Chapter 3
Josie's POV
I didn't know if a scream that weak could carry over the gunfire.
But it was all I had.
I didn't know how long I screamed. I was still screaming after the shots outside had stopped.
Then someone kicked the dirt away above the vent, and a flashlight beam cut straight down at me. I flinched and shut my eyes.
The basement door blew off its frame, hinges and all, in one blast.
Through the dust, a tall figure stepped in, blood on his suit, a shotgun hanging loose from one hand.
Leon Caster.
His eyes were almost the same as Victor's, dark and deep set, but where Victor's were cold, his burned with something wild.
The second he spotted me curled up in the corner, he dropped the gun and ran.
He went down on one knee in the mud and blood, reaching for me with both calloused hands, then stopped himself halfway there.
"Josie. I'm sorry. I didn't protect you." His jaw was tight, his eyes red at the edges, and there was a shake in his voice he probably didn't even notice.
I just stared at him. I couldn't understand why a man they called a mad dog, someone who supposedly killed without blinking, was looking at me like that.
"Mr. Leon!" My father came stumbling into the basement, the housekeeper trailing behind him, shaking. "What are you doing? This woman offended Victor and Miss Sabrina, the boss gave orders to—"
Leon didn't even turn around. He drew the gun at his hip and put a bullet through the housekeeper's leg.
The housekeeper went down screaming. My father dropped straight to his knees, shaking all over.
"Anyone I decide to protect," Leon said, flat and quiet, "Victor can shove his orders. So can God."
He pulled off his jacket and wrapped it around me, careful of my hands, then lifted me up against his chest. His body was warm through the fabric, and he smelled faintly of gunpowder and cigarettes, but somehow it felt safe in a way I hadn't in a long time.
That's when the radio on his belt crackled to life. Victor's voice came through, cold and loud enough that even I could hear every word.
"Leon, have you lost your mind? Get your people out of the Merritt house. You're breaking my orders over some worthless nobody who hurt your future sister-in-law?"
Leon stopped walking. He laughed, short and mean.
"Victor, it's been a few years. Did you go blind somewhere in there? You picked that for my future sister-in-law? Do us all a favor and pawn her off on someone who'd actually want her."
"Hear me out. I'll walk away from everything the family's got in Europe. I'll walk away from the weapons money too. I only want one thing. I'm marrying Josie."
Dead silence on the other end. Then Victor's voice came back, furious.
"Do you even hear yourself? Her hands are ruined. Her face is gone. And you want to marry her? You're my brother. She's not even close to good enough for you."
"That's your opinion." Leon looked down at my face, caked in mud, and his voice didn't waver at all. "To me she's worth more than anything you've got. Remember what you did today, Victor. One day you're going to be on your knees begging her to look at you."
Then he crushed the radio in his fist.
He carried me out of that dark, wet hole in the ground.
Outside, dozens of black armored SUVs lined the drive, armed men bowing their heads as he passed.
"Don't be scared," he said against my ear, his voice gentler than I ever expected from him. "I'm taking you home."
I leaned into his chest, and the tears finally came.
The three months that followed felt like a dream that wasn't quite real.
Leon kept his word. He gave me more love and protection than I knew what to do with. He brought me to his estate on a hilltop in the Hudson Valley, somewhere far from all the blood, covered instead in white roses as far as I could see.
He gave up every deal, every piece of family business that put him in danger, and stayed by my bed almost around the clock.
He flew in the best reconstructive surgeons and nerve specialists in the world and gave them one order.
"I don't care what it costs. Her hands and her face come back exactly the way they were. If she's left with one scar, you're all dead."
