The Billionaire He Pretended Not to Be Chapter 07
His grip was like a vice. I couldn’t break free at all.
The harder I fought, the tighter he squeezed, sweat beading up all over my palms.
I lifted my hand to strike him, and my boss stepped right between us.
“Excuse me, but she can’t leave yet.”
Leo arched an eyebrow.
My boss smoothed the coat draped over his arm.
“She wiped her hands all over my jacket again. Fourth time this month. Per our agreement, she owes me a written apology before tonight.”
It was total nonsense.
Leo almost laughed out loud.
He glanced at me, then at the man standing beside me.
His expression shifted, that familiar cold smirk sliding back onto his face.
“No wonder you never came back.”
“Found yourself a new protector, huh?”
“What, you beg him to keep you safe the same way you begged me once?”
His words hit me like a punch to the chest.
Crack.
I punched him hard enough to make my own fingers throb numb.
“I rode the surge of anger and snapped back. “That’s why I don’t need you. Get lost.”
“Yeah,”
Leo’s head jolted to the side from the blow.
He dropped his gaze, the smile on his lips freezing bit by bit.
Anthony, my boss, gave me a gentle nudge toward the exit.
i didn’t linger another second.
Leo muttered something to David I couldn’t catch, but I could feel his eyes burning into my back the whole time.
Only David’s voice cut clearly through the noise, gritted and furious.
“Leo, are you out of your damn mind?”
Anthony drove me home.
Once his car vanished across the street, I turned to walk back to my office building.
Footsteps sounded behind me.
I spun around. Leo stood beneath a dim streetlamp, his coat whipping in the wind.
“So what exactly is he to you, just a friend?”
Or-his voice dropped low. “Are you in love with him?”
He had no right to ask that.
“What do you want, Leo?”
He stared straight at me. “Autumn, come back to Chicago.”
Chicago.
Just hearing the name tore open every buried wound I’d kept hidden, raw and bleeding.
“Oh, so you want me to be your mistress all over again?” I couldn’t hold back the sharp sarcasm.
“What cheap thrill are you chasing from me tonight?
Or are you just playing games with me again? Didn’t you get enough two years ago—
“Autumn.” He cut me off, his tone eerily calm. “Don’t talk to me like that.”
The crisp autumn wind bit harshly at my fingertips.
Arrogant bastard. I shut my eyes and drew in a deep breath.
“Go to hell.”
