Young Queen

FORTY SIX

The group walked into Adrian's cell, watching as the man sat on the bed, his head hanging towards the floor. Leo stepped in front of Aria, guarding her against the man they locked up. Leo was furious to even be in the same space as this man, to be breathing the same air as him. He wanted to murder Adrian, turn him to ash, and flush him down the toilet. However, per the request of the woman who gripped his hand tightly, he refrained from doing so. Only until Adrian told them his answer.

"Wake up, bitch," Leo snarled. "What's your answer?"

"So you kept your promise, Aria," Adrian said, lifting his head to meet her narrowed gaze. Her body tucked behind Leo's and surrounded by the other men in her life.

"I gave you twenty-four hours, Adrian. What's it going to be?" Aria asked him, moving now to stand next to Leo. Leo still made sure he was on alert in case this man tried to put his filthy hands on his precious Aria again.

"Let me ask you something. If you knew there was still hope your family would come back for you, would you give up on them? Turn your back on them?" He asked them.

"No, I wouldn't," Aria said without hesitation.

"Get it through that thick skull of yours, Adrien, you're not going to be saved. You either help us, or you die," Leo seethed. He was close to saying fuck it the more and more he saw this man playing them. He shouldn't even be alive, not after what he did to his girl.

Adrian smirked, "I won't join you, but you won't kill me either."

Leo pulled out his gun, "The hell I won't."

Adrian looked at Aria who was trying to figure out what was going on. "As long as there's a chance I might change my mind, you all need to keep me alive in hopes that I'll help you."

Aria frowned, "I don't understand. You were so conflicted last time I was down here. You were so close to saying yes, so tell me, what changed your mind?"

"Hope," he smirked.

"Sorry Aria, but my patience has run thin," Leo said. In an instant, he had his hand wrapped around Adrian's throat and slammed him into the wall.

Leo began squeezing Adrian's throat in his hands, relishing in the gasps exiting Adrian's mouth. "Remember when you held Aria like this? Remember when she gasped out for air? You put your filthy fucking hands on her neck, she has bruises because of you. And you dare say that we won't kill you? Ha, Aria might be more lenient and forgiving, but I'm not."

Adrian tried hard to claw at Leo's hands, leaving scratches as he did so, but Leo didn't care. The anger and rage coursing through his body were more powerful than any pain he was feeling.

Aria tried to step up, but Damon grabbed her shoulder to halt her movements. "He deserves this," Damon reminded her, making her sigh and nod her head. She hated when Leo became violent, but at the same time, she didn't care. She made a deal with Adrian and he denied it; he knew the consequences.

"You put your hands on what's mine. Aria is mine. She gave you a fucking chance, and you denied her. The only thing you should be hoping for at this point is that your death doesn't last nearly as long as I plan to make it," Leo said in the most chilling voice anyone in that room had ever heard from him. "There have been many men that have attempted or done what you have, and they've been left mutilated or lying face down in a sewer hoping someone finds their body for a proper burial. It doesn't help your case that I've never fucking liked you either."

In a second, Leo pulled his hand away from Adrian's throat, watching as the man with a blue face now fell to the floor, desperately trying to bring air into his body. "I'll come back for you," Leo growled out, walking towards his girl, and going to place his gun back in its holster.