Page 55 of Ruthless Vow

“Hey,” I say.

“Glad you’re back,” he says.

I’m not sure how to reply because he actually does sound glad that I’m back.

“Uh, these are all clean. Leo thought you’d want to shower and change.” He puts a pile of clothes on the low, gray velvet bench that runs across the foot of the bed.

“Thank you,” I say.

There’s an awkward second when I think he wants to say something more, but then he just nods and leaves.

When I’m alone again, I realize just how desperately I do want to shower and change. I want to be clean, to leave what happened in the desert far behind me.

In the shower is a selection of shampoos and conditioners, body washes, and loofahs, including the brands I prefer. On the bathroom counter are toiletries. It takes me a second to realize they aremytoiletries: electric toothbrush, toothpaste, moisturizer, deodorant. Two boxes of my contact lenses sit stacked on the marble counter.

Confused, I go back into the bedroom and pull open the drawers of the dresser. My stuff fills the two on the top right—underwear, bras, PJs.

I cross to the walk-in closet and find several pairs of my sneakers there, but none of my clothes. Hanging above the sneakers are women’s clothes I’ve never seen before. But they’re my size and still have the tags on. And they’re all similar in styleto the clothes Leo had ordered brought to me when I was in the holding cell.

It looks like Leo had someone go to my apartment and pack up the basics, but not any of my hideous dresses. Good choice. I never want to see them again. They belong to the woman my father and aunt wanted me to be.

I head back into the bathroom, unsure why Leo had my things brought here, to his home, hisroom. Why would he do that?

I eye myself in the mirror, noticing my swollen, bruised cheek. I touch it gingerly, wincing, grateful that I turned my face at the last second. Had Danila hit me full on, he’d have broken my nose, maybe even knocked out a tooth. I shiver at the memory of the terror that I experienced in the desert.

I distract myself by having a long, hot shower. Near the end of it, the sound of a door opening makes me freeze. I shut off the water, and reach for the bathrobe waiting on a hook on the wall. Leo’s bathrobe. Cashmere, soft as a cloud. I dip my chin and inhale. It smells like him.

Still dripping wet, but at least covered, I exit the bathroom to see that my intruder is Mr. Pierced-Cock himself. The expression he wears makes my heart skip a beat. He looks feral, animalistic. His hands are clenched into fists. His knuckles are red, raw, like he’d just beaten someone to death with his bare hands.

His hair is damp, suggesting he’s also showered. He’s dressed in dark jeans and a black polo shirt, the muscles of his arms defined and taut, the width of his shoulders and chest on display.

“Did you capture my aunt?” I ask.

“No. The house she was renting was empty when my brothers arrived. She and her people were gone.”

I sag in despair. My aunt is gone. The only lead to Sofia’s location is gone.

Leo surprises me when he says, “Danila said Bianca is a cruel woman…to everyone, but especially to you.”

I shrug, not sure where this is going. “I can handle cruelty.”

“Bianca’s the one who told you I killed your father,” he says.

“Yes.”

“And she is the one holding your sister prisoner.”

“I know you don’t trust me, Leo,” I say in a rush. “And you don’t have any reason to let me go, not after all of this, but I have to find Sofia. My aunt sent me into the desert to die. She sent me to be murdered on her orders. I don’t know when she’ll turn on my sister. Sofia’s out there somewhere, and I desperately need to find her. You need to let me question Danila. And then you need to let me leave.”

“No,” he says.

The single word is bruisingly heavy. “No?”

“Danila is dead. And I’ve already put people on the job of finding Sofia,” he says.

Shock and gratitude render me speechless.

Leo mistakes my silence for disagreement and says, “You are one person, Nicole. A very smart, savvy, organized, determined person, but still only one person. I am the head of a syndicate with infinite resources at my fingertips. Which of us is more likely to find her?”

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