Page 31 of Her Wicked Plan

Laughing, I bring my hand up, fingers wrapping around her wrist to remove it from her head. “It’s okay, Scarlet. This just means you owe me an official tour.”

“Right… yeah, okay.” Her cheeks flush, turning a beautiful shade of pink from the physical contact. “An official tour where I don’t get sidetracked.”

“I can’t wait.” I smirk, dropping her wrist from my grasp. “Goodnight, Scar.”

“Goodnight, Leo.” She smiles, backing into the door for the hallway, where her hand blindly searches for the door handle. She stumbles back when she opens the door, pulling a laugh from me.

When it shuts, and I’m alone in the lobby, I shake my head in disbelief that she works here. Someone my age and so fucking beautiful.

I think I’ll be just fine here.

CHAPTER 9

Veronica

The common room is full of the same people who come here every day. It is part of their daily routine. To my left is an older woman who has been here for over ten years, attempting to play the piano.

More patients are sitting at the tables playing either card games or checkers while the end of my pen is tapping anxiously against the paper in my journal. The clock ticking on the wall shows it is ten until one.

Today is my first official session with Dr. Madden, and I can’t wait to begin.

An out-of-tune key sounds throughout the room, causing my body to fold into itself. It’s followed by an incorrect key, which makes my already folding body want to break in half.

Julia, the old woman with faded pink hair, can’t seem to get the right fucking key during the song she is playing. Ever. No matter how often she plays the stupid song, it’s never right. It makes me want to rip my hair out.

Five more minutes pass. My eyes dart between the door and the clock, the movement matching the ticking of the clock's hands. Leo told me he would meet me in the common room at one and take me to his office.

Caroline and Abbie are arguing over a card game. Caroline thinks Abbie is cheating, which she is most likely to be. She is a known cheater in this ward.

Two minutes pass, and one guard has to break up a fight between the two girls, all over a stupid ass game of Go Fish. I’m still sitting in my chair as I tune out the girls being pulled off each other.

Their outburst muffles in my ears as I watch another minute tick by.

I’ve watched the large hand on the clock for the past ten minutes, focusing on the ticking noise with every move it makes while I wait impatiently for him to show up. It’s past one.

Where the hell is he?

My leg bounces, the telltale sign that I’m growing aggravated. If I tap the tip of the pen onto my journal any harder, the brass might break.

Two minutes go by. He’s fucking late.

I swear I’m going to punch someone…

The door opens, and he steps in, avoiding the two guards now separating the woman to opposite sides of the room. With the chaos happening merely inches from him, his focus is directly on me. Gesturing with his hand, he motions for me to follow him to his office.

I close the journal in my lap, tucking the pen into the spiraled spine before I follow him out of the room. The door slams shut, and neither of us says anything to the other on our walk.

As we trail down the long hallway, the other patients catch our eye, watching me intently as I walk calmly behind Leo. Their looks are pure jealousy because I’m with him—because he is my doctor.

Of course, they are. He is the most attractive man who has ever stepped through the doors at Black Lake.

Swiping his keys, the door clicks, pulling my attention away from the others to the tall man holding the door open for me. He has to be six-two. Maybe add one more inch. As someone five foot three, he appears as a giant.

After stepping through the doorway, I let him step around me to lead the way. I’ve been down this wing before. This is where I met with Dr. Davis, but I don’t know where his office is.

We take a couple more steps and stand in front of his office door. This was the same office as Dr. Davis. Of course, they gave him her old office.

Leo opens the door, allowing me to enter first, and then shuts the door behind him. I look around the room. It’s like Dr. Davis never left. Everything is the same as it was.