“I was bored in bed, and the pain in my head has subsided.” The doc said I was lucky I didn’t have a concussion. “Besides, Mama needed help. It’s a big dinner.” Bile swirls in my gut, and a shiver works its way through me as I contemplate our impending dinner guests. Papa invited the Greco family for dinner. They have business to discuss, and this is the usual way things work.
“Tesorino,we can manage without you. If you aren’t well, you should go back to bed until our guests arrive.” Mama cups my face, peering into my eyes with obvious concern.
“I’m fine, Mama.” I kiss both her cheeks. “But I will take a break. I need to talk to Leo about something.” Removing my apron, I fold it over the back of the chair as I eyeball Leo, gesturing for him to follow me.
I head out through the back hallway to the small laundry room and pull Leo inside. “What did you tell Mateo?” I ask, keeping my voice low. “He was trying to quiz me all morning over why I was in the orchard.”
“I told him Santino hit on you and dragged you away and I gave chase to bring you back. What did you tell him?” Leo asks.
“Nothing. I pretended I had a really bad headache, and he left me alone.”
Leo chuckles. “Cunning is not a word I would have used to describe you, until recently. You’re becoming quite adept at it.”
“Are you really surprised considering the world I’ve been brought up in?”
“You always surprise me,dolcezza.” His adoring smile and sultry tone do wonderfully weird things to my insides. When pain wasn’t hammering at my skull last night, I spent time reliving our amazing make-out session, constantly touching my lips, as if I could still feel his mouth upon mine. It took colossal willpower to break away from him when all I wanted was to let him ravish me until he owned every part of me. But I won’t be disrespected by any man, and I’m still hurt he was with Nicole.
“Please don’t call me that. I’m not a little girl anymore.” Leo has been calling me sweetness since I was a kid, and I don’t want him to see me like that anymore.
He takes a step closer, his eyes flaring with dark heat. “Trust me, I know.” His deep voice sounds even deeper, and a throbbing ache takes up residence in my panties.
We stare at one another as a powerful electrical current sizzles in the air. My shirt sticks to my back, and my panties are damp between my thighs. My eyes wander to his mouth, and my lips part on a tiny exhale as potent longing trickles into every nook and cranny of my being.
Leo snaps out of it first, taking two steps back until his spine hits the wall. “Fuck, Nat. You can’t look at me like that.”
“Why not?” I level him with a cool stare.
“Because I’m a man who has very little self-control left when it comes to you.”
I close the gap between us, pressing my chest against him. “What if I don’t want you to exercise self-control?”
“Jesus,dolcezza.” Leo grasps the nape of my neck in his meaty palms, holding my face mere millimeters from his. “You know why we can’t give in to this.”
“I don’t care about any of that,” I rasp, barely able to take a breath with him this close.
His eyes linger on my lips, and butterflies are running amok in my chest. “That’s not what you said yesterday.”
“I wanted to punish you for hurting and disrespecting me,” I admit. Frankie would be so disappointed in me for not playing the game, but I don’t think I have it in me to be anything but honest. Especially when it comes to my feelings for this man. “I wanted you to know what it’s like to want something you can’t have.”
Leo barks out an incredulous laugh before briefly brushing his lips against mine. The groan that leaves my mouth is borderline animalistic. He tips my chin up with his finger, forcing my gaze to lock on his. “I have spent the past year wanting something I can’t have. Trust me, I’m well accustomed to the feeling.”
My heart careens viciously against my rib cage as his words sink bone-deep. I think he’s talking about me, but I need to know. “Are you talking about me?”
He doesn’t answer me immediately. He just stares at me as he holds me in an ironclad grip at my nape. Feeling more of that stupid bravery, I place one hand on his chest, careful not to touch anywhere near his sore shoulder. Leo stares at me, and I watch the conflict wash over his face. “I cannot answer that question because one of us needs to be strong.” Gently, he lets go of my neck and removes my hand from his chest. “Your fiancé is on his way here, Nat. I believe that’s all the reminder we need. What happened yesterday can never happen again.”
“I love you,” I blurt as tears sting the backs of my eyes. “I don’t want to marry Carlo. I want to marry you.” I grab his arm. “Please, Leo. If you have feelings for me, and I think you do, then fight for us. Fight for me.”
His fingers wind into my hair, and he holds me close. “Your father would never permit you to marry a lowlysoldato, and your marriage contract has been in place for years. If I could, I would fight to the ends of time for you,dolcezza. But rebelling would only get us both killed.” He rests his forehead against mine. “I wish things could be different. I wish it with my whole heart. But this is our reality, and our feelings don’t come into it.”
A sob rips from my throat. “It hurts, Leo. I want to be with you so badly. Every time I see you, I want your arms around me and your mouth on mine. It hurts not to be with you.”
“Shush,dolcezza.” He presses a lingering kiss into my hair. “The pain will lessen in time.”
I know it won’t, but there is no point arguing it. I should consider this a victory because he has all but confirmed he feels the same way about me. However, he has made it clear he won’t act on it. He can’t be my white knight riding to the rescue. I know it would mean absolute death for him, and I could never live with that. “I don’t see how I can live without you, but I love you enough to walk away to keep you safe.”
His mouth comes down on mine in the softest, sweetest kiss, and it’s everything. My hands rest on his shoulders while his rest on my waist as we indulge in a slow, sensual kiss I know I will remember for the rest of my life. Leo may be afraid to say the words, but I feel his heart in the tender sweep of his lips.
“I need you to promise me something,” he says, pulling me into his arms when he breaks the kiss.
