Page 67 of The Leader

Kristoff apparently took that as his cue to leave, because he got to his feet. “See you around,bratan.”

After Kristoff had left, Gio downed the rest of his drink before he walked to his bedroom.

Jazzy sat in her pajamas at the edge of the bed, her back facing the door. She refused to acknowledge his presence when he walked in.

He pondered, for a moment, how to handle this.Yesterday had been the worst day in his adult life, and the only person who he had kept his sanity for refused to look at him.It was true what they said. Sometimes it took almost losing someone to realize how much you’d miss them if they were gone.

After her phone call last night, he gotconfronted by his biggest fear: that she’d met someone else. Someone who didn’t belong in the gray world he lived in, always balancing on the sharp edge of a sword, between right and wrong. Some cheery asshole with a death wish who believed he could get away with stealing his wife. It was almost a relief when he discovered that she intended to leave him over a misunderstanding. Of course, that relief didn’t last long. By the time he had taken care of making sure Lisa could never enter his building again, and went in search of his wife, Bianchi had gotten his hands on her. It had been a mistake to pull the rug from underneath Bianchi, leaving him all exposed and desperate, and not taking him out immediately. It had almost cost him his wife.

Finally, Jazzy turned to him.

“Are you going to keep me a prisoner again?”

“No. You can choose to stay or leave after we talk.”

“I don’t have anything to say. Well, except thank you for coming for me. Though, I shouldn’t be surprised. After all, Iamstill carrying your last name.” She sighed, sounding tired. “But really, it doesn’t change the fact that I’m still leaving. We had a deal, and you broke it.”

“I had a deal with my brothers too, but I broke it. For you.”

“I don’t understand what—”

You will.“Aren’t you going to ask me?”

She looked confused. “Ask you what?”

“If I love you back.”

Once again, a storm brewed in her hazel eyes. “Don’t have to. Your naked intermezzo with Lisa was my answer.”

Stubborn until the end, but at least she hadn’t taken her words back. So, she wanted proof that he loved her? As if words spoken in any language could describe a fraction of what he felt for her.

“Look,” she continued, “we agreed this marriage would only last two years and then we would part our ways. Obviously, since—”

“No.”

“What?”

“We did not agree on such a thing. This marriage isn’t fucking temporary.”It might have started out like that, but he wasn’t letting her go. Ever.

“But I assumed you—”

“You know what they say about assumptions,” he growled. “There is no out of this marriage, and it’s time you get that through your stubborn skull.”

After his little speech, he all but dragged her from the bed, took her through the corridor, and into his work room. He then closed the door behind them and let her go. In a quick pace, he got behind his desk, opening a drawer with a lock.

Jazzy just stood there, her hands clutching her arms.

She jumped up when he threw a big manila envelope on the desk, then walked back to her.

“Read it.”

“What’s that?”

“That, my dear wife, is the last man responsible for the death of my parents. The last asshole on our death list.”

She stared at the envelope, like it was a snake that would bite her.

“I don’t think…I don’t see what this has to do with me.”

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