Chapter Thirty Three: Walls

Becca blinked twice as she saw Leo nonchalantly pulling out a chair for himself to sit.

Her eyes stripping the clothes off him because she knew as much as he looked good with them on, he would definitely look better without them. With her mouth slightly open and almost drooling, Becca dragged her eyes off Leo to look at her hands that were on the table.

At least her hands weren't constantly trying to seduce her with their beauty.

" Have you ordered anything or should I?" Leo's voice brought her back to the present as she was already visibly zoning out.

" I haven't yet so go ahead." She responded and looked away from him as though she would turn to stone if she stared a second any longer. " Why are you here?" She asked, still not daring to look at him.

" That's an odd question, what exactly do people do in restaurants?" Leo threw a question back to Becca, smiling with glee but his eyes twinkling with mischief as he gazed at her shyly looking away from him. He signaled a waiter to come to take their orders, picking the most fancy-looking thing on the menu for Becca and whatever that looked edible for himself because he didn't come there to eat.

" Do you think I was born yesterday, Mr. Kane?" Becca mustered a little courage and looked at him but quickly looked away when she saw his beautiful face smirking devilishly at her.

What is wrong with this man? Why does he have to be so hot?

He leaned towards Becca, his elbows resting on the table as he focused intently on her.

" Leo." He said in a low masculine voice that rumbled in his chest.

" Huh?" Becca asked in confusion as her eyes found his and this time she begged God to give her the strength to keep eye contact.

" Call me Leo, I would love to hear how good my name sounds on your lips," Leo said in that sensual panty-melting accent of his, making Becca unconsciously licked her lips.

" Leo." She muttered under her breath as if being hypnotized, staring back into the dark blue orbs that peered with her green one. Saying it like she was checking how it sounded.

A low groan hooked Leo's throat as he heard his name leave Becca's beautiful lips. Never in his twenty-eight years of living has his name sounded so nice. So sensual. So innocent. As innocent as she was but what he could never be, not with all the evil things he had done in his life.

'You are a monster and will die a monster. No one would ever love you.' Those words rang in the back of his head but quickly pushed them away, not wanting to relive that hurtful memory of his life. Thinking about it would only weaken his resolve, his decision of having Becca for himself. Of course, being the selfish bastard that he was, he didn't care if it fucking went against the will of God, Becca would be his, and not even she had the right to oppose it. And when the time comes, he wouldn't care if he had to take her kicking and screaming at the top of her lungs or if he had to handcuff her to his bed, he was going to keep her for himself.

Why would he be willing to do such a thing to her if you may ask? Well, first of all, Leo was a sadist psycho and secondly, he was the villain of this story. That was what he was, a villain. The bad guy.

Nothing more.

He was no fucking prince charming in shining armor. No, he was a Mob boss with mental health issues, guns, and people's blood on his hands. A fucking killer. A weapons and drug smuggler. A rich mafioso who got a kick out of cutting people. Surely an innocent person like Becca didn't deserve someone as horrible as him but who cares, life had a sick way of twisting the fuck out of people's destinies.

" Good girl." He praised, snapping Becca out of her trance. She stared into his eyes so much which by the way was the prettiest pair of eyes she had ever seen and forgot what she wanted to say. Ransacking her brain for what was long forgotten and seemed just at the tip of her tongue a minute ago but now nowhere to be found. After flipping her head upside down, Becca finally remembered what it was she wanted to say.

" What are you really doing here?" Becca asked and saw Leo's lips twitched into a smirk. He leaned back on his chair, interlocking his hands, and used it to support the back of his head.

" Such a smart woman you are, I did say I would see you today so here I am. I kept my promise."

" How did you know I was here? Were you stalking me?" Becca asked, her eyes widened with both shock and fright.

What the fuck! Him knowing she was here couldn't have been a wild guess, he must have had solid sources. Was he following her? Stalking her?

" Yes, I was." He admitted like it was no big deal, causing Becca's eyes to bulge out of their sockets and her fear shooting up to more than two hundred percent.

"Why?" She asked, trying to stay as calm as possible and keep her fear in check.

" Stalkers never truly reveal their motives to their victims, it ruins the whole stalking concept." He said and Becca didn't know whether to take it seriously or not because the way he said it was weird itself. Leo said it with a straight face but there were trances of humor in his words.

Was it supposed to be an inside joke or was he just messing with her head?

" You seem to have a lot of free time on your hands then," Becca said as the waiter served their meals with hers looking delightful while Leo's looked well, not as pretty as hers. She picked up her fork and stabbed it into her food then brought it to her lips but stopped when she saw Leo wasn't even touching his food. He just sat there looking pretty while staring at her.

" I would say the same for you, Becca. You came all the way over here when you could have easily gone and dined at one of the five restaurants that are not more than a few blocks from your building." He said with a calculated voice. Leo knew a lot of things about Becca, he did his research. He knew things like her birthday, her favorite color, her favorite food, what she does when she's upset, and even had a list of people she spoke to regularly. But even with all those information, Leo still felt he hadn't scratched the surface yet. He felt like it wasn't enough. He wanted to know the woman behind the mask, the mask that covered what the true Becca Ramus looked like.

He wanted to know her better than the back of his hand. And despite how creepy it sounded to be stalked, Becca still chose not to show that she was a little scared. Okay, maybe a lot scared but she did her best not to show it. Even if she was going to show it then it wouldn't be in front of him.

" Woah, so what are you saying, huh?" She taunted playfully and let out a little laugh, trying to sound as carefree as possible but in reality, she was building her walls higher. The walls around her heart that she thought kept her safe, protected from getting hurt, and despite looking strong on the outside, she was broken on the inside. Using the tall walls of ice to hide her broken self, using her laugh to mute the sound of her sobs. She didn't know why Leo was so interested in her and was trying to invade her walls but she didn't like it. Not just because he was a business partner but because she was afraid that once someone got past her walls, she would be left vulnerable. Just as vulnerable as she felt when her mother passed away. She didn't want to go through that horrible experience all over again.

" What I am saying is I want to know what is so special about this place that you were willing to drive for forty-five minutes just to get here when you could have just eaten at a closer restaurant?"

" I don't know, I guess I like the customer service here." She responded, lying through her teeth but Leo wasn't quite buying.

" If it was good customer service you were looking for then why didn't you try the five restaurants I mentioned earlier which all happened to be five-star but instead chose a three-star restaurant which was more than forty-five minutes away, huh? Why is that?"

Becca's hands tightened on her cutlery on hearing Leo's very intrusive question but let go of them so she wouldn't bend the metals and took her hands off the table. She balled her hands into fists and her defensive ice walls grew taller, pulling her further away.

She looked up at him, trying her best not to glare at him because she knew he was just asking out of curiosity and didn't know how much his question affected her.

But it still did and she hated it.

Leo noticed something changed in Becca, in her eyes, the hostile look she was giving him proved it. It also proved his theory that place had sentimental value, it meant something to her but what?

And how did asking about this restaurant agitate her so much?

Leo gaze at Becca with tenderness in his eyes, the type of tenderness parents had towards their kids despite the unfriendly look in her eyes. The look you would give an enemy. A stranger. Leo knew it was probably because of his question but couldn't help it, he wanted to know her.

The real her.

" Mr. Kane, I don't think we have reached that level of friendship for you to ask me questions like that," Becca said in a cold voice, devoid of emotions. Sounding so distant, it shook Leo's heart.

How could the cheerful girl he knew fifteen years ago be like this? So distant.

Nevertheless, the tenderness of his eyes didn't waver.

" Perhaps we haven't reached there yet." He said calmly, reaching out and grabbing one of her hands in his. Giving it a little squeeze. " But I'm hoping we could get there soon. Don't worry, I won't force you to tell me but I have really big ears that are good for learning, I can lend them to you whenever you like. Is that ok?" He asked softly with a soothing smile like he was speaking to a child and she nodded, once again feeling hypnotized by him. Then Becca's gaze traveled to look at his ears and saw they weren't big at all, in fact, they were a perfect size.

She giggled and shook her head when she realized that he made fun of his ears just to make her feel better. The thought of it made heat travel to her face and a little of it settling in her chest, melting some of the accumulated ice that was there.

Leo freed her hand from his grip and she mourned the loss of his touch, his warm hands on hers. She liked the feeling his touch gave her. It was protective, comforting, reliable. It made her feel safe, like nothing in the world could harm her.

So with a little smile playing on her lips, Becca picked back up her cutlery and began devouring her food while Leo devoured her through his stares. He was starving but didn't touch his food even once because what he wanted to eat wasn't what could be ordered from the restaurant's menu.

Her.

She was what he longed to have. To savor. To taste. To devour.

There were many wicked things he planned to do to her, her gorgeous body but not now though. It wasn't the time yet and all he had to do was play his cards right then she would be all his. No one else's.

And as they sat quietly, Becca munched on her food, still feeling Leo's intense gaze on her. She occasionally looked at him, her eyes telling him to look somewhere else but he would just shrug and continue eye-fucking her. But their little quiet time together was soon cut short when they heard the sound of someone approaching their table.

On hearing the sound of approaching footsteps, Leo swore frustratedly under his breath while Becca looked up from her food and glowered when she saw the person who was approaching them.

" What a pleasant surprise, Becca. Never in my wildest imagination would I have expected to see you here today. But you haven't changed though, still looking as plain and ordinary as you did six years ago."