He looked at her with something almost like disbelief. “You are giving me orders in my own house.”

“I’m recovering from childbirth. It makes me powerful.”

A low laugh escaped him. Chloe had heard it only once before. The sound warmed the silent room. Leo returned to the bed.

“If you stay, there will always be risk.”

“If I stay, it will be because I chose you. Not because of Danny’s debt, not because of a contract, and not because your guards closed the gates.”

Leo sat beside her. “The contract is void.”