A flicker of disappointment in his eyes.
How had they arrived here, of all places? How did such a small thing that Leonardo was attracted to her send her sensible nature off running into the clouds?
For years she’d kept a lid on all her fantasies starring him, locked away all the feelings he’d evoked in her again and again, and now, when it came to the most important thing in her life, she wasn’t going to let them create an obstacle for her.
“Don’t mock this. Please.”
“Why ask me and put yourself in this vulnerable position?”
When she’d ever been anything but...with him especially.
The ugly truth of her burnout, her inability to walk away from So Sweet Inc. all these years, the shame of her complex relationship with her mum... All these were vulnerabilities she loathed baring in front of him.
But Leo would not settle for half-truths. That he was a man who’d do anything to protect the people he cared about also meant that he’d strip her bare and leave her defenseless if she wasn’t careful.
“You’re the one man that Mario’s always been wary of,” she said. “My mum...she’s the tether that keeps me tied to Mario and So Sweet Inc.
“In all these years, I haven’t been able to figure out how to save my relationship with her, and walk away from his toxic presence. Mario rules my life—my day, my social life, my vision, my work, even how I dress and what I say outside the walls of the office...”
She rubbed her fingers over her temple, even talking about it bringing on a pounding behind her eyes. That powerlessness gave birth to anxiety that could choke her breath.
Hand on her tummy, she forced herself to breathe deeply, to anchor herself on one point in the room to focus on. To fight the wave that could overwhelm her so easily.
His hands as they poured a glass of water for her...she focused on them. Large, square tipped, and yet she knew, if he touched her, they’d be gentle.
And just like that, the encroaching darkness got pushed back. Knowing that she could control it, knowing what triggered it, made it less scary than that terrifying first time.
Knowing that she was taking the right steps to wrest her life back under her control, knowing that she was building a future she wanted helped.
“This last year...it’s become imperative that I have to prioritize what’s important to me.
“The pace that Mario sets for me, I can’t continue and be sane. The entire board is in his pocket, even though I’m the CEO. Even though I own the IP to that first line of products that launched So Sweet.
“If I have a child with an anonymous donor, not only am I leaving myself more vulnerable to Mario’s passive-aggressive tactics, but my child becomes a new weapon to manipulate me.
“Because, believe me—” a hysterical laugh left her mouth as she imagined the aftermath of the bomb she was going to drop on Mario soon “—he’s going to try and come at me with everything he’s got over the next few months. I refuse to let my child become a pawn.”
“Are you sure you’re not overestimating the threat he might pose?”
“Said every man who claims he’s a friend to a woman in distress.” The bitter words rushed out of her on a wave.
Leo raised his brows and waited.
Neha flushed at the infinite patience reflected in his gaze. “I’m sorry. That was uncalled for.”
Leo waved it away. “I shouldn’t have doubted you. You would not concoct fantastic scenarios.”
His fingers landed on her shoulder and squeezed, concern expressed in an ephemeral second and then gone. As if he couldn’t let the contact deepen. As if he couldn’t linger even for a moment.
“There is more, sì?”
She nodded, not surprised at the depth of his perception. “I plan to retire soon. I have a legal team going over a million little things so that it can be a painless process. I plan to make a public announcement in a week or two.”
“What?” He sat forward in his seat. “That soon? Don’t make an emotional decision.”
“I’m not.”
“If this is about being a good mother—” admiration glinted in his eyes “—I have no doubt you can do both, Neha. And well.”
Her entire being warmed at his words. It felt immensely good to hear another person talk about her future with a child in it as a real possibility. “Thank you for the vote of confidence. I want to be a hands-on mum. But this pace I’ve been working at for the last decade, I can’t continue like that. Not if I want to have a healthy life, be a happy, strong mum to my child.
“Not if I don’t want to end up...” She swallowed away the darkest of her fears. “If the child is yours, Mario won’t dare to cast his shadow near him or her.
“So what I need is for you to create an illusion of standing beside me while I build the life I want.
“Can you do that, Leo? For me?”
Neha’s laughter—loud, full-bodied—hit Leo like a sound specifically created to awaken every nerve ending he possessed. His hand stilled with his coffee cup halfway to his mouth. He had convinced her to stay at his family’s villa by Lake Como for the weekend because he’d wanted to keep an eye on her.
It was a familiar sound—a glimpse into the funny, witty woman beneath the elegant facade. But so out of context here, in his home, where he had never invited a woman. Silvio’s multiple affairs, paraded shamelessly in front of Massimo’s mother, had been enough drama to last a lifetime.
He hadn’t sought her out in the two days she’d been here, leaving her in Nat’s capable and kind hands.
Ignoring his nonna’s complaints about the upcoming celebrations for her eightieth birthday in two weeks, he stood up and walked across the vast balcony.
A weak November sun cast a soft, golden glow around the gardens surrounding the villa that were his pride and joy. The villa had been a stalwart presence in his life when he’d been devastated as a young boy—confused, distraught and lost. The centuries-old legacy, the Brunetti name, thousands of people who’d always depended on the finance giant BFI for their livelihood, the tens of thousands of people who’d put their hard-earned income into the Brunettis’ hands for safekeeping, an anchor that had kept him going straight.
But it was the gardens that had given him a sense of belonging.
He’d always been able to will the most reluctant, the most stubborn, flower into full bloom with his hands. For a long time, he’d believed this was his contribution to the Brunetti legacy. Well, this and the fact that BFI had flourished under his leadership for the last two decades.
Vaguely, he remembered following a fragile, delicately built woman around the same gardens with a plastic pail and spade in hand. With a sense of delight that hovered at the edge of his subconscious mind. Soft laughter, sweet words...a memory buried in the recesses of his mind.
Another laugh from Neha pulled his thoughts from murky, unreliable memories. More than relieved to leave the past behind, he studied the woman who continued to intrigue him. The same woman who’d rendered him sleepless for the two days that she’d spent under his roof. Roused protective instincts he’d never even known before.
Neha stood on the sloping path that led to Massimo’s custom-built lab. Peach-colored trousers hugged her hips and buttocks, the fitted white shirt displaying the outline of her breasts perfectly. Hair high up in a ponytail that swung playfully as she walked, her smile glorious amid the riotous colors of the