Page 60 of Leo

Leo had not lied when he told her he had to leave because of an emergency. He had lied when he said he had to be the one to deal with it. He could have sent any number of his acquisition team. It was not something detrimental.

Just a few hiccups with the finalizing of the contract and the start date on the renovation. He could have handled it from home, but he wanted to get away. Had to. Staying near her was driving him insane. He had been tempted to beg and that would have been a damn mistake.

Leo had always prided himself on his composure, his ability to maintain control in every situation. But with her, that control seemed to slip through his fingers like sand. Her presence was intoxicating, and the walls he had built around his heart crumbled whenever she was near.

As he sat in the sterile hotel room, staring at the untouched papers spread across the desk, he could not help but replay their last conversation in his mind.

The way her eyes had shimmered with unshed tears, the way her voice had trembled with a mix of fear and determination. Shewas bravely confronting her demons, and it only made him want her more.

He knew he had to return, to face her and the feelings he had been running from. But the thought of confronting his own vulnerabilities terrified him. What if opening up meant exposing his deepest insecurities? What if she saw the parts of him that he had always kept hidden?

But then he thought of her, standing up to her fears, ready to embrace the future despite the shadows of her past. A past shrouded in betrayal. Was she still in love with that bastard? Even the idea of it pained his heart.

But the fear of losing her forever was even greater. He could handle any business crisis with ease, but the thought of losing her, of never seeing her smile or hearing her laugh again, was unbearable.

Pushing to his feet, he wandered over to the window to look out. He had chosen to stay at a hotel instead of the flat where they had stayed on their ‘honeymoon’. Was it only a few weeks ago?

He wondered bleakly. It felt like months, even years. So much had happened since then. He had allowed himself to hope that she was coming around to his way of thinking.

Had secretly hoped that their terrific union would produce a child which would force her to marry him for real. But he had miscalculated the depth of her ambitions. Could he fault her for wanting to be the best? He shook his head even as the thought emerged.

He should be lauding her. She saw something she wanted and fought for it. She had not forced him into the decision, he had gone ahead with his eyes wide open and if he was being honest, he had had his reasons as well.

He had taken a gamble, and it had not paid off. His heart was shattered. His mind in a turmoil. So, she did not want children with him, did not want to marry him. It hurt like the living hell, but he was going to have to live with it.

He had told her he would get his lawyers involved and he meant every word. If it comes to that, he would take legal actions. She was damn well not getting rid of his baby.

*****

The townhouse felt empty, like an elegant shell that echoed with loneliness and neglect. The place was spotless as usual, the kitchen pristine. He had not called, and she was sure he had landed by now. Was he back inside the flat where they had stayed before? She knew it was owned by his company.

Or was he at some French bitch’s home? Wrapped in her arms. The thought of that sent rage and jealousy swamping her. After what they had shared in his bed, the idea of him doing that to anyone else….

“I would kill him and her.” She swore as she went about slamming down pots and pans with the intention of making some pastries. Something creative and complicated that would require her complete concentration. Digging inside the huge pantry, she gathered her ingredients to add to what she had picked up at the market.

Baking had been her anathema in the past, somewhere she had escaped to when her parents had died, and she felt as if she was going mad. She had baked, been swallowed up inside the intricacies and the art.

When Greg had destroyed her confidence in herself, she had buried herself in baking. Ingrid had allowed her to bake to her heart’s content.

And during that time, she had come up with something stunning, things that had been a hit with the customers. Now she was facing multiple challenges, ones that she had no idea what to do. Michael had asked her if she had feelings for Leo and she could have told him a resounding yes.

But she was afraid to voice them. She had loved Greg, or thought she had. Wasn’t she ready to have a life with him? Planning a wedding while trying to handle the shop? And she had been dead wrong.

While she had been going on about her business, planning a life, he had been sneaking around with her best friend. Someone she had been friends with since high school. She had never seen the signs.

When Serena had talked about Greg, telling her she deserved better and urging her to think about a lasting commitment, she had thought the girl was being supportive and having her back.Never dreaming that she had been marking her own territory and homing in on her fiancé.

She slapped flour inside the bowl and added creamy milk. She was making a celebratory cake with rich mango, cherries, and bananas. She had come up with the idea while watching a show based in the Caribbean.

It was complicated enough and even though her taste was more than a bit off, she was going to go on and follow her instinct. She had been baking most of her life and knew what to put where.

Afterwards, she was going to make vanilla/coconut/raspberry cream sponge and if time allows and she was not fainting on her feet, she would make a lychee and raspberry mousse. She was not looking forward to going upstairs to that impossibly big bedroom all by herself.

She should have stayed at her place, but it was too late for that now.

She poured the mixture into the cake tin, her mind a mix of emotions, thoughts clashing like the ingredients she so vigorously combined. Memories of Greg's betrayal mixed with the uncertainty of her feelings for Leo created a storm within her that she could hardly contain.

But as her hands worked the dough, the chaos in her mind slowly became manageable.

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