This time he does chuckle, twisting his head so he is looking at me, and I do the same, smiling wide at him. “Glad I can entertain you.”
“Well, well, look what we have here.” Ezra comes sauntering into the sauna and sits down on the bench opposite us, his eyes trailing over me, and I shift in my seat. “I thought the rumors were false and you were putting on a show last night. There is no way you two are a couple. But you look very cozy here. What am I saying? Of course it’s fake.” He laughs. “What did you say about him, Ria? Oh, wait, I remember. He’s like another annoying little brother.” Leo rises from his spot next to me and takes my towel off the hook before passing it to me. I silently thank him and wrap myself up.
“What is your point, Ezra?” I glare at him.
“My point is this little plan you have won’t work.”
“What plan?” Leo scoffs.
“This plan to pretend you’re married and happily in love to swipe that contract out from under my nose.”
“I don’t need to be married to swipe that contract from you.” I sneer across at Ezra.
“Oh, but you do because Cole and I have gotten close recently, and he told me all about how he found out you got married in Vegas. Very classy, by the way, Ria. Now to save face and not admit that you got married to your brother's best friend because you were drunk off your ass and not because you were so desperately in love and couldn’t wait, you're playing Cole. It’s going to be fun to expose you, and then that contract will be mine.”
“You don’t know shit.” Leo seethes, crossing his arms across his chest and staring hard at Ezra.
“I think I do.” He leans forward and rests his elbows on his knees. “Because you may have Cole believing your little story,but I’ve spent too much time with the both of you, and even if you’re really in love, it won’t last. You’re a control freak.” His cold eyes meet mine. “You refuse to stray from a plan and you…” He faces Leo. “You’re the biggest player I know, and you have the platinum membership at Enigma. That's not the sort of place you’d take a control freak like Ria to. Trust me. She won’t give you what you can get in there, and she knows it. She isn’t the type of woman that would hold the attention of a man with your tastes.”
Tears start to prickle at the backs of my eyes, and I tighten my hold on the towel around me. The look in Ezra’s eyes shows he knows he’s hit a nerve.
“I think you need to be careful with your next words, St. Claire,” Leo growls.
“You like a woman you can play with, Leo, and Ria? She doesn’t play well.”
“Excuse me.” Standing, I rush past Leo, fighting the urge not to cry as I exit the sauna, my relaxed state now well and truly vanished, hearing Ezra’s wicked laughter echoing in my head.
Chapter 37
Leo
“Who the fuck do you think you are?” I growl, towering down at Ezra.
“Just giving you some home truths. I know you’ve always had a thing for Ria.”
“A thing?”
“I saw how you looked at her when we were together.” He snickers. “You may have had Hunter fooled, but I saw. You wanted Ria and you hated that I had her.”
“I hated that you treated her like shit.” Snarling, I get right in his face.
“Well, now you have your wish,” he grits out. “You get to be her husband, but I’ll have her company.”
“Like fuck you will.”
“We will see.”
“Leo?” Trixie’s soft voice has me holding back from pummeling my fist into this posh prick's face. “I just passed Ria and she looked really upset. Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, it will be.” Giving Ezra one last scowl, I straighten before turning to leave, my muscles bunched tight.
Finding my sweats in the changing room, I throw them on along with my T-shirt, my whole body vibrating as I toss my bag over my shoulder and head to find Ria.
What the fuck did he mean, he’ll have her company? What the hell is he playing at?
Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I dial Ria’s number, pressing it to my ear, but it goes straight to her voicemail. “Shit.” Pacing the impressive reception area, my mind races with where she could have gone. I know that asshole has hit a nerve, pushing a button that she has carefully guarded.
I was hoping after last night, today would be the perfect time to show her more of what we could be like together, and not just the physical because she is more to me than that.
