His Last Chance at Redemption Read Online Free Page B

and I’m all the kid’s got.’
    The angel rubbed the back of her hand as if she could still feel his touch and Leo’s fingers flexed involuntarily because he could definitely still feel the silk of her skin. ‘That remains to be seen.’
    He glanced at the clock. ‘Five minutes to go. Surely Amanda would be here by now if she was coming.’
    ‘Not necessarily. She’s often late, sometimes even forgetting to turn up at all.’
    ‘What?’
He was genuinely shocked by her comment and he saw the moment she knew she’d said too much. ‘How many times?’
    ‘Pardon?’
    ‘How many times has she forgotten?’
    ‘I can’t remember.’ She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and he knew she was lying. He stared at her until she grew uncomfortable. ‘A few since her mother passed away.’
    He frowned. ‘Her mother died?’
    ‘She fell and broke her hip two weeks ago. I understand there was a complication with the surgery.’
    He shook his head. ‘I didn’t know.’
    ‘Why am I not surprised.’
    It was a statement, not a question, and he scowled, decidingto ignore her disparaging tone. ‘Why should that affect when Amanda picks the boy up?’
    ‘Because she doesn’t normally do it. As I understand it her mother was Ty’s main carer.’
    Leo frowned. Ty’s grandmother had taken care of him? Maybe he should have read those reports after all.
    ‘You didn’t know that either, did you?’ The angel didn’t look impressed and he wanted to tell her she had no right to judge him.
    ‘So it would seem,’ he snapped, getting up and stalking the short distance to the rear of the room and back.
    Leo noticed that she watched him as if she was trying to read him and he felt uncomfortable under her close scrutiny. He instinctively knew that if he told her he’d never even met his son she’d take umbrage and probably call in the army to deal with him and the truth was—he was a little worried. Danny was organising a nanny to meet him at his apartment to take over from him but … what would he do with a three-year-old until then?
    Long suppressed memories of his baby brother spiked in his head—that soft little body, his cheeky grin, the way he had called him ‘Layo.’ Leo swallowed past the bile in his throat and refixed his gaze on Lexi Somers. His eyes dropped to the row of pearl buttons on her blouse and he imagined grabbing the collar and ripping them off. Imagined baring her to his hungry gaze and lifting her onto the desk and burying himself deep inside her. His body hardened, but sex wouldn’t change the inevitable, only delay it, and he knew that was the reason it was on his mind so much since he’d arrived here. He was trying to distract himself. It had nothing to do with the brunette with the tiny waist and golden eyes.
    ‘Mr Aleksandrov, are you okay?’ He blanked his expression and told himself to stop being an ass and figure out this problem. Give him a stock market crash or a potential hotel site to assess and he’d have the situation under control inminutes. Dealing with the needs of a young child was so far removed from his reality he was struggling to be one step ahead of the issues.
    Then it hit him. He’d forgotten to treat this situation like a business transaction. And hadn’t he learned that everything came down to one thing?
    ‘How much do you need to hand Ty over?’
    ‘Excuse me?’
    His eyes grew flinty. ‘You heard. I’m a wealthy man.’ He raked her with cool eyes. ‘I’m sure your wardrobe could do with an update.’
    Her mouth fell open and she stared at him as if he’d just asked her how to build a pipe bomb. ‘Are you seriously trying to bribe me?’
    Leo closed his eyes and then glanced at the ceiling before bringing his gaze back to her. He stood up. ‘I already told you I’m short on time and you’ve wasted enough of it. I’m the boy’s father; even you recognised that, so just—’
    The phone ringing interrupted him and they both stared at it as if it were