They’re about to close the doors when I call out, “Wait, please.”
Leonard’s gaze meets mine, panic in his eyes. He will be furious with me for fucking with my health like this. He will be so mad I’m not resting, I can already see it in his eyes. Most of all, however, he’s going to be upset because he made me worry. I ignore it all as I run the last few meters, the paramedic stepping out of the vehicle after Leonard said something to her and making room for me. She offers me a hand, and I take it, heaving myself into the back of the ambulance.
“You should be in bed,” Leonard says, but I ignore him as I stand in front of him.
“Where are you hurt?” I demand to know, ignoring the stinging of the tears in my eyes. I swallow hard to get rid of them. Leonard’s brown eyes warm at my concern.
“Nowhere, Starling. My ribs might be bruised they said, but that’s why they’re taking me to hospital,” he explains, reaching out to touch my wrist.
“In how much pain are you?” I ask next, feeling his fingers around my wrist. The tears return to my eyes, but, this time, they drop down my face before I can hold them back.
“Come here, sweetheart,” he says, tugging on my arm to get me to close the distance between us. I don’t budge. I merely stand in front of him, crying because I’ve never felt so terrified in my entire life than when I saw his horrible crash.
“How much pain?” I repeat, trying to keep my voice firm, but it shakes uncontrollably from the emotional toll this situation has on my heart. Leonard offers me a small smirk.
“A lot of pain. So much pain, actually, I demand to have you come here right now and make me feel better,” he says, tugging on my wrist again.
This time, I step toward him, and he guides me all the way onto his lap before wrapping his arms around me. I’m careful to keep my limbs away from his ribs, but he brings my chest flush against his, my arms tangling at his nape. More tears stream from my eyes, and I even let out a tiny sob.
“I’m okay,” he assures me, and I slide my fingers into his curly, short hair, pulling a little on it.
“Don’t do that to me again,” I whisper against his neck, smelling his scent combined with a little bit of sweat and burnt rubber. Oh God, I don’t want to think about why he smells like burnt rubber.
“I didn’t know you cared,” Leonard replies with a small chuckle, and I manage to keep the rest of the tears from slipping down my cheeks and soaking his fireproofs.
“I don’t,” I lie as he rubs his hands over my back. “I was just worried I had to find a new job,” I go on, and the Formula One driver lets out a snort.
“Then why are you crying, sweetheart?”Stop calling me that. I like it too much.
“I won’t get my big ass paycheck from any other employer,” I explain, and Leonard leans back to cup my face in his hands and brush the pads of his thumbs over my cheeks.
“Don’t cry over me, little demon. I’m not worth it,” he says, and I wish I could slap him.Yes, you are, even if I will never admit it out loud.
“Could you please refrain from flipping your car from now on? Benz would be heartbroken if something happened to you,” I say while he wipes away the remainder of my previous tears.
“Just Benz, huh?” he teases with a small smile. When I realize how close I am to him, our lips almost touching, I try to wiggle out of his arms. “Where are you going?” he asks, and I cover my mouth with the backside of my hand.
“I’m going to get you sick,” I explain, but he merely places me next to him on the area of the ambulance where he’s sitting, sliding one of my legs across his back and keeping the other in his lap.
“I don’t care. I need you by my side and nowhere else,” he admits before bringing his lips to my shoulder and placing a kiss to it. “I’m also incredibly pissed at you for running all this way to get to me. You should be resting, you stubborn, impossible woman,” he says, one of his hands dropping to my thigh and running along its length.
“Well, you shouldn’t have crashed,” I say and rest my cheek on his shoulder.
“You can blame Jonathan for that. He crashed into my rear,” Leonard explains, tracing circles on my bare leg then.
“I fucking hate that guy,” I mumble, another chuckle coming from him in response.
“Me too. At least he will get a lot of shit from the team for the stunt he pulled today.” It gives me a little bit of satisfaction, but not even close to how satisfying it would be to knock out a few of Jonathan’s teeth.
“Mr. Tick, we have to get you to the hospital,” the paramedic says, and I attempt to move off him once more, but Leonard keeps me tangled up in him.
“You don’t have to leave, Chiara,” he says, but his eyes are begging.Please stay. And I do because there is nowhere else I want to be right now than in Leonard Tick’s arms.
CHAPTERTWENTY-NINE
leonard
Chiara is at home, still sick and recovering from the flu she made worse by coming to see me on Sunday after the crash. My head hasn’t found a way to wrap around the fact that she cried for me. The strongest woman I know cried out of fear of something happening to me, which means she might not hate or dislike me anymore. At least that’s what I hope it means because I don’t want her to hate me, not at this point. Not ever again. Without her, my life has become so dull, but with her, I feel everything more intensely than ever before.
