Waterfall Kisses: A Billionaire Love Story (Saltwater Kisses Book 8) Page 18

  Leo leaned forward and kissed me again. I could taste my tears in his kiss, salty and full of emotion. He pulled back after a moment, his blue eyes going to mine. “You are so beautiful.”

  “Even when I'm crying?” I laughed, knowing that I was anything but beautiful right now. I'd been up for over twenty-four hours straight with just a quick nap. I hadn't eaten since dinner and I sorely needed a cup of coffee. There was no way I was beautiful with that on my plate and then adding tears, red eyes, splotchy cheeks, and a runny nose.

  He touched my cheek, his fingers gentle and kind. There were tears in his eyes. “Always. You are always beautiful to me.”

  When he looked at me like that, with the sun in his hair and his eyes so blue the sky paled behind him, I had to believe him. Even with my tangled hair and wrinkled t-shirt, I knew he was telling the truth. I was beautiful to him.

  “Excuse me, ma'am,” a male voice said with a light touch on my shoulder. I turned to see a paramedic behind me. He looked at Leo. “Sir, we need to get you to the hospital.”

  “Of course!” I said, leaping to the side and practically pushing Leo in the paramedic's direction. I had been so wrapped up in just seeing him that I had forgotten that he had just crashed his boat.

  I followed Leo and the paramedic to the waiting ambulance, noting how he limped slightly on his left foot, how he cradled his left arm, the bruises already forming on the back of his legs and the myriad of cuts and scratches I was just now noticing.

  He was banged up to hell and back. A lump rose in the back of my throat again, the panic of loosing him welling up within me. Fresh tears rolled down my cheeks as I thought of how close he must have come to dying.

  The paramedic got him into the truck and strapped him into the ambulance.

  “I want her to come with me,” Leo said, as I stood outside the ambulance door. “If she'll come.”

  The request melted my sore heart.

  The paramedic nodded. “Hop on in.”

  “You couldn't get me off this ambulance if you tried,” I told the paramedic.

  “I was afraid you wouldn't want anything to do with me,” Leo said quietly as I crawled inside and sat down next to him.

  “What happened, Leo?” I asked, changing the topic. I wasn't ready to talk about that yet. I just wanted to be happy that he was alive for a little longer before having to be angry again.

  “Well, I certainly didn't mean to crash,” Leo teased with a a wink. He sighed when he saw me frowning. “I'm not one hundred percent sure how it happened. The engine was acting up, and then something just slipped.”

  “I'm just glad you're okay,” I said firmly, clicking my seat belt into place. There was so much that I wanted to talk to him about, but, I knew that most of it wasn't something we should discuss in front of the paramedic.

  “Me too,” Leo agreed. He took my hand in his and squeezed. I knew he was thinking the same things I was. “I'll tell you more, later.”

  The paramedic checked to make sure we were all set. “The Coast Guard said they checked your immediate injuries, but that you probably had some broken bones. We'll get you to the hospital and have you checked out. I have to say that you look to be in great shape for being out on the open ocean all night.”

  “Luckily, that boat has some pretty insane safety measures,” Leo replied as the paramedic sat down with us. His partner started the engine and the ambulance stated to rumble forward.

  “Yeah, except for a crappy radio and an easily broken-off GPS,” I grumbled. “You know, I really, really, really hate that boat now.”

  Leo chuckled. “I promise not to get another one.”

  “Good,” I said. “I don't know why you liked it so much in the first place.”

  “I do.” Leo paused, swallowing hard. He took a deep breath, and looked at me with shame and defeat in his eyes. “The boat, the speed- it was gambling.”

  “What?” I wasn't quite sure how driving a boat was the same as putting money on a horse. This felt like another confession and I wasn't sure I wanted to hear it.

  “It was gambling. Not with money, but with my life. It gave me the same rush.” Leo looked down, shame pinking his cheeks for a moment before looking back up at me. “I'm sorry.”

  I was just so glad that he was safe, I would have forgiven just about anything at this point. This was an easy thing to forgive. I reached out and took his hand, giving it a squeeze. “I love you, Leo. No matter what.”

  He brought my hand to his lips and kissed it. Relief oozed out of his smile as he held my hand close to him. I knew it wasn't a proud moment for him, and I knew that just admitting what he had done was difficult. He had replaced one addiction for another, but at least he was realizing it.

  “I love you, Charlotte,” he whispered. “You were all I thought of while I was out there.”

  Tears threatened to overwhelm me again. “No scaring me like that again.”

  “Never again,” he promised, his grip tightening on my hand. “I'm never leaving you again.”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  It was hot outside the main entrance of the hospital as I helped Leo into the car to leave. The discharge paperwork was finally signed and we were ready to head home to recover from the day.

  “Well, that was fun,” he remarked, handing his paperwork to Murdoch and going to the open backseat car door. I helped him get settled, chuckling at how he thought the blur of tests, stitches, casts, and medical words was “fun.”

  “I'm just glad you get to go home tonight,” I said as Murdoch closed the car door behind me. I took Leo's hand in mine. He looked absolutely exhausted. Luckily, other than some dehydration, a broken arm, plenty of stitches and more bruises than I could count, the doctors said he was fine. They still wanted him watched overnight as they hadn't ruled out a concussion, but they were confident he would make a full recovery.

  “Me too. There are some perks to having access to a personal physician who can provide all the hospital requirements in the comfort of your own home,” he replied, leaning back in his seat and closing his eyes. There was a large bandage on his forehead and the blue of his sling was garish against the black leather car interior. “Remind me to thank Bastian for recommending Dr. Verner. I hate hospitals.”

  “We're all set,” I called up to Murdoch in the driver's seat. I could see a light smile in his eyes reflected in the rear view mirror as he pulled away from the hospital. Murdoch was definitely growing on me.

  “You know where to go, Murdoch,” Leo added.

  “We'll be there in just a few minutes,” Murdoch informed us. The road wasn't busy, which was wonderful and the silence after the incessant beeping of the hospital was most welcome.

  Finally, for the first time in hours, we weren't surrounded by people. I could finally find out the questions burning inside of me about the blackmail.

  “Leo, what is the connection with the slush fund and the blackmail?” I asked after a moment. I knew I should let him rest, but I had been waiting to find out for hours now.

  He sighed, slowly opening his blue eyes and sitting up. “That wasn't me, Charlotte. I didn't take that money out,” Leo replied. I could see the honesty in his eyes as he reached for my hands and then paused, not wanting to push me. He swallowed hard. “But they are related. You said it was my authorization code on the account?”

  I nodded.

  “There's only one person who would access to that code, other than me.” Leo's face hardened. “And he wouldn't know that it's tracked so closely. And he needs the money.”

  “Who?” I asked. I didn't have any ideas.

  “Toby.” Leo's voice was flat and cold.

  “Your assistant? ” I asked. It wouldn't be that strange for Leo to give Toby his access code for a business trip, especially during busy times, like now with the app launch. I knew I had used the slush fund twice in the past month for emergency flights for myself and Bastian. “But why would he need the money?”

  “I gave him my code last week
when we were working,” he explained. Leo ran his good hand through his hair, making it stand on end. “He's got a bad history with gambling. I think he's in debt and needed a way to pay it off.”

  I thought of how I had seen Leo and Toby come out of the Gamblers Anonymous meeting. If he was gambling, he would need access to money. I knew Leo paid him well, but I could only imagine how easy it would be to lose it all.

  “Is he a gambler?” I asked, wanting to make sure I was right about him.

  “Yes. I met Toby my sophomore year of college at a poker game,” Leo answered. “He was the one who showed me how to bet on sports games. He was awful at it. Honestly, you could just pick the opposite of whatever he did and usually win.”

  “What makes you think he's gambling again?”

  “Little things. I know his habits.” Leo tried to smooth down his hair with his hand, but gave up. “I gave him this job when he came to me a few years ago. He was in debt to some rather scary individuals when he came to me for help. He was desperate, and I could see myself in his situation. If I had lost our start-up money, I could have been him. We were the same coin, just different faces.”

  “So that's how he became your assistant. I'd always wondered,” I said. Leo frowned. “I mean, he's got strong skills, but there were always better applicants. I can see why you picked him.”

  “Thing were good.” Leo shrugged. “And then he came to me a few months ago. He'd gotten back into bad habits.”

  “And you helped him again.” I smoothed out the fabric of my shorts with my palms. They were all wrinkled from wearing them all night.

  “Yes. I helped him pay off his new debt and get back in the program.” Leo shook his head and sighed. “But I made it very clear that I wasn't happy. The whole point of helping him get this job was to give him a way out. I told him never again. Bailouts are not the answer, even with unlimited money.”

  “And now, he's back in debt, but he can't come to you,” I said, putting the pieces together. “Which is why he took the money from the slush fund. He didn't know it was so closely monitored, and he was hoping to just replace it before it was noticed.”

  “That's what I think as well,” Leo agreed.

  “But what about the blackmail? How would he know about the bet you made in college?” I asked. “How did he know it was something you would be willing to pay to keep quiet?”

  “He would know because he was there when I made the bet. I didn't think he saw how much I won, but apparently he did.” Leo's jaw twitched as he tightened it. “He put the pieces together and realized that my 'loan' was that bet. It doesn't take a genius to figure the rest out. Especially how I feel about you.”

  “And now you think he's blackmailing you.” I hated the way it sounded. I hated the way it made my stomach knot up. I wished I could just fix all of it and make it so that Leo was perfect again.

  But I couldn't. I knew the truth now.

  “But how do you know it's him? He could just be a thief, not a blackmailer,” I pressed.

  “I had Murdoch check his phone records and follow up.” Leo's eyes caught a predatory gleam. “He didn't cover his tracks very well once Murdoch pushed a few people. It's him.”

  I fell back into the seat, numb. How could Toby do this? Leo had done everything he could to help Toby and yet Toby was throwing it back in his face. Blackmail. Theft.

  “If you had just told us about the bet five years ago, none of this would have happened,” I blurted out. I was so tired I wasn't censoring my words any more. It wasn't the kindest thing to say, but it was true. “All you had to do was tell us where the loan money really came from, Leo.”

  “I'm so sorry, Charlotte.” He took a shaky breath. Defeat hung on his shoulders. “You're absolutely right, though. You have no idea how many times I tried to tell you. How many times I tried to tell Bastian. I told Gabe once when he was drunk, but he didn't believe me.”

  “You should have told me,” I replied, my voice heated but the anger was burned out. I had been so worried about him that I wasn't angry anymore.

  “You wouldn't have looked at me the same.” Leo turned. “Do you see why I pushed you away for so long? You deserve someone better than me.”

  “I don't want anyone else,” I said stubbornly. I stared at the floor for a moment, but needing to put voice to the hurt in my heart. I trusted Leo. Up until today, I didn't know of a single lie he ever told me. But this lie was huge. “But you did lie to me. To my brother and your friend.”

  “I hated lying,” Leo confessed, his face falling. “To everyone, but especially you. You'd look at me with so much trust everyday and I knew I was nothing but a liar. It's why I never let myself have you. You deserve someone that doesn't lie. I'd understand if you never wanted to see me again.”

  I looked over at him, ready to tell him he was right. But, when I looked at him, I didn't see a man who lied to me.

  I saw a man who loved me. Who had tried every day since that day to make it up to all of his friends. A man who helped others. A man with demons but who was determined to fight them. I saw the way he always went above and beyond without being obvious about it. The small things he did to make the world a better place, ever asking for recognition or payment.

  He was a good man who made a mistake.

  But mostly, I saw love. I saw that he was a human being who loved me. I didn't want to be mad anymore. I had already forgiven him. He wasn't completely off the hook, but if I had made the same mistake, I would hope he would see past it and forgive me. So, I was going to forgive him. He had his heart in the right place, even if he hadn't gone about it in the right way.

  He was no longer perfect in my eyes. He was human, and in a way that made him so much better. He was real. We were real. I wasn't perfect, and now neither was he. He had lost his god-like status in my mind, which meant we could have a future together because we were both mere mortals.

  “Leo.” I picked up his good hand and held it in mine. I loved the way it felt. The weight of his palm against mine and the rough pads of his fingertips. “It was a mistake a long time ago. Yeah, I'm a little angry, but... I love you. I don't want anyone else. I never have.”

  “I don't want there to be any secrets between us,” Leo replied. His eyes were bright with emotion. “I love you. I don't want to keep anything from you ever again.”

  “You need to tell Bastian and Gabe. They deserve to know, too.”

  “I know. I plan on it.” Fear flickered across his face followed by resolve. “Will you help me?”

  “Always,” I promised. I meant it, too.

  “Thank you, Charlotte.” He smiled and squeezed my hand. “I love you. So much.”

  “I love you.” I squeezed his hand. I wiped at my eyes, wanting to change the subject. I had enough of deep emotions for the day. I needed to laugh, not cry anymore. “I should tell you something, though. Since we're not keeping secrets anymore.”

  “What?” Concern crossed his face at my serious tone. “You can tell me anything.”

  “I totally ate your sandwich that day in the office last week. It wasn't the secretary. It was me,” I confessed.

  Leo laughed, breaking the tension building in the car.

  “I don't know, Charlotte,” he said, smiling at my joke. “I was very fond of that sandwich.”

  “I'll get you another. An even better sandwich,” I promised, loving that he was joking with me again. Things were slowly righting themselves in my world.

  “You already have,” he replied. “You've given me so much.”

  The car pulled up in front of the beach mansion Bastian and I were staying at. I frowned, thinking we were supposed to be going to Leo's place. That's where the doctor was meeting us.

  “Murdoch? What are we doing here?” I asked.

  “Charlotte, I need to ask you a favor,” Leo answered for him. “I need you to call an emergency board meeting.”

  “A meeting?” I repeated. I was expecting that he needed me to go get Bastian or that he wanted t
o stay with me for the night. I wasn't expecting him to ask me for a board meeting. Especially because he could call a board meeting on his own. He didn't need me to do it for him.

  “Yes. An emergency board meeting.” He smiled hopefully. “In Miami. As soon as possible.”

  “Okay...” I frowned, not yet understanding what he was doing. “Why don't you just call it? And, you don't have to call a board meeting to tell Bastian and Gabe about this. Just come inside and tell them right now. It'll suck, but they'll understand.”

  He shook his head. “I need you to do it. I need you to be worried about my personal history interfering with my work.”

  “I do? But why would I do that? I don't believe it does...” Slowly, what Leo was doing dawned on me. “Oh, I get it. I'll call the meeting and Toby's going to panic. He might even do something stupid. Like confess to the blackmail.”

  “And hopefully the slush fund theft.” He squeezed my hand, giving me confidence in his plan to catch Toby red-handed. “Plus, since we'll be in Miami...”

  “We'll be in US jurisdiction,” I finished. I pulled out my phone and dialed the familiar number of Bastian's secretary. “Hi Gladys, I need to call an emergency meeting of the board...”

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  I hadn't been able to eat anything all morning. My stomach was made of knots and snakes, and the snakes weren't happy about the knots.

  I stood in front of the main table in the empty meeting room and tugged on the non-existent wrinkles of my suit jacket. I'd been tugging on it all morning to the point where I was afraid the shoulder seams might give out. It was just nerves. I'd been in hundreds of important meetings, but this one was different. This wasn't just money on the line. This was Leo. I was nervous. Crazy nervous.

  I just had to stick to the plan.