Chapter 38
chapter thirty-eight
MARISOL
I sit with my legs in Leo’s lap, smiling wide as I let the credits roll on The Holiday. “You know, when I was a teenager and first found this movie, I actually googled house swap experiences.”
“Really?” he asks over the top of his phone that he’s been glued to for the second half of the movie.
“Yeah. I nearly went, too. There was a woman in Canada who lived in this kind of log cabin. It was so cute and cozy, and yeah, I nearly went.”
“But then you realized you were freshly eighteen and didn’t exactly have a house to swap with her?”
“Yeah,” she laughs. “I probably could’ve added Rafael into the package, but I’m not sure how well he would’ve responded to that.”
He shakes his head in response, looking back at his phone. Leo and I have been in Ruby Cove for three days now, deciding to come back when May and Cami were discharged from the hospital.
It’s funny, the way this place pulls you in.
I think maybe that’s why I never came back for long, because if you spend too long here, you don’t want to leave.
But I built my adult life on getting out of this place, on wanting more for myself than this small town where every cobblestone down Main Street reminded me of the family I used to have here, the ones who are all gone now. All except one.
But in all this time, one became two when May came into Rafael’s life. Now two has become three with Cami. And then there’s Leo.
“What are you doing anyway?” I ask.
He looks up, and he hesitates for a moment before he puts his phone in his lap. “I’m thinking of planting a veggie garden.”
My eyebrows are yanked together, even as a smile curves my lips. “You what?” That is the last thing I was expecting him to say.
“I don’t know.” He folds his arms and shrugs.
“I just thought it could be something to keep me busy around here, especially when you’re not around.
” He tugs at my heart. We still haven’t had our conversation about logistics.
Every time Leo brings it up, I avoid it, and I’m not sure why.
I want to be with him, that’s all I know.
Two weeks without him felt like torture. Could I do that on a regular basis?
“Also, I mean, I still kind of see this place as your brother’s house. I’ve been here long enough that maybe I should start making it mine.”
I smile because Leo has never really made his house a home. I like the idea of him getting a little domestic.
“Remember when you asked me what I think future Leo will be doing?”
“Yeah.” I nod because when he asked me the same question, it scared me.
“I can see him now, cooking with homegrown veggies from his garden that he tends to on the weekends. I see him happy…safe. But I see you too.” I feel a lump form in my throat.
“You’re there. In every scenario I can imagine myself in, you’re there, covergirl.
And that might be too forward of me to say, but—”
I climb into his lap before he can say anything else, my hands finding the sides of his head. “I want to grow a veggie garden with you, too.”
His smile spreads miles wide, as if I just told him that I love him. Because I kind of did, and he knows it.
Because when I think of my future now, he’s there too.
And he’s not at my shoots or taking me to fancy events.
We’re doing things like this. Sitting on the couch together, or at Marina’s with our friends.
We’re walking down Main, hand in hand. I don’t think I really realized that until right now—how tied up the future I see for myself is with Ruby Cove.
I change the subject. “Do you think we need to be worried about Julia? Or her brother?” We haven’t had much time to talk about it since the launch party, finding ourselves a little preoccupied.
“I think Caio intimidated the brother enough for now,” Leo says. “But I think we should wait, see what Julia does. I say we don’t poke the bear.”
Part of me wants to know what she has against me.
She’s got Jack, so why does she need to worry about me?
But Leo is right. I suppose for now, there’s not much we can do.
By now, she knows that we know it’s her, so maybe that will spook her enough to cool it on the sabotage front.
Because that’s what she’s doing. She’s got her paparazzo brother following me, waiting to catch me in a bad light.
I’m surprised the photo he snapped that night outside Marina’s hasn’t gone up.
Caio must be more intimidating than I gave him credit for.
“I was thinking,” Leo says. “Well, I wanted to ask you. Do you want to go to la polizia about André?”
I blow out a breath. I thought about it when Leo first gave me his name, but it’s not like I have any recollection of what happened. “Do you think it would do anything?”
He runs his knuckles up my arm. “I know an agent in the department. It can be quiet, just you and her. Romano Security has the footage from the alley…”
“But I don’t remember anything,” I say. How can I be of any help?
“You never know what might happen. If he’s done this to other women, they might just need a piece of evidence, evidence that we have,” he says. “I’m not trying to push you one way. It’s your choice.” He presses a kiss to my nose. “I only wondered if you’d thought about it.”
I nod in response. Leo tips his head down and kisses me, and I lose myself in him. I let myself disappear into the comfort he wraps me in, because I’ve never felt anything like it.
He pulls away. “So I know I already gave you your early Christmas present,” he says.
My face falls. “Leo.”
He slides me off of him and walks around the back of the couch and into the kitchen.
“I know, I know.” He opens a corner cupboard, and now I’m really wondering what he’s about to pull out of there.
“But I thought you might like it, so I got it.” I roll my eyes.
He’s absurd. And now I feel like I need to find him an early Christmas present. Maybe I’ll get some veggie seeds.
He comes back to me with a big pink gift bag in hand, and when he passes it to me, it’s heavier than I expected. “Leo,” I say again.
“Just open it.”
I put the bag on the ground and reach inside, having to use both hands to haul out the box in there. When I pull it onto my lap, I see the image of a Canon camera on top. I whip my head to look at Leo, and he’s smiling, but he looks nervous. “Do you like it?”
“Do I li—” I scoff, turning over the box as my heart races. “What a stupid question.”
He laughs, and I look at him again, wondering how I ever got so lucky. Or maybe how stupid I could’ve been to never see this before—how much he sees me.
“Thank you. Oh my god.” I slide the box onto the coffee table and catapult into his arms once again. “Are you serious?”
“Dead serious, baby. I know you love the Polaroids—I do too.” He smirks, and I shake my head, knowing exactly what he’s referring to. “But I thought maybe you’d want to give this a go, see how you like it.”
“Were you always this way?” I ask.
“Obsessed with you?” he asks. “Yes.”
“No,” I laugh. “Thoughtful.” He smiles in return, placing a tiny kiss on the end of my nose.
“Speaking of thoughtful,” he says. “What do you say we make up a care package of sorts and take it round to May and Raf tomorrow?”
“Very thoughtful,” I say, kissing him again, because one is never enough.
My phone rings on the coffee table. “Someone is always trying to interrupt us,” Leo growls, nipping on my bottom lip before I reach over to pick it up.
“It’s Eva,” I say, answering the call without leaving Leo’s lap. “Ciao, Eva.”
“Hey, how are you?” she asks, but my focus falls away when Leo slides his hands up my back, his mouth finding my neck.
“Good!” I say, my voice jumping an octave.
“I’m sorry I missed you at the launch party,” she says, going on about how another client had an emergency, but I’m not listening, not as Leo pulls down the front of my tank and closes his mouth around my nipple. My mouth falls open, and I make a quiet, strangled noise as I hold in a moan.
“… and I couldn’t get away after that…”
“Mmhmm,” I mumble as I bite down on my bottom lip.
It’s a good thing Eva keeps talking, because I lose all ability to respond as Leo slides his hand down the front of my sweats, his fingers slipping over my cotton panties.
“Leo,” I half moan, half growl because could he not do this after I’ve hung up?
“Oh,” Eva cuts herself off. “Leo’s there?”
Leo slides my panties aside, his fingers sliding into me with no warning as he says, “Hi, Eva.” I yank on his hair, lifting myself up so he has more room to pump his fingers in and out of me, my moans getting caught in my throat as he works me over.
“Are you in Sorrento?” she asks.
“No, Ruby Cove,” he says, his voice not faltering as he curls his fingers inside of me. I drop my head to his shoulder and moan into his shirt. “Marisol is staying with me while she visits her brother, who’s just had a baby.”
“Oh!” Eva exclaims. “That’s wonderful.” I ignore her voice as an orgasm rolls through me fast and hard.
I ride Leo’s fingers as I come down, the pleasure lingering in every nerve in my body.
It’s crazy the way Leo can drag me to an orgasm so quickly when no other man has ever been able to get close.
“Alright, well, I’ll leave you to it,” Eva says, and Leo pulls his hand from my pants. “But I’ll see you this weekend at the anniversary party, Marisol.”
Leo and I frown at each other. “The Regina party?” I ask, my focus falling back to the conversation as I catch my breath.
“Yes. It’s Saturday night.”
My heart sinks a little. It’s Isla’s birthday on Friday.
I was meant to spend the weekend celebrating with everyone and spending a little bit of time with my niece.
“Is there…” I take a second to think about the question I’m about to ask, because I’m not sure anyone has asked this before.
“Is there any chance I could miss it this year?”
Leo’s brows are raised, and Eva is silent on the other side of the line.
“No, Marisol. You know everyone from the agency is required to be there. It’s the one time of the year we all get together and talk about future projects.
After the year you have had, it’s even more important that you’re there.
Chiara wants to talk to you about your future, specifically. ”
“Can’t I organize a meeting with her at another time?” I blurt out. I want to be here for my family for once in my life.
“Marisol,” Eva says, and the tone in her voice tells me all I need to know.
“Alright.” I sigh. “I’ll see you there.”
“Thank you,” she says, and I hang up before I say anything else.
Leo pushes my hair back behind my ear. “I’m sorry.”
I shake my head. “It’s alright. I know how important it is for the agency. I just…” Had the urge to stay. “I want to spend as much time with Cami as possible.”
“Yeah,” he says, rubbing his thumb along my cheek. “We’ll go tomorrow, yeah?”
“And then I’ll go back to the city on Saturday.
” I hate every word of that sentence, and I think Leo does too.
He doesn’t ask me what will happen after Saturday, but I know I don’t want to be away for long.
From Leo or from Cami. Here I am, getting a chance to be here for my brother when it’s most important, after years of me barely passing for a sister. I don’t want to let him down again.