It’s getting late, but Leo has stayed to help me clean up after the fight with Barry. The lamp and a painting are both broken, and some things have been knocked out of place. I can't believe they got into it like that. I've never seen that side of Barry, not even remotely. He’s normally so reserved, but never harmful like that. I'm absolutely shocked. I wonder if it's a good thing that Leo is here or not. Maybe if he hadn't been, Barry wouldn't have lost his temper like that?  I feel so angry. This is my life, and I don't need to feel guilty about who I date. Barry has no right to even comment on my private life now that we're getting divorced, much less act full of rage and hatred like he did. I’m just sorry Leo had to get in the middle of it, picking up the pieces of my broken life again.

"I'm so sorry, Elena. I didn't want you to see that. That's not how I am, okay? I don't fight like that. But to hear him call you those names… it just set off something huge in me. I'm never going to let someone talk to you like that. Never."

I love that Leo is expressing his feelings to me. But why is he sorry? It’s my fault I married the bastard to begin with. And I'm not mad at all that he fought with Barry. I know he was just protecting me. He's been doing a lot of that lately. I'm so fortunate to have Leo here and to have him stay throughout all this crap.

"Leo, I'm not mad. I'm glad you did what you did. I feel like you always have my back. Besides, he was being such an ass that if you weren't here, I would've punched him myself."

Leo laughs and scrubs his hand over his face, and for a minute we are light-hearted again. I try to pick up all the shattered glass from the lamp, but I mishandle a large piece of it and it slashes my hand. Blood trickles down my wrist.

"Oh my gosh, look what I've done. I'll just get a towel."

Leo runs to my side. "No, no. Let me handle it. It's deep."

He leads me to the bathroom and lifts me up so I'm sitting on the vanity and he can get a better look at it. He finds my first aid kit and gingerly starts tending to my wound. Seeing him like this, so tender and affectionate with me makes my heart slam against my chest. I’m so impressed by this man in all ways. Not only is he handsome, and amazing in bed, but he's got this authentic, nurturing side. He really wants to take care of me. He wants to learn more about me and just be in my life. This touches me deeply. I've never been with anyone who has made me feel this way.  He's like this rare jewel, and I'm afraid that I might be falling in love with him. Leo, to me, just keeps getting better and better, and he keeps proving to me that I can trust him. I might really be in deep here. I remember how he said that he would be married if only he had met me before Barry did. That statement caught me off guard at the time. But now I know that I wouldn't be getting a divorce right now if I had married Leo. Looks like I really did get the wrong brother.

"This will hurt just a little," he says as he very carefully washes out my wound. I hiss at the contact slightly, but he soothes the discomfort quickly with a quick kiss on my forehead. He puts ointment on the wound and wraps it up tightly, then he kisses my hand where it's hurt.

"Thank you, Leo. That barely even hurt. You’re an expert."

He looks into my eyes, and it's all I can do to match his gaze. That nervous feeling of butterflies arises in my stomach, but something else is there too.

He hoists me off the vanity, and I wrap my arms around his strong torso and allow myself to feel comforted by him. He’s such a remarkable man, full of surprises. He locks me in a deep, passionate kiss that I get lost in quickly until he steals my desire by breaking away and sets my feet to the floor. I pad into the living room, and Leo follows.

The hour is getting late, and the sun has long since descended into the east. The night brings a bluster, like there’s a storm somewhere just waiting to hit. I don't want Leo to leave me. Not now. Not ever.

"Hey, you know it's pretty late." I look out at the swaying trees.

"Yeah, I should go." He thinks I'm cueing him to leave.

"No, Leo.” I grab his hand. “I want you to stay with me. Please, stay the night." It's inappropriate to ask a detective to stay the night with you, but I've gone out on a limb and I wonder how he'll respond. There’s nothing more that I would like this evening than for him to stay with me and to continue to feel comforted.

"Yes, Elena, of course; I'll stay with you. I was just waiting for you to ask."

With that, he pulls me into a heated kiss, revealing unspoken words as the wind whips against the windows and the rain begins to fall. He only breaks the kiss to carry me to bed.