Leopold: Part Three (2 page)

I
’m not going
to cry
.

Unable to move, I stand there frozen. I’m about to fall apart—my hands are trembling, and it’s hard to breathe. And I feel dirty. Used. And so, so stupid.

My eyes are burning with tears, but I will them not to fall. Leo isn’t worth crying over. If I had been able to keep one shred of common sense in my head when I was around him, I could have avoided this entire situation. I have no one but myself to blame this time. I should have seen it coming—I knew his reputation. I could see the lust in his eyes, the same as with every other man. This is why I swore I wasn’t ever going to get involved with men again—it isn’t worth it, not when I’m the one left hurting when it ends.

Never. Again.
I need to erase the memory of Leo. Try my best to undo everything that’s happened so I can get on with my life, once and for all.

I pull off my robe, tossing it on the bed before I strip the entire thing—sheets, blankets, and everything Leo touched while he was here. I gather the items to put it all into the laundry. I head back through the kitchen when I’m done—I need to take a shower and clean the smell of him from my body. Better I get it off now than risk catching some random scent of him later, which will only cause me further grief.

As I walk toward the bedroom again, there’s a sudden sharp pain in my foot.

“Motherfucker.” A piece of the glass Leo broke is lodged in my foot.

Just what I need. Another reminder of
him
being here.

Droplets of blood from my new wound trail behind me as I tiptoe out of the kitchen. I make it to the bathroom and pull the glass out before starting the shower. I don’t even care enough to put a bandage on the cut—all I can really think about is getting in the shower to wash him away for good.

Stepping into the shower, I let the hot water rain over me. I had to know this was coming. I want to tell myself this is all Leo’s doing, but I know it really isn’t. He never promised me anything. I can’t imagine he’s ever promised any woman anything, ever. I guess I wanted to believe I was somehow different to him, but I obviously wasn’t. I don’t know what would possess a man to behave the way he does—except that he’s immature and has probably never been denied anything in his life. He seems to think that just because he wants something, he should be able to have it and that he shouldn’t have to wait for it—just like a spoiled toddler.

And I can’t deny that he made it clear from day one that he intended to have
me
. I really haven’t done very much to stop him, either. I might have insisted he wait a little while, and I think I called him out on the tone deaf way he speaks about women, but I knew all along it was going to end like this.
At least, I should have
.

I really wanted to believe that because the sex was so good for me, it must have been for him, too. But that’s almost as idiotic as actually believing there might have been something real between us. He’s been with so many women—so many who are so much more beautiful than me—I’m sure I pale in comparison. Why the hell would a man want to be with me when he could have any Brazilian bikini model he wanted? Or any Hollywood A-list actress? He only flew seven thousand miles to chase after me because of the conquest. Because he didn’t want to admit to himself that he’d failed at seducing a woman. That would have been too big a bruise to his ego.

I’m an idiot. And I should have known better
.

I stay in the shower for a long time, shampooing my hair three times to be sure the scent of him is gone. When I finally get out, my tiny bathroom is so steamy I can barely breathe. I put a small bandage on my foot—the stupid thing is bleeding again.

After walking to my bedroom, I open my closet and pull out some clothes. I didn’t take much with me to Rio de Campo, and I’m pretty happy everything I left still seems to be here. I pull on a sweatshirt and some leggings before I get to work on my hair—it has definitely seen better days.

It takes a while, but I finally finish getting the tangles out and I slip on some shoes to go out into my kitchen to tackle the glass on the floor.

I don’t even make it to the dining room—my feet stop moving and I stand to stare into the kitchen, once again frozen in place.

Leo has his back to me, but I see he has a broom in his hand, and he’s sweeping up the glass.

After a moment, he seems to sense me there, and he turns to me and smiles. “Ah, I see you’re done with your shower.” He glances down at the floor, motioning to the droplets of blood before he lifts his gaze to meet mine. “You shouldn’t have walked barefoot through the glass.”

“What. The.
Fuck
.” I can hear my heart pounding in my ears, and I’m pretty sure it has nothing to do with lust this time. My hands ball into fists and I consider walking across the room to punch him in the throat. Or the balls—that might be a better choice.

The smile falls from his face, but his eyes never leave mine. “I’ve had a change of heart.”

“Go fuck yourself, Leo.” My eyes narrow to slits. “And give me back my house key before you leave this time.”

“Ah, I believe the key in my possession belongs to Owen. And he entrusted me—”

“Would you like me to call the police? Or maybe you’d prefer I call one of the celebrity gossip shows?”

“I don’t believe…” His words are slow, almost calculated. “That won’t be necessary, as it turns out.”

My stomach rolls and I clutch at it. I rock onto my heels before taking a few steps back. My voice is low, trying to cover up the trembling in it. “What does that mean?”

“Nothing.” He flashes a phony grin. “It means nothing.” His eyes roam over me for a moment. “I see you’ve showered again. Pity I wasn’t here. I believe I would have very much enjoyed watching, if not participating.”

A thrill of electricity runs through me at the memory of what happened in the shower last night, but then I remember the promises I’ve just made to myself.
I’m not doing this again. It doesn’t matter if he’s only been gone a little while and now he’s changed his mind. It doesn’t matter if he really did have a change of heart. If he really does want to be with me
.

My eyes roll to the ceiling for a moment and I shake my head. “You are a
master
at changing the subject, Leo—”

“I prefer the term
master
to
Your Highness
, if you don’t mind.” He grins again.

My entire body tenses, and I’m not sure if it’s from anger or the lust I’m trying so hard to deny. I let out an exasperated breath. “Go to hell. Seriously.” I point toward the front door. “You walked out of here—it wasn’t even an hour ago. You can’t just waltz back in and think I’m going to drop my panties for you after that—”

“Of course not. I would never expect you to do that. Not immediately, in any event.” He grins again. “And I am willing to make it up to you.” He pauses. “In any manner you deem fair.”

I blink a few times. “Unbelievable.” My heart is racing—every word he says seems to make me angrier. And more turned on.

He rests his chin on the top of the broom handle. “I know of many more ways to make you say that, Elle. You haven’t seen my every—”

My jaw clenches—no matter what, I need to get him out of here before I regret it. “How can I say this so you’ll understand, Leo?” I glare at him for a few moments for effect. “Get. Out. And leave your key on the counter.” Crossing my arms over my chest, I turn on my heel and start back toward my bedroom.

“Elle—”

I spin around. “And if you have alerted the media to your presence in
my
home, I’ll be more than happy to tell them what an asshole you are. Not that anyone will be surprised about
that
.”

He frowns. “Elle…”

“What? What is so goddamned important that you came back here? You
left
. You used me and you
left
. You don’t get to change your mind about that. You made your choice. Now GET THE FUCK OUT!”

I’m out of breath—I might lose my temper on occasion, but not like
this
. I seem to have attracted every dickhead guy in southern California to me in the past—and now I’ve attracted the world’s biggest asshole. And I hate myself even more for still feeling the same attraction to him I’ve always felt—even after what’s happened.
I’m never going to learn…

“I can’t.”

I glare at him again. “The hell you can’t. Take your two legs and walk yourself the fuck back out that door. You did it once—you can do it again.”
The sooner, the better.

He nods and I see his lips curling up into another of his smiles. “Ah, yes. Elle, I’ve not forgotten about your insistence on pointing out nuance.” He bites his bottom lip, giving me another wolfish grin. “How about
I won’t
?”

“Fuck. You.”

He smiles and lifts a brow. “I assume that isn’t an offer?”

Even though he isn’t too far off, my expression must tell him it isn’t.

He clucks his tongue, giving me another small shake of his head. “Elle, really. After the night we’ve shared, you won’t give me another chance?” He lifts his brows and his eyes widen—fuck if he isn’t giving me a puppy dog look.

I let out another exasperated breath. “Tell me what’s going on. Why you changed your mind. Why the sudden change of heart—and no more of the jokes or subject changes. Tell me honestly what’s going on or you can get the fuck out of my house.”

He nods, the smile falling from his face. He stares at me for a moment before he speaks again. “It’s difficult to discuss.”

“Try.”

He lets out a breath and laces his fingers together. “I seem to have caused a bit of a stir.”

I tap my foot, waiting for him to elaborate—but he doesn’t. “Specifically?”

“I may not have been as…vigilant as I had intended.”

I close my eyes for a second and try to calm my racing pulse. “Leo…” I open my eyes and glare at him. “I’m not going to ask you again. I’m serious—this is your
final
chance. Tell me what’s going on, or you can leave. Your choice. Last chance.”

He nods and fidgets for a moment. “Yes.” His head bobs again for a few more seconds. “You know, Elle, honesty is not always—”

I point at the door. “Out.”

“Okay, yes.” His eyes dart around, and I can see he’s trying to decide what to tell me. He finally looks into my eyes. “It was a fortunate accident that the paparazzi did not follow me to Rio de Campo.”

I don’t even blink. My shoulders lift in a shrug and I flick a finger at the door.

“Yes, fine. Elle, there’s no easy way for me to tell you.”

I drop my hand to my hip. “Just fucking
say
it.”

“They know about you.”

My brows knit together. “
Who
knows about me?”

“The press.” He lets out a long breath. “Our press secretary notified Andrew and he, in turn, notified me… I suppose I should just say they have become aware of your existence.”

“I see. And what does that mean?”

“Perhaps nothing. I’m not certain they know I’m
here
…” He splays his hands in front of him. “And as long as we’re careful, no one may ever know anything.” He gives me a sheepish grin. “But I thought that under the circumstances, I should at least come back to warn you.” His eyes skim over my body. “Or…something.”

My body is betraying me again. It’s almost like his gaze contains some sort of electrical current—I can almost
feel
his eyes as they roam over my body. And as they do, my anger seems to melt just a little.

“So what do we do?”

He runs a hand over the kitchen counter, looking down at it before he looks suggestively back up at me, lifting a brow. “I can think of a few things…”

“Absolutely not.” I’m not even sure I believe myself, so I have no reason to think
Leo
will believe me. I try to change the subject instead. “Why did you come back? I told you I wasn’t worth it.”
And I won’t dare allow myself to believe he might think I am.

“Oh, I don’t believe that to be true at all.” He shakes his head, taking a small step toward me. “Elle, I only left to protect you.” He stares at me for a moment as he takes another step closer. “From me. From my life. I never meant to hurt you. I never would.”

“I don’t believe you.”

His lips curl into a tiny smile as he tilts his head and takes another step forward. “You are worth it. Very much so. And I would do anything for you. Anything.”

I shake my head, blinking back tears that seem to have come from nowhere. I back away from him again until my spine presses against the wall.

It’s happening again. I have to get out of here before it’s too late.
Or get
him
out of here.

I force my tears away again and finally meet Leo’s gaze. “You should go.”

He crosses the rest of the room in an instant to stand in front of me. “I’m not going anywhere.”

I shake my head, trying to push back every emotion I feel welling up inside of me—anger, regret, sorrow. And the goddamn lust. “I should have known better than to ever get involved with you. As soon as I knew who you were—”

He shakes his head and pulls my hand into his. “Elle, I know it’s difficult right now, but there are ways of dealing with this.” He gives me one of his lust-filled, wolfish grins. “For now, we can enjoy the pleasure of each other’s company.”

I’m not sure what possesses me, but I reach up with my free hand and slap him with every bit of force I have in my body.

He only stares at me for a moment, unblinking, before his lips crash against mine.