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Beatrice cleared her throat. “I know. You’re right.”
Aurora switched her gaze from Leonardo to his younger half-sister. “Huh?”
Beatrice’s green eyes were earnest. “I’m sorry, Rors. I was… shocked. I felt… side lined and surprised. All our friendship, I thought we shared everything. To learn that you’d had a serious relationship, with Leo of all people, was totally overwhelming. I felt betrayed at first. But none of this is really about me.” She looked at Peter, a small smile on her face. “I’ve got my own relationship to think of. That’s my concern. Not what you two do. All I care about is that you are both happy, in your own ways.” She cleared her throat again. “I should have called you sooner, but… I’ll admit I was a bit mad.”
Aurora nodded. “Leo’s right. Lying to you was a nightmare. I hated it. I hated keeping such an important part of my life from you.”
Beatrice shrugged. “I don’t get how you did. I mean, you and I were together all the time. I looked back at my diary, and we had dinners with Leo in those two years. I knew you guys sort of fancied one another, but that was it.” She shook her head. “You totally had me fooled.”
“How did you find out?” Aurora asked the question that she’d been thinking since the wedding.
Peter stepped forward, his hands still thrust deep in his pant pockets. “That would be Alec. A man scorned, etcetera, etcetera.”
Leo swore softly, and turned away from them. Aurora ran a hand through her hair. “I told him from the beginning that I was still in love with Leo.” She shook her head. “I never meant to lead him on.” Beside her, Leonardo was very still, his body completely unmoving.
“He knows that. He’s not angry. He’s disappointed though.” Peter winked. “We’ll just have to find him another supermodel, I guess.”
“That’s not what I am,” Aurora inserted without thinking.
“Do you guys have dinner plans?” Beatrice asked, her reserved nature fading swiftly, and her normal cheery self re-asserting itself.
“Oh…” Aurora looked at Leonardo. “Leo has some team thing on, don’t you?”
He nodded, staring out beyond them at the twinkling lights of the enormous city. “You go with Beatrice, S.B. You’ll have much more fun.”
Aurora grinned. “Only if you’re sure?”
His smile was loaded with dark emotion. “That’s the happiest I’ve seen you since we left England. Of course I’m sure.” He kissed her forehead.
“Great.” She grinned at the newlywed. “I’ll meet you in the lobby in, shall we say, an hour? I just need to get the humidity layer off.”
“Perfect.” Beatrice blew a kiss as they departed.
And Aurora felt as though a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. As soon as they were alone, she pressed a hand against Leonardo’s shoulder. “How come you didn’t tell me they were coming?”
His expression was grim. “I wasn’t sure they would until we walked in the room.”
Aurora was quiet. “I don’t understand?”
“Don’t you?”
“No.” She shook her head. “Did you organise this?”
“You weren’t happy.” He shrugged. “Beatrice was being unreasonable. It was not difficult to realise I could make you happy by getting her to be more reasonable.”
“I don’t understand. She’s stubborn. She hasn’t returned any of my calls. What did you say to her to get her to back down?”
He leaned over and kissed her forehead. “I told her that you deserved better.”
She frowned. “That’s it?”
“More or less.” He ran his hands over her dress, until he found the zipper at the back. Slowly, he eased it down. “I’m going to shower before the meeting. Join me?”
He pushed the dress aside, so that it slipped off her shoulders and fell to the floor. She was not wearing a bra beneath, just a pair of black lace underpants. Leonardo groaned at the sight of her and buried his face against the soft skin of her shoulder. “Though I would much prefer to be staying here with you all night.”
She pushed aside any thoughts of Beatrice and lifted Leonardo’s shirt over his dark head. “Me too. Let’s cancel our plans.”
His laugh was a low rumble. “Very, very tempting.”
