Chapter 6

The car door slammed shut as Leo slid back inside.

I was about to take off my coat when he seized my wrist.

Suddenly, my vision cleared. The soft fabric of the coat was now wound around my wrists, pulling them together and pinning them above my head.

The young man leaned in, inch by inch, his features devastatingly beautiful up close.

But his eyes held an unmistakable displeasure.

“What a coincidence, my dear,” he murmured, his voice laced with ice. “Is this your wonderful husband? The one who’s been cheating on you?”

This close, the chill framed by his arched brows was all the more stark.

In this intensely intimate position, a helpless smile played on my lips.

“And how am I any different?”

Leo didn’t answer. Instead, he kissed me, his lips pressing down with force.

The familiar scent of eucalyptus, mingled with the crispness of rain, slowly filled every inch of the car.

Silently, it enveloped me.

Only when my mind began to drift, lost on a rising tide of sensation, did I hear his voice.

“For one thing, you have much better taste.”

“Dear, you chose me.”

Outside, the rain pattered against the windows.

Inside, a damp mist clouded the glass, like a torrential downpour all its own.

…

Leo’s place wasn’t far, just a half-hour drive.

The moment we were through the door, he gripped my shoulders.

An instant later, his mouth was on mine, grinding against my lips with an almost punishing force.

“I’ll be gentle,” he whispered.

“I won’t hurt you.”

His hot breath ghosted across my neck, moving lower as his hand pressed firmly against the sharp wings of my shoulder blades.

But as his fingers brushed against the uneven ridges of scars, he froze.

“…What is this?”

His breath grew ragged.

“Did he lay a hand on you?”

I froze for a second before I understood.

He was talking about the old whip marks.

A humorless laugh escaped me. “No.”

“Our families are business partners, after all. He wouldn’t dare…”

I never finished.

The young man’s kiss–passionate and reckless–stole the words from my mouth.