unhooked my hand and took it in his, bending down to kiss the back.
This doesnât happen in real life. Men like this donât happen in real life
. When his lips left my skin and he looked into my eyes, I felt like the most important, fascinating person in the world. That it felt so good made me want to cringe.
I found my voice, just barely. âI donât know people like you,â I gasped.
âDo you want to?â
It was a strange question to ask, and I honestly didnât know the answer. Would it be odd if I said yes? My brain might be totally scrambled here, but it wasnât so scrambled that I couldnât see and admit the truth about myself. I had no life. I had no friends. I had no family. I just had work, which lately Iâd even had trouble remembering. And it had had trouble remembering me. On the face of things, Leonardo Kaysar represented the kind of somethingâthe kind of someoneâIâd fantasized about after falling asleepin the early morning in front of movies chronicling lives Iâd never lead and adventures Iâd never have.
âMason was right when he said you were a dangerous man.â
âYes, he was,â Leonardo said with a smile. His hand fell away. âIâm dangerous to
him
.â
âWhy do you guys hate each other so much?â I asked.
He turned away, then back to me. âMy father was a great man,â he said incongruously. âHe was intelligent and successful and all of that, but he also lived for his family.â
I swallowed hard, realizing that as much as Kaysar knew about my inner life, it shouldnât surprise me that he knew my personal history. Did he know what I would give for a father who sounded like his?
âMason took the meaning out of life for him and never showed an ounce of remorse,â Leonardo continued. âWhen you most desperately need loyalty from him, that will be the moment you will know without a doubt that all you have from Mason Merrick is betrayal. He would kill you if he had to, to get what he wants.â
My jaw dropped. âYouâre crazy. He would never
kill
me. Youâre not really saying that, right?â I asked, feeling oddly caught between laughing and crying. These were simply words, a suggestion. I didnât know why they should affect me like they did. âHe just walked me home. Heâs had a million chances toââ
Leonardo gave a casual shrug. âAt the moment, itâs not advantageous for him. But make no mistake,what he is doing now is ingratiating himself, making you trust him so that you will stay near him.â
I narrowed my eyes. Maybe Leonardo really
did
know about my history, as he seemed to know about my tendency to live life through a TV screen or the pages of a book. But distrust filled me. âMaybe thatâs more like what
youâre
trying to do.â
Kaysar didnât seem the least bit concerned by my accusation, and I was getting closer and closer to completely losing my shit.
âWhy are you telling me this?â I finally asked. âWhy are you here if you donât want to hurt me or take me with you or whatever?â
A look of irritation crossed his face. âTo have a moment for us before Mason completely poisons you against me. Itâs bad enough that he knew you before. He has the advantage of planting whatever story he so chooses, which gives me the disadvantage of trying to prove to you otherwise.â
âYou havenât proven a thing to me yet,â I said. âNeither of you has.â
Leonardo ran his fingers lightly across my cheek. âMasonâs true colors will do it all for me, and then you will know that I have not been lying to you, that I want to work with you, not against you.â
His cell phone must have been on vibrate; his hands suddenly fell away from me and he took a step back to take the call. âPlease excuse me, Roxanne.â A few silent moments later, he
Learning to Kill: Stories