Kate

Chapter 2

I baulk, a flicker of terror jolting up my spine. Only last night I'd seen his face as he'd smirked, eyes darkening, and ripped a necklace from my throat, leaving me a sobbing mess in the middle of my bedsheets. But now, he's here. And I'm awake.

Reality slams into me like a car. My breathing becomes erratic. I shiver. He looks different than my nightmares so often recall, now older and just as handsome – his stubble more visible, his hair longer and neatly slicked back. He even looks taller.

But it's definitely him; there's not a single sliver of doubt in my mind. I'm back where I was five years ago – nowhere to run, to hide, nothing I can say, panic rushing through my veins. Like the recurring nightmares, he's back, and any control I thought I'd mastered isn't there. My hands tighten around my clutch, desperate to grab on to something, anything, that can help me. Maybe if I offer him my purse, he'll disappear?

No! Pull it together, Kate. Leo has no say in anything I do here. Last time, I was unprepared, and he taught me a lesson I'll never forget.

Shifting on my feet, I lift my chin high, confident. Leo's arms are resting on top of the driver's door, and he's slouched back in his fancier-than-last-time suit, not a single emotion on his face, nothing to suggest that he's recognised who I am. But he must. If not, he wouldn't be here...

Frozen, my eyes dart to the number plate on the car, double-checking I'm not going mad.

Yes. It's the right vehicle. My car.

What the fuck is Leo doing? Has he upped his game since we last met, stealing cars for a living instead? But then he wouldn't be standing here, acting like he's waiting for... me.

Swiping my tongue across my veneers, I step forward and cross my arms. 'Excuse me? What are you doing?' I ask, my tone as blunt as I can make it.

Leo cocks a brow before slowly, but obviously, letting his eyes trail over my entire body. Scanning me. Analysing me.

I grit my teeth, shifting on my heels as anger bubbles inside me. Stay strong, Kate.

Scoffing, I quickly uncross my arms. 'I asked you a question.'

Leo straightens his spine, shoving his hands into his trouser pockets as he steps around the door, towards me. There's no sense of decorum, not that I would ever expect any from the likes of him.

'Katherine Dalton?'

Leo's sudden, deep voice comes as a shock – way rougher than I remember. But that's because he isn't trying to disguise himself tonight. I'm surprised.

I blink twice, shifting on my feet. He knows who I am. Sure, I only gave him the name 'Katherine' all those years ago, but his group of criminal undesirables were in that bar for one reason and one reason only. We were their prey, and he'd chosen me as a target.

'Why the fuck do you think you can be here?' I snap, taking one step towards him before doubting myself and glancing back at the glass hotel door. Oliver's long gone – he probably disappeared the second he saw the trusted burgundy vehicle. The staff are conveniently missing; no porters either. There's no one to witness a thing. Not that I'm getting dangerous vibes from Leo right now. Although... I didn't that night either...

'I'm here to drive you home,' he answers.

The words sink in slowly, every single one less believable than the last, and I let out an uncontrollable laugh. As if. Neither Dad nor Ian would ever send someone I don't know.

Correction: someone they think I don't know.

'No. You're not. How did you get this car? Where's Ian?'

Leo doesn't look amused. In fact, his expression is completely unreadable, a blank page. 'Mr Dalton needed someone to pick him up from the airport.'

'So?'

His face morphs into an expression of disbelief as he slouches against the door once more. 'Ian went to get him.'

'Then I'll wait for him to return. Like I normally do,' I bite back.

He has the gall to look amused. Jerk.

'Ian would never leave me alone—'

'He didn't,' the man in the expensive-looking suit interrupts. 'They sent me to collect you.'

'You?' I laugh. 'There's no way my dad would ever send someone like you to pick up his—'

He shrugs, cutting me off again. 'I'm Leo. The new driver.'

My mouth falls open for mere seconds before I shut it, unable to spit out a single word. I must be dreaming. There's no other logic here. I must have fallen asleep the minute Mr Brown started telling me about his grandchild.

The idea that Leo wouldn't remember what happened five years ago is absurd. Yet he's acting like being here is totally normal, as if Dad would actually hire him.

Scoffing, I shake my head and wrap my arms around myself. 'If you think that's enough to get me in the car, you're sadly mistaken. I'll wait for Ian.'

He raises an eyebrow at my words before leaning against the vehicle again. He clearly doesn't care how dirty that suit may get.

'I'm afraid you'll be waiting until the cold, windy hours of morning, Miss,' Leo says, a small grin on his face. 

It's a pearly white, straight-toothed, arrogant smirk that has me grinding my teeth. Arrogant, stupid jerk!

'Better than getting in a car with you,' I retort, pursing my lips.

The amusement finally slips from his face, and he inhales sharply before shaking his head.

'I'm sorry. I think we got off on the wrong foot.'

'You think?' I snort before I can stop myself. Gritting my teeth, I swallow the humiliation from my unladylike action. I haven't slipped up like that in years.

Leo doesn't bat an eyelid, only stepping forward to tower over me. His next words are gruffer, proving that I've got under his skin. 'Katherine, I promise... I didn't know what they were... planning that night. I was told we were going out to pretend to be high society. That was all. I knew nothing about their... robbery plans.'

To hear it from the horse's mouth – that he truly is standing in front of me knowing what he did – stops my brain from whirring at a million miles per hour, frozen in these seconds of reality instead. For Leo to think he can even look at me... To have the nerve, the gall to drive me home... It doesn't add up. Dad would never have hired him.

'Please get in the car.'

'I don't believe you, Leo,' I exclaim quickly. 'And even if I did, you think a sorry would fix anything? Fix how it felt to have my drink spill over me?' My breath hitches in my throat, oxygen halting in my lungs at the recollections. 'To be robbed? To have everyone laugh at me for years, to have to recount every moment with the police?' I spit out.

Leo's head drops slightly. 'I know—'

'I should call the police right now,' I snap. 'They only found one of you, didn't they? I can't tell you how much I hoped it was you—'