A Woman's Empire

XXXVIII

CHAPTER THIRTY EIGHT

Audrielle was relieved when she saw Camilla standing in the doorway. She was even surprised that she was brave enough to hold a gun against her eldest son. "Audrielle, grab those suitcases and take them upstairs, you ain't leaving." Camilla stated as she kept her eyes and the gun on Leo.

Audrielle slowly grabbed the suitcases but as she scurried upstairs, she tripped and landed on her hands and knees. She heard a dark snicker come from Leo and whipping her head around, she made eye contact with him for a few mere seconds. When Audrielle had made it upstairs, she walked into the spare bedroom which had been her room for the last few weeks. The light flickered on and deciding that she was too tired to unpack the suitcases, Audrielle chose it was best to do it the next morning.

Leo and Camilla's argument seemed to have echoed through the house. Audrielle heard them curse and yell in Italian but had no clue what either of them were saying. Audrielle was too scared to go downstairs, just in case Leo tried to kidnap her so she pulled back the blankets and crawled into bed. The room was dark and the only light was the hallway light that seemed through the cracks of her closed door.

With Leo and his mother arguing, Audrielle couldn't help but remember the times when she was younger. Huddled under the blankets with her stuffed teddy in her arms as her parents bickered behind closed doors. Sometimes she'd cry herself to sleep on those nights but soon she learned how to block it out. The nights like that didn't really last long. They went on for a year or two then suddenly stopped. Mr. Harrington would spend all hours of the night locked in his office or other nights he'd be booking rooms at luxury hotels for his hook ups. Mrs. Harrington tried to not be at the manor when her husband was. Every two or so weeks she would unexpectedly leave and fly off to random parts of the world where she'd soak in the sun or have another surgery, hoping that maybe after one more boob job, her husband might not cheat on her. Audrielle hated the nights when her mother was home and her father was out. Her mom would wallow in self pity or pain in the dining room, a bottle of wine in front of her and another in her hand as she would cry about her cheating husband. She would yell and scream and it happened so regularly that Audrielle was seriously thinking about taking her mother to a rehab or to even talk to a therapist.

Mr. and Mrs. Harrington still tried to tolerate one another when Audrielle was around. But as Audrielle got older, they gave up. Mr. Harrington wasn't so secretive with his mistresses and would even bring them to the manor. When Audrielle was barely eighteen she was shocked to see a girl that looked the same age as her, wrapped around her father's arm. Audrielle wasn't blind and she definitely wasn't stupid either. From a young age, she put the puzzle pieces together and knew that her parents marriage was a failure.

With Audrielle so deep in her thoughts, she didn't realise that the house was silent. Leo and Camilla had stopped arguing. Suddenly heavy footsteps could  be heard as Audrielle held the sheets tighter, praying that it wasn't Leo. But when the hallway light flickered on and a bedroom door next to her slammed shut she realised that it was just Camilla going to sleep.

Audrielle tried to close her eyes and sleep but her brain was just asking too many questions. Did Camilla kick Leo out? Or is he sleeping here? Is Camilla okay?

Closing her eyes, Audrielle tried to get some well needed sleep but it never came. Quietly stepping out of bed, she made her way downstairs towards the kitchen so she could get a glass of water. When she had made it into the kitchen, she went to go flick the light on but was startled to see a silhouette of a man in front of her.

Leo leaned against the kitchen counter, topless with his head low and his hands in his messy hair. His breathing was heavy and the small amount of moonlight that flooded through the sliding doors was just enough to outline his tensed muscles on his back.

Taking a step back, Audrielle was going to flee back upstairs when he suddenly whispered.

"I fucking miss you so much."

Audrielle had to look up at the ceiling to stop herself from crying. "I know." She replied but it was barely a whisper. Leo turned around and stared at Audrielle. He slowly walked up to her before gently reaching out for her hand but she took a step back.

"Do you miss me?" Leo asked, reaching out and successfully grabbing her hand. He then started to rub small circles on her knuckles and it took every atom in her body to not collapse.

"Everyday." She whispered when she was suddenly pulled into an embrace. Leo's arms wrapped around her waist as she placed her hands on his bare chest. She missed this feeling. And he missed her too. Audrielle missed feeling his strong arms wrapped around her small frame, protecting her. In moments like these, Audrielle felt safe in Leo's presence. She also missed the smell of his cologne that he wore everyday. The warmth that radiated off of his body.

Audrielle missed Leo.

Looking up at Leo's face, Audrielle was memorized by the light glow his eyes seemed to have in the moonlight. Quickly leaning in, Audrielle captured Leo's lips and kissed him passionately. As if on instinct, Leo wrapped both in his arms around Audrielle and pulled her closer to him. With their chests touching, Leo deepened the kiss all while picking Audrielle up and waking over to the sofa. He gently placed her down but suddenly pulled away. Audrielle pouted and Leo couldn't help but chuckle.

"Here or the bedroom?"

"Here." Audrielle mumbled, wrapping her hands around his neck and pulling him back down onto her.

"Are you sure about this?" Leo asked as he stood up, about to unbuckle his belt while Audrielle pulled off her pajama shirt.

Audrielle thought about it for a second, and although she knew that it probably wasn't the best thing to do, she decided to not worry about it and face the consequences tomorrow morning.

"Yeah, just use protection." Audrielle blushed.

Leo huffed and rolled his eyes. "Just have my kids already."

Audrielle rolled her eyes. "I'm twenty one Leo, I'm not ready to be a mother yet."

Leo didn't respond and Audrielle was thankful because she knew that he would probably say something snarky that would lead to the two of them arguing again. Instead, Leo leaned over and reached for his wallet that sat on the coffee table beside them and pulled out a gold foil wrapper. When he went to go put it on, Audrielle had to look away, a dark crimson blush creeping up onto her cheeks.

Once it was on, Leo started placing small kisses on Audrielle's bare chest, his hands dancing on Audrielle's exposed thigh. "Are you sure?" Leo asked again, looking down at Audrielle.

Audrielle nodded her head. She was sure. A moan escaped Audrielle's lip as Leo moved his hips and her nails dug into his back. Every now and then she would have to kiss Leo or gently bite his shoulder just to stop herself from making any noise. Audrielle would be mortified if Stella or Camilla walked in on her and Leo doing the dirty.

"Leo?" Audrielle moaned.

"Yeah princess?" He groaned, his eyes rolling back.

"I love you." She mumbled as she felt the muscles in her thighs clenche.

"I know." He whispered, placing a kiss on her swollen lips.

"And I know I shouldn't."