Leonidas could not remember feeling this furious. How dare she want to leave him? Did she not know—
The familiar direction of his thoughts had him mentally slamming on the brakes, catching himself on time before he allowed his usual arrogance get the better of him again.
He made himself breathe. Made himself loosen his grip on her wrist, though he didn’t let go.Couldn’t. Not when she was talking about leaving.
This...was a misunderstanding. He might not know Lexina as well as he thought, but he knew enough to know that the past eight years were not a hardship for either of them. Imperfect and unconventional as their marriage might be, he knew what he saw. Knew what he had experienced. They had enjoyed their time together, and that was why—
“Where is this desire coming from?” His voice came out quieter than he intended. Almost gentle.
Lexy had been prepared for her husband to lose his temper, which she had never been subjected to but sometimes saw on display when he called an employee to task. One look alone from Leonidas had everyone shaking in their shoes, even sometimes causing men to sweat profusely or fight back tears.
But...this though?
This tone that was not quite hard, not quite soft, but something painfully difficult to describe because it almost made her feel—
No, don’t go there, Lex.
She couldn’t possibly hurt someone who was cheating on her.
And as soon as she remembered this, it was her own pain that came rushing back to the fore, her own pain that made her feel like she was about to...
“Why does it matter?”
Explode.
And that was what happened indeed, since the next thing she knew, she had already shoved him off—actually shoved him, her palms flat against his chest, feeling the heat of him through expensive cotton—and crying the words out like someone being torn apart from the inside.
Leonidas stumbled back a step. More from surprise than force. She’d touched him. Pushed him. His delicate, conflict-averse wife had actually put her hands on him in anger.
Where he once was.
Oh God.
Leonidas.
In her heart.
Why did she have to realize now of all times...that she had been in love with him all these years?
Why now, when she was absolutely sure that he neither knew nor would he even care if he did know that she was in love with him?
Why now...when she knew he already had another woman?
Her hands were shaking. She curled them into fists, felt her nails bite into her palms. The pain helped. Grounded her when everything else felt like it was spinning out of control.
Leonidas was starting to wonder if his wife had gotten into an accident in the past seventy-two hours, and that was why she was acting completely...irrational.
“What do you even mean by asking that?” he demanded, taking a step toward her. “You’re my wife—”
“Exactly!” She backed away from him, putting the width of his desk between them like a barrier.
“For the love of—what has gotten into you, Lexina?”
“What’s gotten into me?” The laugh that escaped her was sharp enough to draw blood. “I woke up, that’s what!”
“Stop talking in riddles—”
“Then stop lying to me!”
