I try to give him thewe’ll talk tomorrowlook as I ask, “You going up, too?”
“In a minute…” He arches a brow in my direction then looks to Leo. “If that’s cool?”
She nods, hesitates briefly—probably debating on saying goodnight to me and Norm the way she used to—then sighsbefore she turns to head upstairs. The minute she’s out of sight, that’s when the entire mood changes.
“Spill it,” Mark says out of nowhere, the fucker somehow waking up and coming over without anyone noticing. “Whatever is in that drawer has you seconds from shitting bricks, and you need to tell us why.”
With an annoyed huff, I do.
8
LEONOR
The first thing I notice is the sunlight pouring through the curtains, the warm glow on my skin wrapping me up in a velvety softness. I stretch, my body cracking and moaning in quiet rebellion to all of my slow and foreign movements.
I slept.
I have no idea for how long, but I fuckingslept.
No nightmares, no panic attacks, just pure, blissful sleep. Glorious, completely unfamiliar sleep.
I lay here a little longer before I hear the buzzing on the table behind me, so I close my eyes and hope it just goes away, that I don’t have to deal with Justine or my dark reality again.
The buzzing stops then immediately starts back up seconds later, and I pull the comforter up over my head before I notice movement behind me. My heart drops to my knees and kicks back up into my throat as terror begins to rise from the pit of my stomach.
“What?” A deep, gravelly voice answers as the buzzing stops.
“Yeah, it is... Yes, with Leo... Yes,thatLucky...”
I blow out the breath that got stuck in my lungs with immense relief.
I wasn’t totally sure yesterday wasn’t some fever dream I’d conjured up or not but now, hearing Lucky’s voice, I’m fucking ecstatic it wasn’t, and I’m able to relax again.
“She’s sleeping. What do you mean, how? I don’t know, with her eyes closed? Justine, she’s not coming in today, she can’t deal with that dickhead again so soon. Tell them she’s sick or something. No, Leo’s fine, but she isn’t coming in.” Lucky is so annoyed, and it makes me grin.
I forgot how grumpy he is first thing in the morning.
The shifting on the mattress indicates he’s now swinging his legs over the edge of the bed to sit up, too irritated to have this chat lying down. “Look, I’ll have her call you later, ok?Oui. Je vous promets que je vais.”
Then Lucky sighs and sets the phone back on the table with a sharp thump.
Justine must be so fucking pissed at me, definitely pissed enough to make him promise to have me call in French, and scary enough that he actually did it.
Yeah, I’m sure Justine is ready to fly off the handle. I didn’t check in with her after I left work, never called after the boys showed up, so she is probably going to kill me the next time I’m within range.
Choosing to ignore the stupid way my heart fluttered when Lucky spoke in that Parisian tongue, I continue imagining all the ways Justine is going to skin me alive before I hear, “Son of a bitch. Those assholes.”
Lucky jolts from the bed and barrels down the staircase, and though I’m a little concerned, I take the opportunity to sprawl out like a starfish, all four of my limbs pointed to the corners of my bed.
I haven’t slept like that in ages.
A few minutes later, Lucky reappears at the top of the stairs, holding a six pack of beer and a piece of paper.
“Luck, had to split. Hope you don’t mind we borrowed the beast. Will be back sometime. Can only have beer if you forgive the grand theft auto. Love you both. Moe, Larry and Curly.” He tosses the note on the nightstand where his keys used to be and sighs. “Can you believe them?”
I take the beer he offers as I sit up, grinning a bit as I do. “Yes, I can. This is absolutely something they would do. Absent or not, I know that shit didn’t change.” I twist the cap and take a drink while glancing at my phone.9:44 a.m. “At least they got you the good stuff.”
“That just means Norm felt guilty and you know it.” Lucky smirks and shakes his head while scrubbing a hand over his hair. “Looks like you’re stuck with me for a while, cakes.”
