“Leo!” I hiss, looking around. “No. Get up.”
The smile on his face as he looks at me has all the frustration leaving my body in a huge sigh.
“Come on.” He tugs me down into his lap. “Relax, I’ve got you.”
I throw a startled look at him. “We’re going to break the damn thing.”
He laughs loudly, causing the kids nearby to look our way.
Even though they’re not mine, I give them my best mom glare in hopes that they’ll look away. Nothing to see here.
Leo maneuvers me to his side, wrapping an arm around me and hitting the accelerator. We lurch forward, and I cover my mouth as a squeal escapes. “Adults do this too, you know,” he says, steering the bumper car away from the kids who just tried to barge into us.
Grabbing his thigh in a death grip, I turn to him. “I know. But aren’t you worried someone will see you?”
He narrowly skirts the outside barrier as he snorts. “No. Why should I be?”
My eyes bug out. Well, shit. The changes in my husband haven’t been all that huge over the past ten months. He’s the same Leo I fell in love with all those years ago at a frat party. But this? His father and his grandfather took so much pride in the business and were so careful about appearances that it was drilled into Leo from a young age to be the same. So the fact that he’s acting like a big kid and doesn’t seem to give a damn has my heart filling with so much warmth that a dopey smile spreads across my face.
Until some kid slams into our side and their buddy sticks their tongue out at us.
“Oh, it’s on now. Move it, mister.” I grab the wheel and steer us until we slam into the back of their car as they try to get away. One of the kids flips us off, sneering at us over his shoulder.
“Little punk,” I growl. “Where are their parents?”
Leo starts howling with laughter. “Probably watching you, so take it easy.” He gently pushes my hands away from the wheel and takes over. Huffing, I spin around and look to see if their parents just saw what their kid did. But the only thing close to an adult that I see is the bored looking teenage girl and her friend, who’re supposed to be managing the ride.
We do a few more laps before even Leo starts to get crabby with the kids and decides it’s time to wrap it up.
“So long, suckers!” one of them yells as they speed by while Leo’s helping me out.
“Jesus Christ.” He snickers, tugging me down the steps and through the small crowds of people milling around the carnival, which comes here every year for various holidays. The latest one being the Fourth of July weekend that was a few weeks ago.
“Unbelievable. I hope our kids don’t act like that when we aren’t around.” The thought has me paling as soon as it leaves my mouth. We skirt around a couple of rowdy teenagers near the drop slide and make our way to the front gates.
“I’m sure they don’t.” He pauses as we wait at the crossing near the entry to the beach. “Though maybe Charlie …”
I smack his bicep, and he laughs. “I’m joking. He’s a grump at times, but he’s not that bad.”
“Freaking hope not,” I mumble. He brings my hand to his mouth, placing a kiss on it before we step off the curb and cross the street, heading to the toy store at the end of the street on the corner. Greta and Charlie had a sleepover at Lola and Trey’s last night, and being summer break, I thought it’d be wise to utilize this time to grab some presents for Greta’s birthday, which is coming up in a couple of weeks.
The heat from the sun has me appreciating the towering buildings above us as they shade us from its rays for a little while. Leo’s quiet but has a content smile on his face as he studies our surroundings. He has committed to seeing Dr. Tonks and never misses his appointment every month. He only has two more sessions to go, but I don’t think he minds going because the two of them seem to get along quite well. He addressed what happened with us in his earlier appointments. We even talked about Jared and really got down to the underlying issues of why I did what I did. To sum it up, Jared was my heart’s way of crying out for help. Something that I already knew, but I think it helped Leo to dig further and to discuss how he was handling it. Because even though it’s been almost a year since I last saw Jared, I can tell it’s something he’s not likely to ever forget. Not that I can blame him. And it’s the same for me.
Those fears, the worry that something will go wrong and our happily ever after will be interrupted once again still lurk in the dark corners of my mind. But every day, they shrink a little more, and I know that one day, I’ll be able to look at them and see them for what they are. A way of trying to protect myself because nothing’s worse than being blindsided.
Life. It doesn’t always follow the rules and plans you lay out for your future. Something always happens to make you realize that while yes, you are in control, some things just can’t be predicted. And simply won’t fit into the mold of your plans or dreams but rather, will smash them to pieces and force you to rebuild. So finding a way to be happy and live despite that is what matters. It’s where you’ll find your true strength and find out just how much you have. And mine, well, he’s walking alongside me. I’ll never take that for granted or sit back and allow us to crumble again.
Fiona was arrested and has been denied bail. Her trial is coming up, and Leo’s agreed to testify against her as well as two of the other four males she’s assaulted in the past. One of them being Dylan’s—who’s now her ex-husband—former personal assistant. He came forward when Dylan tried to contact him several months ago. I haven’t seen her since that day Lola and I went over to her house, and I’m glad for it. I hope she rots in whatever jail she’s been thrown into. But I do feel terrible for her kids. They seem to be doing well, though. Dylan sold the house and downsized. He bought a new one down by the other side of the bay after he was granted full custody of Rupert and Henry when Fiona went to jail several months ago.
They’ve even come over to our place for playdates a few times, which is another reason I’m glad that Leo stuck it out with Dr. Tonks. But he seems to be able to look past it. He’s never treated them any differently, and as far as we know, the twins don’t know a thing about what their mother has done. Even though I know they probably wonder, I hope it stays that way for a long time to come.
Walking through the doors, Leo grabs a shopping cart, and we make our way through the aisles as I pull out my list that I’ve been adding to over the past month. Basically, every time Greta mentioned something, I wrote it down discreetly. Stepping onto my tippy toes, I grab a few of the Barbies that are on my list from the top shelf then keep walking until we get to the stuffed toys. I grab the ones with beady eyes that she wanted and throw them in, too. I keep going, almost getting everything on the list except for a toy baby.
“Does she really need all this shit?” Leo’s eyes widen as he stares into the cart.
“Of course, she does. She only turns eight once.”
I finally find it on an end display and check the box to make sure it’s the right one.
“Right.” He moves in behind me, his hands skating over my stomach and his lips going to my ear. “Just like she’ll only turn nine once then ten once …”
“Oh, be quiet.” I laugh.
He stops chuckling as he eyes the boxed doll I’m inspecting then tugs it from my hands and steps back to look at it. “What the fuck?”
“Leo.” I glance around, smiling an apology to an elderly lady who frowns at us.
“It poops, Lia. It fucking poops.”
I laugh again. “What do you expect? You can feed it, so it’s gotta come out, right?”
He glares at it like it’s the most offensive thing he’s ever seen. “Christ, it even has diapers …” he mutters disbelievingly to the box.
Rolling my eyes, I tell him, “Yeah, for the poop. Genius.”
“And it has a pacifier.” His eyes narrow. “Nope. Too damn realistic. You’ll put ideas in her head. It’s not the same as when she was three years old. It was cute then but scary now,” he says resolutely, and he places it back on the shelf.
My hand flies to my forehead as I rub it and beg for some kind of divine intervention. “Leo … it’s a doll.”
“For now. Next thing you know, she’ll be coming home from school and saying she’s got a boyfriend.” He scoffs. “Yeah, no thanks. Let’s go; she’s got enough shit in here.” He moves the cart down the aisle as I stand here, biting my lip to keep from blurting out that little Adam Davies from down the street seems to have already laid his claim on her. He writes her notes and puts scratch-and-sniff stickers on them, telling her she’ll marry him when they’re old enough to drive. Because you can’t get married without a car, he said. I laughed so hard that I almost cried. Then I tucked the note with the others in the keepsake box that I have for each of the kids. Well away from Leo’s eyes.
Reaching over, I quickly grab the doll and hold it behind my back, asking a staff member who’s walking by if they could please hold it for me until next week while Leo’s fiddling with some squishy ball down at the registers. She smiles warily and takes it from me after I warn her to wait until I’m gone. I join Leo just as he hands the lady at the register his Amex after she’s finished putting all the items through.
“We’re gonna need a bigger house if this keeps up,” he mutters while moving the cart back over to the store entrance.
“Our house is plenty big enough. How about we grab some coffee?” I ask in an effort to perk him up a bit. He nods, and we both grab some bags and walk them outside to the car, which is parked halfway down the street.
“Oh. Can we stop by the shelter quickly?” I need to give Glenda the bags of clothes I cleaned out of the kids wardrobes, and I won’t be in until later this week. Now, I go in to help on Fridays, and thankfully, no one asked much about why I’d been gone or about the change.
Leo nods, and we both put the bags of toys in the car before making our way over to the other side of the city where the women’s shelter is located. Pulling up outside it, I quickly grab the bags of clothes from the trunk while Leo gets out and locks the car.
“Wait up,” he says.
Turning around, I furrow my brows as I see him jump up the curb. He grabs the bags from me, holding the door open with his backside and waiting until I walk in ahead of him before following. I think this is the first time he’s ever been in here, but I don’t say anything. I just smile at Glenda and introduce them both when she comes out the front. Leo hands the bags to her.
“My, my, dear.” She smirks at me. “I knew you’d been hiding him from us for a reason.” She winks at Leo who chuckles, rubbing the back of his neck.
“Shhh,” I whisper and rub his chest. “You’ll embarrass him.”
We all laugh, and I chat with her briefly before telling her I’ll see her on Friday.
She waves. “You’re welcome too, Leo. Anytime, honey.”
I swear his cheeks go a little red as he responds, “Um, I’ll see what I can do.”
I widen my eyes at Glenda who just shrugs innocently before Leo and I continue outside. Wrapping my arm around his waist, I smile up at him. “You know you love it.”
He guffaws. “What I do know is that I love you.” The quick retort has my smile stretching across my face so wide that I probably look a little crazy.
“Blondie,” a familiar voice calls just as we’re nearing the coffee shop. My heart drops into my stomach as I take in Jared, who’s leaning a shoulder against the brick wall outside the cafe and stubbing out his cigarette. He looks the same, but something seems a little different. He’s also clearly not afraid of the very tense male who’s holding my hip in a bruising grip. The bright smile on his face might have something to do with the raven-haired bombshell in designer clothes who’s holding his hand and staring curiously at me.
“Hey.” I stop but keep some distance between us as anxiety and happiness war with each other in my brain. Happiness, because I’m glad to see him after so long. Glad that he seems to be doing well. Anxiety over how well, or not so well, these next few minutes might play out.
He takes a step closer, and Leo growls low in his throat. I grip his side in warning.
“Sheath your claws, tiger. I just need a minute of your time.” Jared smirks. He freaking smirks while my husband tries to commit murder with his eyes.
“Hi, I’m Dahlia.” I wave awkwardly at the woman beside Jared, trying to defuse the tension. Her blue eyes that were darting back and forth between Leo and me, now stay firmly fixed on me, and she doesn’t look so happy to meet me.
O-kay then. I drop my hand as Jared chuckles.
“Don’t worry about her. She’s a bit of a spitfire.” He tugs her into his side, and she turns her withering glare on him, which does nothing. He kisses the side of her head, and I smile as her big blue eyes seem to soften. “Anyway, I’m glad we ran into you …”
“Get to the point,” Leo snaps, cutting him off.
Jared looks at Leo. “The number of the PI you used almost a year ago. I need it.”
“Why?” I blurt before I can help myself.
Jared shrugs. “Got someone who’s proving a little difficult to find.”
I look up at Leo, and he drags his hard eyes from Jared to me. I nod, and he knows I’m asking silently if he’ll give the number to him.
Leo stares at me for a moment, apprehension and anger swirling in those blue depths before finally nodding back at me. “I’ll think about it,” he says curtly to Jared, turning us and walking back down the street away from the cafe. I smile over my shoulder, waving at Jared who winks at me before grabbing his girl and walking in the opposite direction.
“Don’t. Jesus Christ, Lia.”
“What?” I frown up at him.
He stops next to our car. “He called you Blondie?” He practically snarls.
“Stop.” I lift to my toes to place a kiss on his lips, looking him square in the eyes. “You saw for yourself; he’s well and truly moved on.”
He continues to scowl, and I know that was probably hard for him. But he knows. He knows he has nothing to worry about anymore.
“Look at me,” I say when his eyes look unseeingly over my head. He does. “We’ll just send him the number. You can watch me if you want.” Though I hope he trusts me a lot more than that.
“Not necessary.” He sighs. “Fuck. I’m being an idiot, aren’t I?”
“Uh-huh.” I nod. “Just a little. But I get it.”
“I’m sorry. I trust you.”
“Good.” My lips curve into a smile.
He hooks his arms around my waist, his hands smoothing up and down my back. “Okay. I’ll find it for you tonight.”
“Thank you. I’m sure he wouldn’t ask unless he didn’t have many other options.”
He groans. “And that’s precisely the only damn reason he’s going to get it.”
My hands slide up his chest, moving to the back of his head and bringing his lips down to mine. “I love you,” I breathe the words into his mouth and watch the last of that hardness fade from his face. “Only ever, always you.” I remind him before he seals his lips to mine and makes the chaos of the city turn into white noise as I’m held captive by everything he makes me feel. Even after all this time, his effect on me never lessens. It only seems to grow stronger.
Driving back home, he’s quiet. But he gifts me with a smile when I grab his hand and flip it over, trailing my finger over the creases in his palm. He still has quiet moments, times when I’ve lost him briefly to the shadows that still haunt him, but he knows that when he needs me, I’m here. Always ready and willing to light up that darkness in any way I can.
And my love for him could light up the whole damn world.
The End.