Chapter 27
Chapter Twenty-Seven
LEO
“I’m sorry to inform you, but as soon as the wheels of your plane touched down on an American tarmac, you have been legally obligated to refer to fried potatoes as fries.” Jacqueline finished her ridiculous statement by placing a fry between her teeth and grinning at me.
I leaned forward, biting the other end of her chip, making her giggle.
“As long as you do that thing with your tongue again, I’ll call them whatever you want.”
* * *
I still hadn’t heard from Jacqueline.
Mary blew me off last night for some girls’ night, and I was hoping that she would pull through in this situation and provide me with some intel on where Jacqueline was leaning. Women talked about men with other women, it was a universal truth.
When she texted me last night to fuck off, I figured it was because she was still there. Gaining information for me.
I wasn’t sure how much longer I could do this. I had driven my car to work today, and was sitting in the driver’s seat until Jacqueline made her way into the building. I saw her pull into the carpark at the same time I did, and I couldn’t handle the pain of sharing a lift with her right now. I was too deep in my head.
Taking a deep pull of my fizzy drink I had bought at a McDonald’s drive-thru on the way into the office, my heart rate started to kick up.
Not because of the caffeine I was consuming.
But because a familiar, bald man was currently marching right toward Jacqueline as she made her way toward Sun Steer’s building.
Bloody hell.
I threw myself out of the car immediately, marching straight towards the love of my life. She halted on the sidewalk, surprised to see Vincent marching right toward her.
Dread filled my gut. I picked up my pace.
“Vince? What the hell?” Jacqueline asked, taking a tentative step back.
“Oi!” I called, making Jacqueline glance over her shoulder to see my approach. Vincent, not surprisingly, slowed his pace as he glared at me, “Long time, no see.”
I managed to step in front of Jacqueline, shifting so most of her was hidden behind my body. Something about this man didn’t feel right. I remembered Brandon’s words from not too long ago, about how he tends to trust his gut with these kinds of things.
My gut was telling me to get Jacqueline the fuck out of here.
“I need to talk to Jacqueline.” Vincent ground out. His hands were shoved in his coat pockets, and the way he was fidgeting inside the material made alarm bells ring in my head.
“I don’t think you do.” I shook my head, stepping back with my arm out in case Jacqueline had any desire to approach him.
The side door to the building opened far behind Vincent, and I almost breathed a sigh of relief watching Mary, Zaid, and Brandon all start walking toward us. Brandon had his phone to his ear, and he was angrily scanning the area. I guessed that he was looking for security.
“This is between me and her.” Vincent spat on the ground, his head twitching to the side. He scratched his cheek, and the way he swayed from the movement confirmed my suspicions.
He was not sober.
“You need to leave, mate,” I lowered my voice, going as far as to grab Jacqueline’s arm, ensuring she was still behind me and out of his reach. I felt one of her smaller, cold hands wrap around my wrist, holding me as well.
“Fine, fine.” Vincent shook his head and stepped off of the sidewalk, making our coworkers slow their approach. His eyes were on the ground as he marched off.
Jacqueline made a concerned noise behind me, so I whirled on her to scan her body. I didn’t think I saw him touch her, but I couldn’t be sure. I ended up grasping both of her arms in my hands, desperate to feel for myself.
“Are you alright?” I asked her, crouching to meet her eye.
Jacqueline was shaking the slightest bit, blinking as her eyes met mine, “Yeah, yeah I’m—Leo!” I was about to turn around when suddenly, blinding pain filled the back of my head.
Everything went dark.
* * *
“Leo? C’mon man,” my cousin’s voice didn’t normally sound so shrill, but for some reason, Mary’s tone made the throbbing in the back of my head feel even worse, “Wakey, wakey.”
“Fuck me,” I groaned, reaching a hand up to rub my eyes. Someone was trying to shine a light on them.
“Mr. Turner, I think you have a concussion. I need you to move slowly.” I had no idea who the hell that was, but I trusted their diagnosis, based on the nausea I was feeling when I tried to sit up. I slowed my movements, allowing my cousin’s ring-clad hands to support me. I finally managed to open my eyes. I was on the ground, outside the office.
In front of me was a medical professional of some kind, and behind them was an ambulance. I turned my head, because just behind the ambulance, Vincent was in handcuffs and being shoved into the back of a police car.
“Where’s Jacqueline?” I managed to groan out.
“Here,” I smelled her rose and vanilla perfume right as she dropped to her knees beside me, triggering an unexpected wave of nausea as her cold hands brushed my hair back off of my forehead, “I’m here.”
“Are you okay?” I asked, reaching up to wrap her hand in mine.
Jacqueline scoffed, “I’m fine, you’re the injured one.”
“Fuck, am I?” I reached my hand up again toward where the pain was throbbing behind my skull. Something damp was in the strands of my hair, and when I lowered my hand, I saw a small bit of blood coating the fingers.
“It’s a small cut. He doesn’t need stitches,” another medical professional said, “We want to determine if you need to go to the hospital. Can you make it to the ambulance or do you need assistance?”
“Ah,” I winced, shifting my body in an attempt to stand up, “I can walk.”
“Go slow,” Jacqueline instructed. She tucked herself under one of my arms, helping support my weight as she shuffled us to the back of the ambulance where I could get properly assessed.
“Fucking prick,” I heard Mary grumble, “Who sucker punches someone in the back of the head with brass fucking knuckles?”
“Those are illegal in California,” Brandon added, “So he’s got a lot of trouble ahead of him.”
“Leo?” Jacqueline’s voice pulled me from our coworker’s conversation, I tried to focus on her dark eyes. She was wearing her thin golden glasses today, and I tried to lift a hand to peel them off, but my movements were stiff.
“Yeah, love?”
Jacqueline’s lips twitched before she continued, “You need to rest at home for a few days.” I shrugged because I wasn’t going to object to that. I felt like hell, “Can I take care of you, or would you prefer Mary and Jamie to look after you?”
I frowned, “I want you.”
Jacqueline exhaled as if she was holding her breath until I answered, “Okay, we need to go.”
“Wait—” I resisted her when she laced her fingers in mine, “I need to be assessed.”
Jacqueline released a soft laugh, “You already were. You don’t need a hospital.”
Shit, really ?
“He might be confused for a bit,” the paramedic from earlier was speaking…somewhere, “Pick up over-the-counter painkillers from the pharmacy of his choice, and if any of these symptoms show up or he needs something stronger, take him to the hospital.”
“Thank you,” Jacqueline nodded, her profile becoming clearer in my vision, “Let’s go.”
* * *
It was dark when I opened my eyes, which I was grateful for. The next day after Vincent’s assault, Jacqueline kept all my drapes in my flat closed so the sun wouldn’t make me nauseous. I flexed my arms, sighing in contentment at the feel of Jacqueline’s soft, warm body tucked against mine. Her back to my chest. Her hair braided out of the way, so my nose could inhale the vanilla of her shampoo.
Apparently, after sucker-punching me in the back of the head, Zaid and Brandon tackled Vincent down. Jacqueline caught most of my fall, preventing my head from hitting the sidewalk while our coworkers wrestled her ex.
Building security called the police while Brandon and Zaid held Vincent down. Law enforcement arrived two minutes later with an ambulance, and I gained consciousness soon after.
According to Jacqueline, Mary was in hysterics after seeing me fall unconscious so easily. If he hadn’t worn brass knuckles, I doubt that a single hit would have taken me out that easily.
I also could have ended up much, much worse.
That probably explained why Mary had been blowing my phone up the last twenty-four hours, praising my thick skull for finally having a useful purpose.
After Vincent’s assault, Jacqueline took care of me for the rest of the evening. The entirety of the next day, too. Bringing me bland foods so I wouldn’t get nauseated again, rubbing my neck when I felt an ache, and switching out ice packs to help with lingering pain and swelling.
She even went to the store and stocked up on my favorite fizzy drinks.
This was the second night she stayed over, and I was worried it would be the last.
We didn’t talk about anything important. We watched the telly, we chatted about work and our friends, but never us.
I broached the subject before we fell asleep that night.
Jacqueline didn’t stiffen or react as if my inquiry surprised her. Instead, she met my gaze and said, “We’re going to talk. But not yet.”
The fact that she was still here, sleeping in my bed, gave me hope.