Page 95 of Forever

“Perhaps dinner is not such a good idea,” he said with a grimace.

“Oh, it’s an excellent idea,” she responded waspishly. “You need to keep your strength up.”

“As do you,” he quipped.

She left the room with a smile on her face and an easing of the anxiety knot in her belly.

The dresses were exquisite. She had no idea how he’d magicked them up so quickly nor how he knew her size, but they were both sublimely perfect. In the end, she went with the red because it was bold and bright and spoke of confidence, which she would badly need in the coming weeks and months. She was terrified of butting heads with Jay, but Leandro was right: she had to do this. She would never be free from him, otherwise, and nor would Harper.

When she walked into the living room, she was distracted by her thoughts, so didn’t put any effort into walking in a seductive way, she simply strolled out, but it didn’t matter. Leandro looked at her in a way that turned her blood to lava.

He let out a low whistle, shaking his head a little. “You are beautiful,” he said.

“I feel beautiful in this dress,” she admitted. “I don’t own anything like this.”

“You should own nothing but dresses like that.”

“I don’t think the hotel would agree,” she pointed out archly.

“But think of the tips,” he pointed out.

“Erm, that’s definitely not going to happen. I actually hate it when people look at my body.”

“Really?”

“Well, not you,” she conceded, smiling.

“Is that because of him?” Leandro asked, his tone serious now.

Her eyes widened.

“Or have you always been that way?”

She thought about that. “No, actually. I guess it’s because of Jay. He was super jealous, and hated it when guys noticed me, so I started to dress down as much as I could. I guess I still do.”

“Only an insecure ass would be threatened by your bagliore.”

“My what now?”

“Bagliore. It means,” he sought the word, and she was surprised, because his English was so flawless. “Your sparkle,” he said, and her heart did something funny and unfamiliar, lurching strangely inside her chest.

“My bagliore.” Her voice was raw. “I like that.”

“You sparkle with the force of a thousand suns. He must have been so threatened by that.” Leandro used his spare hand to cup her other cheek and angled her face upwards. “You should be with someone who wants to enjoy your reflected light, not cover it up.”

“I guess I reached the same conclusion. Not about my bagliore,” she hasted to add, “but about him not being good for me. It’s a strange thing to feel yourself growing small. No,” she corrected. “It’s strange to realise you’re making yourself small, to suit someone else.”

“What did your parents think?”

“They were worried. But at the same time, they thought I was happy. So much of the time, I was faking it, trying to fool everyone that I was.”

“Friends?”

She glanced away. “He somehow separated me from my friends. I wasn’t even aware of it happening.”

Leandro stroked her cheek gently.

“I feel like you have this magic key that unlocks secrets I’ve never told another soul, and yet you don’t tell me anything.”

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