Steel, p.19
Steel, page 19
I laugh it off and shove his arm. "Shut up, man."
The Trinity turn to us like they forgot we were here. Carissa moves closer. "We bought the building when it went up for auction last year. There was a very unfortunate glitch on the listing and emails and it happened to work to our advantage. We needed a place where we could house the beneficiaries for House of Ruth."
"It doesn't seem to me that this is all that it is."
"It's not," Amelia continues. "It's also a command center. We are housing the children and families that come for surgeries to the U.S. and the orphanage in the east tower. The west tower houses the classroom buildings and soon-to-be training centers. The top three floors are ours. Our offices are here and we each have apartments, in case we need to hide out for a while."
She shrugs like it's no big deal and looks at her girls.
"I never even heard of this going on sale." Noah's baffled tone speaks for all three of us.
Gia gives us her signature wide-eyed look. "It was that odd glitch thing. Somehow Mel and Carissa were the only ones that got the registration message. Oh, and the basement is bombproof so everyone can run in there if necessary."
"When was this?" her husband asks.
She scrunches her face as though looking for the exact date, but no one is buying that.
Amelia stands next to her. "We finalized the purchase of the property the week Gia got out of jail and started the work soon after. It's registered to the Leonor, Ruth and Ella Foundation."
I'm speechless and I don't have to look to know the reactions of the other two men. Alec has turned into a statue and joking-laughing-fun Noah's breath is about to take the whole place down.
Carissa’s shoulders square up, her eyes on her husband.
Alec stares at her like he's trying to melt her on the spot. "You didn't think I needed to know about this?"
Fuck. I know that cold-as-an-ice-block tone. In my world, it means someone's going to die and it may just be by Alec's cold. No one will die here but…
"No. This is part of my business and we keep business separate, remember?"
Ah shit. Maybe someone will die after all. Alec and Carissa are sharing murderous stares. Noah is looking at Gia like he sees her for the first time. She, in turn, is looking at him like she doesn't understand why. The McLeans are all at war with each other but Amelia's sending heated looks my way.
Her eyes are doing a careful surveillance down my body and I can't help but stir at it. I mean, my fiancée is undressing me with her eyes in front of people. I would have to be dead not to react. Then, I realize what she's doing. I pelt her with a stern look, but she stops me with a wag of her finger.
"We were not married or dating and like the ladies said, we do business separately."
Truth be told, I'm not mad at this or at her. She's right, there was no full disclosure needed between us. I'm pissed that we didn't know, that they can still surprise us this way, and so easily hide things from us. Part of me has always admired them for this ability.
"We'll talk about this later."
She rolls her eyes. "Sure."
"I would like to have a word with my wife. Is there a place we can go?" Alec freezes everyone with his request until Noah echoes it.
Amelia shoots me a pointed look and steps forward, one hand topping the other in the universal time-out sign. "Look, I know you're all pissed and we can talk about this later but we don't have the time now. You guys have to go to the police station, we have no plans and we don't know what Captain Asshole has in store for us."
"The conversations won't take long," Noah objects.
"Yes, they would. Because the make-up sex would have to follow and we don't have too much time and I'm just going to put it out there, I want to make sure I don't die."
My stomach lurches and the temperature in the room drops to a chill. Our gazes meet and she realizes what she said and her face collapses. In two steps, she's in front of me.
"I'm sorry. I was just trying to lighten the mood. I shouldn't have joked with that."
She wraps her arms around my neck and presses a brief kiss on my lips. Then she turns around to the others and tells them she's sorry.
Alec sighs. "Okay, let's call a truce for now. We need to get this sorted out, so where do we start? What do we know?"
"Well, we know who's helping him, Alma DeMateo and her people. She can't be the only one running that organization. She'd have to be better than both Calum and Declan."
No sooner were the words out of Noah's mouth, than he was cornered by the scowling looks of all three women.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Gia asks.
"No no no," he stops her. "I'm not talking about her intelligence and ability. I'm just saying she can't run all that alone. She was only Calum's trophy wife and Declan’s lover."
"You do what you need to do to protect those you love." Carissa shuts us all up and turns to Gia. "Did you find out about the…the victim?"
"Byrnes was supposed to call me—" She face palms. "I forgot. Reception."
She runs to an office and types something into the computer. Seconds later our phones start beeping and vibrating.
"We can shut off Wi-Fi and reception here."
Amelia's really enjoying this a little bit too much.
Gia rushes out of her office. "Byrnes sent a name. Victoria Kessel. Who is she?"
My chest contracts and everything falls off. I should have known. "Oh my God, Vic."
36
I can't hear myself think. This is so fucked. All I can hear is her name. Victoria Kessel. Vic.
Amelia stands before me, much like she did when we found out about Lucy. I cover her hand on my shoulder with my own hand.
"Who is she?" Carissa asks.
"Sebastian's college girlfriend." Noah's tone tells me he's confused and stunned. "I don't understand. She had nothing to do with Leo. Why kill Vic?"
My gaze collides with Alec’s. I'm not surprised at the accusation in his eyes. It makes me feel like shit because I never told him. I kept it from him. I was trying to protect her and myself.
"What did you do, Leo?"
I drop my head in my hands. Jesus, how many more innocent people will die in this fucking game Sebastian's playing with me? Why doesn't he just kill me? There's no other victim between him and Amelia now. She's next but instead of concentrating on that, I have to explain why Vic is number three.
"Tell me what the fuck you did. Why would he kill Vic to get to you?"
"I had something with her that summer Bas brought her home."
"What?"
"Weren't you like fifteen?" Noah asked.
"Sixteen."
Alec points his finger at me. "I told you to stay away from her because nothing good would come out of it."
"I did." I close my eyes. "Look, you don't need the details…"
Amelia's staring at me with a frown. I don't care what anyone else thinks but I can't have her thinking the worst of me.
"Vic was a good person. She didn't deserve this. That summer she came home with Bas, I noticed her. I think we all did. She was eighteen, beautiful and sweet. Bas used to be an asshole all the time when Alec or grandfather weren't around. One day he was laying into me, ridiculing me in front of his friends."
Amelia sits next to me. I turn to her.
"I went to my room and she came to see me a while later. She said she wanted to see if I was okay and told me how sorry she was. She gave me a hug and said she didn't know Bas could be like that. She kissed me on the lips and the next second we were all over each other. I didn't think he, Bas, ever found out. She dumped him after that week."
"Oh, he knew. But this was long ago. You never even thought of her again. How the fuck—" Alec's gaze sharpened. "It wasn't a one-time thing, right?"
"No."
"No?" He takes two steps towards me and stops.
I shake my head. He has a right to be pissed. I dragged Vic into my crazy-ass issue with Sebastian. "I messed with her a couple of more times that week and we kept in touch afterwards."
"How the hell did you mess around with her? Sebastian was there. I was always around."
I blow a mouthful of air. "She snuck into my room at night or we used to see each other…does it really matter?"
"Yes. It does. You never fucking said a thing and when I asked you why Bas hated you so much, you never seemed to know."
Anger boils over my skin and I shoot to my feet then. "Your brother hated me way before that. He always had. He called me names and ridiculed me, and the Vic thing was secret."
"Obviously fucking not. Because now she's dead. Somehow, he fucking knew and you kept in contact with her all this time. Why?"
I'm so pissed I can barely see but I can't blame him for saying that. I should have come clean with him. "She was good to me, Alec. I wasn't sleeping with her. I haven't since I was sixteen. But she was nice and we were just friends. From time to time we would contact each other, making sure the other was doing well. She went through a rough time. We never jumped into bed together again."
"Are you sure?"
I scoff and point my finger at him. "Fuck you."
Amelia's hands wrap around my arm and Noah steps between Alec and me.
"Okay, let's all take a breather. Sniping at each other won't solve anything. There's no point in yelling at Leo for something that happened years ago. Anyway, that wasn't the reason for Sebastian to kill Vic.”
Alec keeps blasting me with his eyes and I stare back. I’m not backing down.
“Stop being kids about this. We don’t have time for this shit.”
Amelia’s voice snaps me out of it. I deserve Alec’s anger and the way he’s looking at me right now.
“I know you’re mad, but I never share this stuff. If I didn't run to you with the shit he did to me, I didn't want to run to you with this shit I did to him."
Alec's gaze doesn't relent but he steps back. "Is that all?"
"No. I helped her with money. She fell into bad times, drugs for a while. She called me last year, said she needed my help. I sent her money."
Alec swears and Amelia turns me to her.
"You were supporting this woman?" She's flustered and there's something in her eyes, an emotion I can't define but one I hate and need to make go away.
"No. I was just helping her. I've only seen her a couple of times after we hooked up that week. I saw her last year. She asked me to help her. They took away her kid and she was strung out. I was giving her some money ‘til she got back on her feet."
A heavy silence falls in the room but it's nothing compared with the weight of Amelia's gaze. I don't know what's going through her mind right now. What does it mean? I want to have this out but I know that won't lead to anything good. She closes her eyes and it feels like a century before she opens them again.
"Why didn't you tell anyone?" Noah finally asks.
"Because it was no one's damned business." Amelia's tone is cutting, frustration coloring her every syllable. "We're all annoyed and scared but I think we all can understand why Leandro kept this a secret. She was kind to him and he was repaying that. What would you need that information for? If it hadn't been Vic, it could have been anyone. He would have found someone else. She, unfortunately, got caught in this bullshit. Sebastian killed her like he killed Sheldon and Nelly, and Byanca, and Lucy."
She grabs my hand between hers and my organs meld into each other. I’m so grateful to her, it’s almost pathetic. She believes me. I don't have the words to express that, so I just squeeze her hand and nod. But I need to make this right.
"Look, I'm not proud of what I did with Vic back then and I won't try to convince you that I didn't feel good sticking it to Bas. I did. He took pride in calling me a mutt and a dog. This mutt gave it to his girlfriend and was the reason she canned him. But I never thought in a million years he knew."
I look at Alec, who no longer looks like a Rottweiler ready to maul me. "You and I can talk on the side."
"Okay," he says and turns to look out the window. "Let's talk about the police. I think we should table the planning until after the interview tomorrow."
Noah steps in, his face full of what I can only discern as relief. "Yeah, let's just table everything ‘til tomorrow. We'll have the lawyer meet us early at our new place. We already arranged for our guys to be ready for us to move around. Everyone go get some rest."
37
Leandro's looking around the apartment, his eyes lingering on the walls, surfaces and the built-in nook that serves as my TV room. This place is a sanctuary. I designed it at a time where everything in my life was falling apart. It's a symbol more than anything.
"These were the plans you were looking at on your phone, on the way to pick up Gia and Noah in Detroit."
I smile and nod over my shoulder, climb out of my heels and put them in the closet by the door.
"They'll bring our dinner, soon. I'm going to go take a shower."
He's now staring out the window and not listening. I go to him, take him by the hand and start walking.
"What are you doing?" he asks when we're past the bedroom door.
"I want you to come shower with me."
"Amelia, I don't think I can…"
I make my eyes extra wide and stare at him open mouthed. "You put a ring on my finger and I no longer turn you on?" I laugh. "I'm hungry and tired. I don't think I can either but I want you in the shower with me. I need you close."
He smiles, slow and so naked, that my heart bends a little. I flip off my shirt and roll down my pants and take off my underwear. He stands there staring at me but the look in his eyes is not sexual, it's painful. He drags me against him. His arms so tight around me and I hug him to me, just as tight like I have the same kind of strength he does.
We stand there for a while and it occurs to me I could stand here forever but I need to get him fed and comfortable. "Don't make me drag you into the shower with all your clothes."
He laughs and lets me go. I step into the bathroom and turn on the water. I grab towels and make sure the soap is in place. When he walks in, I force my gaze not to linger. He lost his friend, Amelia. Jesus, calm down. You have a lifetime of him ahead of you.
My heart thumps at the thought. My eyes fly from him to my ring finger. I smile at him. I hold his hand and walk into the shower stall.
"This place is different than I expected. I didn't think you go for all this completely modern style."
"I don't. This place is just our shelter. In case we can't go home. It needs to be functional." I can't think of a more enjoyable job than scrubbing his back and getting to touch him all over.
"Amelia, I want to explain about Vic."
"Leandro, I know I can be wild and crazy but even I know that you had a life before me, just like I had a life before you. You were trying to help her."
"Yeah but I used her, too. I'm not proud of it and Sebastian's using it against me and you."
I stop scrubbing and turn him around. "Do not blame yourself for this. I meant what I said. Bas would use anyone as an excuse. He hated you from day one."
"I feel like shit. If I hadn't used her like that, she wouldn't be dead."
"You used each other. She was an innocent victim of Sebastian but years ago, she made a conscious decision to cheat on her boyfriend. And shit, it was Sebastian. He was probably the shittiest boyfriend ever—"
His lips are on mine. "Thank you."
Ten minutes later, I'm averting my eyes as we towel dry and get into comfortable clothes. He's gets into a pair of sweats and I put on a sleeping romper.
I'm a horrible person. He lost his friend and my eyes, my hands, my mouth are all dying to be all over him. He heads to the living room first. I wrap my hair in a bun and follow.
"The food elves came in," he announces.
I rush into the living room. He has laid out the food on the coffee table. His eyes are not on it, though. No, his eyes are burning a trail from my head to my toes.
"Leandro, if you expect me to behave tonight, I need to warn you that you have to do the same."
He looks away so fast, like a kid getting caught pilfering cookies.
"What did we get?"
I laugh and move over to him. I brush my lips over his. "There's nothing wrong with wanting each other. We've been apart for way too long."
He nods and I know his heart is not in it, even if his eyes are, and he's about to put a hole through my stomach. I need to keep reminding myself of that because if he gave me a partial let's-go sign, I would jump on him like a cheetah in the heat of mating season. Instead, I grab the boxes and begin to split the Chinese food between us. I got a box of his favorite combination Lo Mein and my own favorite beef Chow Fun.
I love this. It's like our days at his place. Just the two of us. "This is nice."
He smiles and nods. I love that I don't have to explain.
"It’s our engagement dinner.”
His face drops. "I'm sorry. It won't always be like this."
I put my plate down and climb into his lap. "I can't wait to find a new place together. I'm looking forward to living with you."
He pulls back and frowns. "Since when? You get this pained look on your face whenever I talk about our new place."
I shake my head and lay it on his shoulder. "Not anymore. Hey, how did you get this ring done so fast? And how did you know canary diamonds are my favorite? Did you know?"
"You got those earrings you always loved. The ones you told me in a real snotty way that no man had bought for you and were a gift to yourself."
I sound like such an ass. "I was pissed. That gossip website said Fabian gave those to me. I was not happy. I had those made and paid for."
"Why would you mention that asshole now?"
"Hey, you were dating someone back then too. You should be thanking me. The girls were about to beat her ass."
He chuckles. "Anyway, you seemed so proud of the earrings, I figured the ring you'll wear forever should go with those. I saw it the first time when I accompanied Noah to buy Gia’s ring. I called the jeweler and bought it and figured if it never happened, I could just sell it." He laughs it off like he was talking about a rug.
The Trinity turn to us like they forgot we were here. Carissa moves closer. "We bought the building when it went up for auction last year. There was a very unfortunate glitch on the listing and emails and it happened to work to our advantage. We needed a place where we could house the beneficiaries for House of Ruth."
"It doesn't seem to me that this is all that it is."
"It's not," Amelia continues. "It's also a command center. We are housing the children and families that come for surgeries to the U.S. and the orphanage in the east tower. The west tower houses the classroom buildings and soon-to-be training centers. The top three floors are ours. Our offices are here and we each have apartments, in case we need to hide out for a while."
She shrugs like it's no big deal and looks at her girls.
"I never even heard of this going on sale." Noah's baffled tone speaks for all three of us.
Gia gives us her signature wide-eyed look. "It was that odd glitch thing. Somehow Mel and Carissa were the only ones that got the registration message. Oh, and the basement is bombproof so everyone can run in there if necessary."
"When was this?" her husband asks.
She scrunches her face as though looking for the exact date, but no one is buying that.
Amelia stands next to her. "We finalized the purchase of the property the week Gia got out of jail and started the work soon after. It's registered to the Leonor, Ruth and Ella Foundation."
I'm speechless and I don't have to look to know the reactions of the other two men. Alec has turned into a statue and joking-laughing-fun Noah's breath is about to take the whole place down.
Carissa’s shoulders square up, her eyes on her husband.
Alec stares at her like he's trying to melt her on the spot. "You didn't think I needed to know about this?"
Fuck. I know that cold-as-an-ice-block tone. In my world, it means someone's going to die and it may just be by Alec's cold. No one will die here but…
"No. This is part of my business and we keep business separate, remember?"
Ah shit. Maybe someone will die after all. Alec and Carissa are sharing murderous stares. Noah is looking at Gia like he sees her for the first time. She, in turn, is looking at him like she doesn't understand why. The McLeans are all at war with each other but Amelia's sending heated looks my way.
Her eyes are doing a careful surveillance down my body and I can't help but stir at it. I mean, my fiancée is undressing me with her eyes in front of people. I would have to be dead not to react. Then, I realize what she's doing. I pelt her with a stern look, but she stops me with a wag of her finger.
"We were not married or dating and like the ladies said, we do business separately."
Truth be told, I'm not mad at this or at her. She's right, there was no full disclosure needed between us. I'm pissed that we didn't know, that they can still surprise us this way, and so easily hide things from us. Part of me has always admired them for this ability.
"We'll talk about this later."
She rolls her eyes. "Sure."
"I would like to have a word with my wife. Is there a place we can go?" Alec freezes everyone with his request until Noah echoes it.
Amelia shoots me a pointed look and steps forward, one hand topping the other in the universal time-out sign. "Look, I know you're all pissed and we can talk about this later but we don't have the time now. You guys have to go to the police station, we have no plans and we don't know what Captain Asshole has in store for us."
"The conversations won't take long," Noah objects.
"Yes, they would. Because the make-up sex would have to follow and we don't have too much time and I'm just going to put it out there, I want to make sure I don't die."
My stomach lurches and the temperature in the room drops to a chill. Our gazes meet and she realizes what she said and her face collapses. In two steps, she's in front of me.
"I'm sorry. I was just trying to lighten the mood. I shouldn't have joked with that."
She wraps her arms around my neck and presses a brief kiss on my lips. Then she turns around to the others and tells them she's sorry.
Alec sighs. "Okay, let's call a truce for now. We need to get this sorted out, so where do we start? What do we know?"
"Well, we know who's helping him, Alma DeMateo and her people. She can't be the only one running that organization. She'd have to be better than both Calum and Declan."
No sooner were the words out of Noah's mouth, than he was cornered by the scowling looks of all three women.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Gia asks.
"No no no," he stops her. "I'm not talking about her intelligence and ability. I'm just saying she can't run all that alone. She was only Calum's trophy wife and Declan’s lover."
"You do what you need to do to protect those you love." Carissa shuts us all up and turns to Gia. "Did you find out about the…the victim?"
"Byrnes was supposed to call me—" She face palms. "I forgot. Reception."
She runs to an office and types something into the computer. Seconds later our phones start beeping and vibrating.
"We can shut off Wi-Fi and reception here."
Amelia's really enjoying this a little bit too much.
Gia rushes out of her office. "Byrnes sent a name. Victoria Kessel. Who is she?"
My chest contracts and everything falls off. I should have known. "Oh my God, Vic."
36
I can't hear myself think. This is so fucked. All I can hear is her name. Victoria Kessel. Vic.
Amelia stands before me, much like she did when we found out about Lucy. I cover her hand on my shoulder with my own hand.
"Who is she?" Carissa asks.
"Sebastian's college girlfriend." Noah's tone tells me he's confused and stunned. "I don't understand. She had nothing to do with Leo. Why kill Vic?"
My gaze collides with Alec’s. I'm not surprised at the accusation in his eyes. It makes me feel like shit because I never told him. I kept it from him. I was trying to protect her and myself.
"What did you do, Leo?"
I drop my head in my hands. Jesus, how many more innocent people will die in this fucking game Sebastian's playing with me? Why doesn't he just kill me? There's no other victim between him and Amelia now. She's next but instead of concentrating on that, I have to explain why Vic is number three.
"Tell me what the fuck you did. Why would he kill Vic to get to you?"
"I had something with her that summer Bas brought her home."
"What?"
"Weren't you like fifteen?" Noah asked.
"Sixteen."
Alec points his finger at me. "I told you to stay away from her because nothing good would come out of it."
"I did." I close my eyes. "Look, you don't need the details…"
Amelia's staring at me with a frown. I don't care what anyone else thinks but I can't have her thinking the worst of me.
"Vic was a good person. She didn't deserve this. That summer she came home with Bas, I noticed her. I think we all did. She was eighteen, beautiful and sweet. Bas used to be an asshole all the time when Alec or grandfather weren't around. One day he was laying into me, ridiculing me in front of his friends."
Amelia sits next to me. I turn to her.
"I went to my room and she came to see me a while later. She said she wanted to see if I was okay and told me how sorry she was. She gave me a hug and said she didn't know Bas could be like that. She kissed me on the lips and the next second we were all over each other. I didn't think he, Bas, ever found out. She dumped him after that week."
"Oh, he knew. But this was long ago. You never even thought of her again. How the fuck—" Alec's gaze sharpened. "It wasn't a one-time thing, right?"
"No."
"No?" He takes two steps towards me and stops.
I shake my head. He has a right to be pissed. I dragged Vic into my crazy-ass issue with Sebastian. "I messed with her a couple of more times that week and we kept in touch afterwards."
"How the hell did you mess around with her? Sebastian was there. I was always around."
I blow a mouthful of air. "She snuck into my room at night or we used to see each other…does it really matter?"
"Yes. It does. You never fucking said a thing and when I asked you why Bas hated you so much, you never seemed to know."
Anger boils over my skin and I shoot to my feet then. "Your brother hated me way before that. He always had. He called me names and ridiculed me, and the Vic thing was secret."
"Obviously fucking not. Because now she's dead. Somehow, he fucking knew and you kept in contact with her all this time. Why?"
I'm so pissed I can barely see but I can't blame him for saying that. I should have come clean with him. "She was good to me, Alec. I wasn't sleeping with her. I haven't since I was sixteen. But she was nice and we were just friends. From time to time we would contact each other, making sure the other was doing well. She went through a rough time. We never jumped into bed together again."
"Are you sure?"
I scoff and point my finger at him. "Fuck you."
Amelia's hands wrap around my arm and Noah steps between Alec and me.
"Okay, let's all take a breather. Sniping at each other won't solve anything. There's no point in yelling at Leo for something that happened years ago. Anyway, that wasn't the reason for Sebastian to kill Vic.”
Alec keeps blasting me with his eyes and I stare back. I’m not backing down.
“Stop being kids about this. We don’t have time for this shit.”
Amelia’s voice snaps me out of it. I deserve Alec’s anger and the way he’s looking at me right now.
“I know you’re mad, but I never share this stuff. If I didn't run to you with the shit he did to me, I didn't want to run to you with this shit I did to him."
Alec's gaze doesn't relent but he steps back. "Is that all?"
"No. I helped her with money. She fell into bad times, drugs for a while. She called me last year, said she needed my help. I sent her money."
Alec swears and Amelia turns me to her.
"You were supporting this woman?" She's flustered and there's something in her eyes, an emotion I can't define but one I hate and need to make go away.
"No. I was just helping her. I've only seen her a couple of times after we hooked up that week. I saw her last year. She asked me to help her. They took away her kid and she was strung out. I was giving her some money ‘til she got back on her feet."
A heavy silence falls in the room but it's nothing compared with the weight of Amelia's gaze. I don't know what's going through her mind right now. What does it mean? I want to have this out but I know that won't lead to anything good. She closes her eyes and it feels like a century before she opens them again.
"Why didn't you tell anyone?" Noah finally asks.
"Because it was no one's damned business." Amelia's tone is cutting, frustration coloring her every syllable. "We're all annoyed and scared but I think we all can understand why Leandro kept this a secret. She was kind to him and he was repaying that. What would you need that information for? If it hadn't been Vic, it could have been anyone. He would have found someone else. She, unfortunately, got caught in this bullshit. Sebastian killed her like he killed Sheldon and Nelly, and Byanca, and Lucy."
She grabs my hand between hers and my organs meld into each other. I’m so grateful to her, it’s almost pathetic. She believes me. I don't have the words to express that, so I just squeeze her hand and nod. But I need to make this right.
"Look, I'm not proud of what I did with Vic back then and I won't try to convince you that I didn't feel good sticking it to Bas. I did. He took pride in calling me a mutt and a dog. This mutt gave it to his girlfriend and was the reason she canned him. But I never thought in a million years he knew."
I look at Alec, who no longer looks like a Rottweiler ready to maul me. "You and I can talk on the side."
"Okay," he says and turns to look out the window. "Let's talk about the police. I think we should table the planning until after the interview tomorrow."
Noah steps in, his face full of what I can only discern as relief. "Yeah, let's just table everything ‘til tomorrow. We'll have the lawyer meet us early at our new place. We already arranged for our guys to be ready for us to move around. Everyone go get some rest."
37
Leandro's looking around the apartment, his eyes lingering on the walls, surfaces and the built-in nook that serves as my TV room. This place is a sanctuary. I designed it at a time where everything in my life was falling apart. It's a symbol more than anything.
"These were the plans you were looking at on your phone, on the way to pick up Gia and Noah in Detroit."
I smile and nod over my shoulder, climb out of my heels and put them in the closet by the door.
"They'll bring our dinner, soon. I'm going to go take a shower."
He's now staring out the window and not listening. I go to him, take him by the hand and start walking.
"What are you doing?" he asks when we're past the bedroom door.
"I want you to come shower with me."
"Amelia, I don't think I can…"
I make my eyes extra wide and stare at him open mouthed. "You put a ring on my finger and I no longer turn you on?" I laugh. "I'm hungry and tired. I don't think I can either but I want you in the shower with me. I need you close."
He smiles, slow and so naked, that my heart bends a little. I flip off my shirt and roll down my pants and take off my underwear. He stands there staring at me but the look in his eyes is not sexual, it's painful. He drags me against him. His arms so tight around me and I hug him to me, just as tight like I have the same kind of strength he does.
We stand there for a while and it occurs to me I could stand here forever but I need to get him fed and comfortable. "Don't make me drag you into the shower with all your clothes."
He laughs and lets me go. I step into the bathroom and turn on the water. I grab towels and make sure the soap is in place. When he walks in, I force my gaze not to linger. He lost his friend, Amelia. Jesus, calm down. You have a lifetime of him ahead of you.
My heart thumps at the thought. My eyes fly from him to my ring finger. I smile at him. I hold his hand and walk into the shower stall.
"This place is different than I expected. I didn't think you go for all this completely modern style."
"I don't. This place is just our shelter. In case we can't go home. It needs to be functional." I can't think of a more enjoyable job than scrubbing his back and getting to touch him all over.
"Amelia, I want to explain about Vic."
"Leandro, I know I can be wild and crazy but even I know that you had a life before me, just like I had a life before you. You were trying to help her."
"Yeah but I used her, too. I'm not proud of it and Sebastian's using it against me and you."
I stop scrubbing and turn him around. "Do not blame yourself for this. I meant what I said. Bas would use anyone as an excuse. He hated you from day one."
"I feel like shit. If I hadn't used her like that, she wouldn't be dead."
"You used each other. She was an innocent victim of Sebastian but years ago, she made a conscious decision to cheat on her boyfriend. And shit, it was Sebastian. He was probably the shittiest boyfriend ever—"
His lips are on mine. "Thank you."
Ten minutes later, I'm averting my eyes as we towel dry and get into comfortable clothes. He's gets into a pair of sweats and I put on a sleeping romper.
I'm a horrible person. He lost his friend and my eyes, my hands, my mouth are all dying to be all over him. He heads to the living room first. I wrap my hair in a bun and follow.
"The food elves came in," he announces.
I rush into the living room. He has laid out the food on the coffee table. His eyes are not on it, though. No, his eyes are burning a trail from my head to my toes.
"Leandro, if you expect me to behave tonight, I need to warn you that you have to do the same."
He looks away so fast, like a kid getting caught pilfering cookies.
"What did we get?"
I laugh and move over to him. I brush my lips over his. "There's nothing wrong with wanting each other. We've been apart for way too long."
He nods and I know his heart is not in it, even if his eyes are, and he's about to put a hole through my stomach. I need to keep reminding myself of that because if he gave me a partial let's-go sign, I would jump on him like a cheetah in the heat of mating season. Instead, I grab the boxes and begin to split the Chinese food between us. I got a box of his favorite combination Lo Mein and my own favorite beef Chow Fun.
I love this. It's like our days at his place. Just the two of us. "This is nice."
He smiles and nods. I love that I don't have to explain.
"It’s our engagement dinner.”
His face drops. "I'm sorry. It won't always be like this."
I put my plate down and climb into his lap. "I can't wait to find a new place together. I'm looking forward to living with you."
He pulls back and frowns. "Since when? You get this pained look on your face whenever I talk about our new place."
I shake my head and lay it on his shoulder. "Not anymore. Hey, how did you get this ring done so fast? And how did you know canary diamonds are my favorite? Did you know?"
"You got those earrings you always loved. The ones you told me in a real snotty way that no man had bought for you and were a gift to yourself."
I sound like such an ass. "I was pissed. That gossip website said Fabian gave those to me. I was not happy. I had those made and paid for."
"Why would you mention that asshole now?"
"Hey, you were dating someone back then too. You should be thanking me. The girls were about to beat her ass."
He chuckles. "Anyway, you seemed so proud of the earrings, I figured the ring you'll wear forever should go with those. I saw it the first time when I accompanied Noah to buy Gia’s ring. I called the jeweler and bought it and figured if it never happened, I could just sell it." He laughs it off like he was talking about a rug.
