Chapter 18
chapter eighteen
LEO
Two hours spent in the lounge dragged on like nothing else, but at least there was food.
I found myself inhaling one of everything as I waited.
Croissants, fruit tarts, seven different cheeses, and an assortment of crackers.
Small pastries that rival Vanessa’s, and cured meats rolled into fancy little scrolls.
But all the waiting was worth getting to sit front row next to Eva when Marisol finally stepped out onto the runway.
She looked impossibly beautiful as she walked confidently down the long stage, subtly posing at the end before turning around and walking past another model.
They barely exchange glances as all of them come back and forth, up and down the runway, over and over again.
Every time Marisol passed us, I ached for her to match my gaze, but she never glanced our way. I couldn’t take my eyes from her.
I wasn’t paying a scrap of attention to the clothing being displayed, and I couldn’t tell you what any of the other models looked like.
All of my focus was on watching Marisol or wondering when she would come out again.
She was captivating. She moved like she was born to do this, effortless ease with every step down the runway.
This was exactly what she needed right now, to feel like a model again.
But now I’m waiting again, lingering near the food table as important designers, agents, and influencers mill around the room, filling the space with pleasant conversation as everyone waits for the models to come out.
Eva told me that they all wear a piece from the show to further promote the designer as they mingle with everyone, but they have yet to make their appearance.
I hear an obnoxious laugh, and when I turn to see its origins, I see Jack. The man who blew up Marisol’s life without so much as a second thought, laughing like he doesn’t have a single care in the world, while Marisol is here trying to put back together everything he shattered.
I feel my jaw clench as I watch him. Every second that passes leaves me wanting to send him to the floor more and more. But then the doors open and the room erupts in applause.
My eyes find hers immediately. She wears a lilac dress that flares out at the waist, leaving the silky fabric to cascade down to the floor like moving water.
But what I can’t stop looking at is her wide smile.
She holds hands with another model as they move into the room.
I know she said runways are daunting for her, but she looks like that was the most fun she’s had in a while.
She must feel my stare because her eyes find mine, and her smile only widens. She says something to the model next to her before breaking away and heading in my direction.
Eva steps into her path and wraps her in a big hug.
Marisol closes her eyes over her shoulder, breathing in the affection.
Eva must say something because that grin spreads across her face once more, and she laughs.
I admire her as I lean against the wall, leaving her to get all the praise I’m sure she’s receiving from her agent.
Eva steps away, moving to speak to another one of the models, and Marisol finds me again, looking at me in the kind of way I’ve wished she always would. Like I’m her beacon in the dark night. And then someone stands in front of her, blocking my view.
Jack.
I push off the wall and stride toward where he has her trapped in conversation. I see Marisol’s face over his shoulder as I reach them, all that confidence drained from her expression as she stares at the man she used to love. The man who was unfaithful. The man who left her in the gutter.
I catch the end of his sentence as I move to stand behind Marisol. “—looked beautiful up there.”
The fucking audacity.
I feel her let out a breath as my hands splay over her ribs.
“You were incredible, covergirl,” I say into her ear before pressing a kiss to the side of her head.
Not giving Jack a single second of recognition, even though he knows exactly who I am.
I’m the one who hauled him out the back of the club in Sorrento when May found him cheating on Marisol last year.
I nearly sent a fist to his face that night, and now I really wish I did.
“Great picture in the papers, Romano.” Jack holds his hand out between us, expecting me to shake it. I drag my gaze to his, not taking my hands away from Marisol’s body. He lowers his hand, and I watch the moment he decides to change his approach.
“Honestly, I didn’t expect to see you here, Marisol.”
I feel all the air disappear from her lungs. Of course he didn’t. He thought he’d thoroughly fucked her career, which he did. But Marisol was never going to let that be the end, not when she’s given up so much for it.
“I bet,” she says. Her fingers climb up my arm, her nails running over the back of my bicep as if my touch gives her the confidence she needs to speak to him. Jack’s eyes track the movement, and I feel so overwhelmingly pleased.
“This is cute.” He uses his finger to gesture between us, his voice anything but genuine.
I smile at him. “If you don’t mind, I’m going to steal her away.” I don’t wait for his response before pulling Marisol away from him, our hands finding each other as we move through the small crowds of people, looking for a quiet space.
I pull her into my embrace, and she sinks into me, breathing deep. I let her take a moment to breathe, to find comfort, to rid herself of the icky feeling I know will be crawling all over her skin from seeing him. “You good, baby?” I don’t even care that the endearment slipped from my tongue.
She nods against my chest. “Better now.”
I swear my heart explodes into tiny little pieces of confetti inside my chest. She pulls away, looking over her shoulder as if to check if Jack is near. He’s not. “Thank you,” she says, coming back to face me.
“Don’t thank me,” I breathe. There’s no reason to praise my possessiveness over her when it’s entirely unwarranted.
Her eyes narrow as she frowns slightly. “I froze. I completely froze, Leo. I couldn’t speak, I couldn’t move, I was just stuck staring at him.
I was completely vulnerable to anything he might’ve said or done.
” She hesitates, like the thought of that takes her somewhere else.
André fucking Hugo. My anger triples inside my body.
“But then I felt you there, and I could move again.” She says it like my touch saved her, like something so simple as my hand on her waist could pull her from her stupor.
God, I want to kiss her. Instead, I let my hand cradle the side of her head, my thumb falling against her cheekbone. “You were phenomenal up there, you know that?” A shy smile blooms as she tries to look down, but my hand on her cheek keeps her in place. “How did it feel?”
She meets my eyes again, and I can see it, the pride. “It felt good. Really good.”
“Yeah?” I smile. “Not daunting?”
She tips her head into my hand. “It was daunting at first, yeah. But I don’t know.
” She bites on the inside of her lip. “Once I was out there, I wasn’t even focused on the crowd.
All I could focus on was the lights and the feeling of walking down the runway again.
I think…” She trails off, and I take my hand from her cheek to brush my fingers over her shoulder instead, giving her an inch of space to say whatever it is.
“I think knowing you were in the crowd helped.”
I halt my fingers on her skin, my eyes snapping to hers. “Yeah?”
Before she can respond, a woman approaches us. “Marisol.” Her attention is drawn away from me.
“Chiara!” Marisol turns to face the woman, my hand falling from her shoulder as Chiara pulls her into a polite hug. “It’s so lovely to see you.”
“And you, cara. You were wonderful out there tonight, well done,” Chiara says, squeezing Marisol’s shoulder. “And you must be the PR stunt.”
I blink in response to her abruptness. “Leo Romano.” I hold out my hand.
“You’re working like a charm, Romano,” she says.
“Thank you,” I hesitantly reply. It feels odd to be praised for simply spending time with the woman who has effortlessly occupied my mind for over a decade.
“Can we talk?” Chiara asks Marisol, and she nods before the two of them wander off to have a private conversation.
I find myself at the food table once again, snacking as I wait for Marisol to find me.
I hear that fucking obnoxious laugh I hate so much, and when I look up, Jack stands with his hand around a model’s waist as they both speak to another man.
I watch as his hand slides lower, his thumb grazing the top of her ass.
I bite off half of a strawberry as I watch the way Jack schmoozes the other man, all three of them laughing together.
The woman seems overly comfortable, her arm wrapped around Jack’s back.
Didn’t take him long to find another model to prey upon.
I rip my eyes away from them, and I see Marisol standing on the other side of the space, but she’s not looking at me. She’s looking at him.
I watch her watch him, watch her track the movements he makes, watch the way her eyelids flutter as he laughs, like the sound triggers her. She shakes her head and looks around the room, finding me. She doesn’t smile, though. She just heads in my direction.
“Hey,” she says.
“Hey. How was your conversation with Chiara?” I ask, attempting to distract her.
She nods, but her mind is elsewhere. “Good, it was good. She’s happy with how tonight went, so that’s good.”
“Good,” I say.
“Yeah, good,” she mutters, and then she’s peering over her shoulder just in time to see Jack press a kiss to the model’s lips. “Oh my god,” she breathes as she turns back around, staring at my chest, and I can see her mind working behind her eyes.
“Hey.” I capture her chin between my fingers. “Don’t look at him. Look at me.” Her lips part as she follows my instructions, but her brows won’t relax.
“It’s so fucking familiar,” she says. “That’s how he used to treat me, flaunt me.” She shakes her head.
“Don’t give him a second of your energy. He doesn’t deserve it.”
Her nostrils flare. “I don’t want to think about him, but I don’t know how to stop.
” I can see it in her eyes, the desperation.
I know she doesn’t care for him or love him anymore.
But I also know the effects people leave on you don’t disappear as easily as you sometimes wish they would.
People leave impressions on you, whether you want them to or not.
I bring my forehead down to meet hers, and she closes her eyes. “Think about this instead.” She doesn’t respond, just breathes deep. The silence stretches between us, and every second spent this close to her feels like an eternity.
Her hands find my abdomen, and I suck in a breath.
She’s not touching me for someone else’s benefit, but because she wants to.
“Thinking about this isn’t much better for my mind,” she says, and I nearly blanch at her honesty.
I didn’t know she thought much about this, us.
I didn’t think she thought about it at all, really. Not the way that I do.
“What’s going to happen when this is all over?” I ask, letting myself be vulnerable while she is, because I don’t know how I’m going to survive when I don’t get to do this with her anymore.
She pulls on the flap of my suit jacket before stepping back, breaking the trance we were both in as she looks up at me. “I don’t know, Leo.”