Page 37 of Her Wicked Plan

I hate it.

Leo stares at me, waiting for me to do the right thing and introduce myself. She already knows who I am, but I will do it to please him. “Veronica Rollins.”

“Ah! The infamous Veronica.” Is she seriously taking this route? Alright then. I can play along. “I’ve heard about you from some other patients.”

“All bad things, I hope.” I grin as Leo shifts uncomfortably beside us. “Are you newer?

“No, I am not newer. I don’t work on your ward. I’m in Ward R.”

Oh, I know.

I hum in approval. “And did you hear about me from your patients?”.

“A few who used to be on this ward with you had to come to mine,” she lies. “Other than that, when I am in this ward in passing, a few of the patients here have mentioned your name. As you said, all bad things.”

Leo clears his throat to warn Scarlet not to talk this way to me. I don’t mind it, though. I admire the higher-ups who have the balls to do so.

“I am glad my reputation proceeds me.” I take a small bow, to which Scarlet gives a quiet laugh.

“Well, as much fun as this was,” I say sarcastically, “there is a slice of pizza calling my name.”

“I’ll walk you.” Leo offers before he says goodbye to the pretty redhead.

I don’t wait for him to walk with me. As I start down the hall to the cafeteria, I hear his footsteps following behind me. There aren’t many patients in the cafeteria, which is good; that’s what I wanted.

I go up to the long metal counter where the foods are on display. Red was right. There is pizza tonight.

Seeing the food and smelling the delicious scent makes me almost grateful I’m not in prison. That food would have looked and tasted like shit. Here at Black Lake, they try to make everything as normal as possible for us.

Pulling a slice of pepperoni onto my paper plate, I lift a finger to my mouth to lick the grease off. As my tongue pokes out, I sense Leo’s eyes on me.

With his attention on my movements, I slide my finger past my lips, wrapping them around the digit before slowly pulling it out. When my innocent eyes find him, they drop to his broad chest, where his breathing has picked up.

“How were you able to meet that nurse if she works on a different ward?” I move down the line, inspecting the side options. Fries... pudding... jello? Gross.

“Dr. Bennett set something up for me to meet the other workers.”

“You already seem pretty friendly with her.” I pick up a paper boat full of fries. “So friendly, in fact, that you want her to give you a tour. Of what, Leo?” I twist to face him. “Her body?”

“The facility,” he corrects me, his jaw tight. “She offered to show me around since I’m new.”

“How nice of her.” There's that sarcastic tone again. When my eyes drop to the pizza, I realize Leo has also grabbed food. “Will you be joining me for dinner?”

“No. I have some work to do. I’ll be taking this back to my office.”

“Bummer.” I sigh. “I could have used the company.”

His eyes search my face before glancing to the right. I follow his stare to find Eliza eating alone. “Maybe you can sit with Eliza and make amends with her.”

Quickly, my eyes snap back to him. “Who told you?”

“Edith.” Of course, she did. “She told me to keep it quiet from Dr. Bennett. I was going to wait to bring it up in our next session.”

“Then save it for our next session,” I say through clenched teeth.

“It wouldn't hurt to have a friend here, Veronica.”

“For Satan's sake, I do not need friends!” The anger inside me is billowing. Why the hell does everyone assume I need an asylum buddy?