Broken and Powerful

Chapter 20

STEFANO POV

The walk back to the house was long and tiring, especially because I felt like I was talking to myself the whole conversation. I knew she was listening because I could feel her eyes on me.

I felt terrible having to drug her but it was the only way to get her back to the house and listen to what I had to say without her interrupting. She was going to be mad when she woke up but I hope she understood why I did what I did.

When we got back, I laid her down on her bed, seeing how tired she was.

Since then, I've been sitting on the floor near the window and looking at the profiles of the men she had sprawled out on the floor. Thinking that anyone of my trusted men could have done that to her disgusted me.

We spent our lives saving people and taking lives to protect them, then they turn around and do the same thing to her? It just made no sense.

They could have joined any gang that willingly does this to women without a second thought but they came to me for a purpose.

Earlier I sent Richard to start scrubbing the men's lives for any time they were away from base for a long time or if they had a family. I would send a few of my trusted men that I already knew were clean to investigate if any suspicion came up.

I glanced up at the bed to see Jeda looking down at me. She was studying my face and searching for something but didn't speak.

It had been an hour, the drug should have worn off by now. I looked over at the clock to see it was half-past nine at night and the room was just illuminated by the side lamp.

Looking back at her, I saw her looking at the papers on the floor.

"Was it true what you said?" She asks in a soft voice and I feel my body relax at the sound of her voice.

"Every word," I say and look deep into her eyes as she sits herself up in the bed. She swings her legs off the edge and stretches her arms out.

"You know, I should kill you for doing that," She says but I see a small smile on her face.

"You should thank me. I saved you from a long walk back and you got a few hours of sleep," I tell her with a joking tone as a smirk goes on my face. Every time the smallest small was on my face it felt foreign.

But something about her always brought one to my face.

"Yeah thank you so much for fucking stabbing me with a date rape drug," Her voice was joking as she got off the bed and walked over to me before sitting next to me on the floor.

Her eyes moved back to me and there was a softness to them. She looked like she wanted to ask something but instead grabbed a stack of paper off the floor and looked at the first page.

We sat in silence for a while as she looked through the papers until there were two stacks. One was large and the other only two papers.

She looked at me and gave me a small smile.

"I'm sorry for running," She says awkwardly.

"Don't worry about it. I need the exercise," I say and she lightly nudges me with her shoulder.

"Also sorry for that ugly bruise you got on your face," She says but there was a smile on her face showing she wasn't really sorry. I knew there was a bruise forming from how stiff my cheek was when I spoke. I shook my head and she kept talking.

"But thank you for telling me that. It's honorable work you do for a mafia," I nod my head not knowing how to respond. "There are so many other things you could do that would make you millions, so why help people? I mean, drugs seem to be a big thing around here."