23. Leo
CHAPTER 23
Leo
“I can’t believe you’re getting married,” I say in disbelief as the tailor takes his measurements. We’ve been here for only thirty minutes, and the store is not busy. The owner was able to take us back right away to get me fitted for my suit.
“Who would have thought?” Myles smirks, tightening a tie around his neck.
“Not me. And definitely not with my sister.” I laugh. “Not with your track record.”
“You’re one to speak,” he quips back. His tone is light, making me aware he is joking, but it doesn’t divert the punch to my gut. “Sorry. I didn’t mean it like that.”
“Yes, you did.” We both know he meant it. “Don’t apologize.”
“Do you think you’ll get married someday?” Myles questions, loosening the tie to redo it.
“Maybe.” I shrug. The tailor finishes and gestures me off the stand and to a chair. I happily sit and watch my best friend struggle with his tie. “If the right woman comes along.”
“That woman isn’t Veronica, right?” His eyes slide from his reflection to where I’m sitting.
“No, she isn’t.” I’m hoping Myles hears a hint of truth in that statement. There can’t be a future for her and me. But maybe… No, there can’t be.
“I actually have a date.” It was one that I thought about getting out of, but ultimately decided that I might as well just go. Rachel is into me, although the feeling isn’t mutual. The only reason I am taking her on the date, besides the fact I offered it to get Veronica’s key, is because I know it would piss Veronica off.
“With?”
“The woman who rented my apartment to me.”
“Isn’t she like sixty?” His lip snarls in disgust before he fixes his face. “Not that I’m judging. If you want to go for an older woman, go for it as long as it isn’t Veronica.”
“Rachel isn’t sixty.” I shake my head with a laugh. “She is our age.”
“Oh, good.” He sighs in relief.
“Don’t tell my sister about it, though. She is so hellbent on Veronica and me being together.”
“I’ll keep my lips sealed.” He pretends to zip his lips shut. Then, Myles, being his goofy self, unzips it to say, “So, since you won’t be pursuing anything with Veronica, how are you going to break that news to your sister?”
“Tell her that it didn’t work out.” I play with a string on my pants, not looking up at him. “Chloe will be bummed, but she will understand.”
“But for now, you’re going to pretend to like her?” He gives up on the tie, sliding it off his neck and tossing it on the chair beside me. I nod in response, and he asks, “What happens if things get heated between you guys? I mean, there is a history there. Are you going to be able to stop yourself?”
I roll my jaw and stop my fingers from playing with the string. I slowly nod, humming in response before I give him a verbal one. “Yeah.”
“You son of a bitch.” He emits a breathy laugh. “Something already happened, didn’t it?”
Inhaling a deep breath, I lift my eyes to the mirror, seeing the reflection of how I’m sitting. It’s the same way I was sitting in Veronica’s bedroom chair a week ago when she licked my cum clean off her floor.
When I threatened her with a wine opener. The image of her bent over, lapping up my release, causes a warmth to stir in my stomach.
It was hot. So hot that it hasn’t left my mind.
“I have it under control.” I finally find the right words I want to say and lock eyes with Myles.
“Yeah, okay.” He’s doubtful. I get why. I do, but I wish people had more faith in me. I wish I had more faith in myself. “Chloe just texted. They are done with their fitting and want to meet for lunch.”
Great. “Okay.”
We meet Chloe and Veronica at a cafe downtown and sit near the wide window. The girls sit beside each other today, discussing the wedding while Myles and I sip coffee. We all ordered a sandwich, and Veronica opted for a salad.
Odd.
My eyes stay trained on her while she speaks to my sister and involuntarily drop to her mouth. Memories of those pretty lips wrapped around me in the alley flood my mind, and no matter how much I don’t want to think about my cock in her mouth at this moment, I can’t help it.
“Leo?” My sister’s voice snaps me out of the dirty thoughts, my hand flinching, and coffee spills over the rim of my cup, landing on top of the table.
“Shit,” I mutter, setting down my mug.
“You should clean that up,” Veronica teases in a way that only I know the meaning behind her words.
The corner of my mouth lifts as I stare at Veronica. There is a challenge in her eyes, and I’m taking it. Leaning forward, my tongue meets the table as I lick up the coffee spill.
“Leo, that’s disgusting!” Chloe exclaims with disgust. “This table is probably so dirty!”
I sit back in my chair, shrugging my shoulder, but gaze at Veronica. “The coffee is delicious. I didn’t want to waste a drop of it.”
“Don’t complain if you get sick.” I see Chloe shake her head out of the corner of my eye. Veronica, on the other hand, is staring at me in disbelief. Neither of us expected me to lick up coffee off a dirty table.
“I can handle being sick, Chlo.” I glance at my sister before returning my heated gaze to the woman across from me. “I’ve been through worse.”
“You mean prison?” Veronica bravely asks. “Why did you get sent away?”
Chloe spits out her coffee, quickly grabbing a napkin to clean up. “We don’t need to talk about that.”
“No, it’s okay.” I wave my sister off. “Camille knows about my time in prison. If she wants to hear why, I don’t mind telling her. We should open up and get to know each other more. Correct?”
“Yeah, but this is a topic that should come later in a relationship,” Chloe states, then speaks through her teeth. “You don’t want to scare her off.”
“I don’t scare easily,” Veronica informs my sister. “I want to know.”
She wants to relive it; hear the pain she caused you.
Nodding, I set my coffee mug down and intertwine my fingers together. They rest on the table, and I tilt my head. “You want the long version or the short version?”
“Whichever you want to give,” she answers with a sweet, fake smile. She already knows the story, so we will go with the short version.
She’s enjoying this, Leo. Don’t give her what she wants.
I shake off the gnawing anxiety that keeps creeping in and hold my stare on Veronica. As much as I don’t want to give her the satisfaction of reliving the hell she put me through, I’d love to see how she reacts.
“I was a doctor at an insane asylum. I got hired to take on a patient named Veronica.” She doesn’t even bat an eye at the mention of her name. Myles, however, huffs out a breath of hatred next to me, making me grin. “Things were normal, and then they weren’t. We formed a connection. A bond, if you will. A very unprofessional relationship.”
“You slept with her.” It wasn’t a question because she didn’t have to ask. She knows that answer.
I can sense Chloe's nerves as her eyes dance between Veronica and me. The family and I talked about it briefly while I was in prison, but once we discussed the situation, we never brought it up again. It was buried in the past until now.
I nod at her statement. “I fell in love with her.”
Veronica swallows hard at my confession. I’ve never said those words to her, and I’m glad I never did.
“It was wrong, those feelings I grew for her. I knew it, but I couldn't stay away. She was a magnet, and I was the unlucky object stuck in her force field. I would have done anything for her, and she knew that.” I pick up my cup, taking a lengthy sip before continuing, “She used me, pretended that the love wasn’t one-sided, and she used my weakness against me to help her escape.”
Veronica remains silent, her chest racing from the story. She asks no questions nor says anything between the pauses in my story.
“She told me she wanted a life with me. With that image in my mind, I gave in and helped her escape.” I set the cup down harshly on the table. “Turns out she was a bitch who only thought about herself. Betrayed me with a knife to the stomach and ran off without me.”
“That’s enough,” Chloe snaps.
I glance over at her, tears brimming in her eyes. I swallow hard, hating that it brought these emotions to the surface for her.
Myles reaches over the table, takes her hand, and rubs his thumb against hers. I apologize, dropping my eyes to the table before looking at Veronica. She parts her lips, wetting them before she speaks.
“Maybe she wasn’t just thinking about herself,” she tells me, and I hate that her voice is sincere. “Maybe she was protecting you in her own way.”
She’s lying.
I clench my teeth together as the voice speaks the truth, and I feel Myles's eyes on me when I say, “Maybe.”
Chloe dabs at her tears with a napkin, and I take the opportunity to calm myself by looking out the window. As soon as I do, my attention gets caught on a woman—she is older, has white hair, and is almost unrecognizable without her scrubs.
I scan my wide eyes to Veronica, whose brows dip in confusion until she turns to look out the window. She immediately whips her head back, fear laced in her eyes.
“Will you guys excuse me for a moment?” I stand from my seat, not waiting for their response as I leave the cafe.
The woman is looking at a table full of old books, unaware of my presence.
“Edith?”
Her eyes lift from the book she was looking at, and she rotates her head to look at me. She squints over her glasses.
“Leo?”
I smile a little, worrying that she will yell at me or not want to speak with me at all after everything I’ve done.
Instead, she grins from ear to ear and wraps her arms around me for a hug. The instant relief rushes through my body.
“Oh, it’s so good to see you!” She pulls away from me, placing a hand on my face. “You look great, Leo.”
“Me? Edith, you age like fine wine.” It’s true. Although years have passed since I’ve seen her, she looks the same. She lightly pats my face before dropping her hand. “I wanted to apologize. For everything.”
She shakes her head, waving a hand in the air. “You don’t have to apologize, sweetheart. I don’t blame you at all.”
“It wasn’t all Veronica’s fault.”
“I don’t care whose fault it was. She took advantage of your kindness.” She offers a sympathetic smile. “You don’t have to give me all the details, Leo. I’m on your side, no matter what. I miss you. The asylum isn’t the same without you.”
“I wish there was a way for me to come back. I miss you and helping those in need.”
“What are you doing now?”
“Working at a car shop my dad owns.” I comb my hand through my hair. “I lost my license to work with patients.”
“I am so sorry, Leo. You are a great doctor and didn’t deserve any of this.” She takes my hand in hers.
“Thank you, Edith.” I smile tightly. “How is Scarlett doing? The last thing I heard was she was recovering in the hospital from what Veronica did.”
“She recovered, but she never returned to the asylum. As much as she loved her job, I think Veronica almost killing her was the last straw.”
“I don’t blame her.”
“Neither do I,” Edith says, scanning my face. “Boy, do I miss having your handsome face around.”
A laugh slips out of me, but I need to change the subject, or I will start crying. I do miss her, and seeing her here brings those sappy emotions to the surface.
“What are you doing out and about? I didn’t know you took days off,” I crack a joke to uplift the conversation.
“Can you believe it? Henry unlocked my shackles to that place,” she tells me. “What are you doing today?”
“Having lunch with my sister and Myles.” I hook my thumb over my shoulder towards the cafe.
Edith peers around me to take a look, and when I turn, I notice Veronica has quickly averted her gaze from the two of us. I swallow the lump in my throat, returning my focus to the old woman; her eyes hold on to where Veronica is sitting before she meets my stare.
She hums lightly, a knowing look in her eyes. She can’t know that the woman sitting there is Veronica… can she? “How is Myles? I always liked him.”
I breathe out an awkward laugh. “Good. He’s marrying my sister, and they are expecting their first baby.”
Her eyes light up. “Oh, that is just wonderful! I’m so happy for them! And you? Have you found love yet?”
I scratch the back of my neck. “No. Not yet.”
“You will,” she reassures me. I watch her eyes peer behind me again to the cafe. It’s only seconds before she stares up at me and lowers her voice. “Please be careful, Leo.”
My body stiffens. She knows it’s Veronica. I start breathing rapidly, my heart pounding in my chest. Edith doesn’t have to tell me with words; just the look on her face gives it away.
“It was good seeing you.” She smiles and then turns around to leave me standing in panic on the sidewalk.