Page 112 of Shout Out To My Ex

Then it all comes flooding back and when I turn my head, there he is, smiling at me.

‘Good morning, sweetheart,’ he says, leaning in for a kiss.

I hold up a finger then take a swig from the water next to the bed.

‘Now you can kiss me,’ I say, nestling into the crook of his arm.

He chuckles, then encircles me in his arms and kisses me softly. Leo’s kisses are so dreamy they could be bottled and sold; he’d make squillions. I wish we could stay like this forever – or at least for the foreseeable future. But reality pokes at me from the corners of my mind.

You still haven’t told him what Cassie did.

The public thinks he’s engaged.

He is technically engaged, even if it’s just for show.

The press is painting you as homewrecker.

There will be dire repercussions for Leo refusing Ser’s plan.

There’s no way you can collaborate now.

Or even be together.

I stiffen in his arms and he leans back, studying me intently. ‘Elle, are you okay?’

‘Uh-uh.’ I wriggle out of his embrace and sit up, folding my knees into my chest. I’m starting to shiver but it’s not from being cold. It’s warm inside Leo’s office –andhis sofa bed. The shivers are a physical manifestation of the fear that everything is about to implode.

What have we done?

Leo sits up and scooches over, wrapping his arms around me again. He rests his chin on my head as he rubs my arm.

‘It’ll be okay,’ he says, his voice low.

‘You don’t know that.’

‘Not entirely, but we?—’

‘There’s something I need to tell you,’ I say abruptly, cutting him off.

His hand stops moving. ‘Okay. What is it?’

The trepidation in his voice reverberates through me, and I almost chicken out. But I’ve already burst our little bubble, so I may as well lay it all out.

Staying exactly where I am so I can avoid making eye contact, I tell him about Cassie and the agency. Admittedly, it doesn’t sound as bad when I’m explaining it to him as when Poppy told me about it yesterday, but that may be because I keep emphasising that Cassie was doing it for me, for my happiness.

I finish with, ‘So, if it weren’t for my sister, we probably wouldn’t be in this mess…’ trying to inject a bit of lightness into what I’ve revealed.

Leo shifts beside me and lifts my chin with his finger, so I’ll meet his eye.

I expect him to be cross but if anything, he seemspleased.

‘If it weren’t for your sister, I’d still be pining for you and too terrified to do anything about it.’

‘What? You werepiningfor me?’

‘Of course. After Brandy took over the business and I was able to raise my head and breathe again, I wanted to reach out to you more than anything.’

‘Why didn’t you?’

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