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“I’m not here to judge either of you, merely to offer a voice of reason.”
“I’m a reasonable person,” I said.
“I know, it is one of the things I respect the most about you, which is why I came to you first. This thing between you two is going to end. At some point it will be over because it has nowhere to go.”
I already knew that, but somehow it hurt hearing it out loud. It chipped away at the small piece of hope in my chest.
“I see you’ve been talking to Regan.”
“Regan wants the same thing I do, for Leo to be happy. I don’t say this to offend you, Paige. I like you a lot, actually. I think you are very smart and responsible and a proven asset. But Leandro’s life and responsibilities are different.”
“I’m aware.”
“You don’t fit, Paige. You’re . . .”
“Temporary,” I said. “Like I said, I’m aware.”
He gave a sad smile. “I don’t say this to upset you, I just don’t want you or Leandro hurt. He wasn’t the same after Sara left. And every day it kills him, knowing he has a family out there he will never see again.”
I knew that too. After talking with Leo tonight and watching his face twist with pain as he recalled the past . . . it made me hurt for him. With him.
“He deserves to move on and have a woman and family of his own.”
I nodded. He did deserve that. And Kyros only voiced what I knew, and what Leo knew. I wasn’t that woman. I didn’t hold a future for him in that regard.
“I appreciate your concern, Kyros. I have no delusions as to what my relationship or my standing is with Leo.”
He frowned. “And what of Leandro’s delusions?”
“I don’t know what you mean.?
??
Kyros smiled. “I see the way he looks at you, Paige. That’s why Regan and I are both so worried. If this is doomed to fail between you two . . .”
I shook my head. If there was one person in over their head, it was me. Surely not Leo. “He’ll be fine, Kyros. We both know our relationship has an end date.” I wanted to ask if being with me would be so bad though. But it was a momentary lapse in judgment. Because Kyros’s answer wouldn’t have mattered.
“Have a good night, Paige.”
“Yeah . . .” Like that was going to happen.
He nodded and I walked past him, through the grass toward my little house. Nothing about tonight felt temporary, but everything about my life around me was. Kyros was right, and for the first time in a long time, I wasn’t my own voice of reason.
Leo was clouding my logic. The logic I clung to and operated on. And I couldn’t bring myself to care about the ramifications. Not right then. Maybe not tomorrow. Maybe not even after this whole thing blew up in my face. Because while I told him about a piece of my past, the thing that haunted me, I didn’t tell Leo the whole truth about my world. Didn’t tell him about my life now, and the shit storm it had become. Didn’t tell him I was on borrowed time in more ways than one, waiting for the bottom to fall out and change my life forever.
That speck of hope I had was already dangerous, because I hoped to God this scandal would blow over and the money would be found. And I also hoped that tomorrow I’d wake up and be the woman I’d been fighting to be since I was a kid.
One who was respected. Wanted. Valued. One who was good enough for a man like Leo.
As the grass crunched against my heels and I walked farther away from Leo and his warmth, the more I doubted either of those things happening. I’d always fought for what I wanted. The problem was, Leo wasn’t mine to have. Wasn’t mine to fight for. All I had was this job, for now, and a plan for a better future and fresh start.
Yet somehow that fresh start began to feel more and more empty than appealing.
I walked into Leo’s office just as he said, “I’m sorry you feel that way,” and hung up the phone. Leo looked equally amused and annoyed. It had been a busy week, and I came bearing good news.
“Everything alright?” I asked.
At work we’d kept a professional relationship, especially in front of the eyes of others. Unless you counted Leo’s eyes and the way he could undress me with them in a room full of people, making me instantly hot and racing to get away before I jumped him. But the nights? I always seemed to find my way to him. Then I left, hoping that cutting out before I fell asleep would somehow help this growing addiction I had for Leo’s touch and company.
