Chapter 4 - The Recovery
Two weeks passed.
The story in the newspapers said Victoria Kensington had abruptly left the country following a canceled engagement. Only a select few knew the truth about what had happened beneath the Rossi mansion that night.
I sat on the plush velvet sofa in the sunlit morning room of the estate, my face slowly healing. Lily sat in my lap, happily coloring a new sketchbook with bright box of sixty-four crayons.
The door opened, and Leo walked in. He wasn't wearing his usual sharp suit; instead, he wore a simple black sweater, looking lighter, younger, though the sharp lines of his face remained as commanding as ever.
He walked over, setting a thick leather folder on the coffee table in front of me.
"What is this, Mr. Rossi?" I asked softly, trying to stand up out of habit.
"Sit," Leo commanded gently, resting a heavy, warm hand on my shoulder to keep me down. "And stop calling me Mr. Rossi. My name is Leo."
I blinked, looking at the folder.
"Inside those papers is the deed to a four-bedroom house three miles from here, near the best private elementary school in the state," Leo said, his dark eyes locking onto mine with absolute sincerity. "Along with a trust fund established in your name that guarantees you twenty thousand dollars a month for the rest of your life."
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My jaw dropped. "I... I can't accept this! I was just doing my job!"
"Your job was to sweep floors and wash dishes, Clara," Leo said, his voice thick with raw, unspoken emotion. "You broke down a steel door with your own body. You stood up to a monster. You saved my daughter when I was too blind to see the snake in my own bed."
