Before it was too late.
Chapter 25
Lucas
I took the steps with a heavy breath, not stopping until I reached my room. Leda was already standing on my balcony, watching the same sunset I had been watching just a few moments ago. For a moment, I stopped to take in the sight of her and wonder what she would say if she knew everything about me.
A part of me wanted to say that she wouldn’t give a shit. Leda was tough. She clearly had to be. She was Carmine’s daughter, since she was putting up with my ass pretty damn well.
But I held back. Leda might be tough, but I hadn’t been honest with her. Hell, I hadn’t been honest with anyone in a long time, including myself.
The breeze picked up suddenly, and Leda’s hair floated with it, causing my groin to tighten. Buried in her, I could forget who I was, what I was doing, and what I needed to do.
It couldn’t last forever, but hell, it was the one thing I looked forward to each night. I shouldn’t be as attached to her as I was.
Still, I walked toward the open door, my hands shoved in my pockets, and joined her at the railing. “There you are,” Leda replied, her eyes still on the sky. “It was a beautiful sunset.”
I breathed her citrus scent in, letting it calm me. “I trust that dinner is here?”
Leda nodded, turning toward me. She was dressed in one of my shirts, the sleeves rolled to her elbows and showing off her long legs. Fuck, those legs wrapped around my waist perfectly as I drove into her. Idly I wondered if she was wearing panties under the hem of my shirt. Some nights she did, but other nights, well, I found her bare flesh and nothing else.
Swallowing hard, I backed away as if I were going to move toward the table. A moment longer and I would have her pressed up against the wall. “How was your day?”
She laughed as she joined me at the table, where another pasta dish awaited us, pink shrimp peeking out from under a delicate white sauce. While the guard could cook, he was limited to breakfast and pasta dishes, and at this rate, I was going to have to start my workout regimen back up to keep from my stomach going soft.
“You know, the same old day. Thank you for the books. They do help pass the time.”
I slid into one of the seats, picking up the glass of whiskey already waiting there. “And the swimsuit?” I had called in a favor to a few people I could trust and had them bring Leda some things to pass the time. Now she had a shitload of books and some puzzles, along with a scandalously red bikini for her to enjoy the sunshine in.
Leda’s lips pursed. “While it’s gorgeous, I prefer to sunbathe in the nude.”
I nearly choked on the swallow of whiskey I had just taken. She knew how to push my button.
“I mean, I spent a lot of my time in Europe,” she added, her eyes sparkling with laughter as I recovered from nearly drowning myself with my whiskey. “They aren’t as prudish as we are.”
I cleared my throat, now on fire from swallowing the whiskey too fast. “Don’t do it onyourbalcony. I don’t need my guards to be distracted.”
“Then I will do it here,” she decided, gazing at the loungers in the corner. “Is that okay?”
“Yes.” Fuck, just picturing her sunbathing with nothing on had my cock as hard as a rock. “I might even join you then.”
Her brow arched. “And when do you have time to sunbathe, Lucas?”
When I knew that she was doing the same in the nude. “You’re right,” I told her, picking up my fork. “I don’t have time.”
Her face fell, but she busied herself with her plate, and I felt like an ass for not playing along with her. She distracted me in the worst way sometimes, almost like this was normal between us.
We were far from normal. “I want to ask you a question,” I said after a few moments, settling back in the chair.
She paused, her eyes finding mine. “All right.”
Drumming my fingers along the table, I swallowed my pride. “If you were Adrian Gallo, what would you do right now?”
Leda placed a forkful of food in her mouth and chewed slowly, almost thoughtfully. Whether she was doing it to make me wait or because she was honestly thinking, I wasn’t sure.
“Why?”
Well, fuck. She was going to make this hard. “Because,” I said tightly. “You were right, about everything.”