His Last Chance at Redemption

by Michelle Conder

  ‘No,’ his deep voice rumbled beside her ear and Lexi held herself completely still.

  ‘And you dare to call me obstinate,’ she fumed, so tense she felt ready to snap.

  ‘Just sit still,’ he growled as he expertly turned the machine towards the yacht and revved the engine.

  Lexi ignored the way her insides clenched and turned molten with desire at his rough command. She held herself stiffly within the cage his arms made around her and only dared breathe again when he pulled up alongside the yacht’s rear ramp.

  A small welcoming committee was waiting to make sure she was okay and they clapped as Leo jumped easily onto the end of the yacht and held out his hand to help her up.

  Lexi smiled up at everyone and then placed her hand in Leo’s. The muscles in his forearms rippled as he effortlessly hauled her up and it was only as their eyes met that Lexi realised that she hadn’t thanked him for rescuing her.

  ‘Thank you,’ she said, her voice husky and a little embarrassed.

  She saw Leo’s nostrils flare but other than that he didn’t acknowledge her words and she turned her glazed eyes from his piercing gaze to focus on the others.

  She reassured everyone that she was fine, mini drama over, and patted Tom’s arm. ‘Stop with the guilty look. I’m fine.’

  ‘I can’t help feeling bad. Let me take you up and get you a cool drink.’

  She was about to say she’d like that when Leo interrupted, ‘The doctor ordered rest.’

  Lexi turned to find Leo glowering at Tom. ‘I can—’

  ‘Go to your room,’ he said, his eyes on Tom.

  Lexi felt her hackles rise at his proprietorial air. ‘I’m fine,’ she asserted.

  He swung his blue eyes to hers and Lexi had to force herself not to feel intimidated. ‘Good to know.’ He stepped between her and Tom. ‘One thing, angel.’ He leaned close and lowered his tone so only she could hear and Lexi sucked in her breath to ensure that they didn’t touch. ‘If you’re going to be having sex with anyone this weekend it won’t be Tom Shepherd.’

  Lexi blinked and before her befuddled brain could formulate any sort of decent response he had stalked past her and taken the curved staircase up to the next level, two steps at a time.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  WHAT on earth had he meant by that?

  Lexi had asked herself the same question over and over all afternoon. She wasn’t planning to have sex with anyone that weekend, let alone Tom Shepherd. And Leo’s comment had been insulting in the extreme, implying that she was inviting attention, which she most definitely wasn’t.

  And if she wasn’t going to have sex with Tom, then who was he thinking would take his place? Certainly not him if the way he’d jumped on her request that they forget all about those scorching kisses back on the beach was any indication.

  Lexi leaned towards her bathroom mirror and swiped bronze eye shadow across her eyelids and then rubbed at the corner of her eye when she applied too much.

  To say that Leo’s behaviour confused her would be an understatement. Anyone would think that his behaviour towards her after the accident was possessive but, really, he was probably just concerned she was going to slap him with a law suit.

  Deciding on a soft pink lip gloss, she stood back from the mirror and eyed herself critically. Her figure was neat and small and entirely unremarkable, although she did like the way her breasts looked in the halter-style amber maxi-dress she had bought in the sales last year and hadn’t had a chance to wear yet. At least it made her look as if she had cleavage.

  Shoving it into her weekend bag while Leo had prowled around her living room while she packed had been a spur of the moment decision but now she wondered if it wasn’t a little risqué. Not that she had anything else suitable to wear to his soiree tonight. A soirée she didn’t even want to attend but had been informed she was expected to. And why was that? And why was her heart beating faster at the thought?

  She stretched the silky fabric of her dress over her breasts, which suddenly seemed heavy and overly sensitive as they chafed the soft fabric. She traced her hands along the outer swell of each breast, remembering how Leo’s much larger ones had skimmed that exact place hours earlier and her nipples tightened into aching points. A light thrumming feeling took up residence between her thighs as she imagined his mouth at her breast, his tongue. She imagined him taking her flesh into his mouth, could almost see the back of his blond head as she gazed at herself in the mirror.

  A small whimper escaped from her lips and Lexi dropped her hands, her eyes slightly dazed as she gazed at her reflection. This was ridiculous. The man turned on the entire female population. Was she really considering adding herself to their ranks? Knowing the type of man he was? And, worse, knowing he would undoubtedly be disappointed with her sexually—as Brandon had been?

  Oh, why was she even thinking like this?

  She viciously twisted her heavy mass of hair into a bun and started stabbing pins into it.

  A man who could have anyone did not go for moderately pretty girls unless they threw themselves at him and that was about as likely to happen as her being asked to model in a Victoria’s Secret parade!

  Lexi glanced down and realised she had used up the whole board of hairpins. Disgusted at her distracted thoughts, she stepped into high-heeled sandals and went to check on Ty.

  Once she’d done that, she arrived in a ballroom the size of a basketball court, dimly lit by crystal chandeliers and alive with the happy chatter of Leo’s guests and a live jazz band set up in the corner beside a wooden dance floor.

  She swept her gaze around the room and her heart stopped beating when she noticed that Katya had taken up residence by Leo’s side and it would have taken a crowbar to prise her away from him.

  And he didn’t seem to mind at all. In fact he was welcoming her attentions, his hand laying across the small of her back whenever she leaned in to whisper something to him—which appeared to be every five seconds.

  Lexi’s breath caught as her eyes drifted over Leo in a sleekly tailored black tuxedo. The black bow tie—which she had always found a touch effeminate on other men—only served to enhance his dangerous appeal—drawing attention to the strong column of his tanned neck and square jaw. The jacket hugged wide shoulders and drew in around his lean, hard-packed waist.

  The tall model, dressed in a tiny white dress that loved every one of her generous curves and set off her red-gold hair, which hung like a smooth sheet down her back, the perfect feminine foil for his masculine sensuality. The yin to his yang.

  Lexi drew in a sharp breath and tried to convince herself that she wasn’t upset. Because he really wasn’t her type and yet she literally ached to have him touch her again. To touch him. She could explain it away when she had been half asleep, or half-drowned, but now, in a room full of party-goers, his effect on her was a little hard to fob off.

  Not wanting to dwell on something she couldn’t fully understand, she startled a waiter by whisking a glass of champagne off his tray as he walked past. Not that she knew why she bothered because she doubted she’d be able to get a millimetre of the delicious liquid past the boulder lodged in her throat.

  She felt her breathing take on an uneven kilter and her heart pound and for a minute she felt lost and completely humiliated. Because, even though she had taken umbrage with Leo’s kisses, with his possessive behaviour in front of Tom, a small part of her had thought that … what? That he might actually want to be with her? That he might seriously find her attractive? That he might have invited her to his party to be with him?

  She felt like a fool. A fool who had dressed up for nothing.

  No, not nothing. She would have a good time if it killed her.

  ‘Care to dance, omorphe kopella?’

  Lexi turned at the sound of a deep Mediterranean voice beside her. The man who had spoken to her was tall, though not as tall as Leo, and clean-shaven, with raven black hair and a cleft in his chin.

  ‘My name is Anton Pompi
dou. I am a lawyer with the Greek government.’

  ‘I’m Lexi Somers. Childcare manager.’

  He smiled and held out his hand. ‘You forgot to say beautiful.’ His smile wasn’t exactly smarmy, but he was smooth and she could tell he was used to getting his way with women. Lexi was just about to decline his invitation when she noticed Leo place his hand in the small of Katya’s back again as she leaned in to whisper some sweet nothing in his ear and found herself agreeing instead. ‘I’d love to.’

  Anton’s smile widened and Lexi fervently hoped he didn’t read too much into her overzealous acceptance.

  Which, a short time later, after he offered to escort her outside for some ‘fresh air’, she realised he had.

  ‘Look, I’m really sorry,’ she informed him as he tried to take her into his arms, ‘but I really did just come out here for air.’

  ‘Is there a problem out here?’

  Lexi made a small, pained noise as she recognised Leo’s gravelly accented voice behind her just before he came into view.

  ‘No problem, Mr Aleksandrov.’ The tall Greek released her and all but bowed down to him. ‘Miss Somers required some fresh air.’

  ‘And now she requires some privacy,’ Leo drawled, his eyes pinned to hers as he spoke to the lawyer.

  Some small part of Lexi willed the man to defy him but it didn’t happen. Leo had an air of command about him few men possessed and even fewer argued with.

  ‘You should know that when a man offers to take a woman outside for air it’s rarely what he’s offering,’ he said shortly.

  Lexi turned back to the twinkling lights of the distant island she had been admiring earlier. ‘Thanks for the tip.’

  ‘That is Naxos,’ he told her after a brief pause.

  ‘I didn’t ask.’

  ‘You are angry with me.’

  Lexi released a deep breath and turned her head to look at him. She thought how unfairly good-looking he was in the moonlight. ‘He thinks we’re together now.’

  ‘So?’

  ‘So … so you’re overbearing and arrogant.’

  ‘So?’

  Lexi huffed out a breath. ‘I don’t know. Just go back to your supermodel accessory, would you. I’m too tired to argue with you tonight.’ She turned back to look out over the inky sea that shone silver in the moonlight.

  ‘Then don’t.’

  Lexi’s eyes swung back to his and she shook her head as she clearly read the meaning behind that simple statement. ‘You can’t just waltz out here and treat me as if … as if …’

  ‘As if I own you?’

  His silky words stole the breath from her lungs and set her heart pumping madly behind her breastbone. ‘What do you want, Leo?’ she asked without really meaning to but now waiting with bated breath for his answer.

  You.

  The single word floated into the front of his brain like a neon sign and he didn’t try to push it away as usual.

  Why bother? He wanted her. She wanted him and he had already decided the best thing to do now was to give in to it.

  He’d tried to ignore her all night. Had even used Katya as some sort of shield, but as soon as Anton Pompidou had laid his hands on Lexi he’d known the game was up.

  Warning bells might be going off inside his head louder than a New Year’s Eve countdown but he might as well have been in a kamikaze jet on autopilot for all the good they were doing him.

  He looked at her now, her low-cut gown shimmering around her, and he knew that he wanted her more than he’d wanted to possess anything else in his life.

  ‘You,’ he said softly, the word falling between them like a sacred offering.

  He heard her breath hitch and saw her body tense, her nipples tight as they pushed against the silky fabric of her dress. He knew the air was still too warm to have brought about that reaction and his groin hardened to painful proportions as it read the signals her body was sending out.

  If he didn’t touch her soon, if he didn’t get her beneath him in his bed, he just might implode.

  She wasn’t looking at him but awareness vibrated between them and burned up some of the few remaining brain cells that were still functioning inside his head.

  Then she turned her head, an errant curl falling over her forehead, the look in her eyes utterly disparaging.

  ‘Why? Did your supermodel turn you down?’

  He sucked in a steadying breath. ‘I didn’t offer her anything.’

  ‘Really?’ She arched a delicate brow and snagged the piece of hair behind her ear. ‘Could have fooled me.’

  ‘I think I hurt you tonight.’

  ‘You confuse me,’ she said with raw honesty, ‘but if you’re seriously offering me a night in your bed then I have to tell you I’m not interested in casual sex.’

  Leo studied her, aware of the scent of the sea air and the loud thud of his own heart.

  ‘There will be nothing casual about the sex we have, angel.’

  Her eyes dropped away from his and he wondered at the flash of—uncertainty? Insecurity?—that crossed her face.

  ‘Lexi?’

  She shook her head at him. ‘I’ve known men like you and … you have too many secrets, Leo. I couldn’t be with someone I couldn’t trust.’

  Leo felt the skin on his face pull tight. ‘Are you saying I’m dishonest?’

  ‘I’m saying I don’t know who you are. You give nothing away and …’

  ‘Somebody hurt you?’

  Lexi huffed out a breath and shrugged her shoulders but the movement was stilted. ‘My father led a double life and when my mother found out it nearly killed her.’ She tugged at the necklace nestled between her breasts agitatedly and then dropped it when she saw him looking. ‘I don’t know why I just told you that.’

  ‘Because you want to sleep with me but you’re torn.’

  She shook her head. Oh, to be so confident. ‘I’ve never met anyone like you but … like I said, you have secrets and they scare me.’

  ‘Believe me, moya milaya, it would scare you more to know them.’

  She shivered and wrapped her arms around her waist and Leo cursed himself for saying what he had. Then he cursed her for being the person she was. She was too genuine and almost innocent in her view of the world. She made his conscience spike and he knew that pursuing her after this would be selfish and he’d promised himself he’d never be selfish again after Sasha’s death.

  He heard a discreet cough behind him. ‘Someone had better be dead, Danny,’ he growled, not looking at his EA.

  ‘You might wish that were the case in a minute.’

  Leo turned at the serious note in Danny’s voice. ‘What is it?’

  ‘You said to inform you immediately if we got word from Amanda.’

  Leo’s eyes narrowed. ‘You found her, then.’

  ‘Not exactly. I’ve been checking your emails all day and this came in.’ He handed him a piece of paper and Leo took it, a sense of dread forming a knot in his belly.

  He scanned the email and started sweating like a man trapped in a steel cage with a dozen hungry lions for company. ‘Married?’ He shook his head. ‘She can’t do this.’

  Danny didn’t say anything and Leo knew that his worst nightmare had come true. Amanda was demanding that he take full custody of Ty. She had remarried and Ty didn’t fit into their lifestyle.

  He felt the fist in his belly rise to his heart and emotion and pain clawed at him as memories of the past hurtled into his consciousness.

  Air became choked in his lungs and Leo felt the panic he had experienced at the childcare centre when he’d first seen Ty take hold.

  He needed space.

  Time to think. Without looking at either occupant on the deck, he crumpled the piece of paper into his fist and stalked off.

  CHAPTER NINE

  LEXI wandered down the long walkways and spiral staircases until she came to her and Ty’s suite of rooms. She checked on Ty and smoothed his hair off his forehead as she watched him sleeping
peacefully. He looked so much like Leo and her mind automatically wondered where he had gone. What he was doing.

  He had said ‘married’ in such a tortured voice Lexi could only surmise that Amanda had remarried and the news had clearly devastated him. Her heart clenched in reaction and her skin grew hot. Her earlier assumption that he still harboured strong feelings for Amanda Weston was clearly correct.

  She straightened Ty’s sheets and let herself out of his room and crossed to her own. She knew Carolina was asleep in the other room with the monitor on and that she would not be needed any more tonight.

  She kicked off her heels and wandered out onto her private terrace. The air held a faint chill now that a soft breeze had picked up and she rubbed her bare arms. She turned back inside and poured herself a glass of water and sat down at the small writing desk, running her fingers over the edge of her laptop before jumping up again. She was too wired to sleep and too restless to work.

  Again her mind drifted to Leo and she wondered if he would want someone to be there for him when he was feeling terrible. Instinctively, she knew that he wouldn’t but sometimes people didn’t know what they needed until they had it. She knew he wasn’t a talker but maybe he’d never had anyone offer a listening ear before. She might question his morals and his life choices, but he was a human being in pain and everyone needed someone at a time like this.

  Not questioning her motives too closely, Lexi donned her heels and decided that the only way to put her mind at rest was to find him, make sure he was okay and then return to her room.

  Pleased with her plan, she took the elevator up to his level and tapped lightly on his door. After a minute she knocked harder and then, still hearing nothing, turned the door knob and opened the door.

  She hadn’t really expected it to be unlocked and now she was faced with the dilemma of whether to just close it and leave or … close it definitely!

  ‘Remind me to station security outside my door.’ Leo’s gruff words carried across the room and nearly gave her a heart attack and Lexi let the door swing further open, just in time to see Leo disappearing into the opposite doorway.