Chapter 33
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Leonard
I glance over at Shelby again. She’s still staring out the passenger window, but the shift in her shoulder tells me she can feel my eyes on her.
She’s been quiet ever since I ushered her and Riley out of the park. I shift my eyes to my baby girl through the rear-view mirror. Wiggling in her seat to the tunes from her headphones, she’s oblivious to the mood up front.
I frown at the iPad in her little hands before focusing back on the road. Needs must.
“You’ve gone quiet,” I say, placing my hand on Shelby’s thigh.
“I’m always quiet.”
True. I roll my eyes, irritation flaring. The disrespectful gesture irritates me even more.
“Talk to me,” I whisper huskily, squeezing her leg.
Sighing, Shelby shuffles in her seat. Her fingers find mine and play mindlessly, but eventually she forces out, “He called you an angel of death.”
I close my eyes at the phrase. Motherfucker! That prick has been digging. He was probably a good cop before he pissed off the Cromwells and got himself booted.
Crossing me won’t get him fired. It’ll get him killed. I’m not losing my family, and that’s what Shelby is—family, my future wife, and the mother of my kids.
The Cromwells didn’t have the balls to deal with him when he sniffed around them and their girls, but I do.
“Cooper likes to run his mouth.” But the vague answer doesn’t satisfy.
Shelby finds my mother’s locket under her T-shirt.
Twisting in her seat, she glances back at Riley. Happy my daughter is completely distracted, Shelby whispers, “Have you killed people?”
I feel my heart stop. I’d hoped this day wouldn’t come.
“I’m a doctor, Shelby,” I say confidently. My hand on her thigh moves to find the nape of her neck. “I swore an oath to help people. I take my oaths very seriously, as will you when we marry.”
Shelby blinks at my words, letting them sink in.
“What if I don’t want to get married?”
I chuckle at her question and squeeze her neck. Keeping my eyes on the road, I move to wipe away a lone tear making its way down her soft cheek.
“Am I wearing your wife’s necklace?” she chokes out.
“Ex-wife,” I correct, “and it was never hers. Even if she wore it for a short time.”
Shelby lets go of the locket as if it burns.
“Enough. The necklace belongs to you, and you’ll wear it as my wife. You weren’t questioning us this morning, so don’t let Kyle fucking Cooper change the way you feel about me. I love you.”
“I need to go home and think.”
Frustration fills me. “At the house with me and Riley is your home.”
“You know what I mean,” Shelby mumbles, her voice shaky.
“No, I don’t.” I refuse to give her any leeway. She doesn’t get to second-guess us. I never intended for Shelby to discover my other secret, but at least this way, there will be nothing hiding in the shadows.
The way she’s looking at me cuts.
“I’m still the same man you kissed this morning,” I remind her.
“Are you?” she asks in disbelief.
Reaching for her hand, I pull it to my mouth and place a gentle kiss on the back of it.
“Yes,” I breathe.
“Leo . . .”
I wait, but she doesn’t continue. Instead, she shifts in her seat to look out at the passing houses.
The rest of the drive is painfully quiet. By the time I pull into the driveway, Shelby has stopped crying and wiped her face clean. My thumb runs back and forth on her palm, our fingers loosely linked.
“I have to pee.”
I frown at the statement.
“Riley!”
Both of my girls pause in pushing open their doors.
“What?” Shelby asks, confused.
“That’s not how we phrase that.”
“She has to pee. What else is she supposed to say?” She shrugs.
Riley nods along.
“You’re a doctor, you’ve heard worse.”
True.
Rolling my eyes, I climb out and hold the back passenger door, closing it after Riley is out. Shelby meets us at the front door.
“Quick, Daddy.” Riley wiggles.
“You were fine at the park.” I eye her.
“But now I’m not.”
My mouth drops at her sass. Shelby chuckles beside me.
“Don’t think I didn’t see that eye roll.” Shelby smirks.
I lighten at her teasing. Maybe we’re okay.
Riley pushes past me before the front door is even fully open.
Tutting, I throw my keys carelessly into a green glass bowl sitting on top of a side table beside the door.
“Hey, come here,” I say softly, catching Shelby by the hand. Pulling her in close, the smell of her perfume flirts with my nose. Will I ever get enough of her?
Cupping her face, I graze my thumbs over her cheeks with a featherlight touch. Her dilated pupils tell me I’m not in this alone.
“I would never hurt you.”
Shelby blinks, breaking the spell.
“Daddd,” the loud shout is followed by a frustrated rattle.
“That fucking door.” I close my eyes. “It’s getting fixed on my next day off.”
“Go,” Shelby urges, “before she actually pees herself.”
We hear Riley trying to get into the bathroom again.
“I’ll be right back.” The words sound like both a warning and a reassurance. Kissing her forehead, I step back, once, then twice. Turning, I head down the hallway, smiling when I see an annoyed Riley.
It’s not until I hear the sound of the front door closing that I realize . . . I left Shelby alone with the front door open, her phone on the side, and my car keys in the bowl.
Fuck!