A Woman's Empire

XVII

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

It had already been two days since the disaster dinner with Leo's family. Although married, they seemed to stay clear of one another. In the mornings, the chef would both cook them breakfast. Audrielle would sit at the table outside while looking out into the scenery and Leo would sit inside at the table, scrolling through news articles and other business related things.

By mid day, it would be so hot that Audrielle would slip on a bikini and do a few lengths of the infinity pool whereas Leo was busy in the gym, punching a boxing bag while listening to his blaring music.

The afternoon would come around and Leo would be in the office, sorting through old papers or folders he no longer needed. On the other hand, Audrielle would bask in the last few hours of the sun with a book in her hands.

Dinner would eventually roll around and the chef would serve the food to the couple who would finally sit in the same room as each other in the dining room. The both of them wouldn't make eye contact with one another.

When they would go to bed, Audrielle had first tried the spare rooms but quickly found that there was no bedding for them except for the duvet. Much to her dismay, she had to share the master bedroom with Leo. The both of them did not touch one another and there seemed to be an invisible boundary between the two as they would both sleep on the edge of the bed.

This morning when Audrielle woke up, she looked to her right to see that Leo was gone, like he usually was. But as she was slipping into her slippers and robe, she was puzzled as to why there was laughter coming from downstairs. Leo's voice could be heard as he chuckled and as Audrielle walked down the stairs, she heard a feminine voice. Confused as to what was going on, she walked to the dining room to see Leo sitting there with his breakfast in front of him and a woman with a short blonde bob sitting right next to him eating too.

The two continued talking until Leo's intense state cast onto Audrielle. Leo's stare alone made Audrielle feel as if she was interrupting something special and as she was about to turn around and head back up the stairs to give them privacy, the girl gasped and smiled at Audrielle.

"Audrielle," Leo stated firmly, causing her legs to wobble and her stomach sink, " this is my childhood best friend, Lucy." He finished, his voice so strong and dominant that Audrielle gulped when he would not take his eyes off of her. It had been a while since the married couple had both interlocked eyes and Audrielle had never felt so small around him.

Audrielle pulled her eyes away from Leo, a blush painting her face as she looked at Lucy. Lucy was gorgeous. The short, sharp haircut made her look even more mature and made her face look more defined than it already was. Her sparkly blue eyes were welcoming and her tan skin glowed in the early morning sun.

"Audrielle, it's so nice to finally meet you!" Lucy exclaimed, walking over to her and pulling her in for a hug. Of course Lucy smelled like fresh flowers and coconut oil. Her skin was so flawless that Audrielle couldn't see any visible pores. Even though Audrielle was reasonably tall, Lucy was an inch taller than her. When they pulled away from each other, Audrielle took a seat a seat away from Lucy and three seats away from Leo.

"Oh, I hope you don't mind me barging in and having some breakfast, do you?" Lucy asked and Audrielle let her off, smiling as she said it was fine.

An hour passed and Audrielle had finished her small bowl of porridge and banana while the two best friends conversed in Italian when Lucy's phone buzzed.

"Oh, it's my dad. I must be on my way but it was nice to meet you Audrielle!" Lucy smiled as Leo walked her towards the front door. While Leo and Lucy were saying their goodbyes, Audrielle picked up the bowls, thinking that Leo must've been done with his breakfast.

"Did I say I was finished?" Leo suddenly spoke. Audrielle jumped and accidentally dropped the ceramic bowl on the floor, causing it to shatter.

Leo huffed in annoyance and as he walked towards Audrielle, she dropped on her hands and knees and started to pick up the pieces of broken bowl.

"I-I-I'm s-s-o so-rry-" Audrielle babbled, as she scrambled to clean the mess up.

Her small hands shook in fear as she thought about what Leo would do to her. Would he yell at her? Hit her? Call her names? Especially after ignoring him for two days, Audrielle had no idea how he would react to the situation.

Leo stopped right in front of Audrielle who was in a hurry of cleaning the mess when she suddenly stopped, seeing Leo's feet. Her eyes were blurry with tears as she waited for his harsh words or his hand to slap her across the face.

He grabbed ahold of her wrist pulling her to her feet and she gulped, preparing herself for what was about to happen.

"Why are you crying?" He asked quietly, causing her eyes to blink open to see Leo's face which had softened.

He ran his thumb underneath Audrielle's eye to catch the tear and she flinched. She hadn't expected Leo to be nice to her, especially after the incident she had caused with his family.

"Are you scared of me?" Leo asked, his jaw clenching as he waited for her response.

"W-What?"

He stepped away, running his hands through his hair before turning towards Audrielle again.

"God damn it, Audrielle! Do I scare you? Do I make you feel on edge everytime I'm in the room with you?! Do you constantly think that I would hurt you? That I'd hit you?! That one day you think my anger towards you could skyrocket and I would kill you?!" He shouted at her and Audrielle couldn't look away from the furious man.

"Speak!" He demanded.

"Y-Yes." She cried, tears freely leaving her eyes.

Leo stopped pacing around the room and stared at Audrielle. "Yes, Leo I am scared of you. I'm petrified. I'm scared that if I do one little mistake, you will hate me and you will hit me. A-And I would like to believe that you couldn't kill me but y-you've swung a knife in front of my face, Leo. A-And then you tried to rape me. I am scared of you Leo and I feel that every time I am around or near you, I am skating on thin ice." She burst into tears, her hands shaking. Leo looked at her in disbelief.

He walked towards her slowly, but she took a step back. "Please don't run away from me." He sighed, his feet shuffling along the marble floor.

Audrielle stopped and Leo reached out, caressing her cheeks. "I want this marriage to work out Audrielle, I really do. And I don't want you to be scared of me but I need you to be scared of who I am. When we arrive back in America, you will see how dangerous I am and what I can do but the world that my father has built is dangerous and that's why I need you to be scared of me so that you know your place and don't cross the line because if you do, then someone else much scarier than me will lay their hands on you and not care about your feelings or if you give consent. They will break you in every way possible until you're begging for them to kill you. I want to protect you but please promise me you'll just at least listen to me." Leo sighed, pulling Audrielle in for a hug. The both of them soon relaxed in eachothers arms and embraced the warmth and security the other person had to offer.

Although Audrielle was still cautious around Leo, she knew that if she had him to hold onto and protect her, then maybe she wouldn't die in the hands of Christian Amour.