I tap the paper. “So, where’s the trap?”
“There isn’t one,” he says quietly.
I laugh once, sharp and humorless. “You understand why I don’t believe you.”
He nods. “Yes.” A beat. He swallows. “The only protection in this is from me.”
I force myself to stay sharp. “Why now?”
He exhales. “Because I already did the damage.” His voice cracks slightly, then steadies. “And because your program is bigger than my guilt. And,” he adds, voice quieter, “because I learned something from you.”
I narrow my eyes. “What?”
He hesitates, like he’s afraid this will sound manipulative. “That the work is the point.” A beat. “And that I don’t get to skip it.”
My throat tightens so hard it almost hurts.
I look away. Toward Gwen, who is very pointedly not staring at us but definitely watching like a hawk. A protective, sarcastic hawk.
I look back at Leo. “You realize none of this fixes what you did.”
“Yes,” he says instantly. “I’m not offering it as a fix.”
“Good,” I say.
He nods. “Good.”
I should walk away right now. I should fold the paper, hand it back, and tell him to disappear. But my feet don’t move.
“Tess,” Leo says.
“Ten minutes,” I remind him. “We had ten minutes.”
He nods. “Right. Ten minutes.”
“I won’t do this again,” he says quietly. “If you tell me no, that’s it. I won’t ask twice.”
My chest tightens despite myself.
“Ok,” I say. “Talk.”
He inhales, slow and steady, like he’s bracing himself for impact.
“I don’t want the last thing between us to be the worst version of me.”
That hits. Not because it’s romantic. Because it’s honest.
“I don’t want to fix you,” he says quickly, like he knows how that would sound. “And I don’t want you to fix me. I just…” He swallows. “I want a chance to show you who I am when I’m not panicking. When I’m not hiding behind money or momentum or leverage.”
Silence stretches between us.
“I’m asking for something smaller,” he says. “Something you control.”
I tilt my head. “Like what?”
He hesitates, then meets my eyes fully. “One date.”
I bark out a laugh before I can stop myself. It’s sharp. Incredulous. “You have got to be kidding me.”
