AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Her brows shot up. “You are?”
“Well, not a practicing lawyer,” he amended. “But I got my undergraduate degree in the UK.”
“In law,” she murmured, wondering why she should be surprised by that.
He nodded once, then narrowed his eyes, focusing on her with an intensity that made her stomach flop. “You have given me so much these last few days, Skye.” His voice was graveled. “Let me give you this.”
Her jaw dropped. “What have I given you?”
“Exactly what I needed.” He crossed the room and cupped her cheek with his palm. “You’ve made it possible for me to forget. But also to remember—to remember who I am.”
It didn’t make sense to her, but it was clear that Leandro was being cryptic because he didn’t want to talk about whatever was bothering him. And they’d agreed to that in the beginning. It shouldn’t matter that she’d weakened and confided in him, but he hadn’t trusted her enough to do the same. She shouldn’t be focusing on that feeling of hurt rather than on the feeling of salvation—that he was helping her when he didn’t have to.
But God, when she thought of what these lawyers must be costing…
“Leandro, I can’t afford these guys,” she said, face pale. “I can’t even imagine what they bill.”
“Relax, cara,” he assured her. “My family has them on retainer.”
“What does that even mean?”
“That they do work for us all the time.”
“For you and your family,” she wailed, hyperventilating. “But I can’t let you pay for my legal defense.”
“May I be frank?”
Her eyes widened.
“We both know you can’t afford lawyers, Skye, and you need good ones. Lawyers who will scare him so much with the threat of pressing charges for stalking that he’ll drop any thoughts of custody and get the hell out of your life once and for all. Michael and Bradley are two of the best in the country.”
“So they’re really, really expensive then,” she closed her eyes on a shuddering breath.
“That’s not something you have to worry about.”
“I just don’t get why you’d do all this.”
“I’ve already told you: because I can. This is easy for me. I have money, and I want to help you. It’s that simple.”
And for Leandro, it was. But it was more than that, too. He knew that the explanation he’d given that was most accurate was that he was in the mood for a fight, and he relished the thought of boxing Jay out of Skye’s life. He couldn’t fight with his parents. Not until he’d cooled his thoughts a little and knew how he felt and what he wanted. If he picked that fight now, he’d undoubtedly say things he’d regret, so he wouldn’t. But his anger had found a focal point, and it felt good to flex it.
Plus, he hated to think of Skye being under the thumb of some controlling freak. She was someone he’d just met, who he wouldn’t even know in a week’s time, but he could do this for her easily and he’d be proud of himself afterwards for making this difference in her life. It was just that simple.
CHAPTER EIGHT
FOR THE FIRST TIME since she’d started work at the hotel, Skye took a night off. She had been left shaken by the events of the day, and a knot of anxiety was lodged in her gut at what lay ahead.
Leandro made it sound so easy, but he wasn’t really her fairy godmother or whatever. He’d be gone soon, and she’d have to fight these battles on her own. Okay, he might foot the bill for the expensive lawyers he’d hired but soon she’d be back living at her parents’ and Jay could show up at any point.
She was incredibly grateful for his help but a part of her worried that he was stirring up a hornet’s nest that would only come back and bite her in the end.
She knew what Jay was capable of.
No, she was afraid of what he was capable of. Her approach had always been to go softly, softly. She placated him, soothed him before his temper could be raised. It was a survival skill that had kept her safe.
But maybe it hadn’t? Unless she’d planned to put her life on hold indefinitely, then there would always have been some issue or other that he objected to. The security cameras were a case in point. He didn’t trust her. He’d been waiting for her to do something ‘wrong’. Had he been lulling her into a false sense of security by not fighting for custody in the first instance? Was this his way of keeping her in line?
She wouldn’t put it past him.
