Page 3 of His Forever

That wasn’t happening this time.

I leaned back in my chair, letting the silence between us stretch. It wasn’t hard to read the flicker of irritation that crossed his face when I didn’t immediately respond. His jaw tightened just slightly, the way it always had when he was out of his depth. He thought he could hide it behind that carefully constructed mask, but I saw right through it.

“How do you think?” I finally said, tilting my head to meet his gaze. “You haven’t exactly been subtle.”

Leo blinked, his expression carefully neutral, but I could see the wheels turning behind his eyes. He wasn’t used to being caught off guard. He certainly wasn’t used to being on the defensive. Not with me, anyway. He liked to play the role ofthe all-knowing orchestrator, pulling strings and manipulating situations to his advantage. It used to work on me, once upon a time. But I wasn’t that same person anymore.

“You’ve been watching us,” he said, his voice low, like he was piecing the puzzle together in real-time. “You’ve had eyes on me… on Candace. How?”

There was a faint hint of disbelief in his tone. He didn’t want to believe that I’d managed to get the drop on him. That I could have known more than he did about his own situation.

“Not really,” I replied as I swirled the remaining coffee in my cup before taking another sip. The warmth spread through me and steadied me. “I just pay attention. That’s something you’ve always overlooked, Leo. You’re so busy assuming everyone’s a step behind you that you miss the details.”

Leo’s fingers drummed against the tabletop, a nervous habit I remembered from when we were younger. It was one of the few tells he hadn’t managed to get rid of. He was annoyed. Good. He wasn’t going to steamroll me this time.

“And what details would those be?” he asked, leaning forward slightly. The flicker of challenge in his eyes was impossible to miss. He still thought he could get the upper hand if only he pressed the right buttons.

I allowed myself a small smile, knowing it would frustrate him. “For one, Candace didn’t come here on her own. You brought her into this. You always bring people into your messes.”

His gaze sharpened, a quick flash of something unreadable crossing his face before he masked it again. “I did no such thing. She’s completely unhinged and is coming after me for no reason. Her and her brother are both psychopaths.”

“Were they to begin with?” I raised an eyebrow, unconvinced. “Or did you drive them to it?”

Leo didn’t answer immediately, and I watched as the tension in his jaw tightened. He always did this—deflected, avoided, danced around the real issue until he could figure out how to twist it to his advantage. But I wasn’t going to let him manipulate me like he used to.

“You think you have it all figured out,” he said quietly, his voice deceptively calm. “But you don’t know half of what’s going on. I don’t know how you know what you do, but there is so much more going on.”

I laughed softly, not out of amusement, but because I could see through his words, through his entire act. “That’s where you’re wrong, Leo. I know more than you think. Hell, I probably know more thanyoudo at this point.”

That got his attention. His eyes flickered with something dangerous, something darker than I remembered. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table as he studied me as if trying to unravel the mystery he hadn’t even realized existed. “Is that so?” he said, his tone sharp. “And where exactly are you getting your information, Brynn?”

I smirked. “I have my ways. Maybe I learned a few things since we last saw each other.”

Leo’s expression didn’t change, but I could tell he didn’t like that answer. It bothered him that I wasn’t playing along or falling into the same patterns we always had. In the past, I would have let him take control or let him guide the conversation and manipulate the narrative. But not this time.

This time, I was in charge.

Leo straightened in his seat, fingers still drumming against the table, but his gaze never left mine. “I don’t know what the hell is going on right now, Brynn, but you better start—”

“I’m saving your life, Leo.” My voice came out harsher than I intended, but he needed to hear this. “I’ve been watching Candace, and she’s ten steps ahead of you right now. You justplayed right into her hand. If Sig hadn’t been there when you landed, you’d be dead. He should’ve taken Apollo, but it was too risky.”

“So instead, you left him there for Candace to find?” Leo spat, his jaw clenched.

I shook my head. “She didn’t get Apollo. Right now, she has nothing.”

“What she needs is a fucking bullet in her head,” he snapped, leaning forward as if to challenge me. “That would be done right now if you hadn’t grabbed me.”

I shook my head again, feeling the tension tighten around us. “Damn, Leo, you really don’t know what you’re dealing with.”

His fist hit the table with a loud thud, rattling the glasses between us. “And how the fuck do you know what I’m dealing with?” his voice thundered, filling the room. “I’ve kept an eye on you all these years. I know what you were doing. You shouldn’t know a damn thing about me, let alone Candace.”

I stared at him, feeling the weight of two decades of silence between us. “And that right there proves that people change, Leo.” My voice was quieter now, but firm. “And it’s especially shocking how much they change when you don’t speak to me for over twenty years.”

I stood slowly, the chair scraping the floor as I pushed it back, looking down at him. The man in front of me wasn’t the same Leo I used to know, and I wasn’t the Brynn he remembered. Too much had happened. Too much had been lost. And the irony was, despite everything, I still wanted to save him—maybe even from himself.

His eyes flickered, the fire of anger dimming for just a second, but I didn’t wait for him to speak. I turned and walked toward the door, the sound of my boots echoing through the room.

The truth was, Leo had no idea how deep he was in. Candace wasn’t just dangerous; she was a force of nature. And if I didn’t stop him from running headfirst into her trap, she wouldn’t just take him down—she’d destroy everything in her path, including anyone close to him.

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