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‘This is not the time or place.’
Helena glared at each man before turning to murmur something to the nurse hovering in the doorway behind her. The woman muttered a reply, levelled a stern look at the men, then disappeared. Helena came into the room, her movements short, stiff, and stood shoulder to shoulder with Leo.
This time Shaw threw his head back and laughed. ‘Of course!’ he exclaimed to the ceiling. ‘I should have guessed.’ He snapped his chin down, pinned his daughter with a contemptuous stare. ‘Some things never change—you’re still a disloyal slut.’
Rage exploded in Leo’s chest. Before his brain could intervene his muscles jolted into action. Within seconds his hands were twisted in the front of Shaw’s shirt and he had the man pinned to a wall.
‘Leo—stop!’
Helena’s voice barely registered over the roar in his ears, but her firm touch on his arm dragged him back to his senses. Sucking in a deep breath, he dropped his hands, appalled by how swiftly the urge to do violence had overtaken him. That was Shaw’s MO, he reminded himself with a flare of disgust, not his.
He stepped back and Shaw eyed him with a supercilious sneer that made Leo, for one tenth of a second, want to wipe the look off his face and to hell with being the better man.
Shaw straightened his attire and brushed himself off as if Leo’s touch had left him soiled.
Pompous ass.
Helena turned to her father, her pale features set in the cool, dignified mask Leo had learnt to recognise as her protective armour. A week ago that very mask had bugged the hell out of him. Now her poise under pressure drew his unbridled respect.
‘Leo’s right,’ she said, her voice as cold and sharp as a blade of ice. ‘You’re nothing but a coward and a bully.’
Shaw’s face darkened, but Helena showed no fear. She stepped closer, and Leo braced himself to intervene if Shaw made any sudden moves.
‘You tried so often to make me feel like a failure as a child. To make me feel worthless. But the truth is there’s only one failure in this family and it’s not me or Mum.’ Her chin jutted up. ‘It’s you. It’s always been you.’ She pulled the strap of her handbag higher up her shoulder. ‘Go home, Douglas,’ she said, her voice quieter, weary now. ‘My mother doesn’t want to see you.’
And then she stepped back, looked at Leo.
‘I’m ready to go whenever you are.’
Stiff and proud, she strode out of the room and Leo bolted after her, ignoring the man whose bluster had withered to a hard, brittle silence. A few days ago Leo would have sold his soul for a chance to face off with the man. Now there Shaw stood and Leo couldn’t care less. The only face he wanted to see was Helena’s.
He caught her in the corridor, pulled her gently to a stop. The tears on her cheeks caused a sharp burning sensation in his chest.
She swiped at her face with the heel of her hand. ‘Please, just take me home.’
He frowned, picturing the cramped flat he’d cast an appalled eye over four days ago. He had announced with unequivocal authority that she would stay with him at the hotel.
‘Home?’ he echoed, his stomach pitching at the idea of taking her back there.
‘I mean the hotel. Just anywhere that’s not here.’
His innards levelled out. ‘Si. Of course.’ He cradled her damp face in his hands, pressed a kiss to her forehead. ‘Will you wait here one minute for me?’
She nodded and he kissed her again—on the mouth this time—then released her and headed back to the visitors’ room.
Shaw hadn’t gone far. He stood by the window, much as Leo had earlier, staring down at the rain-soaked streets.
He glanced over his shoulder, his top lip curling. ‘What do you want now, Vincenti?’
‘To give you some advice.’
Shaw snorted. ‘This should be good.’
Leo stood a few paces shy of the older man. ‘Next time you feel the need to lash out,’ he said, undaunted by the sudden fierce glower on Shaw’s face, ‘stay away from your wife. If you do not, and I hear that you have harmed her, know that I will come after you and do everything in my power to see you prosecuted in a court of law.’
He eyeballed Shaw just long enough to assure the man his threat was genuine, then started to leave, his thoughts already shifting back to Helena.
‘Let me give you a piece of advice, son.’
