Susan's breath hitched, her pulse quickening. She could feel her resolve slipping, the fear for her brother creeping in like a shadow over everything else. But there was something more—something about Leo's casual cruelty that both terrified and intrigued her. He was dangerous in a way that made her want to run, yet she couldn't seem to stop her heart from racing every time he was near.
"No," she said, her voice cracking. "You can't ask me to do this."
Leo's smile softened, almost as if he found her resistance charming. "I'm not asking, Barbie. But you have until tomorrow. I suggest you think carefully."
Susan stood abruptly, her shoes scraping against the floor. She couldn't sit there any longer, feeling trapped in his gaze, in the invisible strings he was pulling. She needed air. She needed to get away from him.
Without another word, she turned and left the café, her heart pounding in her ears. The cool air outside did little to calm her. Her mind raced, replaying his words over and over.
How had she gotten herself into this? How had her life become so tangled with someone like Leo?
The attraction she refused to acknowledge simmered just beneath the surface, tangled with anger and fear. She was furious at him for trying to drag her deeper into his world, but she was even angrier at herself for feeling anything but disgust for the man who held her brother's fate in his hands.
Susan kept walking to her car, unsure of what to do next. But she knew one thing for certain—Leo wasn't bluffing. She had one day. One day to make an impossible choice.
__________
The deep thud of bass from the club below vibrated through the floors, but Susan barely noticed it. Her heartbeat drowned out the music as she strode past the velvet ropes, ignoring the curious glances from the patrons and the half-hearted attempts by the staff to stop her. She was done playing by the rules tonight.
Leo hadn't answered her calls or texts. She'd waited all day, feeling her nerves fray with each passing hour. Now it was nearly midnight, and she couldn't stand the silence any longer. The thought of what he might do if she didn't give him an answer gnawed at her all evening. So, here she was, at the entrance to the private lounge, a place he had expressly told her not to set foot in again. But right now, she didn't care.
She spotted Connor, Leo's guard, standing by the entrance like a stone wall. As she approached him, his eyes flicked over her with mild surprise. Good. He remembered her.
"I wanna see Leo," she told him.
"No," Connor said, his tone warning, "You're not supposed to —"
"I don't care," she cut him off sharply, the frustration bubbling over. "I need to see him. Now. It's important… To him too,"
Connor frowned, his hesitation clear, but after a tense moment, he nodded and pulled her aside. "Fine. Wait here."
Susan's pulse raced as she stood in the dimly lit hallway, her gaze fixed on the double doors ahead. It didn't take long before Connor returned and silently gestured for her to follow. Her footsteps felt heavy as they crossed the threshold into Leo's private room.
The space was dark, moody. The red, spooky lights from her last visit weren't on today, and the only light came from the soft glow of the city outside the floor-to-ceiling windows. Leo sat in the corner, a half-empty glass of whiskey in hand, his posture relaxed but commanding. His gaze flicked to her the moment she entered, and the weight of it made her stomach twist.
She had expected him to look angry, but instead, there was something almost amused in his expression, as if he had been waiting for this moment. The door closed behind them with a soft click, leaving the two of them alone.
"I've been trying to reach you all evening," Susan's voice came out sharper than she intended. "Why haven't you answered me?"
Leo's lips curved into a slow, dangerous smile as he leaned back in his chair, watching her with those piercing eyes that made her feel like he could see right through her. "I was wondering when you'd show up."
She felt a flare of heat rise to her face, not just from his words but from the intensity of his gaze. "I texted. I called. I—"
"I know," he said smoothly, swirling the whiskey in his glass. "I wasn't in the mood for talking."
Susan swallowed hard, "You asked for an answer today. Shouldn't you have been expecting a reply from me?"
He shrugged, as if it didn't matter, and maybe it probably didn't. The sick bastard, Susan thought as she watched him through hooded eyes.
"You waited all day, Barbie. Perhaps I lost interest,"
It was a lie, but he wasn't going to let her know that. In fact he'd known she'd come. Leo wasn't sure how, but he had. In the little time that he'd known Susan Jordan, he'd observed one thing. She was very passionate about the people she loved. She had no experience in the kind of life he introduced her to, but she'd stepped up without a second thought when her brother was in danger. She had guts even if she didn't know it yet…. And he had a suspicion that she didn't know just how sexy she was either. She stood there now in her short, pleated gown, completely oblivious to the fact that it drew attention to her bare legs, and what full, thick beautiful legs she had, Leo thought absentmindedly.
The calmness in his voice made Susan's blood boil. All day, she had been agonizing over his ultimatum, and he was here, sitting in the dark, drinking alone as if none of it mattered. She stepped closer, her frustration getting the better of her. "I told you, I'm not doing it. I'm not going to launder… Or wash money for you. Whatever the hell you call it…I'm not going to do it,"
Leo's eyes darkened, his smile fading as he took a slow sip of his drink. He set the glass down with a soft clink, his gaze never leaving hers. "And I told you not to come up here again," he said, his voice dangerously low.
The air between them seemed to thicken with the weight of the unspoken. There was something else—something neither of them had fully acknowledged yet. That pull, that crackling tension. Her pulse quickened, but not just from the fear of what he might do.
Susan clenched her fists, holding her ground. "You gave me no choice."