by Lannah Smith
Now I was getting angry.
“I told you to stop talking like that,” I snapped. “If you’re so determined to change my fate, then let the past stay in the past. Don’t poke your nose in where it doesn’t concern you. Don’t,” I went on to say when he was about to protest, “get yourself involved with my father and his affairs. You’re just a businessman. He’s part of a mob. You know that so don’t keep on antagonizing him.”
“Then let me help you.” He moved an inch towards me and I stiffened. “Let me help you, April. You need help dealing with those upsetting feelings and terrible memories so that they can no longer intrude in your life.”
My jaw went slack at his words.
Then I closed my mouth only for it to fall open again.
He was out of his goddamn mind!
It astounded me. He was acting like he knew everything about me and my feelings. It infuriated me how he was so determined to save me, making me feel like a stupid damsel-in-distress, knowing he held the upper hand here. Was he enjoying how little I had control over my life?
“I’m not as damaged as you think I am,” I said icily.
“Then prove it,” he countered.
That made me so angry that I marched towards him and poked him in the chest hard.
“You like playing the good guy, don’t you?”
His face cleared and he chuckled. “I’ve never been the good guy. I just want you to accept my help graciously.”
I snorted.
His chuckle turned to a laugh. “Fine. Not so graciously.”
He was back to being his jaunty, asshole self. The bluster went out of my anger.
“I’m sorry those things had to happen to you, April,” he said quietly. “And I give you my word. I’ll never get drunk.”
My brows lifted in disbelief. “Ever? Even if there is a party that requires—”
“Ever,” he repeated in a hard tone. “It wouldn’t matter what the reasons be. It won’t even be a difficult pledge to make. A man who loses to alcohol is a man who loses himself. And in the business I’m in, I can’t ever lose control over my actions. And if it means that you’ll be able to trust me, I’ll even completely stop drinking.”
“You don’t have to go that far,” I breathed.
He smiled down at me. “For you, I will.”
Chapter 38
“What’s on your mind?”
Leon Gage turned from the window to look at his wife.
On the bed, Sophia was staring up at him with a worried knot on her forehead. Smiling, he put his cell phone down on the nightstand and sat beside her. It was supposed to be time for bed but his wife was determined to finish the book she was reading.
“What’s on yours?” he asked her.
Closing the book, she straightened from the headboard and touched his cheek. Immediately, he leaned into her hand.
“You,” she answered in that soft, sweet voice that he loved. “I’m worried about you.”
He didn’t like her answer. His hand came to rest gently on her swollen stomach.
“I wish you would stop worrying, Sophia,” he muttered. “It’s bad for your health. And the baby’s.”
She chuckled. “She’s healthy as she can be. She was kicking a lot today. I think she’s excited to meet you.”
A corner of his lips curved up. “Not that excited, I hope. She still has two months to go.”
The soft, warm smile that lit up his wife’s face was making his worries melt away. He sighed and kissed her forehead. It had been a decade since they met, a decade since he forced her to be his girlfriend. So many things happened, shitty things, happy things. Yet they were still together. She never left his side. And now, being married to her and with a baby on the way, Leon couldn’t be happier. Life had stopped shoveling shit his way.
He fervently hoped that this would last forever.
“So?” Sophia tilted her head to the side. Eyes filled with concern, she studied him. “Will you tell me what’s on your mind?”
“I’m worried about Skull,” he admitted.
Sophia put her hand on top of his, squeezing. “He has always liked to do things his way,” she murmured. “When it comes to us and our problems, he always meddles but he never likes it when we try and solve his.”
His jaw clenched. “After everything he’s done for us, I fucking hope he’d just let us in.”
The fool was dead-set on protecting them by not confiding in them. By not telling the truth.
Understandably, Leon could see where Skull was coming from. But fuck, why was he doing the things he was doing now? Why was he getting involved in that world when they spent their teenage years trying to bring justice, as stupid as it might have been, to the people tainted by that fucking life?
Sophia let out a giggle and he focused on her.
“And I hope you can curb your language when the baby comes out, Leon,” she told him. “I don’t think Mom would be happy if her first word’s the F word.”
He grinned. He could already imagine his mother-in-law’s reaction, especially his father-in-law’s. The two would definitely kill him.
“Is it because of April?”
His gut clenched. But he didn’t want to keep lying to her so he nodded.
“I know you blame yourself,” she muttered, drawing circles on his palm. “And I wish you didn’t.”
“I slept with her while Skull was in the same house, Sophia,” he said in a hollow tone. “Several times. And he heard. He even asked us to keep it down. Several fucking times.”
Her hands went to cup his face. “If he had told you what he felt for her, you wouldn’t ever lay a finger on her again. He knew that. He knew that was the kind of guy you were, the kind of friend that you are. And he didn’t intend to keep it a secret to torture you. He is not that kind of friend either.”
“Then why didn’t he tell me?” he asked her.
She shrugged. “If you think about it, he never really tells us anything. Not for lack of trying though. Did he tell you how he knew April?”
Leon shook his head. “He didn’t give much details. We knew that he confessed to her in the cafeteria back in middle school. We knew that he liked her. But we didn’t know that he wasn’t over her. We certainly didn’t know that he had always had feelings for her. And whenever we try to talk to him about her, he’d clam up.”
No matter how they nagged or guilt-tripped him, Skull never told them about his history with April. Why he could never move on from her. Why he even had feelings for her. Skull was keeping them all in the dark. Back then, Leon couldn’t understand why.
But now, after uncovering a lot of truth, he now knew why.
“Emmy mentioned that Skull and April were neighbors,” Sophia said.
“Their properties are right next to each other,” he corrected with a nod.
Then he paused.
Now that he thought about it, he remembered looking out the window of Skull’s old bedroom to see the Locke house. Was that why Skull had asked his grandparents to have their old barn house renovated and lived there instead?
“Emmy wouldn’t tell us girls anything about April too,” Sophia was saying with a tiny pout. “She said that she couldn’t spill April’s secrets to us. Hannah practically went down on her knees once but Emmy wouldn’t budge.”
Admirable. And smart.
If Emmy was indeed close to April then she knew about April’s family and the sort of business his father was in. She was keeping her mouth shut not only to protect April but to protect the girls too.
“You always blame yourself when something goes wrong,” Sophia rubbed Leon’s arm.
“Because I couldn’t help them. I couldn’t be there when they need me.”
“Leon, they know that if they’d only ask, you’d coming running to their aide. And even now, they know that you’re protecting them.” She smiled at him. “Protecting us.”
But it wasn’t enough.
They were losing Skull. They were losing him and
if Leon didn’t do shit about it, they really might.
“Everything’s going to be alright, Leon,” Sophia said, kissing his cheek.
Leon didn’t agree. She didn’t know the things he knew. Fuck, he’d never rest easy until he talked to Skull.
He didn’t tell her that.
“Everything’s not going to be alright if your father insists on staying with us forever,” he grumbled.
Thank fuck her parents were on an urgent business trip. He had Sophia all to himself for five days.
“Well, it’s a good thing they’re not here for the weekend,” she whispered, making his body react.
Then sliding down the bed, she grabbed her robe and went to the bathroom.
Leon had to remind himself repeatedly that the doctor said Sophia couldn’t do anymore strenuous activities and that, unfortunately, included s*x. At her last check-up, the doctor had been worried about the location of her placenta and some spotting. She wasn’t required complete bed rest but Leon didn’t want to risk it and ordered her to rest.
Sighing raggedly, he laid back on the bed.
Tomorrow, he was going to find Skull and talk to him about this. He’d given him time. Enough time to explain. Now that time was up.
But then Sophia called him in a panicky voice.
Lunging to his feet, he rushed into the bathroom. His breath froze as he stopped in his tracks and stared at the floor.
Blood.
Dripping down in a crimson stream down her legs, forming a pool on the tile floor.
His heart started to pound wildly. Sophia looked at him, her hand on her abdomen, pressing tightly, her face pale.
“Leon,” she whispered, fear apparent in her wild eyes.
Immediately, he scooped her up into his arms.
Then he was carrying her to the car and broke land-speed records getting her to the hospital.
Chapter 39
“But she’s alright?” Christopher asked in a hard tone, throwing the covers back and knifing out.
“She is,” Terry answered on the other line. “The baby’s safe too.”
“Are you certain, Terry?”
“Yes. Leon fortunately made it on time to the hospital. John and I managed to get there quickly so he didn’t have to go through that alone.”
fuck.
His gut sinking, he tore the door open and rushed down the hall.
fuck.
Helpless. fucking helpless. There was nothing he could do for them right here. And he couldn’t lose his shit. They needed him sane.
Sophia was safe.
He had to repeat that multiple times in his head to get himself to calm.
She was safe. And the baby was safe.
Thank God.
“It took five men to get Leon out of the emergency room,” Terry said and he focused on her voice. “And it took one punch to get him to calm down.”
A startled smile formed on his lips. “Who punched him?”
“John,” she said in a wry tone. “Then Leon punched him back and it almost became an all-out brawl in the hospital corridor had John hit him again. We were lucky Emmy’s father owns the hospital else we would have been kicked out a long time ago.”
“But they’re both alright?” Try as he might, Christopher couldn’t stop himself from asking.
“Yes. Yes, she’s resting now. Sophia’s parents are flying in as we speak and Leon’s father is already here, helping Leon keep his sanity. And the baby,” she exhaled shakily, “she’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. You’ve got to see her, Christopher.”
Alec met him down the stairs. From the expression on his right-hand’s face, Alec too had gotten a call.
“I’ve arranged the earliest flight possible for you,” he informed. “Go get dressed. We’re getting the cars ready.”
Thank fuck for that.
“I’m coming,” Christopher told Terry as he turned and went back up the stairs to change. “I’m coming home, Terry.”
“Please,” she whispered. She’d sounded so calm when she called but now, it was clear this was affecting her more than she showed. “Please hurry.”
“I will, sweetheart. Tell them I’ll be right there.”
Then he disconnected the call.
April was fast asleep when he entered her bedroom. Sitting down on her side of the bed, he gently shook her awake.
“Honey, wake up.”
It took a few more tries before her eyes fluttered to an open.
“What?” she asked groggily. “Why are…” she trailed off, blinking to focus on him. “Why are you here? Get out.”
“Sophia’s in the hospital,” he told her.
She blinked again. “What did you just say?”
“Sophia’s in the hospital, April.”
“Who?”
“Sophia Gage. Leon’s wife.”
“Leon’s wife?” She still looked confused. “Was she his girlfriend back in high school?”
He nodded. “They got married last year. And she’s pregnant with his baby.”
“Why is she in the hospital? What’s wrong?” She was trying to sound casual and disinterested. She failed, however. Up on an elbow now, he could feel her body getting tense.
“She suddenly started bleeding.” He was wooden as he forced the words from his lips. “Fortunately, she didn’t lose the baby.”
“She didn’t? That’s too bad.”
Christopher knew she said that to make him angry.
Well, she fucking succeeded.
“I know you don’t mean that,” he said in a low voice vibrating with fury. “So I’ll let you off this time.”
She looked like she was already regretting having said that as soon as the words slipped her mouth. If it weren’t for that, hell, Christopher didn’t know what he’d do.
“Whatever,” she muttered, trying to pull the covers over her head but he yanked it down.
“You know how it feels to lose someone you love. You’re angry at me but don’t take it out on her.”
She sat up and glared at him, telling him without words to shut up.
He didn’t shut up.
Glowering down at her, he continued to say angrily, “That was fucked up, April. Even for you.”
“Do you want me to say sorry?” she challenged.
“Yes!” he challenged back.
She lifted her chin up. But she wasn’t fooling him. He could see how her lips were trembling.
“Fine,” she clipped. “I’m sorry I said that. Now get out so I can sleep.”
His anger immediately defused. As much as he wanted her to regret what she just said, he didn’t want to upset her.
“You’re still here.” She was watching his every movement carefully, her lips in a thin line. “Do you have something else to say?”
“I have to leave,” he murmured.
It took a second for the words to sink in.
“Are you leaving me here alone?” she asked tersely.
“Alec is staying. He’s the only one I can trust around you.”
She leaned towards him, her expression beseeching. “I don’t give a damn about Jackman. You can’t just leave me here. Take me with you.”
He shook his head. “It’s still not safe for you.”
“But is it safe for you?”
Her hands covered her mouth, her eyes round in shock.
He was shocked too. He didn’t think she’d scream those words or even say those words at all.
She tried to run. He caught her arm and pulled her back to the bed. Her body was stiff and her face tight. With fear. With worry. With regret. All those for him.
“I’ll be safe,” he whispered, lifting his fingers, gliding them through her hair and wrapping them at the base of her neck. “I’ll be safe, April.”
She didn’t believe him.
Sometimes, he just wanted to tell her all the reasons why she should believe him. Why she should place her faith on him. Why she should trust that he was not going to get killed so
easily.
But now was not the time.
He couldn't tell her of all the things she ought to know about him. He couldn't force the ugly truth from his chest.
