Chapter 2 - THE MAN WHO THOUGHT JEALOUSY WAS A RIGHT
“He’s going to look at you.”
Leo’s voice brushed the shell of Tessa’s ear.
“He’s going to sit across a table and look at the way that silk fits you.”
For one dangerous second, Tessa forgot how angry she was.
His hand remained around her waist. Not hurting. Not quite gentle either.
Possessive.
Certain.
As though the world had already signed paperwork declaring her his property and simply neglected to inform her.
Then Tessa remembered herself.
She shoved both palms against his chest.
“Let go.”
Leo went still.
Most people did not speak to Leo Santoro that way.
Tessa did.
“Now.”
His fingers opened.
Immediately.
That surprised her more than the grip itself.
Tessa stepped away and pulled her dress straight.
“If you ever stop me from leaving this house again, I quit.”
Something hard flashed behind Leo’s eyes.
“You need this job.”
“I do.”
“Your father’s facility costs $8,700 a month.”
Her face drained.
Leo realized his mistake before she spoke.
“You investigated my father?”
“I investigate everyone under this roof.”
“No. You investigate threats.”
“Tessa—”
“You investigated me.”
He said nothing.
That silence was confession enough.
She laughed once, without humor.
“Do you know what’s fascinating about rich men?”
Leo’s jaw tightened.
“They think knowing the price of someone’s life means they understand its value.”
She walked toward the doors.
Leo moved aside.
This time he did not stop her.
Her hand had reached the brass handle when he spoke.
“Davis canceled.”
Tessa turned.
“What?”
“Your date.”
She stared at him.
“If you threatened him—”
“I didn’t.”
“Then how do you know?”
Leo’s expression changed.
Not jealousy now.
Something colder.
“He canceled fourteen minutes ago.”
Tessa reached into her clutch.
Her phone showed no new messages.
She called Greg.
Straight to voicemail.
Again.
Nothing.
Leo watched her carefully.
“He was supposed to pick you up?”
“No. We were meeting there.”
“Which restaurant?”
“Why?”
“Which restaurant, Tessa?”
She hated the sudden authority in his voice.
“Bellini’s.”
Leo took out his phone.
“Marco.”
Someone answered immediately.
“Find Gregory Davis.”
Tessa folded her arms.
“You’re unbelievable.”
Leo ignored her.
“And check Bellini’s. Quietly.”
He ended the call.
“I’m still leaving.”
“No.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“We just discussed that word.”
“This isn’t jealousy anymore.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“No.”
He walked toward a console table, took a handgun from a drawer, checked it, and slid it beneath his waistband.
“I expect you to believe the gun.”
Tessa stared.
Leo’s phone rang.
He answered.
His expression changed after three seconds.
“What?”
Silence.
“Send it.”
A photograph arrived.
Leo looked at it.
Then at Tessa.
“Come here.”
“No.”
“Tessa.”
Something in his voice made her move.
He handed her the phone.
The image had been taken perhaps twenty minutes earlier.
Greg’s Subaru sat crookedly beside a curb.
Driver’s door open.
Windshield shattered.
No Greg.
Tessa stopped breathing.
“What happened?”
“We don’t know.”
Another message arrived.
A second photograph.
This one showed the driver’s seat.
On it lay a white envelope.
Written across the front in black ink were two words.
TESSA JENKINS.
Her knees weakened.
Leo caught her elbow.
She didn’t pull away this time.
“What is that?”
“I don’t know.”
“That’s my name.”
“I can read.”
“Don’t be an ass.”
His mouth almost moved.
Almost.
Then Marco called again.
Leo answered on speaker.
“We found Davis,” Marco said.
Tessa gripped Leo’s arm.
“Alive?”
“Yes. He’s shaken up. Two guys intercepted him outside his apartment. Took his phone, smashed the car window. They didn’t hurt him badly.”
Tessa closed her eyes.
“Why?”
Marco hesitated.
“They asked him one question.”
Leo’s face became stone.
“What question?”
A pause.
Then:
“They asked how close he was to the Santoro maid.”
Silence swallowed the foyer.
Tessa looked at Leo.
His jealousy disappeared completely.
What replaced it frightened her more.
Calculation.
Leo took the phone off speaker.
“Bring Davis somewhere safe. Double the gate. Nobody comes in without my approval.”
He ended the call.
Tessa stepped away.
“This is because of you.”
“Yes.”
The answer was immediate.
No excuse.
No denial.
She had expected a powerful man’s favorite lie.
It’s complicated.
Instead, Leo gave her the truth.
“Yes.”
Tessa swallowed.
“Why would anyone care about me?”
“That’s what I intend to find out.”
The grandfather clock finished its final mechanical tremor.
Leo looked at her burgundy dress.
Only twenty minutes earlier, he had wanted it gone because another man might admire her.
Now he removed his suit jacket from the chair and held it toward her.
She frowned.
“I’m not cold.”
“I know.”
“Then why?”
“Because there are cameras outside.”
Her blood chilled.
Leo draped the jacket around her shoulders without touching her skin.
It smelled like cedarwood.
And him.
“Until I know who is watching this house,” he said, “nobody gets a photograph of you leaving dressed for a date.”
Tessa stared up at him.
“Still sounds jealous.”
“I am jealous.”
The admission was almost absurdly calm.
“But jealousy is my problem.”
Something inside her shifted.
Not softened.
Shifted.
Leo continued.
“Your safety is mine.”
“No.”
His brow lowered.
“My safety is mine.”
For the first time that evening, Leo looked almost chastened.
“Fair.”
Tessa studied him suspiciously.
“Did Leo Santoro just admit a woman was right?”
“Don’t spread it around.”
Despite herself, she nearly smiled.
Nearly.
Then someone knocked hard against the front doors.
Three times.
Every armed guard in the foyer moved.
Leo placed himself in front of Tessa instinctively.
Marco entered carrying the white envelope.
He wore gloves.
“We checked it.”
Leo took it.
“No explosives. No obvious chemical agent.”
Tessa stared at her name.
“Open it.”
Leo looked at her.
“It’s addressed to me.”
He handed it over.
Tessa tore the envelope.
Inside was a photograph.
Her father.
Sitting in his wheelchair outside the private care facility.
The photograph had been taken that morning.
Behind it was a handwritten message.
Tessa read the sentence once.
Then again.
Her fingers began shaking.
Leo took the card.
His eyes darkened.
ASK LEO WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR MOTHER.
Tessa looked up.
“My mother died when I was twelve.”
Leo said nothing.
The color had left his face.
That terrified her.
“Leo?”
Marco quietly stepped backward.
Tessa’s voice became smaller.
“What happened to my mother?”
Leo looked at the photograph as though it had been delivered by a ghost.
Then he whispered a name Tessa had never heard before.
“Evelyn.”
Tessa froze.
That had been her mother’s name.
Leo lifted his eyes.
May you like
And for the first time since Tessa had known him, the most feared man in the house looked afraid.
“I knew her.”
