Chapter 26
Leo
Leo stood by the window in his study, holding his burner phone to his ear, staring out at the manicured lawn. The morning air was cool, but inside, his chest was tight with anticipation.
“Everything is on track,” Nash’s calm, almost amused voice echoed through the speaker.
“Are you sure?” Leo asked, keeping his tone carefully controlled, though his grip on the phone tightened.
“I don't make mistakes, Leo,” Nash said easily. “The last part you requested is queued up. It will be handled at exactly the right moment.”
Leo exhaled a slow breath. “What about the emails?”
“They’ll all arrive together at the scheduled time. Don’t worry.”
“Make sure nothing traces back.”
“Relax,” Nash chuckled. “You worry too much. Just focus on your hearing today. I’ve got the rest.”
Leo ended the call and slipped the burner phone into the deep pocket of his suit jacket. He felt nervous, but significantly more centered than he had when he woke up. Today was the first real step in systematically dismantling James Williams.
***
Two hours later, Leo walked into a private conference room at the county courthouse for the summary judgment hearing regarding James’s alienation of affection lawsuit.
It was deeply satisfying to watch James’s meticulously crafted narrative unravel in real time.
James’s attorney attempted to argue that Leo had intentionally interfered with the marriage, causing Olivia to abandon her home.
But when pressed by the judge for actual, admissible evidence, the argument crumbled.
James had built his entire case around implication, corporate gossip, his own bruised ego, and the simple fact that Olivia had sought shelter at Leo’s house after leaving.
He had absolutely zero proof that Leo had interfered in the marriage before James had actively destroyed it himself.
Worse for James, his star witnesses had completely defected.
Hannah, Claire, and Sophie had initially been subpoenaed, but once they learned the truth about Amanda—and once they realized how a James had tried to manipulate them—they vehemently refused to testify in his favor.
In fact, Leo’s attorney casually mentioned that the women were currently exploring a civil claim for defamation and slander, furious that James had misrepresented their private conversations to damage Olivia’s reputation.
James sat at the plaintiff's table, his face a tight mask of fury and profound humiliation as the judge formally dismissed the alienation of affection claim against Leo due to a complete lack of evidence.
Leo felt a wave of relief wash over him as he walked out of the courthouse, but it wasn't a clean, euphoric victory. Winning this motion did not undo the profound trauma Olivia had suffered. It didn't solve the financial hurdle in the divorce.
But it neutralized one of the weapons James had aimed at them.
***
When Leo walked through his front door that evening, he was exhausted, his tie loosened, the events of the day still buzzing in his head.
Olivia was waiting for him in the foyer.
The second she saw his face, she rushed forward and threw herself directly into his arms.
Leo caught her, wrapping his arms around her waist, burying his face in her hair as he lifted her off the floor. Her relief was palpable, vibrating through her entire body.
Before he could even set her down, Olivia framed his face with her hands and kissed him.
Leo thought he would never, ever get used to the feeling of Olivia’s mouth on his.
No matter how many times it happened, some deep, bruised part of his soul still reacted like he was being handed the impossible.
He kissed her back, his hands gripping her hips tightly, soaking in the sweet, breathless desperation of it.
Olivia pulled back, her cheeks flushed, her chest heaving. "I'm sorry," she gasped softly. "I couldn't help it."
They had made an agreement. A smart, rational agreement not to keep kissing until everything was fully resolved, until the divorce was final, and Olivia could think about them with an entirely clear mind.
They both knew it was the right choice. They also both knew they were failing at keeping it.
They kissed after long hours in the kitchen testing her recipes. They kissed when they sat just a fraction too close on the couch watching movies. They kissed after talking for hours in the dark, stopping only because the silence between them became too heavy to ignore.
Leo smiled, his thumb tracing the curve of her lower lip, and kissed her again. "One battle is done," he murmured against her mouth. "Now we just have to crush him in your divorce."
Olivia’s relief faded slightly, a shadow of fear crossing her beautiful eyes. "I'm still so scared, Leo. We still don't have proof about the documents and the signatures. If James convinces the judge I signed them willingly..."
Leo kissed her forehead, holding her tight. "Trust me, Liv. I'm working on it."
***
Olivia
Olivia leaned against the kitchen island, a small, amused smile playing on her lips as she watched Leo attempt to frost her competition cake.
He had boldly declared that this time, he was going to be the one to do it.
Olivia let him work. She didn't tell him all the ways the process would be infinitely easier if he changed his grip on the spatula, adjusted the speed of his wrist, scraped the edges of the bowl sooner, or added the buttercream more carefully.
She was simply grateful.
Grateful he was there. Grateful he wanted to help. Profoundly grateful that, after everything she had survived, she had a man willing to stand beside her, covered in powdered sugar, while she tried to build something beautiful from the ruins of her life.
Tomorrow was the next major divorce hearing. Her lawyer and Leo were confident. They believed they were finally going to bring something forward that would incriminate James and open the door to formally challenging the financial documents she had unknowingly signed.
Olivia desperately wanted to believe them. But the signature issue still terrified her.
"Damn it," Leo muttered.
Olivia snapped back to the present. Leo was spreading frosting onto the top tier of the cake. He was using too much. The texture was going wrong, the surface becoming lumpy and uneven. He tried to fix one side with the flat edge of the spatula and messed up the other side.
Olivia bit her lip, trying hard not to laugh.
Leo threw his hands up, setting the spatula down with a clatter. "Fine. Show me, smartass. I surrender. This part is impossible."
Olivia laughed out loud and moved around the island to stand in front of him. "You just have to be gentle with it," she teased, picking up the piping bag. She began showing him the correct pressure, the angle, the smooth, sweeping motion required to create a perfect edge.
Leo stepped up right behind her.
He fit his body perfectly against her back so he could look over her shoulder and see what she was doing.
Then, the air in the kitchen shifted. It became something else entirely.
His broad, solid chest was pressed flush against her back. His large hands hovered near her waist. She could feel the steady, rhythmic heat of his breath against the sensitive skin of her neck.
Olivia’s body reacted before her rational mind could talk her out of it.
She became hyper-aware of everything. The intoxicating heat of him behind her. The undeniable strength in his arms. The way his intense focus narrowed on her. The way her own hands, usually so steady with a piping bag, were trembling slightly. The way the kitchen suddenly felt suffocatingly small.
Leo reached around her, placing his large hands over hers to help guide the piping bag.
The frosting was instantly forgotten.
Olivia put the bag down on the counter. She turned around in his arms.
They looked at each other, the tension thick and heavy, vibrating between them.
Then they kissed.
The kiss started with the agonizing tension that had been building between them, but it rapidly escalated into something far more desperate.
Leo’s iron-clad restraint finally began to crack. He groaned, a rough, guttural sound, his hands dropping to grip her hips.
Olivia wanted him. She didn't want him because she was trying to forget James.
She didn't want him because she was trying to prove she was desirable.
She wanted him because it was Leo . Because every single time he stopped himself, something deep and wild inside her reached for him.
Because she was exhausted from pretending her body had not learned to recognize him as safety, want, and fierce tenderness all at once.
Leo lifted her onto the cool granite counter.
They kept kissing, frantic and hungry. Olivia wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling him flush against her. Through the thick denim of her jeans, she could feel how hard he was. She dragged her hips forward, dry-humping him, grinding her center against his erection.
Leo gasped into her mouth, his hands moving feverishly over her waist, her thighs, her back. He reached up, cupping her breast over her shirt, his thumb brushing over her hardened nipple.
Olivia arched her back with an open, breathless moan. She reached down, grabbing the hem of his dark t-shirt, starting to pull it up over his stomach.
Leo caught her wrists. He pulled back, his chest heaving, his eyes dark and blown wide with raw need.
"Liv. We have to stop."
"I don't want to stop," Olivia breathed, her voice raspy, trying to pull her hands free. "I want you, Leo. I can't keep doing this halfway."
Leo looked visibly shaken. The veins in his forearms stood out as he fought for control.
"I want you so much I can barely think straight.
But I want to wait until you are absolutely certain.
Until this divorce is completely behind you.
I don't want you to look back a year from now and wonder if you reached for me tonight because you were hurt, or scared, or just grieving. "