Heartless Soul Book 2 of the Heartless Series

Chapter 21 - Follower

Carmela's POV

Armed with the news that I have just heard I went in search of Mel, I found her sat in her room on the bed, devout of emotion. She was just staring at the floor. I softly knocked on her open bedroom door and she blankly looked up at me, before looking down defeated again. "Amy told you then." I pushed into the room and sat next to her with an arm over her shoulder. "Yes, and I'm glad she did. You need to be safe Mel, so I need you to come with me and talk to Romeo about it." She shrugged off my arm and stood up pacing in front of me. "I can take care of this myself. I don't need help, you taught me well." I shook my head. "Mel you have to understand this is nothing I have trained you for. My Grandfather has turned all our lives into a game. Even I'm scared but we have to deal with this together if we want to win." As I explained she stopped pacing and just looked at me. "Okay, let's go tell Romeo."

I didn't bother knocking at the office door and just walked in, Mel was hesitant to follow me after she heard Romeo start to shout before realising it was me who entered. "Rose, Everything okay?" I stood in front of him from the other side of his desk. As I held its edges, I had to supress the memory of me on top of it and state why I interrupted him. Enzo and Timo was in the room but didn't say anything, but Enzo looked confused as to why Mel was with me.

"We have a problem. Mel has been, being followed for a number of weeks now and it needs to stop." All three men were surprised at my news and Enzo immediately went over to her. "That guy in the restaurant. Was that him?" Mel wouldn't look at him but acknowledged that it was by nodding her head. "Fuck Mel, you should have told me. I could have sorted it that night." She said nothing as Enzo tucked her protectively in between his arms. "I'll protect you, you know that." She snorted from her position on his chest, her sass coming back to her as he said this. "I can protect myself now, you know that." He agreed with her as he placed a soft kiss to her forehead, it was endearing to see how much Enzo cared for her. "I know, but it won't stop me from protecting you whenever I can."

"Mel, I need to know every position you saw this guy and in detail. Timo get me CCTV from every point Mel says and Enzo did you get a clear visual on the guy." Romeo calmly instructed but his tone was tough, everyone was quick to take action. Enzo started giving Romeo an insight of what he saw that night, Mel started writing points down as Timo looked over her shoulder before going to view them on screen and me, having nothing to do walked over to the window and looked at the tree outside the window fondly.

Once Mel had finished her list from what she could remember, her and Timo went to the security room to bring up the CCTV footage from each place. Timo wanted Mel to point him out in each one, and Enzo reluctant to let her out of his sight went with them, offering his support to Mel while being protective.

Arms being wrapped around my waist enclosing me in a secure embrace, interrupted my thoughts. "What are you thinking?" Romeo asked softly as he placed a kiss to my cheek. "That my grandfather has started his stupid game, he's coming at me through my friends and I don't know when it will end." He shushed me, before kissing me again trying to calm me. "We won't let him. We will sort this problem out fast and then the next and the next, we won't let him win." I knew my grandfather well enough to know this won't stop, he was a cruel man that had no feelings towards anyone but himself and preserving his hold on power was his only aim. He enjoyed to watch others suffer at his hand, and I was no different. "It won't stop until we get to him first. Don't you understand that?" He gently turned me around in his arms. "Rose, I understand that perfectly well, but I also know that he is getting desperate and will make a mistake sooner or later and when he does, that's when I will strike, and I won't be showing him any mercy. All you need to do is let go of your family tie to him." His words although true, stung me deep. I knew I shouldn't feel anything towards him but it's not that simple. He's all I have left of a family, he raised me. Yes, it wasn't a good upbringing, but he taught me well, I wouldn't be the person I am today if he hadn't, but I also need this game to be other I can't live in fear. I have never done that in my life and I'm not about to start now. With the exception of fleeing from the bounty, but I'm not counting that. "Your right." I agreed with him as a sharp pain flashed inside my stomach which caused me to cry out in pain and my body convulse forward, strong arms held me up before I fell. "What happened? Talk to me Rose. Is it the baby?" Romeo went from menacing to scared in 0.5 seconds, but the pain was starting to ease so I could now stand straight, although my breathing hadn't recovered as quickly as I panted erratically. "I'm okay. I just need to sit down." Romeo walked me to his desk chair and seated me gently, before he knelt in front of me, eyes full of concern. "Wow, that hurt. This baby is going to be the death of me." I joked.

"Please, don't ever say that again." He laid his head on my lap and cupped my bloated stomach, his sadness at my flippant comment was like a dagger to the heart. I stroked his hair and laid my head back on the chair feeling guilty. Even with the morbid undertone that I set, this was peaceful.

"Am I interrupting something?" Timo asked from the office doorway as he made his presence known with a small knock. Romeo raised his head quickly with a deep intake of breath, blinking his eyes trying to regain focus and his bearings before he could answer Timo's question. I suppressed a giggle as I thought about Romeo's actions, I think he may have fallen asleep on my lap, finally at peace now our argument was over. "No. Not at all we were just..." He looked at me peaceful in the chair with a smile on my lips as he finished his sentence. "Just resting."

Timo nodded and found it safe to come further into the room, stopping at the side of the desk to allow for Romeo to make some space before putting the laptop down. "I found the guy. The footage of him isn't that clear, it's like he knew exactly where to stand so he wasn't fully in focus at all times and knew how to cover his tracks well using all blind stops to his advantage, definitely a professional. After doing some digging, he does appear to be one of your grandfathers men Camy. I thought you might recognise him, his name is Leo, age 32. No last name or current address listed. Seems he's quite high up in your grandfather's rankings and has been for some time." Timo pointed to the laptop in front of me and I moved the chair forward to meet the desk for a better view. I looked at the man for a few minutes, the picture wasn't amazingly clear as Timo had stated it wasn't, and as I looked at the photo, and I could agree that, that was his aim. He was dressed in a long black overcoat with the collar pulled up covering his neck. His hair wasn't meticulously styles but roughly brushed back with some hair product messily holding it in place.

I played with the name Leo on my tongue as I looked at the image. I had a trainer named Leo, but he had red hair, this man had black and his beard made it harder to tell if it was the same guy or not. "I had a trainer named Leo, but he had red hair. He could have dyed it, but that beard is making it hard to properly identify him." I looked to Romeo who had a stoic expression on his face. "Where's Mel now?" He said while glaring at the image on screen. "She's with Enzo, she got all worked up when I started getting information about him. Think she just needs some time." Romeo's nose twitched as he got angrier. "Bring her here. NOW." I jumped at his angry outburst, but I didn't understand it. Timo darted from the room quickly, I started to ask what was going on but was silenced when Romeo slammed the laptop shut. Clearly not the time to be asking him anything.