Page 26 of Bride of Betrayal
He sighed again. ‘Because I felt exposed.’
‘I was exposed too.’
He nodded. ‘I know. I’m sorry. You didn’t deserve that.’
Angelica hadn’t expected that. It broke something apart inside her. Another piece of the wall she’d built to survive.
He said now, ‘I don’t trust you…not after everything that happened. But I still want you.’
‘I don’t trust you either.’ Except, Angelica had to admit that her lack of trust was probably a lot shakier than his. He had more reason not to trust her.
‘We don’t need to trust each other to want each other.’
The thought of putting herself out there again, after last night, made her go cold. ‘We might want each other, Leo, but you were right, last night was a mistake.’
‘I think it was a mistake…to stop.’
Angelica’s heart beat faster. The noise of the crowd around them faded. All she could see were his eyes and the golden flames in the dark depths.
Then he said, ‘I haven’t been with anyone, since you.’
Another piece of the wall crumbled. Angelica shook her head, even as she could feel her body subtly moving closer to Leo. ‘I won’t let you humiliate me again.’ That was twice now. When he’d dumped her on that fateful day three years ago, and last night.
‘I won’t.’
‘No, you won’t, because you won’t get that chance.’
‘Never say never, Angel.’
‘I told you not to—’
‘Thereyou are, Leo. We’ve been looking all over for you…’
The voice came from behind her. The interruption stalled Angelica’s words in her throat. Leo looked at her and all but smirked. He took her hand and slid his fingers through hers. It felt shockingly intimate. He wouldn’t let her pull away but the worst of it was that she didn’t want to.
She hadn’t seen this side of him since they’d met again and it was seductive. And she knew that if he really turned on the charm, he’d be nigh on impossible to resist.
It was how he’d persuaded her to go out with him the first time. She’d been focused solely on her career, no interest in a romantic relationship, too invested in making enough money to support herself and her mother and brother—plus, she’d never met anyone who’d remotely interested her—and then Leonardo Falzone had appeared at her agent’s office asking them to send her a message on his behalf.
She’d been there for a meeting and had recognised him as soon as she’d seen him across the room. The man she’d bumped into a few evenings before at the function, when her drink had spilled all over her dress. She hadn’t been able to get his beautiful face out of her head. Or, the way something about him had piqued her interest.
She’d told her agent to go ahead and give him her number. He’d called almost straight away…
‘Let’s dance.’
Angelica blinked and looked up, past and present merging for a second, making her feel a little dizzy. The person talking to Leo had left and now he was tugging her around the edge of the room to the dance floor.
She asked, ‘How are you…in the crowd?’
He seemed OK but she did notice little lines of tension around his mouth. He nodded. ‘Much better.’ He looked down at her as he swung her into his arms, and her body collided gently with his, all of her softness pressing against his much harder form. He said again with emphasis, ‘Muchbetter.’
Angelica wanted to groan softly but she held it back and tried to remain rigid in Leo’s arms but it was next to impossible. She’d been holding herself rigid for so long that her body longed to just…flow and relax. And as if he could sense that, Leo seemed hell-bent on accommodating her body’s wishes.
Feeling angry now that Leo seemed intent on dismantling all of her defences, Angelica looked up at him, gaze skipping off the danger of his mouth and up to his eyes. ‘How can you want me when you hate me?’
He stopped dancing for a moment and looked down at her. A fleeting expression crossed his face, unguarded, but too fast for her to decipher it.
‘I don’t…hate you.’
