“Why are you asking that again?” His expression was as closed off and guarded as I’d ever seen.
I wanted him to say he would love me. I wanted to mean more to him than the millions on that thumb drive. I wanted the Leon who made love to me last night. The one that had thawed to me. The one that showed me a more caring and playful side.
The one who made me feel like a queen.
I waited for him to answer my question and refused to answer his. My body felt empty, as hollow as a reed. I struggled to understand how things had gone bad so quickly. The whiplash had left me dazed and reeling.
“You go back to med school and become a doctor,” he finally replied, but any triumph I might’ve felt at winning the game of wills only tasted like ashes in my mouth. “I disappear.”
So that was it. No future between us, only a bloody past. What had I expected? “But the thumb drive stays with you.”
“That’s right.”
“My father’s going to ask about it. And about where I’ve been and why his men are dead.”
Anger turned his expression dark. His hatred for my father rushed to the surface, just like always.
“That sounds like your problem. Your father’s the asshole who put his daughter’s life in danger. If you go back to him, that’s your choice. I hope the money’s worth it.”
I flinched. His words were so cold they burned. “Why are you being like this?”
He faced off with me, standing stiffly by the fire, the orange glow of the flames highlighting his body, reminding me of last night. “This is how I’ve always been.”
“You’re acting like you hate me.”
His expression was still as stone, but I saw something flicker in his eyes. Was it regret? Pain at my words? But the impression was gone so fast that I didn’t know if I’d truly seen it or not.
“This is what I am,” he said. “A hired gun. Nothing else.”
“You’re more than that.”
“Wrong again. That’s how you first met me. That’s how I’ll walk away. Believe me, it’s for the best. But your father doesn’t get to walk away without paying.”
The venom in his voice burned inside my mind like acid. He could never love me. He would always look at me and see my father.
I was stupid to have ever hoped for anything more. But after that night we’d shared together, it felt like we had something. Or maybe I’d desperately wanted it to be real. So much so that I’d fooled myself into believing we had a chance.
But wasn’t that what people did all the time? Wanting to be loved and making mistakes, fooling themselves, hoping it would happen. And when it didn’t, when things had no hope of working out, you ended up bleeding worse than ever.
Like me right now.
I stood there trembling, my eyes dry as sand but hurting as if I could never cry again. As if there could never be any relief from the pressure of hurt and pain walled up behind my eyes.
“I’ll take you to your father tomorrow,” Leon said, turning his back on me and facing the fireplace.
He said nothing else. I waited, but he didn’t change his mind. He didn’t even look at me.
Like a shadow, I left the living room, not bothering to clean the mess I’d made while patching him up. My chest ached as if I had a heavy stone crushing down on it, making it a struggle to breathe. Every footstep echoed down the hall and in my head as I left him.
The dam burst when I stepped inside the master bedroom and the tears flowed freely. I shut the door, locked it, and leaned against it as hot tears trickled down my cheeks. But I didn’t sob, didn’t even make a sound. I didn’t want him to hear me.
Tomorrow, this would be over. Tonight, I’d be alone.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
LEON
Islept on the couch. It was a comfortable couch, but it didn’t feel good. Not like last night, with Sofia lying naked in my arms.
