Chapter Six #2
‘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—’
‘There you 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, ‘Much better.’
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.’
And, Angelica realised, she didn’t hate Leo. Not even after he couldn’t love her, because he’d never promised that. Not even after he wanted to punish her. What she did feel was tangled and complicated and too much to think about right now.
But as if a little devil had taken control, she heard herself blurting out, ‘Why did you dump me?’
He tensed. She felt it. He said after a long moment, ‘Because I never promised you anything more than what we had. I didn’t want a long-term commitment.’
She stayed silent. As if the words were being dragged out of him, he said, ‘You know my background, so similar to yours. I never wanted a relationship, family. When you said…what you said, I knew things had gone too far.’
Too far. Meaning she’d lost the run of herself and had been building happy-ever-after castles in the air.
It was small comfort that she knew Leo didn’t believe she’d meant it when she’d told him she loved him, and the last thing she needed now was him reflecting on that.
But before she could say anything to deflect him, he was saying, ‘No, I don’t hate you, Angelica, but I do want you. ’
They’d started dancing again, which was causing a far too distracting friction between their bodies.
Especially considering that Angelica’s dress was gossamer thin.
She could hardly deny she wanted him—it was out in the open now, like an electric current that couldn’t be switched off.
Any attempt to maintain a cool facade was fast melting like snow on a hot stone.
Almost as if musing aloud, Leo looked down at her and said, ‘You say it’s not my business but I think it is.’
Angelica was having trouble thinking straight. ‘Your business about what?’
‘Why you went to Aldo if it wasn’t to get back at me or get your hands on his, that is, my, money.’
Angelica’s brain was suddenly crystal clear again.
She could feel herself tensing. She really didn’t want Leo going down this route of looking at her motives because she had no defence except the truth about her family and now that she was so close to seeing them she really didn’t want to jeopardise anything.
Instead of an answer she couldn’t give, she said, ‘Now that you have everything back in your name, are you sure you don’t want to divorce and be rid of me?’
Leo pulled her closer as a couple nearly collided with them, and when they’d passed by he didn’t loosen his hold. Angelica was sure she could feel every ridge of every muscle, and one in particular, hardening against her. She flushed.
Leo seemed oblivious to what was happening below their necks but she could see the heated look in his eyes. He shook his head. ‘Three months minimum. You’ve proved to be very valuable at diverting attention away from the danger of speculation as to my ability to protect myself from future attack.’
Angelica couldn’t begrudge Leo this. Even if it did mean her little plan to attract the wrong sort of attention had backfired spectacularly. And thankfully he wasn’t insisting she tell him the truth of her reasons for marrying Aldo.
‘I’ll start dressing like a nun.’
‘No doubt that’ll only send them into further paroxysms of delight. There’s nothing you could wear that would dim your beauty or sensuality.’
Angelica’s insides flipped. This man was the one who had opened her eyes to her own sensuality. She’d never considered herself a very sexual person until she’d slept with him. He’d awoken something primal inside her and she could feel it now, clawing for release. It had been so long.
Feeling a little exposed all over again, she said, ‘Careful, that almost sounds like a compliment.’
‘You don’t need me to tell you how beautiful you are.’
Angelica shook her head. ‘I’m well aware that I’m lucky enough to photograph well and fit into the current beauty parameters but there are far more beautiful than me.’ She looked to her side and said, ‘See that woman there?’
Leo looked. ‘The older woman, with the grey hair?’
Angelica nodded. ‘She’s stunning. You can tell she’s had no work done. All of those beautiful lines on her face tell the story of a life lived. She looks happy.’
‘Were you always such a romantic?’
Angelica’s face got hot. She was losing it. Proximity to Leo was scrambling her brain cells. This time when she pulled back he let her go. ‘I need the bathroom.’
She walked off the dance floor, aware of looks and whispers as she went. She felt a little unsteady, as if she were on a ship. When she got to the bathroom she sat in a stall and got her breath back.
She had been a romantic. Right up until he’d told her their relationship was over.
And then Aldo and his toxic cruelty had further eroded any belief in romance.
But it hadn’t been fully decimated in spite of everything that had happened and now Leo was seeing right inside her to where she was still vulnerable.
And that was a shock, to fully acknowledge how much she still hoped, and wanted for more.
How she wanted to imagine a life with someone again, having a family full of love and security.
Longevity. Growing old together. Not cut short by violence.
A life full of meaning and satisfaction, in the small everyday things. Nothing outrageous.
Perhaps it was the prospect of finally getting to see her mother and brother, exposing her vulnerabilities. But she knew it wasn’t. It was him.
Something had shifted between her and Leo. She hadn’t been expecting him to apologise for last night. To admit that he’d felt exposed. She couldn’t arm herself against him when he was like this.
But she had to. If she slept with him, she’d never be able to protect herself and emerge from this marriage arrangement intact.
He’d broken her heart into a million pieces once already. She wouldn’t survive if he did it again.
Steeling herself to go back to Leo and try to ignore the pull between them, she wasn’t expecting to see him waiting outside the bathroom. He was leaning against a wall and stood up as she approached. He said, ‘I’m ready to go, do you mind?’
Angelica felt relieved. She shook her head.
‘Not at all.’ She didn’t miss the way Leo still had that heated look in his eyes.
She would ignore it. Go straight to bed when they returned.
In the guest suite. Which had been cleaned by staff earlier.
So she wouldn’t have to worry about his scent on the sheets.
When they went outside, Leo took his jacket off and gave it to her, settling it over her shoulders. His warmth seeped under her skin. She gritted her jaw and she said thank you. He knew exactly what he was doing.
When they got back to the apartment in the hotel, Angelica avoided looking at Leo as she slipped off his jacket and handed it back to him, very careful in case he tried anything. But he just took it without touching her hand.
She looked at him, suddenly feeling foolish, as if perhaps she’d just imagined the crackling chemistry between them, but as soon as she took one look at his face and eyes she knew she hadn’t imagined it.
He wanted her. Exactly as he’d told her.
He said, ‘There’s no reason why this can’t be a marriage in the bedroom too. We want each other…clearly there’s unfinished business.’
Angelica straightened up. ‘If you don’t mind, I think I’d prefer to take my chances and let unfinished business remain unfinished.
There were plenty of women at that event who I’m sure would be only too happy to accommodate your…
needs. After all, it never stopped Aldo.
’ Her husband might not have been able to perform with her—thank God—but he’d been perfectly capable with others.
And she only realised the impact and meaning of what she’d just said when Leo frowned. ‘Is that what happened? He was unfaithful?’ He issued a curse word.
If Leo thought she’d been unhappy in her marriage with Aldo because of infidelity then she’d have to leave it at that.
She couldn’t explain the truth. You could try.
Her heart beat fast at the thought of telling him everything but then the fear returned.
She couldn’t yet trust that he wouldn’t use her family to get back at her. And she was so close to seeing them.
‘That was it,’ Angelica said tonelessly.
‘And you?’
She looked at him, outraged. ‘No. I would never be unfaithful.’ Even while married to Aldo, the thought of another man…other than Leo…had been anathema. Angelica had frozen over inside. Until now.
‘Aldo didn’t corrupt you completely, then.’
Angelica clamped her mouth shut, afraid of what might come out.
Leo said, ‘I would never be unfaithful within a marriage, even this one. Why would I? When all I want is standing right in front of me. There’s not one woman back at that event who I would look at twice.’
Angelica had a flashback to Leo appearing in the doorway of the bathroom and telling her it was a mistake. ‘It’s not happening. I won’t be some plaything for your cruel amusement.’
‘I wasn’t trying to be cruel.’
Angelica forced herself to meet his eye. ‘It didn’t feel that way.’
‘I’m sorry.’
Angelica shook her head. ‘There’s too much history between us.’
‘I agree. And maybe the only way to deal with it is to acknowledge it. Acknowledge that it’s still in our present.’
‘Because you engineered this whole situation.’
‘I would have come for you,’ Leo said in a low fervent voice, making Angelica’s skin tighten. ‘I never stopped thinking about you.’
She swallowed. ‘You mean, wanting me to be punished.’
He shrugged minutely. ‘Yes, I can’t deny that…but since we’ve been together again, it’s becoming less about that and more about…this.’
Angelica couldn’t even formulate a word in response because Leo had moved closer and snaked a hand around the back of her neck, under her hair, and was tugging her towards him with no force.
She was moving towards him willingly in spite of everything she’d just said and as soon as she realised that she dug her heels in.
‘Leo…’ Her voice sounded thready and weak.
‘Yes, Angel…’
‘I thought I told you—’
‘Not to call you that, yes…’
But clearly he was unrepentant. He said, ‘What will it take?’
Angelica’s head felt fuzzy. ‘Take for what?’
‘To show you that you can trust me.’
‘I…’ She trailed off. Angelica knew in her heart of hearts that she did trust Leo. With this at least. He wouldn’t do to her again what he’d done last night. And, in a way, she could see that if she had come to her senses, she might have had a similar reaction.
Then Leo said, ‘How about if I…let you tie me up?’