Page 38 of Sins of Leo

“The last few months, our conversations have been odd.”

She didn’t laugh. While this dream Olivia was a figment of his imagination, it obviously felt very real to Leo. “What did your daughter say?”

“She claims we’ll be meeting very soon. Looks like this jungle trip will be my last.”

His declaration brought a chill. “Is she asking you to kill yourself?”

He shook his head. “Not in so many words. She actually told me to avoid someone on the trip. Oh, and according to my daughter, I’m not supposed to let you bathe alone once we hit the jungle.” He offered a wan smile.

Her cheeks immediately turned pink as she huffed, “I don’t need someone spying on me.”

“Don’t get mad at me. Just repeating the message.”

“More like your subconscious is trying to give you a reason to leer at me.”

“As if I need a reason,” he retorted.

She ignored the spurt of pleasure at his offhand comment. “As mentioned before, it’s normal for you to feel an attraction, given the intimacy of our conversations.”

He leaned lower to murmur, “It’s more than that.”

“What do you feel?” she asked somewhat breathily.

“Things I shouldn’t.” He leaned back and rubbed his face with his hands.

“You do realize that, despite the tragedy that happened, you are allowed to move on. It won’t lessen the love you had for yourwife and child. It will understandably cause you some sense of betrayal, however?—”

“It’s not that,” he harshly interrupted. “I don’t feel any loyalty to Kylie. Our marriage was over long before the monster took her life. It’s the fact I failed them. What if it happens again?”

“You’re worried that you’ll love and lose again. Understandable.” She paused. “Does that kind of thing happen often among the Zodiacs?”

“No.”

“Then what makes you think you’d be so unlucky?”

“I don’t know.”

“Fear is normal, but you can’t let it control you.”

“Easier said than done.”

“If this were one of your friends, what would you tell them?”

“Don’t you try that reverse psychology shit on me,” he groused.

“You know the answer. Why not say it?”

“Because it’s different.”

“How is it different?”

“It just is.”

“And that’s where you’re wrong. You do realize there isn’t a person on this planet who hasn’t had to deal with the loss of a loved one. Widows grieve and move on. Parents lose a child, and while the memory will always hurt, they continue to live.”

“Not all of them,” his low reply.

“Do you really want to die?” her blunt riposte.

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