The cold mountain air felt like a shock to Lili's sensitized skin as Leo slowly, reluctantly, let her feet touch the ground. His hands lingered on her waist, his thumbs tracing the silk of her dress as if he couldn't quite bring himself to break the connection.
"Your lips," Leo whispered, his voice still rough and thick with emotion. He reached out, his thumb gently brushing over her lower lip, which was slightly swollen and stained with the ghost of his kiss. "Everyone will know."
Lili took a shaky breath, her heart still hammering against her ribs. She reached up, smoothing the lapel of his blazer and tucking a stray lock of dark hair back into place. Leo looked different—the icy wall had melted, leaving behind a man who looked raw, exposed, and utterly captivated.
"Let them know," Lili whispered back, though her pulse spiked at the thought of Sienna waiting just behind the glass.
Leo straightened his jacket, the CEO mask sliding back into place, but it was cracked. His eyes still burned with a protective fire as he took Lili's hand, lacing his fingers through hers for a brief second before releasing her to open the heavy glass door.
The moment they stepped back into the warmth of the Great Room, the jazz music seemed to fade into the background. The transition from the silent, freezing balcony to the glittering, golden party was jarring.
Lili walked beside him, her head held high, though her legs felt like jelly. She could feel the eyes of the guests shifting toward them. She looked for Luca and saw him standing by the bar; he caught her eye and gave a small, knowing smirk, leaning back against the counter as if to say, I told you so.
But then, she saw Sienna.
Sienna was standing in the center of a circle of socialites, a champagne flute in her hand. The moment Leo and Lili entered, her laughter cut off abruptly. Her sharp, blue eyes scanned them with the precision of a predator.
She saw it instantly.
She saw the way Leo's breathing was still slightly heavy. She saw the disarray of Lili's hair, which had been perfectly pinned an hour ago. But most of all, she saw the way Leo's gaze stayed pinned to Lili, even as he moved toward the bar. He wasn't looking at the guests; he was checking the perimeter around Lili like a wolf guarding its mate.
Sienna didn't wait. She excused herself from the circle and intercepted them near the grand staircase. Her smile didn't reach her eyes; it was a thin, dangerous line of red lipstick.
"There you are, Leo," Sienna said, her voice dripping with a fake, sugary sweetness that made Lili's skin crawl. She didn't look at Leo; she stared directly at Lili's lips. "I was starting to think you'd fallen off the mountain. You look... flushed."
Leo stepped slightly in front of Lili, a subtle, possessive movement that didn't go unnoticed. "The air was thin, Sienna. We needed a moment of quiet."
Sienna's eyes flickered to Leo, a flash of pure, cold rage crossing her face before she masked it. "A moment of quiet? Or a moment of madness?" She leaned in closer, her voice dropping to a low, lethal hiss meant only for the three of them. "Don't forget who is watching, Leo. Your father is on the guest list for the gala next week. If he hears even a whisper of this... 'distraction'... you know exactly what happens to the merger. And what happens to the girl."
Lili felt a chill that had nothing to do with the balcony. She looked at Leo, waiting for him to back down, to return to the safety of the business deal.
But Leo didn't flinch. He looked down at Sienna with a coldness that surpassed anything he had ever shown Lili. "The merger is a contract, Sienna. My life is not. If you want to play games, play them with someone else. Lili is staying."
Sienna's hand tightened around her champagne glass until it looked like it might shatter. "We'll see about that," she whispered, before spinning on her heel and disappearing into the crowd.
Would you like me to write the next chapter, where Sienna makes a secret phone call to Leo's father, leading to a surprise arrival at the lodge?
While the party continued to swirl in a haze of gold and velvet, Sienna slipped into the darkened library, the very room where Leo had been so cold to Lili only the night before. Her chest heaved with a fury she couldn't contain. She wasn't just a woman scorned; she was a businesswoman who saw her greatest asset—Leo—slipping through her fingers.
She pulled her phone from her clutch and dialed a number that few people in the country dared to call after midnight.
"It's me," Sienna said, her voice shaking with a mixture of rage and triumph. "Your son has lost his mind. He's throwing away the merger for a college student. A nobody. If you don't get up here now, the contract is dead by morning."
She listened for a moment, a slow, cruel smirk spreading across her face. "I'll leave the gate open. See you at dawn."