Page 43 of Vicious Kingdom

I pulled my foot away.

“Thanks,” I muttered. “But I have to go.”

“Not yet.” Leo’s voice was firm, his eyes tracking mine with an intensity that made my breath catch.

I looked away, unable to meet his gaze. The weight of his perception was too heavy, too dangerous.

“Who are you running to?” he rumbled, his voice taking a harder edge.

“I’m not,” I breathed.

“Don’t lie.” He remained kneeling, one hand still resting lightly on my ankle. “I saw you with him, Anna. That fucker from California.”

My mind short-circuited.

So focused on the demonic nightmare, I forgot the other aspects of my life I juggled.

“Is that your type? Hmm?”

My blood turned to ice. How could he think that David was my type? I cut the techy loose right after he dropped the news of our secret engagement to my parents. If David hadn’t said anything, he might still be around. But I doubted it. Seeing him again made me realize how wrong he was for me. I didn’t want to be around him, even if he was only ever a decoy. Plus, playing with his heartstrings wasn’t an angle I was capable of.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” I countered, pulling away and standing.

“Enough.” The single word carried volumes. His jaw tightened, a muscle flickering beneath the skin. “Who is he to you?”

I swallowed hard, panic rising in my throat. “Someone I met in Germany.”

Leo stood in one fluid motion, towering over me. His presence should have felt threatening.

It didn’t.

“Is he your knight in shining armor?” The sneer in the CEO’s voice tipped me off.

Leo wasjealous.Of all the turbulent emotions from tonight, that was the most surprising.

“He’s gone, Leo. Just drop it, okay.” I rose, bare feet bitten by the gravel.

Leo caught me around the shoulder, spinning me into him. “Like hell you get to walk away.”

He was so close. His lips were inches from mine.

I ached to have them pressed against me.

His eyes dropped to my mouth, as if he came to the same conclusion. They darkened with something primal that made my heart stutter. The heat of his body radiated against mine, the scent of his cologne—expensive, masculine, intoxicating—filling my senses. His fingers tightened on my shoulders, drawing me closer until I could feel his breath mingling with mine.

“Anna,” he whispered, my name sounding like both a curse and a prayer on his lips.

I tilted my face upward, surrendering to the magnetic pull between us. His head dipped lower, the warmth of his lips hovering just above mine, promising relief from the chaos of my life. For one breathless moment, the world narrowed to just this—just us—and I wanted nothing more than to close that final distance.

Drunken laughter exploded somewhere in the garden.

Leo jerked back as if burned, his hands dropping to his side.

A shiver threatened to break my heart. This man wasn’t supposed to know about the decoy.

I messed up.Again.

I fled through the garden, not caring that my ankle protested with every step. The darkness swallowed me as I wove between hedges and fountains, putting as much distance between Leo and me as possible. My chest burned—not from exertion, but from the phantom warmth of what almost happened.