Chapter 5 A Deal with the Devil

Chapter 5

LEONARDO'S POV

It's been a week since I woke up from my coma at the hospital. Twice now, I've had a visitor I recognize in all my previous consciousnesses. The one and only Mr Monroe, whose family strangely revolved around the absurdity of me dying every time and gaining a new consciousness.

There was always a pattern before I died. An engagement party, mysterious phone call and the accident. Something was different this time. According to my assistant, there were two daughters in the Monroe family and one of them was currently serving jail term for murder.

"You're awake!" Mr Monroe smiled as he strolled into my hospital room with a nurse who was here to check my vitals. Levi, my assistant was also in tow.

"How is he?" Levi asked the nurse while I judged Mr Monroe under the scrutiny of my gaze. He was looking very energetic for someone who had just lost his daughter. My estranged fiancee, Carissa Monroe.

I had woken up with no recollection of her face. But I had memories of the emotions. I loved her.

"Carissa?" I spoke out for the first time today, my voice was a little bit hoarse.

"You still remember her." Mr Monroe cried. I could see the tears. Did that mean she was dead here too? Why then had my life not restarted?

"Where is she?" I asked after taking the water given by Levi.

"She was cremated two weeks ago. I'm sorry about your loss as well. Must be hard losing your child before you could bond with it." Mr Monroe patted my knee with one hand while wiping his eyes with the other hand.

"Baby?" My confusion was visible.

"Carissa must not have told you about her pregnancy." He added. With a smile, he got up and pulled out a picture. "Have a look."

Levi took the photo and brought it to me. It was the picture of a beautiful girl. I could vaguely remember her because my memory was a blur.

"Who?" I asked in confusion.

"I don't think that's the right reaction. My daughter, Lena is pregnant and the child is yours." He looked angry now. And disappointed.

"Another pregnancy? And I'm the father?" I looked at Levi, asking him to investigate.

"I'm a very traditional man, Leonardo Romero." He said with squared shoulders, trying to look menacing.

"Of course you are, nobody has said otherwise." I muttered.

"You cheated on Clarissa with her sister under the alias of Sir Leo. Ring a bell?" He asked me.

"Not really." I lied. It did ring a bell. I used that alias while handling meetings in Damian's club for weird fetishes.

"I only have one request which you must see to. For the sake of my Clarissa." Mr Monroe said with a heavy sigh.

"I will do it if it's within my power." I coughed.

"You'll marry Lena."

Mr Monroe left after a series of promises to allow me buy out his company. The wedding was going to hold in two hours. The nurse showed Levi out to get my discharge papers filled out.

"I've come to pick you up." Damian Marley smiled as he opened his trunk for Levi to toss my bag in.

"How nice of you." I entered the car. Not feeling too good about the idea of marrying a woman that I didn't know. One who was pregnant with my child.

"Where's your destination?" Damian asked as the engine roared to life.

"Magistrate court. I'm getting married." I announced. The car brakes was stepped on so hard that the tires screeched.

"What do you mean by getting married? Your fiancee died on the day of your accident." He was very confused but that was the least of my worries.

"I'll need the footage from your club the night before my accident. Something strange is amiss." I kept a straight face looking forward.

"Wait, you are not joking?" Damian looked at me like a piece of my brain had come off.

"No. I'm not joking and you're serving as a witness to my marriage to the lovely Lena Monroe." I leaned on the window after those words. Marriage with a complete stranger.

Everything was a blur. The signing and saying of vows made up on the spot.

I looked at my new bride. She was silent, a look of disbelief etched on her face. Not once did she make eye contact until we were behind closed doors in my home.

"Sir Leo?" She called out shyly.

"Listen!" I yelled, causing her to flinch. "I don't know you and clearly you don't know me or what I'm capable of. There's to be no intimacy between us. Don't get too close." I warned and climbed the stairs. I heard her sobbing quietly.

In my room, I quickly checked the mail. Levi had done his findings. I really went to the club that night and instead of doing business as usual, I had gotten involved with Lena Monroe. A soup laced with oral contraceptives had been delivered to the room but it had been left untouched.

"Why didn't I just use a condom?" I face palmed myself. I should endure until the child is born.

"Ah!" I heard a loud scream then a thud. I rushed out of my room to find Lena on the floor at the bottom of the stairs. She looked really scared with tears streaming down her face.

"What is the ruckus for?" I asked her. Her dress was ripped and her milky thighs were exposed causing a reaction in me, that was not suitable for the situation at hand.

"Clarissa is here." She said, pointing up. I followed the direction of her finger to find the portrait of a beautiful woman. An unfamiliar face. Was this my fiancee who has died? I didn't know this woman at all.

"It's a picture." I scoffed. "I never thought you'd be a wimp, miss Lena."

"No. She really was standing at the top of the stairs wearing a huge diamond." She cried, crawling to me. A dark liquid following her trail. "Don't leave me alone with her," She cried. One hand was clutching my pants while the other held her stomach.

"What the hell, Lena!" I yelled, picking her up and rushing to the car. "You're bleeding!"

"Don't abandon me too," she held my shirt. "My tummy hurts," she whispered before losing consciousness.

I waited at the hospital for the doctor to say something. I called Damian who showed up with a petite brunette called Avira.

"Mr Romero?" The doctor called.

"That's me, Doctor. How is she?" I asked. The world spinning.