Leo stood still, his gaze tracing the last flicker of her saree's end as she disappeared beyond the gates.
For a man who had stared into fire, blood, and death without so much as a blink-the quiet flutter in his chest now felt foreign, unwelcome.
He huffed heavily, running his hand through his hair, as if shaking something off.
Alex leaned against the wall, watching his brother with a knowing half-smile.
He spoke nonchalantly: "Well, that was. unexpected."
Leo's jaw flexed. "What?"
"That girl," Alex said, his voice teasing but honest. "She's. beautiful. Graceful too. Didn't you see the way she spoke? Soft but not afraid. Sweet girl. It looks like she doesn't belong to this world. Let's not drag her into this, Leo. She's not part of his sins."
There was a moment of silence. Only the soft tick of the wall clock filled the air.
Leo didn't answer. His gaze was fixed on the now-empty staircase, the ghost of her perfume — jasmine and something warmer — hanging in the hallway.
Then the footsteps echoed. Heavy, hurried.
Belrum burst in, holding a huge leather suitcase, breathing unevenly. Even before his voice betrayed him, his quivering hands gave him away.
"H–here," he stammered, placing the suitcase onto the table - the metal locks clicked open to reveal stacks of cash and jewelry glinting in the chandelier light. "Take it… all of it. Just please—leave me alive."
Alex had raised an eyebrow, almost pitying him. But Leo… he only smiled — slow and cruel.
"So this is what you think life costs?" Leo murmured, walking towards him, his boots lightly echoing on marble. "Paper. Stones. You think your life is worth these?"
Belrum swallowed hard. "Please… I'll get more. As much as you want. Just name your price—"
Leo's laughter was low and dangerous. "My price, Mr. Moren, is something you can't buy. It's already been paid in blood."
He leaned in closer, his voice dipping to a whisper that made Belrum flinch. "Your time's running short. Enjoy what's left of it."
The knees of Belrum buckled, his voice breaking. "I'll do anything-please, I have a daughter-"
Leo's eyes hardened in an instant. Daughter. The word hit something deep, but he masked it with a cold smirk.
"Ah, yes," he said smoothly, straightening up. "The dancer, right? She told me to let you know she's gone out."
Belrum froze, his face twisting in horror. "She--she spoke to you?"
Leo leaned his head to one side, observing the man's growing panic. "Relax," he said mockingly. "She's alive. For now."
He turned towards Belrum, his voice dropping to a deadly whisper.
"Tell me, Belrum — what's more painful? Dying fast… or watching the person you love vanish first?"
The warning was soft - yet it bled like a curse.
He turned away, motioning for Alex to follow.
"Let's go," he said shortly.
As they walked out, Leo paused at the door. "You should treasure what little you have left, Belrum. Money won't save you. Not this time."
Then he was gone.
The little strength Belrum had now crushed down into pieces, he was pale terrified, and further didn't know what to do now.
As Leo walked toward his car, he felt Alex's gaze. "Wanna say something?"
"Why.why didn't you kill him Brother? ...I was little when father died so I don't know.....but I still resent him to kill him..... and more than me you wanted to kill him right?" Alex questioned him a little disturb.
"I don't want him dead, Alex. Not yet." His fingers tightened, clenched. "I want him to remember. I want him to know every night, every second, what he lost. A clean death is a mercy. I don't deal in mercies."
Alex blinked, trying to read the man opposite him. "You want him to suffer? That's… different. More dangerous.
Leonardo let out a humourless sound that might have been a laugh. "Dangerous is the point. Let him wake every morning counting his breaths. Let him see his daughter and feel the weight of what he could lose. If I take his life quick — it's a line in the sand. If I make him watch his world crumble, piece by piece — that's a scar he'll never forget. That's punishment."
Alex ran his hands through his hair. "Brother just make sure you don't go the wrong way."
Leo turned to his car. "Go. You've got the north deal tonight. I don't need the extra mess. Go directly from here, take the other car the men came in. I am leaving first."
Alex hesitated only a second longer, the room heavy with unsaid things, then nodded and left to the waiting car. The engine growled to life as Alex's convoy rolled away into the dark.
He drove without company. The city unreeled in long bars of neon and shadow as he thought through the next moves-the warehouses to watch, the men to turn, the pressure points he'd use to make Belrum bend. All tactical. All precise. And yet the memory of the anklet's chime threaded through it, soft and stubborn.
Why her? Why of all people in the world did she have to be his daughter? Isabella Moren — just the name felt like a sweet sugar in his mouth as he thought about her.
As Leo drove through the road in speed, he saw something that made him slow the car's speed-a chim as the wind blew and a standing crimson red figure on that evening sunsetting night was something that caught him up.
It was her.
Isabella stood by the roadside, the car parked at a strange angle and the hood open, while she spoke on her phone; frustration was all over her face.
The faint wind tugged at her sari, making it dance around her.
Instinctively, Leo slowed the car. The soft tinkle of her anklets reached him again — like the echo of a dream.
Irritated, she huffed and hung up just as his car pulled up alongside her.
"Fate, really is cruel, huh?" Leo smirked a little as he drove towards her in a speed making Isabella almost lost balance at the sudden car that stoped before her.
He lowered the window. "Car trouble?" he said, voice deep, hoarse, composed.
Isabella turned, surprised. Her eyes widened as she recognized him — the man from her house. "Oh… it's you," she said quietly. "My car just stopped. I called for help but—"
"Get in," he said simply. She hesitated. "I can't just—" "You can," he interpolated, his eyes steady and yet not unkind. "It's not safe here. And weren't you late? I'll drop you where you need to go."
For a moment, their eyes held-an unspoken pull neither understood. Finally, Isabella nodded and walked around to the passenger seat. The soft jingling of her ghungroos followed her every step.
And as she sat, the faint fragrance of jasmine filled the car again.
Leo's head turned sideways, his heartbeat moving into a rhythm wholly unfamiliar to him. He started the engine. "Where to?"
"Rang Mahal Studio," she said softly. "For practice." Her voice was melodic, warm, and it filled the quiet space between them.
And for the first time in years, Leonardo Romano drove through the night not thinking of blood or vengeance… but of a girl whose anklets could silence the monster inside him.