Chapter 79 -
“Nia.” He said her name like it hurt. Like it was both a prayer and a curse. “You are drunk and this is not… we should not…”
“Should not what?” Nia asked. She was still looking up at him, still watching the war happening behind his eyes. “Should not talk? Should not touch? Should not admit that there is something happening between us that neither of us knows how to name?”
“All of those things,” Leo said, but his thumb had started moving in small circles against her back, the touch so gentle it almost did not feel real. “Especially the last one.”
“Why?” Nia felt bold, reckless, the whiskey and the late hour and the warmth of Leo’s arms around her combining into something dangerous. “Why can we not admit it? Why do we have to keep pretending?”
“Because pretending is safer,” Leo said. His eyes dropped to her lips for just a second before snapping back up to meet her gaze. “Because if we do not say it out loud, then it is not real. And if it is not real, then I cannot lose it.”
“You cannot lose something you never let yourself have,” Nia pointed out. “That is not protection, Leo. That is just another kind of prison.”
“I know about prisons,” Leo said. A ghost of a smile touched his mouth, bitter and self-aware. “I have been living in one for years.”
“Then maybe it is time to break out,” Nia said.
She rose up on her toes. The movement was clumsy, uncoordinated, her balance thrown off by alcohol and exhaustion and the way her heart was trying to beat its way out of her chest. She wobbled slightly and Leo’s arms tightened around her automatically, steadying her, keeping her upright.
“What are you doing?” Leo asked, but his voice had gone soft, uncertain, like he already knew the answer and was terrified of it.
Nia did not answer with words. She closed the last few inches between them and pressed her lips to his.
For a second, nothing happened. Leo went perfectly still, every muscle in his body locked up tight. His lips were frozen under hers, unmoving, and Nia thought maybe she had made a terrible mistake. Maybe she had read this whole thing wrong. Maybe he was going to push her away and tell her to leave and never look at her the same way again.
For a heartbeat, everything stopped.
Leo stood frozen beneath Nia’s kiss, his entire body locked in place like someone had hit pause on him mid-motion. His lips were still under hers, unmoving, and Nia felt panic start to rise in her chest. This was it. This was the moment where he was going to pull away and tell her she had made a terrible mistake, that she had read everything wrong, that whatever she thought was happening between them was all in her whiskey-soaked imagination.
Then his hand moved.
It came up fast, his palm sliding along the side of her neck until his fingers tangled in the hair at the base of her skull. The touch was possessive, almost rough, and it sent electricity racing down Nia’s spine. His other hand gripped her waist, pulling her closer, eliminating the last inch of space between their bodies.
And then he kissed her back.
It was nothing like the tentative press of lips Nia had initiated. This was desperate, hungry, like Leo had been holding himself back for months and the dam had finally broken. His mouth moved against hers with an intensity that stole the breath from her lungs, demanding and giving all at once.
Nia gasped against his mouth, surprised by the heat of it, by the way Leo kissed like he was trying to consume her. His fingers tightened in her hair, tilting her head back to give him better access, and she felt her knees go weak.
This was not the cold, controlled Enforcer who moved through the mansion like death in an expensive suit. This was something raw and unguarded, something that had been locked away for so long it came out jagged and fierce.
“Leo,” Nia breathed against his lips, not sure if she was trying to slow him down or encourage him.
He made a sound low in his throat, something between a groan and a growl, and deepened the kiss. His hand on her waist slid around to the small of her back, pressing her impossibly closer. Nia could feel every plane of his body against hers, all lean muscle and barely restrained strength.
Her hands found his chest, palms flat against warm skin, and she could feel his heart hammering beneath her touch. Racing just as fast as hers, maybe faster. She had done this to him. She had made the unshakeable Leonardo DeSanto lose control.
The thought was intoxicating.
Nia rose higher on her toes, trying to get closer, trying to eliminate the height difference between them. Her fingers slid up his chest to his shoulders, gripping for balance as the world tilted and spun around her.
Leo’s mouth left hers to trail along her jaw, hot and urgent. “You have no idea,” he murmured against her skin, his breath coming fast and uneven, “how long I have been trying not to do this.”
“How long?” Nia asked. Her own voice was breathless, shaky, barely recognizable.
“Weeks,” Leo said. He pressed a kiss to the sensitive spot just below her ear and Nia shivered. “Since that first night you stood up to Santiago at dinner. Maybe before that.”
“Why did you wait?” Nia’s hands moved to his hair, fingers threading through the dark strands. It was softer than she expected, slightly mussed from sleep and now from her touch.
“Because you are supposed to hate me,” Leo said. He pulled back just enough to look at her, his gray eyes darker than she had ever seen them, pupils blown wide. “Because I kidnapped you. Because this is wrong in about a hundred different ways.”
“I do not care,” Nia said. She was still looking up at him, still holding onto him like he was the only solid thing in a tilting world. “I do not care about what I am supposed to feel. I only care about what I do feel.”
“And what do you feel?” Leo asked. His hand was still tangled in her hair, his thumb stroking the side of her neck in a way that made it hard to think straight.
“Terrified,” Nia admitted honestly. “Confused. A little bit drunk still. But also…” She paused, trying to find the right words. “Also like this is the first real thing that has happened to me in months. Like everything else has been pretend but this is actual.”
Leo’s eyes searched her face like he was trying to memorize it. “You are going to regret this tomorrow,” he said, but it sounded less like a warning and more like a fear.
“Maybe,” Nia said. “Or maybe tomorrow I am going to regret stopping.”