Fashioned For Sin

Chapter 29

Blair

Annoyance flashed through me, but I couldn’t help the sinking realization that this probably wasn’t the right place for what I had in mind anyway.

I mean, we were still at the ball, surrounded by guests, albeit out of sight. Still, the moment was gone, and disappointment settled in my chest like a dull ache.

Leonardo reached for my hand, his grip firm but reassuring, and I followed him through the throng of guests. He was quiet, his focus elsewhere as we followed Karissa to the ballroom doors. And there he was.

Daniel.

What the fuck was he doing here?

A cold dread curled in my stomach. There was something off about him, the way he shifted on his feet, his eyes wide and erratic. Leonardo stepped forward, his body language calm and controlled as he always was. But I knew him well enough by now to notice the slight tightening of his jaw, the clench of his fist at his side.

“What’s going on?” Leonardo asked, his voice low and steady, but with an underlying edge.

Daniel ran a shaky hand through his hair, glancing around nervously. “They found me,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper. “The people who were looking for me… they found out I’ve been staying at your place. I don’t know how they figured it out so quickly, but they’re coming, Leo. They know.”

A cold sweat broke out across my skin, and I instinctively grabbed onto Leonardo’s arm, trying to steady myself. Daniel was trouble—I knew it from the start. But this? This was on another level.

Leonardo's composure didn’t falter as he glanced at me, then back at Daniel. “You’re sure they’re headed there?” he asked calmly.

Daniel nodded, his panic obvious now. “I’m sorry, man. I didn’t think this would happen—”

Leonardo cut him off, his voice firm. “Enough. I’ll handle it.”

Without missing a beat, Leonardo turned to Karissa, issuing a quick announcement to the guests, telling them she would take charge for the remainder of the event. Something personal had come up, and he needed to leave immediately. The room didn’t question him; his authority was clear.

We drove in silence, the city lights flashing by in a blur as Leonardo’s grip on the steering wheel tightened. My mind raced with a thousand thoughts, but when he finally spoke, his voice was steady. “Blair, reach into the hidden compartment under the passenger seat.”

I blinked, caught off guard. “What? Why?”

“Just do it,” he said, a slight urgency in his tone that wasn’t there before. “You’ll find two guns. Take both.”

A shiver ran down my spine as I fumbled with the compartment, pulling out the cold metal of the handguns. “Why...why do you have these?” I asked, the weight of the weapon foreign in my hands.

“Safety,” he said simply. “You’re going to need it, you'll see.”

We pulled up to his penthouse, and for a moment, relief washed over me when everything seemed… fine. The building was quiet, and the front entrance was untouched. But that calm lasted all of five seconds before the sound of footsteps—heavy, deliberate—and the unmistakable crack of glass breaking shattered the illusion.

“Get down!” Leonardo hissed, pulling me behind the nearest piece of cover as gunshots rang out, loud and deafening. The glass shattered around us, the windows splintering into deadly shards.

“What the fuck?” I gasped, adrenaline surging as I crouched behind the desk, gun clutched tightly in my shaking hands.

Leonardo peeked around the corner, taking a shot at one of the men. “Five of them,” he muttered. “Four now.”