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I straightened and cleared my throat. “He wouldn’t.”
Atticus looked past me at Leo and smirked. “He will.”
Wordlessly, Atticus got out of his car and tossed me the keys. “What kind of car is this?” I asked distractedly while getting into the driver’s seat. Leo stared Atticus down while circling the car and settling in the seat beside me, Leo’s expression a mask of stone.
“Rolls-Royce, the Boat Tail model to be exact.”
I revved the engine, adrenaline coursing through me. “Is it expensive?”
“Very.”
I gripped the steering wheel. “So if I scratch it, you’ll kill me?” I asked. August never let me drive his expensive cars when we were teens. Said I was too delicate for such power.
“Total it, baby. As long as you don’t hurt yourself, I don’t give a fuck about the car.”
Swoon.
“Can we fucking go already?” Leo asked.
“Can you tell August I’m safe and I’ll be back by the end of the day?” I didn’t want him chasing us down and ruining Leo’s only day off. But I still needed a bit of a breather from this place.
“Can I let him stew for an hour, first?” Atticus asked.
“Fine.”
Atticus tossed me his aviators and, with a wink, started walking up the path toward the castle.
I drove off with an angry Leo riding at my side.
After the excitement of kissing Atticus had worn off, I settled into uncomfortable silence with Leo. He seemed to be stewing with anger as I drove down the streets of Aldrich, turning heads in this fancy as fuck car that hugged the curves in the road like a skilled lover.
“You should have just stayed at the castle,” he grunted finally. We were only a few minutes away from his mother’s flat.
“I didn’t want to spend my day with a smile plastered to my face, wearing an uncomfortable dress and making public appearances.”
He let out a belittling laugh. “So leave. You’re about to spend the rest of your life doing that. You don’t want to be here. You don’t need to be here. You could leave and enjoy your freedom. Leave me the fuck alone and marry a nice boy that won’t fuck every model that walks by.”
I shook my head. “August would find me.”
“He didn’t before,” Leo snapped.
“He would now.”
Leo stared out the window while angrily shaking his head. “Right. You’ve got a magic pussy, and suddenly he cares.”
I checked the rearview mirror for cars behind us and, when I saw it was clear, slammed on the brakes, throwing the car in park before glaring at him. “What the fuck is your problem, Leo?”
He twisted in his seat to look at me. “You! You are my problem. You were safe, Christine. And now you’re back here in the thick of it. You’re going to let those men chew you up and spit you out. And what? I’m just supposed to watch it happen? Break you out for a little fun rendezvous but bring you back to him at the end of the day?” He got up in my face, the veins in his neck thudding with anger. “I still see it, you know.” He tapped his temple manically. “I still see you, hovering over Lord Geralt with his blood on your skin. That fucking look of terror in your eyes. I can still feel—” He paused to pat his chest just over his heart while lowering his voice. “I can still feel you trembling in my arms.”
The visual he summoned in my mind made my throat close with emotion. I usually pushed those thoughts as far back into the recesses of my memory as possible. I hated resurrecting the weakest version of myself.
“Stop,” I croaked.
Leo wasn’t deterred by my pain. “Feel that, Christine? That hopeless feeling, that weakness. That’s what the rest of your life is going to be if you stay, and you won’t fucking listen.”
“I can’t leave. You want me to just hop on some fisherman’s boat without a plan? Without money? You’d lose your job and potentially get arrested. I doubt I’d make it a day. What about your mother, hmm? Your sister?”
“Then let Atticus help you leave!” he roared. “You’re pretty cozy with him. He has the resources to get you safely out of here. You could kiss this kingdom goodbye and never look back.”
