“Do you trust Aivan to tell you the truth?”
But instead, he caught her off guard with his question.
“I—”
“I know you have every valid reason to distrust me. But what about Aivan?” he asked curtly. “Do you trust him?”
She nodded reluctantly. Aivan might be one of his closest friends, but she had been working for Aivan for years as well.
“Then call him.” Leon’s voice was even fiercer now. “Call him and ask what I wanted to do when he first told me he wanted me to race for them. Back when I didn’t know you were the one who patented the technology.”
Lexy’s hands were shaking as she pulled out her phone. Her heart was pounding so hard she could feel it in her throat. And when Aivan answered on the second ring, his voice rough with concern—
“Lexy? Is everything alright?”
She had to swallow twice before she could speak.
“I...I need to ask you something.” The words tumbled past her lips. “About Leonidas. About what he wanted when you first offered him the chance to race.”
She held her breath while waiting for him to answer, bracing herself for the worst—
“He wanted to divorce you.”
But as soon as she heard his answer, she realized no preparation would be enough.
Leonidas...wanted todivorceher.
Was that why he wanted her to call Aivan?
To twist the knife deeper—
“Leonidas was worried—”
Worried about what?
About whether Lexy would refuse to let him go?
“That if his comeback proved to be a disaster, and the media painted him as a washed-up has-been who couldn’t admit he was too old and too slow to race—”
Wait.
What was Aivan saying?
“—the ridicule would extend to you,” he finished grimly.
Wait. Wait. Wait.
“Your husband wanted to protect you from that. At all costs.”
And that was when her vision started to blur.
“I think that was the time...” Aivan paused. “I think that was when he started to realize.”
“R-Realize what?”
“That he had fallen in love with you.”
The phone slipped from her fingers.
