Chapter 22 #2
I step inside. Leonid is leaning against the edge of his massive desk, arms crossed, dressed head-to-toe in black, shirt, suit, tie, fabric clinging to every hard line of him like it was tailor-made for him. He’s smiling. That small, knowing curve of his mouth that usually melts me.
Today it almost works. I stop three steps in, remind myself why I’m here, and plant my feet.
“Hey,” he says, voice low, warm.
“Don’t ‘hey’ me.”
His smile fades, but not completely. He uncrosses his arms, straightens a little. “Okay. What did I do wrong?”
I pull my phone from my bag, screen already open to the email. “I got this from the school. They’re asking me to come back.”
He nods once, like he expected exactly this.
“Then I called Principal Ellis.” My voice stays level. “She told me you were there this morning. That you ‘cleared the air.’ That you made it clear you pursued me. And that I ‘didn’t have much choice in the matter.’”
His jaw tightens, just a fraction, but he doesn’t interrupt.
“So that’s what you told them?” I step closer. “That I had no say? That you forced this relationship on me? Because that’s what it sounds like, Leonid. Like I was some helpless woman you dragged into your world.”
“Of course not—”
I raise my hand. He shuts up instantly.
“I appreciate you speaking up for me, but I’d have appreciated it more if you talked to me about it first.”
By the time I finish, my chest is heaving a little. Leonid hasn’t moved. He’s just watching me, that powerful frame still leaning casually against the desk like he has all the time in the world.
“Are you done?” he asks, voice low, calm.
I exhale sharply. “Yeah.”
“Can I speak now?”
“Yeah.”
He pushes off the desk, straightens to his full height, and takes one measured step toward me.
“I heard you. When you asked me not to interfere. I heard every word.”
“Then why—”
“Because seeing you broken yesterday—” He cuts himself off, jaw working. “You were crying so hard you couldn’t breathe. You wouldn’t eat. You wouldn’t look at me. And I couldn’t just sit there and let that stand.”
“That’s not the point—”
“I know, but when I got home yesterday after picking Alexei up, he told me he doesn’t want to go back to school.
Because you’re gone. And Aria is his new teacher.
” His jaw flexes. “He said she’s mean. That she looks at him funny.
My son doesn’t want to step foot in that building because the woman who hurt you is now in charge of him every day. I couldn’t let that stand.”
He takes another step closer. I don’t back away.
“You deserve that classroom more than Aria ever did. She didn’t care about the rules; she cared about getting to me.
She’s been trying for years. I never gave her the time of day.
She got bitter when she saw us together, and decided to punish you for it.
And I wasn’t going to let her get away with that. ”
His gaze holds mine.
“As for what I said to the principal…” He exhales through his nose. “Ellis must have twisted it into ‘no choice.’ That was never my meaning. This, us, is the most mutual thing I’ve ever had in my life.”
He pauses, voice dropping softer, rougher.
A small, almost-pained smile touches his mouth. “Laurel, baby… you hold every card in this relationship. Every single one. You have my heart, completely, irrevocably. You have my mind-every thought circles back to you, every plan, every quiet moment.
“You have my body, every inch of it answers to you, burns for you, only you. And my soul?” He steps right into my space now, close enough that I feel the heat rolling off him.
“You’ve had that since the first time I set eyes on you.
You could walk away tomorrow and take all of it with you.
I’d still be standing here, empty, waiting for you to come back.
That’s not power I hold over you. That’s power you hold over me. ”
My anger cracks, then melts entirely. My arms loosen. My throat tightens in a completely different way.
“Really?” I whisper.
“Yeah.” His voice is gravel and velvet at once. “Really.”
He spreads his arms, slow, open. “Now come here.”
I don’t hesitate. I step forward and he wraps me up, big hands sliding around my waist, pulling me flush against him. I press my cheek to his chest, listening to the steady thud of his heart.
“You deserve your job back,” he murmurs into my hair. “You deserve your reputation cleared. I didn’t want that stain on your record. I know how much teaching means to you, how hard you fought for it, how good you are at it. I couldn’t let one jealous woman take that away.”
I smile against his chest, small and watery. “Thank you.”
He kisses the top of my head. “I know you didn’t like the way I did it. I get that. But I needed you whole again.”
I pull back just enough to look up at him. “I’m not sure I want the job back.”
Surprise flickers across his face. “Why?”