CHAPTER NINE
Domina
Leo’sgentle touch at the small of my back reassures me as I lead him to my office. Throwing my arms around him was impulsive—even reckless—but this morning has been one stressful moment after another.
When I stepped through the doors at half-past six, I found chaos. Papers scattered over every surface, laptops in pieces, picture frames broken with glass littering the floor. I screamed, fled back outside, and called the police. Rafael was the next to arrive—only five minutes later—but I couldn’t stop shaking until the National Police and the IPS started questioning everyone.
Then, I was numb.
They only returned my phone and laptop moments before Leo showed up. When I saw his message, I wanted to cry.
The worst part of the morning? Telling Manuel and his detail about the attack at my apartment. I should have reported it to the IPS the night it happened. Instead, I had to listen to the agents berate me until Manuel told them he would not stand for their rudeness.
After that, every time someone called my name, I almost jumped out of my skin.
And then I heard his voice.
Shutting my office door, I gesture to the visitor’s chair, but Leo backs me up against the dark wood. “Lock it.”
“Wh-what?” This close, with him pressed against me and his hands rubbing up and down my arms, my body comes alive in a way I’ve never felt before.
“You heard me. Lock it.”
I fumble behind my back, and as soon as the lockthunks, Leo cups my neck and leans down to press his lips to mine. Gentle at first, then desperate. Small nips of his teeth, a single, bold stroke of his tongue, and I’m on fire. The world falls away, and there’s only the two of us, fused together like our lives depend on it.
His fingers slide higher, into my hair, and he angles my head so he can deepen the kiss. Oh, my God. I’ve never felt so wanted, so…needed.
He draws back too soon. We’re both out of breath, and I cannot bring myself to let go.
Warm, calloused fingers trail along my jaw. “I’m sorry. You don’t want anything to do with me. But I had to know what it was like—just once—to kiss you.” Stepping back, he shoves his hands into his pockets. “It won’t happen again.”
“What if I want it to?” Shock lifts his brow, and he snaps his mouth shut. “What I did…the night of the storm…” My cheeks—already on fire from that kiss—burn even hotter. “It was wrong. I asked you to trust me. ButIdid not trustyou. I should not have walked out on you. Not the way I did.”
“You had every right…”
“I did not. And I should have said all of this yesterday when you changed my locks. But we will talk about that later. Now, I am more interested in why you are here. You were so certain I wanted ‘nothing to do with you,’ yet you came anyway?”
I grab his wrist, the scars smooth under my touch. The past two nights, I have tossed and turned, playing everything I know about this man on a loop in my head. The look on his face when I walked out? There was no deception in his gaze. Only pain. When he promised he would never lie to me, I knew he was telling the truth. He’s a good man, even if he does not see it.
“I sent you a message when I heard about the break-in. You didn’t reply, and…I had to know if you were all right.” The rough edge to his voice raises goosebumps along the back of my neck. “Some asshole forces his way into your apartment three nights ago, and now this? They’re related, Domina. I just don’t know who the real target is. Cortez…or you.”
* * *
HearingLeo say the words is like a punch to the face—my second of the week—and I back up until I hit the edge of my desk. Panic lends a shimmer to the world, then darkness creeps in along the edges of my vision.
“Domina. Take a breath.” Leo molds his hands to my hips, steadying me. But I cannot do what he asks. All morning, I managed to ignore the warning bells going off in my head. There was so much to do. All the interviews, working with the IT department to give them access to our computers and phones, cleaning up the fingerprint dust that coveredeverything…
But now, all I can think about is the danger I could be in. How can I ever go home? Or walk down the street unafraid?
“Look at me, baby. No one is getting to you when I’m around.”
He sounds so certain. But he has no weapon. No agency behind him. I meet his gaze and find the strength to clear my throat. “Cortez—Manuel—he will provide security if there is a threat. I hope.”
Leo sinks down into my guest chair and tugs me until I’m sitting in his lap, my legs draped across his. With his arms around me, I feel safe. Protected in a way I did not know possible.
“The Institutional Protection Service is highly trained,” he says, “but their job is to guard the president and vice president. How many people work in this office?”
“Manuel has twenty-seven people on his staff at the Presidential Palace and sixteen of us working here, including me. Marissa is in Santiago—her sister just had a baby—and Artesio suffered a heart attack last week. He’s still in the hospital.”
