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CHAPTERFIFTEEN
“Where is Leo?” Natasha asked.
We were outside of the hotel that was hosting the cocktail party for the Bratva. That was what I took to calling it since I did not know what the purpose of this party was except for the fact that I was supposed to show up on Leo’s arm.
I was sure that at this point most of the Bratva knew that I was being married off to Leo, but apparently, my father wanted to put on a show. I did not know who it was supposed to benefit, because it certainly wasn’t for me.
“We are meeting here,” I said, pulling my shawl closer around my body. I had rushed home after spending the day at the library looking at information on Leo, and I had had to call him to see about meeting at the hotel instead of having him pick me up, since I needed the extra time to get myself ready.
“I look like shit,” I said, trying to brush my hands through my hair. It was down and slightly damp from my shower.
“You look great,” Natasha said. She gave me a smile, and I knew that she was trying her best to try and make things right after the things that happened between the two of us this morning.
I returned her smile. “You don’t need to lie to me,” I told her. I shrugged around in my dress trying to get the thing to feel comfortable on my skin. The dress was a simple black number with a sweetheart neckline and a gold belt. It was a little more conservative than I normally would have chosen, and I had actually worn black tights with it and low kitten heels.
I had been so frazzled that I grabbed the first things that my hands grabbed. “I look like I am going to church.”
This made Natasha laugh. “It shows how long that you have not been in church, because I am pretty certain that you would not be allowed in with that much skin showing.”
“Who would not be allowed in church?”
Both Natasha and I jumped as Leo snuck up behind the two of them. “Jesus,” I said, pressing a hand to my chest. I could feel my heart beating heavily, and I thought that it was going to jump out of my skin.
“Sorry,” he said. “I did not think that I was going to scare the two of you.”
I sneered at him. “Are you serious?” I asked. “You just sneaked up on us like some sort of weird ninja.”
This made Leo laugh. The sound was nice, but I could not help but feel a sense of sadness as I compared him to the young man who was in those photos. He had smiled more easily, and it had reached his eyes. I noticed that that was not the case now. There was a guard that he kept up, and my curiosity was dying to know if it was because he killed his girlfriend, or if he had just been caught up in a tragic web of grief.
“What?” Leo asked, pressing a hand to my face. “Did I nick myself? I had to rush here from a meeting, so I got ready in my office.”
I shook my head. It was such a normal thing to say, and for a moment, I wondered what life with Leo would be like. At some point, he wanted a normal life. So much so that he would have given up everything that he knew. Why would he give that all up even if his girlfriend had died, and what did my father have to do with it?
I released a heavy breath. All of these lies, and mysteries were frustrating the fuck out of me.
“Good luck,” Natasha said. She placed a hand on Leo’s lapel, giving him a soft tap. “She’s in a mood tonight.”
I frowned at my cousin as she walked into the hotel. “Traitor,” I muttered under my breath.
I turned to Leo, giving him my full attention. I reached up and caught the edge of his lapel, running my hand down the edge of it. “You clean up nice,” I said, seductively. “Maybe, we should make a detour in the coatroom. After all, it turns out that I enjoy a little bit of an audience.”
I clenched my thighs together as I thought about how Leo had fingered me under the table of the restaurant. I had done a lot in my day, but no one had ever fucked me in public. The idea of doing it right under my father and grandmother’s nose thrilled me, and I could feel my silk thong starting to soak with my arousal.
But Leo was looking at me closely, his dark eyes peeling away the layers around me until he saw something that made him frown. “What’s wrong?”
I snorted. “You aren’t serious, are you?” I asked.
Leo blinked. Apparently, he thought that I was going to simply give him a demure “Nothing.” I didn’t do demure well, which might work to my advantage because it seemed that Leo was able to figure me out with more ease than I cared to admit.
“I don’t know what you mean.”
My mouth dropped. “For someone so smart, you are kind of a dunce.”
I walked past him and up the small stairs that led me into the hotel.
“Wait,” Leo said, reaching out to grab my wrist. “What the hell is wrong?” I looked at him with my mouth slightly open. I really could not tell if he was serious or not. Maybe he was, or maybe he wasn’t, but either way, he was acting completely obtuse.
“I thought that things were good between us, especially after last night.”
