His eyes seemed to plead with her to accept what he said to be true. The way he almost leaned into her made the warmth that had flickered to life in her chest uncurl and flood parts of her soul that had been starving for something she hadn’t realized was missing. But then his eyes flicked to something at her back and his whole body stiffened. Leo dropped her hands and took a step back.
Leo’s expression flattened, but his eyes burned with an intensity she’d never seen before.
Then the press of a hand to her lower back brought her to reality. “Hey, beautiful, the limo driver is waiting for us.” Chaz’s breath washed over her neck.
Red never looked so enticing on a man. It looked like Leo was about ready to detonate. And yet it wasn’t okay for her to be thinking this way. She turned just enough to face Chaz. “Get in the car. I’ll be just a second.”
Chaz’s eyes swept from her to Leo and back. The cocky smirk he wore made her want to punch his lights out, but she refrained. As soon as he was gone, she whirled to face Leo.
“You have to go home. Jane and Noah are worried about you.”
Leo scoffed. “They’re worried about their relationship with your father’s company.” Then his features softened. “Don’t go, Kat. Stay here with me. Let’s… get some dinner. Talk.”
She shook her head. “I’m sorry, Leo. It’s over. We can’t.” Kat had to close her eyes to fight the tears and the temptation to throw herself into his arms one last time. No matter how much it hurt, she had to cut ties completely. “I’m with Chaz, now. We’re engaged. Go home, Leo.” Without waiting for him to respond, she turned on her heel and hurried toward the limo.
Kat refused to look back. She wouldn’t allow herself the agony of seeing the pain in his eyes. This was for the best. He needed to move on… even if she hadn’t yet.
She prayed he would.
And yet a small part of her also prayed hewouldn’tlisten—that he’d keep fighting like he’d promised.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
“Absolutely not!”Noah’s voice boomed through the speaker.
Leo pulled the phone from his ear with a wince. Then he sighed as he put it back. “After this, I won’t ask for anymore favors.”
“You’ve already overstepped and you know it.” Boy, Noah sounded angrier than ever before. “You said you were going to Jersey.”
Leo grimaced. He wasn’t proud that he’d lied to his cousin. Noah had done him a solid by letting him use the private plane for this particular escapade. But now there was something he had to do. And Noah was the only one with the connections to make it happen. “Please.”
“Please?” Noah barked a laugh. “You seriously think that after you hijacked my plane so you could force a meeting with one of the most prominent businessmen in my social circle that I would roll over after you sayplease? You’re a real piece of work, Leo. And you’re lucky you’re family because if you weren’t I’d have the police on you faster than you could say giddyup.”
Leo chuckled despite himself. If Noah was making statements like this one, he was already cooling off. “You should have seen her, man. The dress she was wearing…” He pulled off his hat and tossed it to the bench behind him. Raking a hand through his hair, he forced himself to remain calm. “I can’t let her go out with that guy. You didn’t see the way she flinched when he touched her. I don’t think she’s scared of him, but they’re definitely not… she doesn’t like him like that.”
“And that’s none of your business. She’s engaged to the guy.”
“Not by choice,” Leo snapped. “She’s just… I don’t know. She’s scared. I need to show her that I can be what she needs. And if her dad would just give me a chance to prove?—”
“You can’t prove anything to that guy. That’s the point. He’s got too much money and too much power. He’s never going to see you as his equal.”
“Why? Because I don’t come from money?”
“Because you’re blue collar. You work with your hands.”
Leo gritted his teeth. The social hierarchy stuff that was still around irritated the heck out of him. “Look, if you can’t help me figure out where she’s going and put me on some kind of list, then…”
“Then what?” There was frustration but also mild amusement in Noah’s tone. “There’s nothing you can do to me.”
Leo frowned. Then he grinned. “Reese is on my side. And Serenity is going to marry him. How hard do you think it would be to gang up on you with both Jane and Serenity in my corner?” He wasn’t certain, but he thought he heard Noah mutter a curse. Most of the time Jane was in Noah’s corner. It came withthe marriage territory. But there was nothing that could come between sisters. Or brothers, for that matter.
It might have been a weak threat, but Noah didn’t seem inclined to argue with his wife. Or at least that was what Leo told himself.
“Fine,” Noah gritted out. “I’ll send you the details as soon as I have them.”
“You’re the best.”
“And Leo?”
