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“Believe what?” she asked slowly. Waiting for him to finish his denial. To finish saying he hadn’t sent Harry to escort her out of the castle, just hours after they had sex.
To deny any of it. All of it.
Something.
“I was merely giving you what you wanted when I told you to go,” he said point-blank. “Or is that not what you want anymore?”
“What I want is for you to tell the truth for once in your life,” she said, digging her nails into her palms.
He flexed his jaw and stared down at her. “You don’t want to hear the truth. No matter what I say, you’ll believe the worst of me. I’m done defending myself when I haven’t done anything wrong. Go. Leave. Clearly there’s nothing worth saving here.”
“I…I…” No words would come, and she broke off, staring at him with wide eyes, because hearing him say that… It made her feel ill.
It made her…made her…
Oh God.
He watched her coldly, without a hint of emotion, and she opened her mouth to tell him to go fuck himself. Instead, a strangled sob escaped, and she covered her mouth in horror. She hadn’t cried in almost nine years. Not since he left her at the airport.
She took off running, tripping over the raised sidewalk as she fled for the waiting car. She stumbled forward, catching herself, but lost her shoe in the process.
Glancing over her shoulder, she saw him striding toward her, his jaw tight, hand outstretched to help her to her feet.
“Hell,” she muttered under her breath, abandoning the shoe and bolting for the car. The second she threw herself inside it, tears streaming down her face, she slammed the door shut and shouted, “Go! Go, go, go!”
The driver stepped on the gas, and she left Leo standing in the driveway, watching her with wide eyes and an outstretched hand…
And her shoe at his feet.
Chapter Seventeen
Leo walked into his office, her sneaker in his hand and his heart beating harder than a war drum before a battle. Everything inside of him, every damn muscle and thought and nerve, screamed for him to go after Alicia.
But he’d forced himself on her enough times, and she clearly didn’t trust him, or care about him, and she never would. No matter what he said or did, she would still think he was the type of guy who would leave her standing alone in an airport, and not give a damn. There was nothing he could do to change that.
He shut the door behind him, and Harry stood, looking nervous. Good. He should be fucking nervous. “I—”
Leo held up a hand and commanded, “Silence.”
Harry shut up instantly, staring at him with fear.
“Why did you do it?” he asked, his voice hard.
“I asked Alicia to leave so you wouldn’t have to, Your Highness,” Harry said quickly, tugging on his collar. “You said this morning she was free to go, so I simply—”
“So you packed up her belongings and pushed her out the door, without telling me?”
Harry averted his eyes. “For your own benefit, of course.”
“Bullshit.” He tossed Alicia’s sneaker on the chair in front of his desk and went around behind it. “That wasn’t for my benefit, and you know it.”
“The team decided it was best for her to exit quietly, all things considered.” Harry forced a smile. “With your father gone, there’s a lot on your mind, and we didn’t want you to have any undue stress because of her.”
He nodded slowly and sat down in his chair, crossing an ankle over his knee. “And that’s also why you wrote to her, all those years ago, and left her at the airport.”
“Yes, I—” Harry froze, all signs of color leaving his cheeks. “I…uh…I don’t know what you mean, Your Highness.”
“Who decided she wasn’t worth the trouble?” Leo asked slowly, resting his palms on his desk and leaning forward. “Who made that call for me, without asking what I wanted?”
