Saving Her

Chapter 12: The Day Before

Zayn's POV:

"Amore Mio" Mattio speaks, a smile on his face. Audrey quickly drops the knives in her hand and moves from my side to hug him. Since when did she carry knives with her? She seemed so confident with them. I knew she said she was good. I just didn't realize how comfortable she would be with them.

I look over at Leo and meet his eyes. He sighs with relief and nods his head to me. I just nod back, turning back to Mattio and Audrey.

"What's going on? What is this place?" She asks, surprisingly calm, looking up to meet his eyes. I stand back, silently watching as she fires questions out left and right. She deserves answers, I know that; especially after the hell, I put her through today. I look at Leo, he's watching Audrey as well.

"It's a safe room, I have a few scattered around just in case, mostly for Zayn and Leone, but also for you." Mattio looks at me "I will get this one finished" I simply nod at him.

"What do you mean a safe room? Why are you helping him? How are you okay with this!? Why did you not tell me? Why would you lie for him!?" She speaks again. Looking over at me; feeling a pang in my chest I quickly try to hide the pain bound to show through my eyes at her words.

Leo subtly puts his hand on my back before dropping it to his side again, silently telling me not to take it to heart; she doesn't know the full story.

He looks over at me before looking back at Audrey. "Would I ever put you in harm's way, Audriella?"

"No, you wouldn't" She answers confidently. Everyone knows her father would never do anything that could ever put her in danger. She glances my way, sorrow in her eyes.

"Would I let Zayn even breathe near you if I believed he was a danger to you?" He asks again,

"No, I guess not..." She sighs. Looking at me fully, the realization hits her eyes as she stares into mine.

"Exactly, Amore. Now, let's get you back to the house where we will give you some well-deserved answers, Audriella," he says softly, kissing her head and nodding for us to follow.

I step forward reaching for Audrey. She doesn't flinch away, but she also doesn't let me touch her for long. Mattio gives me a sympathetic smile before putting his arm around Audrey's back and leading her out of the building and into his car. Leo and I followed behind.

Our demeanor changed as soon as we left the room; we have a reputation to uphold in public view. They need to see us unbothered by the fact that Audrey almost got caught in a crossfire. They need to see that my previous moves were purely for Mattio. And now that Mattio has her again, I need to be unbothered. They cannot see a weakness.

We get into my car and I turn to Leo once the doors are closed

"What the hell just happened?" I ask, still processing as I start driving back to his house.

"Good fucking question, Luci." He sighs. We drive for a bit before he suddenly turns to me; starting to laugh. "She's a fucking badass, Zayn. Holy shit." He continues laughing "You said she wasn't ready for all this shit, that even after you tell her everything she wouldn't understand, that she'd hate you forever. She was just back there holding fucking knives like that's going to do anything against people with fucking guns." He laughs harder putting his hands on his stomach.

"I hate when you call me that." I roll my eyes at him. He just smiles at me, shaking his head. "It was pretty funny though, huh?" I chuckle back at him. "I mean, I knew she was training and that she was great with knives and that she loves using them. But I didn't think she just, carried them around with her at all times. Where does she even keep them? Did you see them on her? I sure as hell didn't, and we are trained to notice even concealed weapons." I laugh, asking him.