I stared at him. "Seventeen thousand dollars? Leo, you can't be serious."

"I'm dead serious. My sister spent all those years in the countryside, roughing it. We're doing well now. Shouldn't we help her out?"

He grabbed my hand. His eyes were soft, tender even, but something behind them felt calculating.

I frowned, making no effort to hide my irritation. "If you want to help her, you help her. She's not my sister. Why is this my problem?"

Leo's expression froze. He clearly hadn't expected me to refuse so flatly, without even a moment's hesitation.

If he'd asked me to pick up some small gifts to make a teenage girl smile, I'd have been all for it. But seventeen thousand dollars? Whoever handed that over was a fool, plain and simple.

He stared at me for a long moment, then let out an awkward laugh. "I was just testing you, that's all. Seeing if my future sister-in-law was willing to spend a little on my kid sister. If you don't want to, I won't push it."

That comment did not sit well with me.

Testing me? That wasn't a test. That was emotional blackmail.

I didn't respond. I turned and stared out the window.

Dark clouds churned across the sky. Thunder rumbled in the distance, and within minutes, rain came hammering down in sheets.

Cold mist seeped through a gap in the window that hadn't been sealed properly. I shuddered.

Neither of us said a word for the rest of the drive. The silence lasted all the way to the rest stop.

Leo parked the car and turned to me. "Nora Henson, I'm going to grab something to eat. You want anything?"

I shot him a cold glance. "I'm not hungry. I'm going to use the restroom."

The rain had started to ease up. It was still coming down, but not hard enough to need an umbrella, so I dashed straight into the rest stop.

When I came back out after washing my hands, Leo was already sitting in the car waiting for me.

I jogged toward it. The second my fingers touched the door handle, he floored the gas and tore out of the parking spot.

I stood there like an idiot, my hand still frozen in mid-air where the door had been, unable to move for a full two seconds.

By the time my brain caught up, the car was gone. Leo was gone.

My mind went blank. I fumbled for my phone and called him, but all I got was the cold, automated voice: "We're sorry, the number you are trying to reach is currently on another call..."