Chapter 9 Follow Me

Leena nearly choked on the lump in her throat. How could this man be so brash? She wasn't used to that type of behavior. She didn't experience it with her fiance Brian, and she certainly didn't experience it in her place of work. Everyone was too professional for that kind of lewd talk.

It made her face feel hot, and it caused her stomach to do some strange things. However, she didn't dislike it.

"I could always tie you back up," he teased.

Leena bit her bottom lip to keep herself from saying anything or from making any involuntary suggestive sounds.

Ransom smiled devilishly at her and then sighed, returning to earnestness. On a serious note, he added, "But the bruise. What's that about? It wasn't there before."

Leena shrugged. "If I told you the kid did it, would you believe me?"

"No."

She huffed and crossed her arms, wincing when she bent her wrist. "It seems like you already know, but I'm interested to see what happens to that guy after you find out that he disobeyed your orders and definitely got rough with me earlier. He grabbed me and shoved me down," she said matter-of-factly.

Ransom growled quietly and looked back over his shoulder. Manny was peeking around the door at them, and his eyes were wide with guilt. He knew what he had done. Leena smirked at him. Manny flinched and ducked out of the doorway when Ransom turned around and strode towards him.

He didn't shut the door all of the way, but Ransom stepped out of the room, and Leena could hear his low and angry voice carry through. "You're on my last nerve, Manny. You know my rules about laying your hands on innocent people. And not only did you completely disregard that, you hurt her even after I told you not to touch her again."

Manny's voice was a panicked stutter as he tried to spit out excuses. Leena felt a bit self-satisfied, a bit smug. Even if Ransom wasn't defending her, she was glad that Manny was getting raked over the coals for what he'd done to her. Even if she wasn't the one delivering the punches, verbally or otherwise, she was just glad he was getting what was coming to him.

"Now you better be finding a more forgiving capo to work under because as soon as I have Russo deal your punishment, you'll be regretting every choice you made to disobey me. Now get your sh*t together before you get cut off completely," Ransom said with booming finality.

He came back into the room and crouched down in front of Leena. "That's all?" she asked.

"I'll deal with him later," Ransom said. "He'll get what's coming to him. I'm more worried about your injuries. Let's take care of those first."

Leena looked down at her arms. There was a faint bruise surfacing on her arm where Manny had grabbed her. Her hands were a bit cut up from when the chair broke to pieces, and now that she was paying attention, it seemed like she had a splinter or two in her palms.

He reached out, his hand hovering over her arm. Leena's heart jumped up into her throat at the possibility of his hand touching her, but she tried to remain placid. Ransom never laid his hand down on her, but he did lean forward to better inspect her.

"Some of this was my own fault," Leena said after there was silence for a bit too long. "When the chair broke, it kind of scratched me." She opened her palm and looked closely at the lines. Sure enough, there was a splinter buried in the big crease in the middle of her palm.

"You have a splinter?" Ransom asked.

"I think so," Leena said.

"Let's go," Ransom said, standing abruptly.

Leena was confused. "Go where?"

"I'm going to bandage up your hand," he said. "C'mon, dolcezza, follow me."

Suddenly, Leena was afraid to move from her spot on the floor. It felt safe there. She didn't know where she was or who this man was. It certainly started to feel like some kind of criminal syndicate, and she wasn't sure what leaving that room meant for her.

Noticing her hesitation, Ransom grinned at her and said with a teasing chuckle, "You can trust me."

She met his eyes, and something in their dark depth told her that she could trust him. She pressed off the floor and followed him. He walked slowly out of the door not even bothering to look at or say anything to Manny or Mateo who were both still standing there. Leena looked at Mateo and gave him a polite nod. Manny shared at her with hatred in his eyes.

"I've decided I wanted to ask you a few more questions," Ransom said as he went up a set of stairs. "Let's go somewhere more comfortable where we can talk privately. I'll make sure to take care of your wounds while we're there."

Leena followed Ransom through the basement halls and up another set of stairs. She had never seen a basement with two levels before. At least not in a house. Once they breached the top of the last set of stairs, Leena had to blink her eyes and pinch herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming.

She found that they were in a really fancy house. Whatever room they just came out of had a ceiling nearly three times as tall as a regular house. There were massive paintings and expensive decor and furniture all around. It was nicely decorated with some aspects of old Italian culture, but the overall feel was luxurious and modern. Leena was in awe. She wasn't expecting to walk up the stairs and find herself in a mansion-like home.

Leena was growing a bit nervous as she walked through the house. Just who was Ransom? Why did he have such a nice house? Was it even his house? He sure was walking around like he owned the place. What exactly was his job? What kind of boss was he?

But the most prominent question in Leena's head was "Is he single?"

While she noted that she herself wasn't single, she couldn't help but wonder. She watched him with acute focus as they made their way through the large house. His skin, his hair, his voice, this house... it all screamed Italian. A thought popped into her head about what he could possibly be doing for a job, but she didn't let herself entertain the idea for long.

For one, that would be super scary. And two, Ransom swiveled around suddenly while she was zoned out staring at his broad back and she slammed right into him. Feeling a sharp pain shoot through her chest, she grabbed her boob which had made harsh contact with his elbow. But she released herself as soon as she realized Ransom was looking right at her, smirking at the positioning of her hands.

She cleared her throat and apologized. The way he was looking at her made her kind of nervous but kind of excited. She couldn't help but stare back into his beautiful dark brown eyes. She had never seen eyes so attractive.