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Skye eyed him warily but a moment later she smiled and nodded. No big deal. Her veneer was excellent, but surely she wasn’t as calm about all this as she seemed?
And why did that bother him?
“Listen,” he said, when they were alone on the terrace. New York was donning its winter coat, the colours of fall giving way to spindly branches and a bleak sky. He focused on Skye. “I want you and Harper to stay here until things are settled with your ex.”
She shook her head, the beginning of a demurral, and his sense of frustration intensified. “Where else are you going to go, Skye?”
“Home,” she said, lifting one shoulder.
He ground his teeth. “No.”
Skye’s jaw tilted in that defiant way she had, so he immediately knew he’d come off too commanding. “It’s your choice,” he muttered. “But that would be the wrong choice.”
She laughed, a soft, short sound. “I can’t stay here. Not without you.”
A muscle jerked in his jaw. Was she asking him to stay? Damn it, he hated this version of himself. He hated what this news had done to him. Confidence had never been in short supply for Leandro but he now felt totally disconnected from who he used to be. Or was it that rejection from Skye was something he intrinsically wanted to shield himself from experiencing?
“I’ll be fine,” she said, her words so like her. She was such a fighter. And if she wanted him to stay, she’d be fighting for that too. “I’ve dealt with him for years.”
“You’ve never pushed back against him before.”
“I’ll be fine,” she repeated.
Their eyes were locked in a battle of the wills. None of this felt right. None of this was what he wanted. But what was the alternative? What did he want? What could he offer her, when his own life was in such complete tatters?
“You should think of this place as your own.”
“But it’s not.” Her smile was wistful. “This has been an amazing week, but I always knew it was make-believe. It’s time for both of us to get back to reality, Leandro.” She stepped closer and squeezed his hand. “I’ll always be grateful to you.” Her eyes skimmed his face. “I’ll always remember you.”
Skye didn’t know how she managed to keep it all together. Somehow, she kept a smile pinned on her face as they said goodbye, wondering at the strangely surreal experience this had been. What would Harper think? Would she remember him? Or would she simply slip back into her normal life, without him in it? Would she have any idea how hard this goodbye was for mommy? Would she understand why mommy was crying at night?
I’ll always remember you.
He’d thought it a strange thing to say, but when he landed in Italy and reached for an item from his suitcase, his fingers brushed against something small and velvet, and he realized she’d sent the necklace home with him.
He shouldn’t have been surprised. Skye didn’t want that kind of thing from him. She’d been uncomfortable with all of it. The only thing he’d been able to give her in the end was the team of lawyers who would ultimately free her from Jay’s control. It wasn’t nothing, but it didn’t feel like enough.
He held the necklace in his palm, wrapping it into a fist and closing his eyes on a wave of longing. How had he come to need her so badly, in the course of one week? One week, and she’d become a part of his bloodstream.
But he would conquer that need, because he had to. Skye was a part of his past, and that was now reality. He wouldn’t think of her again. Not if he could help it, anyway.
Two weeks after Leandro’s departure, and Skye was going through the motions. She’d slipped back into how things had been before. Working, catching the subway home despite Leandro’s insistence that she should continue to have Alec take her for safety. Independence was practically a religion for Skye; she couldn’t surrender it. And she wouldn’t let Leandro keep paying for things for her. Except the lawyers, because she really did need that, and he’d been so insistent.
They were miracle workers. In the past two weeks, they’d filed custody motions, put together statements about the security cameras, a whole history of Skye’s custodial time with Harper, her financial support of the girl, which apparently signposted Jay’s disinterest in parenting, given that he could have been making payments to contribute and had chosen not to. All in all, she finally felt as though the tide was turning, and it was turning her way.
When Susanna offered extra shifts, Skye jumped at the chance. She needed to be busy. She was working herself into the ground because it was the only way she could ensure a dreamless sleep. If she dreamt, she dreamt of Leandro, and she always woke flustered and flooded with desperate, aching need. Not just for him physically, but for all of him. For the life they’d shared, all too briefly.
“I know you’re about to punch out, but would you mind running one last tray?”
Skye looked at her boss and nodded. “It’s fine. I’ve got ten minutes on my shift.”
Susanna pulled a face. “You must be exhausted.” She handed a tray to Skye—champagne, two flutes, and a bowl of strawberries. Perhaps the boy band duo was back? “I’d take it myself but I have something to sort out in the front office.”
“It’s fine,” Skye demurred. “No problem.” And it wasn’t. Harper would be asleep, Skye relished the chance to stay busy.
She took the service elevator to the relevant level, stepped out and made her way to the door before pressing the doorbell. “Room service.”
Silence, and then, the sound of the lock clicking. She pasted a smile on her face, curious—as always—to see who was on the other side.
