“You saw what he did to Ariel, didn’t you?”
“He was putting on a show.”
“He hurt her.”
“That was the whole point!” He’s frustrated with me, but he’s trying to be gentle. I can sense him holding back his anger like it’s a rabid dog on a leash. “He was trying to make you believe that he would kill Pasha if you didn’t come with him.”
“And what if you’re wrong?”
“I’m never wrong.”
“Aaargh!” I push the door open with a frustrated scream and jump out of the jeep.
I underestimated the height, so I trip on my way down and nearly fall to the snowy earth. I manage to stay on my feet, but just barely. I hear the driver’s door slam behind me, but I don’t look back. Just keep walking.
It doesn’t do much good. He catches up to me in no time and plants himself right in my path.
“Stop running away from difficult conversations.”
“I don’t know what else to do!” I cry out, throwing my hands up in the air. “You don’t listen to me.”
“You’re the one who’s not listening, Willow. Ariel will be fine. She’s been through worse. She survived that and she’ll survive this, too.”
My eyes go wide. “I hardly even know her and I could barely watch it. How could you?”
“You think I’m cruel?”
“Yes.”
That’s a lie. The truth is no. Not in the essential ways, at least, the deep-down ways.
But he’s not the only one who’s frustrated.
“Maybe I am.” He shrugs. “But it takes a hard heart to survive in the underworld. Ariel understands that. It’s why she’s lasted this long in the monster’s den.”
“He could have killed her.”
“But he didn’t.”
“Okay, and what if I didn’t stop him? What if he had killed her?” I press. “Would you have been able to just stand by and watch that happen?”
He grabs me by both shoulders and pulls me forward. “Do you think this is my first day on the job?” he asks. “If I had stepped in and stopped him hurting Ariel, what do you think he would have assumed?”
“I…”
“And once the suspicion grew, what do you think he would have done?” he continues. “He would have murdered her. And not a quick-bullet-to-the-brain kind of murder. More like the torture-until-you-pray-for-death kind of murder.”
I cringe, but Leo doesn’t let me look away. He pins me in place.
“And then who would have protected Pasha, Willow?” he asks. “You didn’t think of that, did you? You just acted with your heart, not your head. I keep trying to tell you not to do that. It’s what makes me love—it’s what makes you innocent. But it’s going to get you killed. So yes, I did what I had to do. I thought for both of us. I got you out of there.”
Leo isn’t wrong, which wounds my pride more than I’m willing to admit.
“Okay, maybe you’re right,” I say softly. “About all of it. But I still think a man who’s willing to beat up a woman he claims to love is capable of anything.”
“Spartak doesn’t know anything about love. He isn’t capable of it.”
“But they’ve been together so long and—”
“He gets off on the high of controlling a woman like Ariel,” Leo explains. “He likes hurting her and having her come back to him. He likes watching her destroy his enemies, knowing that she’s doing it to win his approval. It’s a transactional relationship, Willow. It’s not the real thing. He may think it is. But he’s wrong.”
I take a deep breath. “Okay. Fine. I’m listening and I understand what you’re saying—”
“I can already feel the ‘but’ coming.”
“But,” I say, adding extra emphasis to the word, “that makes the case for him hurting Pasha even stronger. If he’s backed into a corner and he has nowhere left to go, he will hurt him. He’ll hurt our son, Leo. And if that happens… I won’t be able to live with myself.”
Leo reaches out and cups my cheek in his large hand. His thumb is rough but his touch is gentle as it brushes across my skin. “Do you trust me?”
The question is so earnest, it brings me up short.
Since the moment I met Leo, we’ve been on a seesaw. A back and forth, give and take relationship where it is hard to know which way is up.