Page 136 of Under Her Protection

Leo fell quiet again.

Then she stood.

Vivienne watched her walk around the table.

There was something different in her face now.

Not nerves exactly.

Leo rarely looked nervous.

But there was intention.

Vivienne knew that expression.

She had seen it when Leo was making a decision she had already considered from every angle.

Leo stopped in front of her.

“Vivienne.”

“Yes?”

“I love you.”

The words still affected her.

They always would.

“I love you too.”

“I want this.”

Vivienne glanced around.

“The house?”

Leo smiled.

“You know that’s not what I mean.”

She did.

Leo crouched in front of her.

Not on one knee.

Not yet.

Just close.

Her hands rested on Vivienne’s thighs.

“This. You. Me. Marie terrorising me for the next fifteen years.”

Vivienne’s eyes stung unexpectedly.

“Leo—”