With that, Leo turns on his heel and makes his way back inside. Anger boils in my veins, hot like a volcano on the verge of eruption. Before I can think better of it and stop myself, I chase after him.
He goes to the kitchen and pours himself some scotch, and I watch him pop a little white pill from an orange prescription bottle. As I stalk toward him, he turns and leans against the white cabinetry, sipping slowly. His eyes don’t leave mine as I approach, fueling something strange inside me.
My whole life has been so focused on getting away that I haven’t spent much time looking within, figuring out what I might enjoy beyond pure escapism.
What I’d desire if I let myselfwant, even for just a moment. One night, with someone who actually seems to want me back.
Even if that man is a nightmare, hell-bent on keeping me prisoner. At the very least, I can get something out of the arrangement—until I’ve found an out, that is. While I’m stuck here, I’ll let myself give in. Temporarily.
It’s a split-second decision, but I seem to keep making those around him anyway.Surely, one more won’t ruin me for good.
My chest heaves as I try to catch my breath, and I glance down at his shirt again. “What happened to you?”
“Nothing, Stella.” His jaw tics, and he looks past me. “I told you not to worry about it.”
“How can I not? You don’t touch me on our wedding night, and then you disappear all day today and leave me to rot up here with your housekeepers. When you do finally show up, you look like you’ve been elbow-deep in someone’s chest cavity, and I’m supposed to just ignore that?”
“Aw, how quickly you’ve come to care for your terrible, monstrous husband’s well-being.”
He doesn’t even flinch when I knock the tumbler from his hand or when it shatters on the floor, spraying the cabinets and our feet with alcohol.
“That wasn’t very nice.”
“I care aboutmywell-being,” I snap, shoving at his shoulders. “You being stupid and reckless puts my life at risk now too.”
Two fingers curl around the ends of my hair. “And if I said I also care about your well-being?” Those smoky eyes rise to mine, half-lidded and smoldering. “Would you believe me if I said this blood was spilled in your honor?”
There’s a flash in my mind of last night—me lying in his bed, tipsy enough that the room was spinning, but not enough that I couldn’t register the hard anger in his body when I mentioned his father.
Is it possible he’s telling the truth? I suppose, and I can’t deny how that possibility warms my insides with something deliciously insidious.
But thewhymakes no sense. Not when he’s just as responsible for my suffering.
Still, I decide that it doesn’t necessarily matter either way. If I stay here, this is a scene I’ll likely just have to deal with, so my hands lurch out, grabbing the lapels of his jacket. “Shut up,” I tell him, dragging his face to mine and sealing our mouths together again.
Immediately, his tongue sweeps in, as if trying to savor every foreign inch of me. His hands twist in my hair, and he crushes me as close as he can. I let out a little sound of desperation when he swivels, pinning me to the counter and shoving his thigh between mine.
“Shit,” I mutter, pulling away slightly.
Leo grins. “No razor blade this time?”
“You sound disappointed.”
“Well, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy the taste of a threat on your lips.” Instead of letting me respond, he dives back in, plundering my mouth with his until my mind spins.
His kiss is heady and wrong. While I might lack experience, it doesn’t take a genius to realize that each scrape of his teeth and flick of his tongue has a carefully executed flourish. It’s dirty, sinful, and I fall too far into it to notice what he’s doing in other places.
The sound of a zipper unlatching cuts through the air, but when I jerk against him, he doesn’t let me pull away again. Air sweeps across my lower back, exposed as he undoes my skirt, and then he uses both hands to tear off my shirt and yank the skirt down my hips.
I move to cover myself, but he grabs my wrists and shakes his head.
“Absolutely not,” he breathes. “I want to see you.”
My heart stutters a beat as I give a short nod, abandoning logic and reason for the tempting fire in his gray eyes. They remain on my face, slowly tracking the skirt as it continues its descent down the length of me, joining the pile of clothing on the floor.
Next to go is my bra, unhooked with ease from the front.
“Whatwereyou planning to do with that blade yesterday?” he asks quietly, almost reverently. His hand skims the curve of my side, brushing the outside of one breast before moving up and along my collarbone. “You didn’t think that would be enough to kill me. I know you’re smarter than that.”
