Page 22 of Bride of Betrayal
Maybe subconsciously he had wanted to expose her, humiliate her, but he knew the bigger motivation had been the speed at which he’d forgotten everything and just wanted her. Needed her.
Dio.Where was she? They had to leave for Rome shortly. If she didn’t appear in the dining room in the next five— There was a noise at the door and Leo looked up from his paper that he hadn’t been reading.
She stood in the doorway, dressed in dark trousers and a dark long-sleeved top. Flat shoes. Hair pulled back into a knot. A million miles from the sorceress in the barely there red lace dress that had almost tempted him over the edge. A voice mocked him now.Would it have been so bad? Even if she had laughed at you?
He stood up. ‘There’s a few minutes for breakfast. Do you want something hot?’
She didn’t meet his eye as she came in and took a seat at the other end of the table. Michael appeared with a coffee pot and cup and put them down. She looked at him and smiled. ‘Thank you, Michael.’
‘No problem.’
When Michael had left Leo watched her pour herself some coffee. His insides were tight. She looked pale, a little drawn.
‘Angel, I—’
She looked at him and her face was a smooth expressionless mask. ‘Please, don’t call me that. And if you’re going to say anything in reference to what happened last night, please don’t, there’s nothing to discuss.’
The tension throbbing between them begged otherwise but Leo took her cue. For now. ‘Fine, we leave in five minutes, OK?’
She just nodded and took another sip of coffee.
Angelica was aware of Leo across the aisle of the plane but she was doing her damndest not to be. To her mortification last night, she’d gone straight into her shower, turned it on to hot and had cried like a baby.
It hadn’t just been the humiliation of Leo’s rejection, it had been three years of pent-up stress and emotion. The grief she’d never really expressed for the end of their relationship.
She’d meant what she’d said. The Leo she’d known would never have done something so cruel. But then, when she’d known him he’d been an idealistic young man, revelling in his success without being arrogant or complacent, eager to make a good mark on the world. Half of his ambitions had had to do with philanthropy as much as achieving personal success.
No wonder she’d fallen so hard for him.
Now, hewasdifferent, and that scar marking where he’d been stabbed was just the tip of the iceberg. Maybe prison had also taught him to be cruel. Vindictive. Vengeful.
And yet, he hadn’t looked triumphant last night, as if he’d got her where he wanted her, rejected and humiliated. He’d looked a little…shaken. As if maybe he’d looked in the mirror and seen something. Or, remembered that he hated her and shouldn’t debase himself by touching her.
In any case, he’d done them a favour. He’d reminded her of what was at stake. Her family’s safety. After last night, she knew she had even less reason to trust him. And to think that she’d almost wanted to blurt out a defence—to tell him that she hadn’t been complicit with Aldo. By revealing everything. That made any sense of humiliation fade into insignificance.
Since she’d met Leo again—since he’d ambushed her, kidnapped her—she’d been running to catch up, get her breath. Revealing too much. Reacting. Provoking. When what she really needed to do was retreat into the space she’d inhabited when she’d been with Aldo, where nothing could touch her, or harm her. Where she was numb.
She’d done it for three years, to survive. She could do it for another few months.
The journey from the private airfield just outside Rome into the city was silent. As silent as the plane journey had been. All eight hours twenty minutes of it. Leo knew, he’d felt every minute. Admittedly, Angelica had slept for almost half of it, curled up on the seat across from him, refusing his suggestion to use the bedroom with a curt shake of her head.
Once again she hadn’t met his eye. It was disconcerting because he knew she wasn’t sulking. Or being petulant. It was literally as if he weren’t there. Or consequential.
He’d put a cashmere throw over her as she’d slept, and had had to sit down again before his fingers had traced the smooth curve of her cheek, lashes long and dark.
You could have touched her all over last night, but you didn’t.He didn’t have a right to touch her.You didn’t used to be a bastard.
Leo spoke now to break the silence as much as anything else. ‘We’re going straight to my legal team’s offices. They’re working late especially for us.’
‘OK.’
The first time Leo had heard her voice since this morning. He gritted his jaw and looked out of the window. It was as if she had retreated behind some invisible wall.
When they arrived at the offices, she was out of the car by the time Leo reached her door. Sending a strong signal to keep back. He put out a hand to indicate for her to precede him into the sleek building, gritting his jaw even harder.
Maybe this froideur was all a precursor to this moment when she would reveal that she wasn’t so sanguine about letting Aldo’s wealth go, after all. Right now, Leo almost welcomed that scenario, as if it would salve his conscience. But somehow, he had a feeling that Angelica would confound him again, as she’d been doing from the very start.
Angelica signed the last piece of paper. There was a hush in the office. She could sense Leo behind her, eyes boring into her upper back. His surprise was palpable.
