Chapter 28 - Twenty Seven: His Pain

Leo had been so irritated that day. His good-for-nothing cousin, Damian, thought it would be a fantastic idea to 'borrow' his jet on the same day he was leaving for New York, leaving him no choice but to travel in a commercial plane.

His family just had their special way of pissing him off, don't they?

He had been angry, his blood boiling even. He hated people touching his stuff, let alone without his permission, and these days his cousin had gotten bold, getting ahead of himself and even trying to push his buttons.

So that was how he ended up sitting on the dreaded plane. With his eyes closed, he took calming breaths to get his anger in check before he burns down the damn plane with everyone in it. Leo then felt someone standing in front of him but didn't bother to check who it was because he thought it was just a stewardess and after feeling the same presence for five minutes straight, he opened his eyes to see who it was.

On seeing who it was, all the anger he felt before was tossed out of the window and a smile stretched his lips. Standing in front of him was his goddess wearing sneakers who was looking at the seat next to his with a horrid expression on her face. Leo wasn't a fool, he put the pieces of the puzzle together and realized that it might have been her seat but she didn't want to sit on it because of him.

Though it kinda hurt his feelings a little that the woman he loved didn't even want to sit next to him but wasn't worried because that issue would be fixed soon enough. She looked like she was going to bolt out of the plane, not that he was going to let her or even give up his seat so she could feel more comfortable, he wasn't planning on doing any such thing.

Why would he?

Leo booked for that seat fair and square, so why give it up?

Besides, she was going to be his woman soon anyway so it was best she got used to having him around her and a one-hour thirty minutes flight would be a perfect start. It was a golden opportunity and Leo being the person he was wouldn't pass up a choice like this one.

A flight stewardess stood in front of the cabin demonstrating how to fasten the seatbelts since the plane was about to take off and Leo fasten his with ease while Becca felt her seatbelt stiff for some reason. It seemed to be malfunctioning.

Glancing at Becca, Leo saw that she was struggling with her seatbelt and leaned closer to her. He reached for the seatbelt then fasten it for her.

Becca thanked him and thought that after hearing the click sound from the seatbelt he would move away but he didn't. He chose to stay where he was, tormenting her with his dominating presence like the wicked soul he was.

' God, he was so close.' Becca said in her mind. He was so close that their faces were only inches away from each other and his hot breath fanned her face.

He had a smirk on his face, obviously enjoying himself while Becca felt like she would faint soon from the pressure at which her heart was pumping blood into her body.

Leo saw how pale her face had become and moved back to his seat, not wanting her to faint or even have a heart attack but the smirk on his face didn't falter one bit because having her next to him was enough to keep him smiling the whole day.

The plane had taken off and was now flying steadily in the sky when another stewardess approached their seats, smiling at them, well mostly at Leo but who cares?

The stewardess looked young, beautiful, and probably thought that she and the beautiful beast in front of her called Leo Kane could somehow hit it off then maybe even start seeing each other. But too bad for her, Leo was already obsessed and hell-bent on having the woman sitting next to him. The woman who didn't want to sit next to him in the first place or even look at him.

How unfortunate his life was.

The woman he wanted didn't even want him.

" Ma'am, sir would you like anything?" The stewardess asked with her voice as sweet as honey, still smiling flirtatiously at Leo while Becca fought the urge to roll her eyes.

" Water" Leo answered without sparing the seductress in front of him a second glance and turned to look at Becca instead. " What would you like to have?" He asked his beautiful distraction and part of Becca wanted to say 'you' just to piss off the stewardess so she could drop that coyish act of hers that didn't even suit her but quickly banished the thought because she didn't know how Leo would interpret it.

" Just water," Becca answered instead and glanced at Leo who didn't seem to waver upon the advances of the stewardess. He neither indulged her nor showed any interest which got Becca wondering; wasn't he aware he was being flirted with or did he just choose to ignore it? But the million-dollar question here was why did she even care?

" You sure?" He asked, with his gaze never leaving her for even a second and she nodded in response.

When the stewardess saw her services were no longer needed and she turned around to leave but Leo stopped her.

" Wait" He turned to her and her expression became slightly hopeful. " Put a bottle of Champagne on ice for me just in case." He said and winked at Becca who stared at him like he had just sprouted two more heads.

The man was really something.

Becca blinked twice and averted her gaze from him. Her cheeks burned with shame as a blush crept its way to her cheeks and didn't want him to see the effects his actions had on her. The stewardess left and it was just the two of them again. Becca peeked at Leo and saw him leaning back on his chair with a small smile playing on his lips.

" What's that for?" Becca asked, referring to the champagne. Knowing she would probably regret asking but still did anyway.

" What do you think?" He turned to her. " Of course it's for us, silly. Do you think I would let you drink it all on your own when you might get intoxicated and do something unspeakable to me? Not that I'm complaining or anything but I'm sure you would rather have your privacy than do it on a plane." He said with a sly smile and Becca was quick to turn away from him. She heard him chuckle, feeling amused by her pathetic attempts to ignore him.

If it had been another guy, Becca would have punched him in the face by now for acting that way with her but this was Leo Kane and for some reason that still wasn't clear to her, she found everything that he did charming and irresistible. She knew she was physically attracted to him but didn't want to get ahead of herself and become head over heels obsessed with him because it could happen. His good looks made it even more possible.

But despite her attraction towards him, Becca had a habit of not mixing business with pleasure which automatically made Leo Kane a forbidden fruit that she couldn't have. It was frustrating but had to be done to reduce the number of distractions she had in her life.

Becca had a goal in her life that she wanted to accomplish in her youth which was to make big ass money honestly without her parents' help and she didn't need Leo Kane's fine self distracting her.

He had already made his own money so now it's time for her to make hers.

" With all due respect, sir but between the both of us I'm sure it's probably you who fancies making moves on drunken people." She said a little curtly, knowing he was referring to the night of the party and the fact that she had gotten drunk then. She didn't like how he was teasing her about it like they had known each other for a long time, he was throwing shameless comments at her from all directions.

" Not if they weren't willing." He tucked away a loose strand of hair that had fallen on her face behind her ear. " And trust me, my dear, you were very willing." He drawled.

And that definitely got her attention because as soon as those words left Leo's lips, Becca turned to look at him. Thinking she would find him smiling or smirking like he had been doing ever since she sat down next to him but was a little surprised to see him with a serious expression on his face. He stared intently into her green eyes, into her soul and Becca looked into his as well.

Leo had really beautiful eyes that were mesmerizing enough to suck you into them but the sad part about it was when she looked into them the thing she saw wasn't darkness like her sister did but pain, mostly self-inflicted.

He might have been smiling and chuckling a minute ago and if you didn't pay much attention it may seem that he was a very happy person but all it took Becca was one look in his eyes to see the sadness in him. He looked strong and okay on the outside but broken on the inside.

Leo noticed Becca's expression soften while looking at him and realized that she might have seen something that he badly wanted to keep buried within himself forever. Something he didn't want anyone to see.

His pain.

He didn't want anyone to see his pain, not even her, showing pain was the same as showing weakness and Leo Kane wasn't weak. He fought hard not to be because being weak was just as good as being dead and the world Leo lived in was one where the people you called family, friends, would swallow you whole if you were too weak to fight back.

In his world, it was either eat or be eaten. Kill or be killed. Trick or be tricked. There was no room for weakness.

He tried to mask his feelings by giving her the most sincere-looking smile he could muster and she responded by also giving him a sweet smile that showed off her dimples but the only difference between both their smiles was hers wasn't forced, his was.

Leaning closer to Becca, Leo twirled the ends of her hair in his fingers which she shot him a glare to stop but instead of doing so, he chuckled on seeing her glares and just continued doing whatever he was doing to her hair.

Sighing, Becca decided to let him be. Whatever he was doing seemed to be keeping him busy.. At least now he wasn't shamelessly attacking her with his words.