CHAPTER 8
LEANNA
Come any closer and I slit her throat,” the goon from yesterday said, holding the knife tighter to her neck.
“What is your name?” Leanna asked, airily.
The thug froze and Edward looked like several veins were going to bust out of his forehead. “Zack.”
“A debt collector… named Zack?” Leanna snorted, unable to hold it in, but quit when the knife pressed closer to her throat. “I don’t see why I’m being punished. I didn’t name you.”
“Leanna,” Edward pleaded with a groan, pinching the bridge of his nose.
Leanna winked at him and several more veins appeared.
“My good sir— Zack.” She almost choked on the word but smoothed it out by clearing her throat, not unreasonable when there was a knife to it.
“I have the means to pay my debt.” Holding up a single white rose, the stem was ripped from her hands before she was unceremoniously tossed aside, Edward catching her before she could hit the dirt.
“Where are the other ones?” he whispered in her ear and she responded by elbowing him hard.
“Well well well. Where did you get this?” Zack grinned and rolled the stem between his fingers. “A shame. I had such plans for you.” The words sent a shiver through her but she wouldn’t let herself be cowed.
Her body moved in front of Edward to stop him from advancing to kill Zack and spoil her moment. “A shame indeed that you’re walking away with only one white rose, when you could walk away with several.”
She could feel Edward’s eyes burning into the side of her face, but she didn’t dare break her concentration, or compromise her plan.
Zack narrowed his gaze, looming over her. “What do you mean?”
“There’s a whole grove of them just in there.” Leanna picked at her nails as she said it, shrugging innocently. “I’m shocked no one has claimed them yet. You only need take a few steps into the dark wood to get to it.”
The greed in Zack’s expression glittered as he gripped the white rose and stalked for the wood at full speed.
“What are you doing?” Edward whispered, though Zack was well out of earshot now, disap pearing behind the trees.
“One last prank.” She smirked, pulling the rest of the white roses from beneath her skirt and Edward barked out a laugh, tugging her closer. She put her hands around his neck, smiling, feeling joy of the highest order. “These flowers work, I think. I’m so happy.”
“White roses don’t cause joy.” Edward smiled. “They help to light things up with candle wax.”
“Oh.” She responded quizzically, looking the flowers over before glancing at Edward. “Then… This is all us?” It was evidence that what Edward’s mother had said was true: people saw what they wanted to. Real or not. But this, with him, was real.
Edward picked one up and spun her around as she laughed. “It’s all us!” he said with the joy they’d found together in their childhood. And would have for the rest of their years.
“What shall we do with the leftover roses?”
Smiling, Leanna handed one to him, dragging Edward by both hands back to their world. “I know two homes at the end of the drive that deserve some happy memories. Perhaps we plant them there and start something new, and honest.”
Edward’s grin melted her as he leaned down to capture her lips, tilting his forehead against hers. “I believe, my love, we already have.”
THE END