Heartless Prince by Brook Wilder

Chapter 38

Lucas

 

We returned topside as the New York skyline came into view. Leda broke away from me and walked over to the railing to watch. I shoved my hands into my pockets and watched her, wondering what she was thinking.

 

If there was a moment for her to escape, now would be the time. My mind flashed back to the moment I saw her go over the top of the balcony on our first night. She could do it now and there’d be no way for me to reach her in time.

 

There were plenty of other boats nearby that she could easily be picked up before I or my men could get to her.

 

Of course, I wouldn’t let her go so easily. I’d board any boat that picked her up to demand her return.

 

Nonetheless, I made no move to join her. She needed to trust me, and the only way she was going to do so was for me to back the fuck off. I wanted to show her that I could let her taste freedom. That she’d be given the choice to leave and she would choose to stay.

 

Could I be what she needed? Hell, no. I was a bastard with more secrets than she could possibly drum up. But I would still be a bastard who gave her a choice.

 

When Leda turned, I waited with bated breath to see what she was going to do. Whatever she decided, I could handle. I would have to handle it. If she left, I wouldn’t blame her. After all, she was in this shit because of me.

 

So when she started to walk toward me, a knot in my chest loosened.

 

She was coming to me.

 

“What’s that look for, Lucas?” Leda asked as she reached my side, her long hair blowing in the wind.

 

“I thought you would jump,” I said.

 

“Jump?” she looked back at the railing. “Into the Hudson?”

 

I shrugged, carefully schooling my emotions so that I wouldn’t let her see how much she affected me. “The easiest way out.”

 

Leda opened her mouth and then promptly shut it. “Lucas,” she said after a few moments. “I didn’t want to jump.”

 

Her words destroyed me. She didn’t want to jump. She didn’t want to leave me even though I had bought her like an object.

 

The man who stole everything from her: from her freedom to her innocence.

 

And yet… she chose me.