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Leo looked confused. “I thought that your mother left.”
I tried to ignore the sting that his words caused me. “She did,” I said. “She didn’t want to be part of the Bratva anymore after I was born. Apparently, that was the point when she decided that she had had enough.”
I never spoke about my mother. There was no point in it. I didn’t know the woman, and even if I did, I didn’t respect her. Who the hell just leaves their kid? I wasn’t the maternal type, but it wasn’t something that I could ever have done.
A warm hand encompassed mine, and I jumped slightly at the feeling of his fingers. “I’m sorry,” he said.
I was used to those words. Whenever people found out that my mother abandoned me, they immediately apologized, as if it were their place to do so.
I hated the perceived weakness that they saw in me, probably, because deep down, I knew it was there.
Not having a mother was a bitch.
But I wasn’t about to tell Leo that. “It’s fine,” I said, sliding my hand under his and placing it in my lap. “I’m better off. If there’s one thing that I’m sure we both know it’s that this life isn’t for the weak.
Leo chuckled. “I don’t think that anyone would ever look at you and think you are weak.”
“My father did.”
I spoke the words before I could stop them, and I tried not to cringe as they slipped out. Though I knew that Leo was well aware of how I felt about being passed over, I hated that there was so much emotion happening in this conversation. I was supposed to be getting information about him, not the other way around.
“There’s a lot going on in the organization right now,” Leo told me.
I shook my head. “I keep hearing that,” I rebutted in frustration. “But no one has told me why, except that I’m a woman, and also, impulsive.”
Leo visibly cringed. “I shouldn’t have said that.”
“I thought that you said that you meant it.”
“I did,” he said. “But I also know that your impulsivity isn’t the reason that your father wants us married.”
I felt myself growing more frustrated, and I didn’t really know who to direct it at. It wasn’t Leo’s fault that he was brought into it. From the little that he alluded to, it seemed that my father was the one who came to him. But why? What was it about Leo that caused my father to go to him?
“I’m glad that you know because I don’t. Do you care to share?”
Leo pressed his fingers to his temple. “That’s a conversation for you and your father to have.”
I bit the inside of my cheek to try and stop myself from screaming in frustration. “I would love to, but I also know not to waste my breath. He’s not going to tell me anything.”
“And neither am I.”
Pressing the issue was pointless. I knew that. I was going to have to discover what the hell was going on without help. Just another mystery to add to my ever-growing pile.
“I don’t want to argue with you anymore,” Leo said. His deep voice broke me out of my thoughts.
“Then, maybe don’t be an asshole,” I told him as I shoved a spoonful of half melted vanilla ice cream in my mouth. “I’m not one of the many groupies I’m sure you’ve acquired over the years. I’m not going to fall at your feet simply because you think I should. My entire life, I thought I was taking over. I expected to be in charge. That didn’t just go away because my father decided he’d like to go in a different direction.”
“And I don’t expect it to,” Leo told me.
He leaned forward. “Which is why I wanted you to come out with me.”
“I thought you wanted to apologize?”
He chuckled. “I do, but I also wanted to get to know you.” He held up his hand to stop me from what I was going to say next. “I know that you want to get out of this marriage, but neither of us are going to get out of this.”
I snorted. “How romantic.”
This time he didn’t smile. “It’s the truth, and you know it. I’m not going to insult you by sugar coating things.”
