Leo opened and closed his mouth. “All I’m saying—”
“I know what you’re saying! I heard you the first time! You want to call it off because you’re afraid for me. You don’t think I can do it.” I flared my eyes wider, shoving the word in his face. I knew it would kill him to hear me say it like that. “And you’ll say whatever you need to say to get me to see things your way.”
“We don’t have to make any decisions now that we’ll regret later! That’s all!” He flung his hands into the air and gestured around us, as if he was indicating a tangible decision in the ether.
I shook my head. “We’re two different types.” I crossed my arms over my chest and shrugged. I couldn’t help how disappointed I felt. I had been hoping that he would bring that surge of adventure I had been craving, paired with the stability and sobriety—but now he was backing down. “You steal because it makes sense. Because everything is figured out, because the risk is low enough, because the reward is high enough. But I don’t, Leo. I steal because I want. That’s the only reason. Logic has nothing to do with it. It’s desire. Excitement. And a little bit of faith in the universe.” I took a step closer to him and unlaced my arms, bringing them up to trail over his neck and shoulders. “You have to believe in me. We can do this.”
Leo shook his head ruefully. “You’re wrong. You can’t do this.”
I bristled. “Are you firing me?”
His jaw tightened. “I am if it’s the only way to get you to listen to me.”
I dropped my hands immediately. “You’re just like Dad and Uncle Ronaldo,” I snarled at him. “Everyone wants to handle me. Everyone wants to help me pick my path. But I’m not your little ballerina. You can’t just keep me quiet with dating and parties and shopping.”
“I don’t want to keep you quiet! It was your idea to go shopping, and I kind of hope you don’t start dating!”
“I’m not just a dancer; I’m observant, I’m calm during a crisis, and I’m a serious tactician,” I said. My voice was shaking, but my eyes were steady. “I can infiltrate any system with enough data.”
“And I’m the manager,” Leo countered. “I did the research, and I brought all the necessary talents together. It’s not independent. I did it, and I can stop it. You might be mad, but I don’t care. Sofi, it’s not worth it.”
“Maybe to you it’s not,” I seethed, shoving past him. “We could have done it. I could have done it.” The next words out of my mouth were crazy and emotional. “I’m getting the hell out of this wasteland.”
“Where are you going to go?” he called after me. “Sofi!”
“Home!”
There was a pause, and then: “But I drove!”
On my way to the parking lot, I almost slammed directly into the frumpy guy Leo had pointed as being “our” fed. “Excuse me,” I sneered at him.
I couldn’t believe Leo was actually intimidated by that cheap gumshoe imitation. Argh!
“Sooo, what happened?” Madeline called from the doorway, her tone monotonous and bland, even though she was asking me this question of her own volition.
“I’m going home,” I told her, plucking my ruined dress romper from the floor and cramming it back into my suitcase. “Do you want to come?”
Madeline shrugged. “Not really. Home is boring.” She stepped into the room and scooped up the duster coat I’d worn a few days ago, discarded across the vanity. Her lip curled up in a smirk as she absently folded the duster. “Was I right about What’s his face?”
“Yes. No. I don’t know,” I grumbled, snatching the duster from Madeline and cramming it into the suitcase. “He wants to quit.” I shook my head and struggled to zip the bag shut, then tugged the suitcase off the mattress. “No. No. He wants ME to quit. The other night, he said that he had too much to lose. It’s just like my family. They love to tell me what to do.” I dragged the suitcase to the door, glaring at Madeline as I shuffled past. “You coming or not? I’m leaving really soon.”
Madeline tilted her head back and forth, thinking. “Pass,” she answered. “Can I just hang out until your uncle gets back?”
“He probably won’t notice even after he does get back,” I said, dragging my suitcase down the stairs. “You can stay and let him know what happened. He’ll lend you his plane to come home if you want.”
“The plane?” Madeline shrilled. “A plane has been here the whole goddamn time?”
“Of course not,” I said, shouldering the front door open. My so-called bestie didn’t bother trying to help. Awesome. “It’s in the hangar.” I hobbled to my car and opened one of the doors, hoisting my bags inside. I was circling to the driver’s seat when I paused and looked at her more closely. Maybe I was just being overemotional. That had always been an area I meant to improve upon. “I might come back,” I allowed uncertainly, ducking into the car and adding, “I don’t know,” through the open window.
“Mm.” Madeline shrugged and leaned on one of the columns which supported the first floor veranda. “I have a feeling that Leo might come storming by here, looking for you.” She raised one of her perfectly penciled brows. “What should I tell him?”
I sighed deeply and bowed my head against the steering wheel. Leo. I pictured him stalking up to the front door and pounding on it, demanding to know where I had gone—and the crestfallen expression when he was told that I’d left Aurora Beach to return home early. No. No. I cast the fantasy out of my mind. It would only weaken my resolve.
“Tell him the truth,” I said. “Tell him I’m on the highway, heading home.” I hesitated, then added, “Tell him I’m sorry,” and twisted the key in the ignition.
As the highway rolled away beneath my wheels, I thought about going home. It would be so quiet, so lonely there—and if I hadn’t exploded like that, maybe Leo and I could have worked something out. Losing the Heart of Icarus wasn’t the worst thing in the world that could’ve happened to me. And I knew I shouldn’t have been mad at him for trying to protect me—it wasn’t him I was mad at, really. It was everyone else in my life. My entire family had treated me the same way Leo wanted to treat me now, and I just couldn’t stand it, no matter how good his intentions were.
But it was too late to go back now. I’d already been driving for almost an hour, and the indifferent wilderness was rolling past me on either side of the road. I was the only car out here. I couldn’t go back without making a fool out of myself. I couldn’t.
I was heading into a storm now—or a storm was coming my way, depending on how you wanted to look at it. The sky ahead was a dusty, soupy lavender. I was kind of excited for another wild rainstorm. It would fit.
Behind me, someone laid on their horn, and I jolted. This road was always deserted.
I tilted the rearview mirror. A pair of headlights approached at what had to be at least 90 miles per hour. I let the car drift to a slower pace and match my own, expecting the headlights to come rushing alongside me and disappear, but then I saw the vehicle approaching in clearer detail. A powder blue 1963 Porsche 911.
I swallowed. How many of those could there possibly be in this small town?
The Porsche driver laid on his horn and came rocketing up beside me, his windows down.
“PULL OVER!” Leo yelled. “Sofi! PULL! OVER!”
I didn’t want to disagree with him. Hell, I wanted to see him. I wanted to touch him. I wanted to hear whatever he wanted to say, because I had regretted running ever since the lights of Aurora Beach had faded to shadow in my rearview mirror. I overreacted. I didn’t deserve any kind of apology. This was all my fault.
I slowly pressed the brakes and floated to the side of the road, coming to a complete stop before climbing out. I leaned on my driver’s side door and waited for him to join me.
He climbed out of his car and slammed the door, face tense and serious, then marched toward me with heavy steps.
“Leo,” I breathed before he even reached me. I felt as if his name was coming out of my very pores. “Listen, I’m sorry.
You’re—”
I couldn’t say anything more before being swept up and ravaged by a deep, all-consuming kiss. I let my jaw relax and his tongue had its way with mine and I whimpered in welcome to his advance. His touch was like balm on a wound, and we’d only been apart for a few hours.
“Please stop asking me about it,” he breathed raggedly into my ear. His teeth grazed the flesh and I shuddered. Fuck, I’d do whatever he asked. I needed this in my life. “The only heart I want is yours.” His hand slid over my t-shirt, where my heart was thundering away. Then it slid further down, between my tingling breasts, down my stomach, and cupped my sex in the palm of his hand. It warmed to his touch like a pet, excited that her master was home. All my breath rushed out and he descended again with a bruising tenderness, so that I was starving for oxygen, but completely unwilling to break away from his lips.
When we separated and dragged in our breaths, hot mouths mingling against one another, I knew that he felt the same way. Desperate. Famished.
His firm fingers traveled down my torso, down my side, and gripped my ass like a horseman grabbing reins. Time to ride. He hoisted me onto the hood of the car and clenched my skirt in his fingers, shoving the hem higher on my thighs. I felt his breath rushing against my ear and he crushed his mouth down onto my neck, hands winding around my wrists and peeling them back, slamming me down onto my back. The metal dented and groaned beneath us. “Oh, Leo,” I groaned, spreading my legs wider for him. I exhaled long and low. “Can’t you imagine what a team we would be?” I bit my lower lip at the thought. “We could have anything we wanted.”
“Shh,” he murmured, one hand sliding into my panties. “Fuck, yes. That’s just perfect.” His thick index finger played at my eager entrance while his thumb pressed my clit. “Can’t we just forget everything and start over?” The tip of his finger dipped into me and swirled while the thumb began a subtle rub back and forth.
“Okay.” My hips bucked against his hand and a fog descended over my brain. “Okay.”
More fingers plunged into me and I trembled as they pumped. If anyone passed us on this road, they would see me, spread across the hood of my car, a businessman with his hand deep inside my skirt. “Let me in, Sofi,” he whispered, gently shoving my t-shirt up over my breasts. He took one nipple in his mouth, then migrated over to the other, then slid down between my legs. Shit, he knew how to play me. He hooked his finger into my panties and pushed them to the side. A bolt of electricity forked up my torso as his tongue flicked over my sensitive button. “Let’s start over.”
“Yeah,” I breathed. “Yeah.” He mauled over me until I shuddered and exploded against his face. When he emerged from beneath my skirt, a knowing grin on his lips and an impish sparkle in his eyes, my body was screaming for him. I was ready. I was hardly aware at all of where we were, of the passage of time. He descended to trace kisses along my neck. His rigid cock prodded at my drenched pussy, so welcoming, so warm and familiar now, the sensation of our bodies pressed together, sliding into place. “Mm, Leo,” I cooed, nuzzling against him as he kissed along my neck. “I love you—”
I froze and my eyes popped back open. I jerked away from his mouth as if I’d been stung. I hadn’t meant to say that. It had just come out.
“Sofi,” Leo said, bracing my cheek in the palm of his hand. “You don’t have to be embarrassed.” His thumb came up to the crest of my cheekbone and gave it a slight, gentle stroke. “I…I think I know how you feel.”
I pursed my lips and shook my head. “I don’t think you do,” I said. “I’m very confused.”
“Then let me clarify things for you.” Leo leaned into my space and pressed a soft and articulate kiss on my lips. It unfolded slowly and gracefully between us, and then, when it was over, I pulled in a deep, shuddering breath. The sky rumbled overhead as Leo moved into me with a purposeful and measured stroke, striking my clit with the hilt of his cock and sending a shudder of pleasure up my spine. My arms and legs wove around him and locked us into place. His thumb roved rough over my lip and my breath came in gasps as we launched toward another climax. I clung to him for dear life and reveled in the sensations coursing through my nervous system.
The cloud split apart and a warm summer rain tumbled down onto us, making our bodies slick and sweet with the aroma of earth. Leo’s perfect hair crumbled apart between my fingers, and his movements became less measured, more wild and animalistic. “Oh, Sofi,” he grumbled into the crook of my neck, slamming into me at shorter and shorter intervals. My fingernails bit into his forearms and my teeth sunk into my lower lip. The thought of him coming inside me was enough to send me reeling onto the ledge with him.
“Leo,” I called out.
“Yes…” His massive paw of a hand wrapped around my throat as his body went rigid, and he drove himself fully into me. Diamonds shimmered in the periphery of my vision and my toes flexed and went numb. Orgasm cascaded from between my shuddering legs. “Yes!” He roared like a caveman and pulled away to pump into me one final time, his shirt plastered to his frame and his wet hair loose and dark. I’d never seen him like this before. He was so—so undone.
He leaned onto me and pressed his lips to mine, oddly chaste. Rainwater trickled over his nose and onto my cheek, and our kisses gained a new dimension, a heady flavor. When he pulled away from me, in spite of all the drama, I grinned and touched his cheek. I wanted us to stay in this moment forever, entwined and wet and out of breath.
Leo sighed and leaned down into my neck. “Come back,” he murmured into my hair. “Come back to Aurora Beach with me.” The sky rumbled quietly as the storm clouds overhead shuffled away, and I pursed my lips thoughtfully, peering up at him.
“Let me do the score,” I whispered. “I’m not some little princess. The government has been watching us—you and me—from the day we were born, Leo. Don’t be scared.” I ran my hand down his damp cheek and pressed my thumb to his lips. God, they were gorgeous. “I can do things. I can do things, and do them right. You don’t need to worry about me. Believe in me. We can do this.”
His eyes gleamed down at me, and he whispered, “Do you really think that you might be in love with me?”
I nodded, solemn, and his eyes softened further. He laced his fingers through mine and pulled my hand away from his face, leaning in to press one more kiss to my lips, so tenderly, so slowly, it was almost as if he was saying goodbye. His other hand slithered into my hair, but it didn’t clutch and pull like he obviously loved to do. It just cupped the back of my head. I sighed and lulled in his embrace. Rather than electrified, I felt more weakened by this kiss. It was so soft. And so sad. The rain prickled over our embrace in its own departure, a drizzle.
Before Leo pulled away from me, he pressed his forehead to mine and whispered, “There’s something I need to tell you.”
“Well, shit. That’s never good,” I half-laughed, nervous as hell now. Our warm, cozy entanglement fell apart and he abandoned me. I winced. I was empty and cold without him filling me. “What is it? Are you pregnant?” I joked, sitting up and shoving my skirt back down. I swept all my hair to the side and began to braid it. Maybe it was a nervous habit; I couldn’t help but notice that I was doing this a lot around Leo, particularly during our talks.
Leo shook his head and cracked a half-smile. There was a grimness to the gesture—as if he knew, too, that he was about to lose me. My stomach clutched in anticipation. I was already sick. “Maybe it will explain,” he said, “why it seems as if I’m trying to control you, and trying to keep you from doing this, and you’ll see that—it’s not because I’m anything at all like your parents. I’m not holding you back because I think you will fail. I’m holding you back because I know you will fail.”
“Leo,” I said, my voice soft with hurt from that statement.
“I know you will fail because I made sure that you would.” Leo smiled, though there was no real warmth there. Just sorrow. I frowned up at him, incredibly lost. How could he want to poach me, then ensure that
I would fail? “It’s about—it’s about the Heart of Icarus,” he confessed, his tone low and confidential. “And it’s about Gertrude van Buiten.”
I frowned and nodded. “Okay…”
“You didn’t steal those jewels from Dominic del Papas.”
My mouth kinked up. “I know that.”
“And you didn’t steal them from Gabe, either.”
I tilted my head to the side, uncertain of exactly where he was going with this.
“Did you think it was just Gabe who was behind that operation?” Leo asked.
My brow furrowed. That was true. It was obvious that Gabe had charm for days, but it was Leo who—who made the plans, and who—who set everything up—
A pained sense of understanding dawned in my eyes.
“I stole the collection from you,” I breathed.
Leo nodded.
“And then,” he went on, “I resolved to—avenge myself against Ronaldo. At the time, I didn’t even know you existed. But then—when I did—when I found you—it was to use you.” He must’ve seen the way my eyes ticked over him, assessing where the lies ended and the man began. “Originally,” he added, despair giving an edge to his tone. “Originally!”
I looked away and sifted through the past few days, everything he’d told me. That he was afraid to lose me, that I wasn’t worth the risk. That maybe we could just settle down and forget about this lifestyle. That there was a federal agent following us.
“Was the fed your doing?” I whispered.
Leo squeezed his lips and nodded definitively. “His name is Cyrus de Silva,” he said bleakly. “He’s been on my case for a long time. I knew that he was watching us every day, and I led him right to you. I was going to pull out of the Heart heist and leave you behind.”
“You were going to send me to jail.” My heart throbbed with disappointment. My shoulders rounded and sagged. “Oh, Leo.”
Leo closed his eyes shut, brow furrowed. “I know. Whatever you want to say to me—whatever you want to do—I deserve it.”
The Perfect Con (A Bad Boy Romance Novel) (Bad Boy Confessions Book 1) Page 14
