Page 18 of Loving the CEO

"Thanks, Leo. I'll think about it."

The doorbell rang the next second, and I startled.

"That must be my bag," he said. "I'll go get it."

"Oh goodness. Who could that be at this hour?" our host shouted from the corridor.

"It's just a delivery for me,” Leo replied. “Don't worry, I'll get it."

"You do that, dear. I'll go back to my room."

The sound of the door opening filtered in all the way to the kitchen, followed by my mother's voice. "Where is she?"

I immediately jumped from my chair.

"Good evening," Leo said.

"Don't ‘good evening’ me. You know, I always knew you’d be bad for her," Mom replied.

Darting out of the kitchen, I hurried to the front door.

Mom glanced at me, wrinkling her nose. "You're drunk. What has gotten into you?"

I turned to Leo. "Can you please give us some space to talk?"

He set his jaw, his fists balled tightly as he turned toward Mom. “Don't disrespect her."

"Don't tell me how to deal with my own daughter."

"Then I'm not going anywhere," Leo said.

A rush of affection filled me.God, this man.I’d missed him so much.

"It's okay, Leo. I can deal with Mom."

Sort of. I could barely deal with her when I was sober and hadn't just had my heart cut in a million pieces. But I was going to do my best.

"I'll be in the kitchen if you need me," he said, walking away with quick steps.

I waited until he was out of sight before focusing on Mom.

"You get back to the hotel right now," she said.

A strange kind of pain filled me at her words.

"Debbie told you what happened, right?" I asked. There was a small chance that Mom just thought I was a runaway bride. Maybe she didn't know how deep Walter had cut me.

"Yes, she did. Forget that nonsense."

The knife twisted even deeper. Why did I think she'd be on my side for once?

"My fiancé, who's been treating me like shit for a while, is actually cheating on me. He was planning on spending the night before our wedding with another woman."

Mom blinked. There was no sign of horror or even pity on her face.

She shrugged. "Many men like to dabble around before they're married."

"We've been in a relationship for years, Mother. I doubt this was his first ‘dabble,’ as you call it."

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