With a shaky breath, I fight my own tears. “You and Pierre, you chose me and never, not once has anything about that decision and what came with it been conditional or temporary. I survived what I did in order to find you, and you saved me every single day the last three years so I could keep you. I guess everything that’s going on now made me realize how important it is to finally tell you that.”
“Leonor Allan,” Justine sobs as she leans forward, wrapping me up in her arms and squeezing harder than I think she ever has. She pulls me close as she cries, her back hitting the headboard with a soft thud before she starts swaying back and forth. “I just… girl, you didn’t have to say any of that but hearing it has ruined me. You’ve ruined me and my makeup, Leo, and I don’t give one single damn. I love you and those words mean everything to me and Pierre both.”
Letting a few of my own tears free, I smile wide even though she can’t see me. “Which means you’re going to tell him everything I said while you bawl your eyes later.”
“Word for word.”
“He’s going to think you’re nuts.”
“Will not,” she says with a defiant tone. “If I know your daddy, he’ll cry right along with me.”
“Then you'll end up right back in this room demanding Pierre hear it word for word from my mouth, and I’ll have to listen toboth of yousob all over me.”
“Exactly.”
I snort as Justine hugs me impossibly harder, swaying us back and forth until she’s finally calm and humming off key in my ear.
Everything about this was way out of character for me and Justine knows it but the urgency I felt, the pressing need I had to tell her how I feel, it was just that.
Because if this shit goes the way it did before, if my new stalker is so much of a copycat he goes all the way and then some, I might never get the chance to say any of this.
All fear aside, they need to know.
This was long overdue and once Mark comes back, I’ll let this new attitude keep working a final time, making sure my teddy bear boy knows exactly how I feel about him too. Then if for some reason shit goes south, at least I’ll walk through the gates of hell knowing the only people in the entire world who have never been conditional or temporary, the ones who have loved me from the moment they chose to do so know without a shadow of a doubt, they’ll know how I feel about them.
Burning won’t be so bad if that’s what happens before the devil comes knocking.
27
LEONOR
“Leo.”
My brow furrows and my eyes pinch tight as I feel fingers push my hair out of my face. I shift a little, turning toward the gentle caress but it quickly disappears before I hear the voice again.
“Leo, sugar, you need to take your meds.”
I crack one lid as I pull the blanket higher until it’s sitting right under my nose. “What meds?”
Mark frowns down at me as he straightens up. “Your evening meds. And hopefully mealtime ones if I can get you to eat.”
“What time is it?” My other eye opens and I blink repeatedly, looking around the spare bedroom until it’s in focus. “Where’s Justine?”
“She went with Pierre to get a few things from the store.” He runs a hand over his skull trim with a sigh. “And it’s seven. You napped for a few hours before we got back.”
I napped?
Well, I don’t remember falling asleep but I’m guessing that’s from the adrenaline crash. That, my anxiety pills thenthe shower followed by a heart to heart with Justine. It’s not surprising that I fell asleep after all that.
“Are the boys here?”
Mark shakes his head. “It’s just me and you right now. Norm is still dealing with Franc, Lucky is in the middle of a manic cleaning episode at your loft, and Pete is?—”
“Playing referee to all of that.” A slow smile spreads across my face before I yawn. “But then they’re coming here, which is why Justine and Pierre are shopping.”
He nods.
Stretching my arms and legs, I let out a rather unflattering grunt then scrunch back into a ball, my smile falling some as I look over my teddy bear. “What is it?”
