Bound By Secrets

His Confession

The dress fitting was torture.

Not because of the dresses themselves. They were beautiful. Stunning creations in silk and satin that hugged her curves and made her look like someone she didn’t recognize. Someone who belonged in Leonardo’s world.

No, the torture came from the way her lips still tingled from his kiss. The way her body remembered the feeling of being pressed against him, his hands in her hair, his mouth claiming hers like he was drowning and she was air.

“Miss Carter? Are you listening?”

Elizabeth snapped back to reality. The stylist, a thin woman named Margot with severe features and impeccable taste, was holding up two gowns. One emerald green, the other midnight black.

“Sorry. Yes. The green one.”

Margot’s lips pressed into a thin line. “I asked which you preferred for the charity gala. The green is lovely, but Mr. DeLuca specifically requested something that would make a statement. The black is more dramatic.”

Of course Leonardo had opinions about what she should wear. He controlled everything else in this arrangement. Why not her wardrobe too?

But even as the thought formed, she remembered the way he’d kissed her in that hallway. The desperation in it. The hunger. That hadn’t been about control. That had been about need.

Her stomach fluttered. Dangerous. So dangerous.

“The black then,” Elizabeth said, pushing the thoughts away.

Margot nodded approvingly. “Excellent choice. Now, let’s discuss accessories. Mr. DeLuca mentioned you’d need jewelry appropriate for the event. I’ve brought several pieces from Cartier and Harry Winston for your consideration.”

She opened several velvet boxes, revealing diamonds and sapphires that probably cost more than Elizabeth would make in a lifetime. Each piece was more extravagant than the last. Each one a reminder of the massive gulf between her world and Leonardo’s.

Shame twisted in her gut. She didn’t belong here. Didn’t deserve any of this.

Gold digger. That’s what Sophia had called her. What the comments online said. And wasn’t that exactly what she was? Trading her body and her future for money?

Her chest tightened. The room felt too small, the walls closing in. She couldn’t breathe.

“Excuse me,” she managed, standing abruptly. “I need a moment.”

She fled to the bathroom, her heels clicking against marble. Locked herself in a stall and tried to remember how to breathe.

This was a mistake. All of it. She should have stayed in her crumbling apartment with her crushing debt. Should have found another way. Any other way.

Because this? Playing dress up in designer gowns while pretending to love a man who’d purchased her like a commodity? It was destroying her piece by piece.

But you kissed him back. You wanted it. You want him.

The truth of it made her sick. She was falling for Leonardo DeLuca. Falling for a man who saw her as a solution to his inheritance problem. A man who would discard her the moment he got what he needed.

Her phone buzzed. A text from Leonardo.

Helena said you seemed upset. Are you alright?

No. She wasn’t alright. She was drowning in a world that didn’t want her. In feelings she couldn’t afford to have.

But she couldn’t tell him that. Couldn’t admit that every time someone looked at her with judgment, a piece of her died. That she was terrified of wanting things she couldn’t have.

I’m fine, she texted back. Just overwhelmed.

Three dots appeared immediately. Then his response.

I’m coming to get you.

Panic flared. No, you don’t have to—

I’m already in the car. Be there in ten minutes.

Elizabeth stared at the message, her heart doing complicated things in her chest. He didn’t have to do this. Didn’t have to drop everything because she was having a breakdown in a bathroom.

But he was coming anyway.

She splashed cold water on her face and tried to repair her makeup. Tried to rebuild the walls that kept crumbling every time Leonardo looked at her like she mattered.

When she emerged from the bathroom, Margot was packing up the jewelry with practiced efficiency. “Mr. DeLuca called. He’s on his way to collect you. We’ll reschedule the fitting for tomorrow.”

Of course he’d already handled everything. Taken control like he always did.

It should have annoyed her. Instead, it just made her feel cared for. Protected.

You’re not protected. You’re owned. There’s a difference.

But her stupid heart didn’t seem to understand that.

Leonardo arrived exactly ten minutes later. He strode into the boutique like he owned it, his eyes immediately finding hers. Dark. Intense. Searching.

“Elizabeth.” Her name on his lips sounded like a prayer. A promise.

He crossed to her in three long strides and took her face in his hands. Right there in front of Margot and the sales staff. Not caring who saw. Not hiding his concern.

“What happened?” His voice was rough. “Talk to me.”

“I’m fine. I just needed air.”

“You’re not fine.” His thumbs stroked her cheeks, gentle but insistent. “Don’t lie to me. Not about this.”

The care in his touch, the worry in his eyes, it broke something inside her. Tears burned hot behind her eyelids, threatening to spill.

“I don’t belong in your world,” she whispered. “Everyone knows it. Sophia knows it. Your board knows it. Even I know it.”

Pain flashed across his face. “That’s not true.”

“It is.” Her voice cracked. “I’m nobody, Leonardo. A bartender playing dress up in a world that will never accept me. And the worst part is…” She stopped, afraid to say it out loud.

“What?” He leaned closer, his forehead nearly touching hers. “Tell me.”

“The worst part is I’m starting to forget this is pretend.” The confession tore out of her. “I’m starting to want things I can’t have. Starting to believe in something that doesn’t exist.”

Leonardo’s breath hitched. His grip on her face tightened, and when he spoke, his voice was raw. Stripped bare.

“What if it’s not pretend? What if I’m forgetting too?”

Time stopped. The world narrowed to just his eyes. His touch. His words hanging between them like a confession.

“Don’t say that,” Elizabeth breathed. “Don’t make me hope for things that will destroy me.”

“Elizabeth—”

“You hired me. We have a contract. This is a transaction, and when it’s over, you’ll move on to your next acquisition. That’s how your world works.”

“f**k the contract.” The words were fierce. Desperate. “f**k my world. I don’t care about any of it. I care about you.”

Her heart shattered and soared at the same time. She wanted to believe him. God, she wanted to believe him so badly it hurt.

But men like Leonardo didn’t fall in love with girls like her. Not really. Not in ways that lasted.

“You can’t mean that,” she whispered.

“I’ve never meant anything more.” His hands slid into her hair, cradling her head like she was something precious. “From the moment I walked into that bar and saw you again, something inside me shifted. I told myself it was guilt. Obligation. But that kiss this morning?” His voice dropped lower. “That wasn’t obligation. That was three years of wanting you. Three years of searching for you. Three years of wondering what it would feel like to hold you in my arms and know you were mine.”

Tears spilled down her cheeks. “This is insane. We barely know each other.”

“I know you saved my life. I know you’re brave and fierce and you don’t back down when people try to make you feel small. I know that when I touch you, you tremble. And I know that when you look at me, I see something I’ve never seen before. Hope. Real, terrifying, beautiful hope.”

His thumb wiped away her tears, his touch unbearably gentle.

“I’m falling for you, Elizabeth. And it scares the hell out of me. But I can’t stop it. Don’t want to stop it.”

This was everything she wanted to hear. Everything she was terrified to believe.

“What happens when you wake up and realize I’m not worth it?” Her voice broke. “When you remember I’m just some broke girl who doesn’t know which fork to use at fancy dinners?”

“Then I’ll teach you about forks.” A ghost of a smile touched his lips. “And you can teach me what it means to be real. To care about something beyond money and power and family legacy.”

He pressed his forehead to hers, and the intimacy of it stole her breath.

“Give me a chance,” he murmured. “Give us a chance. Not because of the contract. Not because of the money. But because when I’m with you, I remember what it feels like to want something for myself. Not for the company. Not for my father’s memory. For me.”

Elizabeth’s defenses crumbled. Every wall she’d built came crashing down. Because the vulnerability in his voice, the raw need in his eyes, it was real. She could feel it.

“I’m terrified,” she admitted.

“Me too.” His lips brushed against her forehead. “But I’d rather be terrified with you than safe without you.”

A sob caught in her throat. This was reckless. Stupid. Everything she’d sworn she wouldn’t do.

But when Leonardo looked at her like she was his salvation, she couldn’t help but reach for him too.

“Okay,” she whispered. “Okay. We can try.”

Relief flooded his features. He pulled her into his arms, holding her tight against his chest. She could feel his heart hammering beneath her cheek. Could feel the tension draining from his body now that she’d said yes.

“Thank you,” he breathed into her hair. “Thank you for taking a chance on me.”

On us, she wanted to say. But the word caught in her throat. Because “us” implied something real. Something lasting.

And she was still too afraid to believe in forever.

But for now, wrapped in Leonardo’s arms with his heart beating steady and sure against hers, she let herself believe in right now.

Let herself hope that maybe, just maybe, fairy tales could come true.

Even for girls like her.

They didn’t go back to the penthouse.

Instead, Leonardo drove them out of the city, his hand never leaving hers. They drove in comfortable silence, the skyline fading behind them until all that remained were open roads and trees painted gold by the afternoon sun.

“Where are we going?” Elizabeth asked.

“Somewhere we can breathe,” Leonardo said. “Somewhere no one will stare or judge or expect us to perform.”

Half an hour later, he pulled off onto a dirt road that wound through dense forest. And when they emerged on the other side, Elizabeth’s breath caught.

A lake stretched before them, glass-smooth and reflecting the sky like a mirror. The shore was empty except for a small dock and a cabin nestled among the trees. Rustic but beautiful. Private.

“This is mine,” Leonardo said quietly. “My father built it when I was a kid. Before the company consumed everything. Before he forgot what it meant to just… exist.”

He parked and came around to open her door, his hand immediately finding hers again. Like he needed the contact. Needed to know she was real.

They walked to the dock in silence. Leonardo pulled off his shoes and socks, rolled up his pants, and dangled his feet in the water. Elizabeth followed suit, gasping at the cold.

“This is beautiful,” she said softly.

“It’s the only place I feel like myself.” He stared out at the water, his profile sharp against the setting sun. “When my father died, I almost sold it. Too many memories. But I couldn’t let it go.”

Elizabeth leaned her head on his shoulder, and he wrapped his arm around her. Drew her close.

“Thank you for bringing me here,” she said.

“Thank you for coming.” He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “For giving me a chance. For not running when I admitted I’m falling for you.”

“I’m still terrified,” she admitted.

“Good. Me too.” His arm tightened around her. “But we’ll figure it out. Together.”

Together. The word settled warm in her chest.

They sat there as the sun sank lower, painting the sky in shades of orange and pink. And for the first time since this whole thing started, Elizabeth felt like she could breathe.

Like maybe, just maybe, she’d found something real in the middle of all the lies.

“Elizabeth?” Leonardo’s voice was soft. Uncertain in a way she’d never heard before.

“Yeah?”

“When this is over, when the inheritance is secured and the contract is fulfilled…” He paused, took a breath. “I don’t want you to leave. I want you to stay. Not as my fake fiancée. As my real one.”

Her heart stopped. Then started again, triple time.

“You’re asking me to marry you? For real?”

“Not yet.” He turned to face her, his dark eyes searching hers. “But I’m telling you that’s where I want this to go. And I need to know if that’s something you could want too. Eventually.”

Fear and hope warred in her chest. Marriage. Real marriage. To Leonardo DeLuca. A man who’d walked into her life and turned everything upside down.

It was insane. Reckless. Too fast.

But when she looked at him, saw the vulnerability in his eyes, the hope, she knew her answer.

“Yes,” she whispered. “Eventually. I could want that.”

His smile was devastating. Beautiful and real and entirely hers.

Then he kissed her. Slow and deep and filled with promise. His hands cradled her face like she was something precious. Like she mattered more than anything else in his world.

And Elizabeth kissed him back with everything she had. All the fear. All the hope. All the terrifying, wonderful feelings she’d been trying to deny.

Because Leonardo DeLuca was falling for her.

And she was already gone.