Page 31 of Second Chance Christmas

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There wasno reason not to leave the hotel room together. The fact they’d spent a week conducting a semi-clandestine affair didn’t mean their relationship was anyone’s business. She would prefer her father and Audrey not know about it, because she didn’t relish the prospect of answering questions, but they weren’t exactly ‘in hiding’. Besides, they were going to the same nativity performance at the church, it would have been strange not to walk out together.

Only stepping out of the hotel room was like stepping into some strange, distorted other time, when Cassidy found herself literally face to face with the object of her nightmares, a man she’d been running from for months.

“Grant!” She exclaimed, instinctively pressing into Leonardo’s side, so his arm came around her waist without a moment’s pause. He held her there, and there was strength in that contact, reassurance, but it hardly scratched the surface for Cassidy.

Grant’s lips compressed in a sign of imminent rage at the gesture. She began to tremble, her knees shuddering so much she could hardly stand up.

“Cassidy.” His voice was cold—the worst type of anger, because it was always clinically delivered cruelty. When he lost his temper in rage, she was terrified, but it would usually burn out quickly. Cold anger, for Grant, was retributive, a form of punishment he believed she deserved, and he’d given forethought as to how best inflict it without leaving evidence.

Nausea rose through her.

“I was going to ask what you’re doing here, but it’s pretty self-evident. Do you really think this is appropriate to be carrying on like this? I always knew you were a whore—,”

“That’s enough,” Leonardo’s voice cut into Grant’s outburst with cool authority.

“This doesn’t concern you.”

“You think?” Leonardo contradicted. “I have known Cassidy since she was a girl. If you think there is a single thing that happens in her life that doesn’t concern me, think again.”

“And I’m her husband.”

“Ex-husband,” she whispered, still trembling, so Leonardo’s arm around her waist became material in keeping Cassidy upright.

Grant’s eyes flashed to Cassidy’s. If they had been alone, he would have slapped her then and there. She lifted a hand to her cheek in a trained, protective response.

“Cass?” Leo looked down at her, his expression soft, gentle. Even in the midst of this, he was in control of his emotions. He was calm and solicitous. He was nothing like Grant. He never would be. “Go back in the room.”

He turned his body, shielding her from Grant. Cassidy wished she was strong enough to stay, but confronted with the visage of Grant in this mood, she did the only thing her self-survival skills had conditioned her for and moved quickly to escape.

Leonardo hada grip on his temper, but only just.

“So,” Grant murmured. “It didn’t take her long to start up with you, did it? Then again, you’d be pretty hard to resist. Rich enough to keep her in the lifestyle to which she’s become accustomed. I suppose that ring was courtesy of you.”

Leonardo’s anger spiked. He didn’t want this prick talking about the most meaningful gift he’d ever given, and he sure as hell didn’t want him sullying it with the implication it was in some way for services rendered. But when he spoke, there was no sign of how he was feeling. Leonardo was measured and calm.

“You should leave this hotel.”

“I don’t think I will. It’s a free country, you see.”

“Yes, and Cassidy is free of you.”

“Is she?” Grant asked, a supercilious smile on his face. “I suppose she is. But as forourdaughter…”

And in a lightning bolt of comprehension, Leonardo understood. This asshole was going to use Audrey to hurt Cassidy. He had no interest in being a father, but he would still try to take Audrey away if it meant punishing Cassidy.

He swallowed a curse before turning back to the hotel room. With his handle on the doorknob, he spoke slowly. “I intend to make sure they’rebothfree of you, for the rest of their lives.”

“This is none of your business.”

Like all bullies, Grant’s rage grew in proportion to his perception of impotence.

“We’ve covered that. Cassidy will always be my business, Audrey too. Consider yourself warned.”

He found it incredibly satisfying to close the door behind him with a soft click, rather than an emotionally charged slam. It was more menacing, and an excellent way to show that he was firmly in control.

Cassidy hadn’t been feelingsick before, but the second she’d gotten back into their room, she’d vomited into the toilet bowl, her hands shaking, her forehead clammy. It was a familiar panic response.

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