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No one knew about how theirbreakup– no one knew how that one fucking word had changed her life completely, leaving Bobby empty. And now Sabastian was asking her to open her world again to the man who had destroyed it so ruthlessly.
She clutched Sabastian’s shirt. “Please,” she said brokenly. “Please don’t make me do this.”
“I’m not making you do anything, Bobby. You know I’m not. I won’t force you to go with him. But if you do – then this is your chance to do it, to have that closure without losing your pride.” Sabastian’s voice became a low fierce whisper. “If I had the same chance, I’d grab it with both hands.”
“I don’t need closure,” she protested almost feverishly. “He needed a good girl to be his fake girlfriend and I was that girl. He was smart enough to know I couldn’t have played the role if I didn’t think he loved me while I was stupid enough to swallow his lies.”
Sabastian cupped her chin and made Bobby look at him. “Just take this chance, Bobby. Find out if he’s really never loved you...it’s the only way you’ll truly be free of him and start living again.”
Behind them, a voice spoke. “I believe you’re holding what’s mine.”
Bobby’s eyes begged Sabastian to say no.
Sabastian slowly released her and stepped back. Looking at Leandro and seeing the ominous expression on the other man’s face, Sabastian was almost tempted to call the entire thing off. Was he truly doing the right thing for Bobby?
If it had been him – if he had the chance to start things over again with Zee-Zee, would he have taken it? Even if it meant finding out that he had truly lost her and that she would never love him again? Or worse – that she had never loved him at all and it had purely been girlish infatuation on her part?
The answer to his questions came to him easily, an answer that had burned inside his heart for years, and it gave Sabastian the strength to look at Leandro and fall back into the role he had deliberately shouldered.
“I’m just saying this is only for today.”
Leandro’s eyes flashed. “We didn’t talk about the duration.”
“But I’m sure you won’t be holding her against her will if she proves to find you irresistible after today, won’t you?”
The way Bobby still hadn’t turned to face him, the way she was still clutching the other man’s shirt even though Sabastian had already released her made Leandro feel like he was fighting a losing battle. But pride and, more than that, his love for Bobby, prevented him from giving up.
Once, he had found a way to own her heart. Surely there was a way he could do it again.
Looking back at Sabastian, he snapped, “Today then. But don’t hold your breath.”
Sabastian smirked, knowing exactly what to do and say to get under the other man’s skin. He wanted Leandro wild with jealousy because it would make him more prone to speak the truth once he had Bobby alone with him. “I don’t need to hold my breath, Christopoulos. I know my Bobby—-”
Leandro stiffened.
“—-and I know at the end of the day, she’ll choose me.”
Sabastian looked down, and the sight of Bobby’s curled fist against his shirt pained him. It was even more painful to force her to let go, to feel her resist against letting go. “You will choose me in the end, won’t you,moro mou?”
Bobby didn’t answer.
And the fact that she didn’t gave both men hope.
****
BOBBY REMAINED STIFFand quiet, seated next to Leandro in his car. She didn’t ask where they were going – she was too afraid of what she would say or do if she found out about his plans.
Her silence gnawed at Leandro and for the thousandth time, he questioned himself.Bobby, he thought broodingly,had shown all signs of being over him. She had in fact kissed another man in front of him when the thought of kissing another woman had never even occurred to him.
“How long have you known Gabris?”
The harshly spoken words took Bobby completely by surprise, and she asked blankly, “Why do you care?”
“Because I want to know, dammit!”
“You don’t have a right to ask.”
The car screeched to a stop as Leandro made a sharp turn at the side of the road, causing Bobby to slam hard against the side of her door. “Are you crazy?” she shrieked as her heart galloped in fear. After this morning’s race, she didn’t think she could ever manage riding in anything that could go faster than 20 miles per hour.
