Waterfall Kisses (The Kisses 9)

“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.”