Page 14 of Bride of Betrayal
The couple moved away and Leo bent his head towards Angelica saying with a definite hint of humour in his voice, ‘It looks like your stunt isn’t going as well as you planned it.’
Angelica smiled sweetly and looked up at Leo, trying not to be distracted by the growth of stubble along his jaw, stubble he hadn’t attempted to shave away to look more…presentable. ‘Oh, believe me, I could engineer any number of situations to draw adverse attention.’ She snagged a glass of champagne from a passing waiter’s tray and took a healthy sip, and said, ‘I never was good at holding my drink.’
Leo neatly took the glass out of Angelica’s hand and placed it on another passing waiter’s tray. ‘Don’t even think about it. Let’s have a dance,darling. After all, our wedding was so rushed we didn’t have time for the festivities.’
Angelica scowled at Leo. ‘Hardly my fault.’ But he was already tucking her hand into his and bringing her with him through the crowd to where people had started to dance in front of a band playing smooth tunes.
He pulled her close to his body and Angelica tensed against the inevitable way she wanted to cleave to him. She suddenly appreciated that at least while married to Aldo, she hadn’t had to battle her own rogue hormones. She’d been quite happy to let him pursue his extra-marital affairs with women. And men.
Leo noted, ‘You’ve lost weight.’
Angelica tensed. The result of living on her nerves for the last few years. ‘Not really your business.’
‘I’m your husband.’
Angelica snorted softly. ‘And as such you care for my welfare?’
Leo tipped up her chin with his finger. She had no choice but to look at him. ‘As my wife, of course I care about your welfare.’
Her heart twisted. She’d once thought that he really had cared about her welfare. And he had. In bed. Not out of it. Not long-term. After all, through her association with him, he’d practically handed Aldo the invitation to use her for his nefarious ends. The fact that he’d also tried to ruin Leo wasn’t much comfort.
‘If I’m too thin for you—’
He pulled her closer and another couple swept past. ‘I didn’t say that.’
Angelica felt spiky and exposed. Defensive. Leo’s chest rumbled against hers when he spoke. ‘You don’t need me to tell you that you’re easily the most beautiful woman here.’
She wanted to duck her head. She knew that she was lucky to have been blessed with a face and body that photographed well, but she knew that there was so much more to her and at one time, she thought Leo had seen it too.
‘I’ve been working hard the last few years.’
As they spoke, Angelica was aware that Leo was effortlessly moving them around the floor. She didn’t even have to think, he was so easy to follow.
‘Are you saying you didn’t want to spend time with your beloved husband?’
Angelica’s skin prickled. He was very close to the bone there. And she felt tired of keeping up a facade. ‘My marriage with Aldo wasn’t exactly…all that it seemed.’
Leo tugged her closer again to avoid another couple. Angelica’s breasts were crushed to his chest and her nipples drew into hard points, helplessly reacting to his proximity. She was drowning in his scent.
‘Are you saying you made a mistake?’
Angelica felt like laughing out loud but stifled it. ‘I’m just saying that things weren’t perfect.’
Leo’s tone was dry. ‘You’re hardly the picture of a widow in grief so I think that’s the most honest thing you’ve said since we met again.’
And then, ‘Why did you do it? What was Aldo offering you? What did you want?’
Angelica stopped as the song came to an end and pulled back in Leo’s arms. How did she begin to frame an answer to that without putting her family in danger again?
She said, ‘You lost the right to know anything about me when you told me to leave, three years ago.’ She pulled free completely and walked off the dance floor.
Chapter Four
Leo watched Angelicaweave through the crowd, and noticed how everyone she passed turned to look at her. He could commiserate. She was captivating. He also noticed, now that he was alone, a creeping sense of claustrophobia as people brushed past him, making a faint sense of nausea swirl in his gut.
He’d noticed this since leaving prison, the way he was acutely aware of crowds and quickly felt a need to move, find space. He’d spent three years in cramped conditions, fighting for his own space. It was only natural. But it was only now that he realised that Angelica had successfully distracted him enough to not be aware of it here.
But now he was. He gritted his jaw and focused on her again to drive out the rising sense of panic, plunging after her into the crowd. Mercifully the crowd thinned out and Leo was free again. He saw Angelica at the entrance, her back to him.
