, that you had started crying quietly, the tears slipping down your face gently as you shook and tried to fold in on yourself.
You weren't the poised femme fatale they all had expected; you were just a girl caught up in a mess. “Look at her,” Bruno muses. “She’s too soft for this. It’s clearly a setup. Someone fed Leon this false information to throw him, and us, off their scent. If she's a spy, then she's the most convincing one we've seen yet.”
“How about we keep her under surveillance,” started Narancia, “if she truly is innocent then it shouldn't matter. It would give us time to find the traitors as well as make sure she is no mole.”
They all agreed to it. Talking as if you weren't there. First of all, rude! Second of all, why would anyone want to frame you?? You were just a waitress. But since you had apparently managed to bag the whole damn Boss, maybe you were better than you knew. The rest of the evening was a whirlwind for you. Leon practically whisked you off to his penthouse after shortly stopping by your small apartment to grab things you would absolutely, 100% need whilst you were being surveilled. You two had gone to bed, you had been mostly silent the whole time, the disbelief of the whole situation making your head spin.
It was just all unreal.
“Why didn't you tell me about this?” you asked after another long moment of silence as you lay in bed next to him.
He shifted to lay on his back, an arm under his head, gazing up at the ceiling. “I didn't want you to see me any different.”
“Bullshit,” you snapped.
He sighed deeply, turning his head to look at you. “I'm sorry, I just… I wanted to keep you out of this world… it was selfish of me, in retrospect.”
You hummed and moved to cuddle up against him, laying your head on his chest, your arm resting over his heart. “At least you're self aware, I guess?”
He chuckled and brought you in closer against him. “So, you're not mad?”
“I hate being lied to, even by omission, you know that, honey,” you looked up at him. The moon illuminated his features perfectly, making him look softer, younger somehow, his expression was soft and burdened by guilt, he was probably overthinking everything. Feeling guilty that you had been targeted like this, because of him. “But,” you continued, “if you promise to be honest with me about everything from now on…”
“I do. I’m so sorry you got mixed up in all this I-”
You cut him off by pressing a finger against his lips. “Hey, no overthinking. I'll be okay! This is an extended vacation, kiiind of. I didn't do anything, I believe that will be proven.”
He nodded and pressed a kiss to the crown of your head. “I know. I shouldn't have doubted you. You gave me no reason to, amore.”
You hummed and nuzzled your face in his chest. “God, I can't believe how clueless I was!”
Your giggle made him smile softly. “It's cute, maybe a little concerning, but cute.”
“Hey! I just mind my business!”
“Mhm,” he smiled, his hand moving to play with your hair. “Goodnight, I love you.”
“Love you too,” you reached up to kiss him, then settled back down for sleep.
The rest of the week had been quiet, mostly. Leon had told you they had rounded up all the informants who fed the false information to him and had them interrogated thoroughly. You didn't ask for any specifics of that, because to be truthful, you weren't sure you could really stomach the details. Especially after Leon opened up and told you a lot of things about the gang, its history, his history, now unpolished and fully out in the open. You were sad that he had been forced into such a role, but this was the world. And at least he had made an effort to clean up the streets to the best of his ability. You weren't blind to the crimes happening around the city, nor were you blind to the fact that there were many crime organizations rooted deep in the city, but you never would've believed that you had just stumbled upon such a thing and bewitched the ring leader. Life was funny.
During the week, when Leon wasn't around, his men were. You managed to befriend them, somehow, to their surprises, as well as yours. It's not like you did it out of a hidden motive of whatever, you just felt bad watching them stand around watching you, while you sat and binged your stupid crime drama series on totally legal websites online. So when you didn't do that, you would bake, and of course use the henchmen as your guinea pigs, taste-testing everything. They seemed to enjoy the small breaks and would often ask about how you were holding up. It was nice of them.
You also kind of accidentally found where Leon kept his guns. As in, hidden for an emergency, guns. Wild shit. You truly were going through life like an airhead before the big confrontation. The newest one was in the bathroom, you were looking under the sink cabinet for toiletries when your hand touched something cold. Metallic and cold. With shaky hands you took it away from its spot, bringing it out of its hiding spot to examine it. You hadn't expected it to feel so heavy. Was this really necessary? You don't think so. But if it helps ease Leon's paranoia, then what the hell, sure. You made a mental note of its location and put it back in its spot. Maybe you would bring it up with Leon? It put you into a lot of thought, which thankfully helped the afternoon pass by faster.
A little long after, Leon came back. You heard him come in, as well as heard the voices down the corridor, probably talking to the henchmen (Mista and Fugo, they were neat!) before he came into the bedroom, where you were, sprawled out in bed in your cute pajamas, watching some long video essay about one of the video games you loved. You perked up as soon as he entered and shut the door behind him, smiling and making grabby hands at him. “Hi honeyyy!”
He smiled back and started undoing his tie as he approached you, throwing his suit jacket away on the ottoman bench against the foot of the bed. “Hi amore,” he leaned down to kiss you, just a peck (BOOO LAME) and straightened up again. “How was your day?”
“All good! I think I'm boring Fugo to death though,” you laughed softly. “How about you?”
“Better than the alternative,” he hummed and continued, “the usual.”
“Ohh so cryptic,” you teased, which made him flush slightly (if your eyes weren't deceiving you).
“Yeah yeah,” he rubbed at the back of his neck with one hand, trying to hide his embarrassment. “I’ll go shower, and then…”
You pressed your palm against his mouth to stop him from finishing his sentence and interrupted him, “no! Behave! The guys will hear!”
Your outburst made him laugh loudly as he gently guided your hands away from his mouth, but not before kissing them. “Yes ma'am, but don't think I'll forget this once this whole mess is cleaned up, yeah?”
“Uh-huh, now shoo, scram!”
He gave you a mock salute as he backed off away from the bed to grab his pajamas and whatever else he would need for his shower.
After his quick shower, he came straight to bed and cuddled up against your back, his arms circling around you, his face nuzzling the back of your neck. “I am pent up, you know?”
“I know honey,” you coo, unable to help yourself, “just be patient, okay?”
He hummed against your skin and pressed a kiss at the nape of your neck.
You were going to ask him if they had managed to find anything new, but alas, when you turned to look at him, his eyes were closed and his breathing was even. Since he always worked until exhaustion and often went without sleep for long periods of time, you didn't bother him.
You grabbed your phone and decided that scrolling through tiktok until you fell asleep would be ideal. After an hour or so of scrolling, you carefully untangled yourself from him to go use the bathroom. Thank fuck he had a fancy ass en-suite one, otherwise youd have felt utterly ridiculous walking past the guys with your skimpy nightwear on. The hour was late, the wind was cool as it wafted in from the open bedroom window, but they wouldn't sleep so it would be a risk. You sneaked off to the bathroom after taking a long look at how Leon slept, he had subconsciously moved to your spot in your absence, it made your heart clench (and you're sure it wasn't from the suspected heart issues this time).
You didn't turn the light on, so it wouldn't bother him and your movements were very quiet. You had left the door ajar, and after you were done you opened it just as quietly. Only to be met with a stranger leaning over Leon, a knife against his throat, you could just about make out that they hadn't done any damage. The figure seemed to be monologuing, something about ‘God willing it so’ or what have you. You couldn't let this stranger hurt him. You couldn't.
You wouldn't.
Your mind was hazy, but your movements were calculated and silent as you reached for the hidden gun. You felt like someone else was controlling you. It all happened so quickly. You didn't even think when you pulled the trigger right as the figure tried to make their move. The gunshot was loud, your eyes were closed, your fingers trembling, but the loud thud! and the following sound of the knife hitting the floor were enough to finally wake Leon up.
He shot up from bed, panting as he reached for the light, only to be met with carnage. Mista and Fugo burst into the bedroom, their eyes wild, guns up, looking around the room to see what had caused the sound. “What the hell happened!?”
Leon's brain finally kicked into gear, his voice loud and authoritative as he ordered his men to search the body as he shot up from the bed and came to you slowly, palms raised up not to startle you.
Your eyes were wide, your lips parted as your actions caught up to you. You had shot a man. To protect Leon. Oh god.
Oh god.
With trembling hands you set the gun down on the floor, scared that if you let it drop it would backfire, then bolted back into the bathroom. You locked the door and then went straight to vomit.
Leon sighed in frustration, at himself, as he picked the gun up off the floor. If he hadn't let his guard down and had stayed up instead you wouldn't have been put in this position. With agitated moves he handed the gun to Mista and started calling the rest of the family to alert them of this. He didn't want to overwhelm you more, so he decided to give you space.
But god, deep down? He was glad you had protected him. Not because that meant he kept his life, but also because that was attractive as fuck. He'd never admit it out loud though, even he knew that was messed up.
The important members of the family were there within the hour. You could hear them all through the bathroom door. Their sheer disbelief at what you had done. You were on the bathroom floor, rocking yourself back and forth, the only thought in your brain being ‘he's safe, he's safe, he's safe.’
They were all saying how ‘the traitor had finally revealed himself’ but all you could think of was what would've happened if you had frozen up. He would've died instead of that stranger. The thought alone made you sick again. It was a confusing mixture of feelings, the weight of having taken someone's life versus the fact that Leon would be gone now if you hadn't done what you did. You were… okay with that. How messed up did that make you? Being okay with killing a man, over having to mourn your man?
You eventually managed to pull yourself together enough to leave the bathroom. The bedroom was quiet, everyone must've moved to the study to discuss what they would do. You walked over to the spot. The man was gone. They would probably dispose of him, make an example out of him even. It made sense, with what Leon had told you.
You stared blankly at the bloodstain on the carpet. It was a deep colour. Kind of pretty, if it hadn't been inside someone not even a full hour before.
Trish came to you, by herself, guided you to the bed to sit, and patiently asked you what happened. All the details. She left you with a few kind words, told you how they would make this disappear and that you had nothing to worry about.
You had just murdered someone but you had nothing to worry about? Really?
You kept staring down at the dark bloodstain. You didn't hear Leon make his way back into the room after everyone cleared out. He sat beside you on the bed, the mattress dipping slightly under his weight. He didn't say anything as he pulled you to his chest, his hand combing through your hair in a soothing manner. He didn't say anything when you softly began to cry (again), he just held you.