Page 104 of His Wicked Revenge

Cupping her head in my hands, I say, “If you want this to work between us, Vee, there has to be communication. And trust.” She leans into my touch, her eyes falling shut. “I trusted you not to do anything stupid without me, and you did. You got physically hurt in the process.” I grow silent, my thumb softly brushing along her skin. “But I understand why you did it.”

Her eyes fly open. “You do?”

“Yes,” I state. “You would have been sent away if they found that knife in your purse. Better him than you.”

The words echo in my head, taking me back into the past for a second. I’m standing in an open wooded area, Veronica staring at me with a cold stare. The alarms from that night are loud in my head, but her unsympathetic voice trumps the alarms.

Better you than me.

After that, she stabbed me.

Betrayed me.

Blinking my eyes to clear the memory from my vision, my jaw ticks, and Veronica in the present time comes into view.

The once cold-hearted gaze that many received from this woman is now outshone by a world full of emotions.

Fake emotions.

“Where’d you go?” she asks with a voice laced with concern.

“Nowhere,” I dismiss the question, ignoring that damn voice making me second guess myself. “Promise me that I’m going to be able to trust you. Not with words, because I’ve told you before that’s all they are. Words. I need to see you making an effort to prove to me you can be trusted.”

“Okay.” She nods eagerly.

“And if you need help, come to me. Not him.”

“Leo…”

“I’m serious, Veronica. I’m here to help you.”

She thinks about it for a second. It is crazy to me that this seems to be the deciding factor. Cutting ties with Slater allows me to help her. After what feels like a minute too long, she finally nods in agreement.

“Good. Now that that’s settled, you need to get this blood off you. For the second time in two days.”

“Will you join me?” Her arms unwrap from me, and she takes a step back.

“Yeah,” I agree, allowing her to take my hand and lead me to the shower.

CHAPTER 39

Leo

A week has passed since the incident with Veronica and Aiden, and we still haven’t heard from the police.

We have been busy helping Myles and Chloe with the finishing touches on the wedding. During the day, we are separated: she’s with my sister, and I’m with Myles. The only times we were together were at night when she’d stay over.

By the end of the day, we were too exhausted from wedding duties to have a full-on conversation. But our exhaustion didn’t keep us from having sex.

Fucking her on my bed, in the shower, on the island counter. Almost every surface of my place has been christened with the unholy acts Veronica and I have performed.

Ever since that night with Aiden, Veronica has slept over. We have not spent the night at her apartment once. She barely goes there anymore; only to grab some clothes to keep at my place.

It feels like we are living together, and I’m unsure what to think of it. We are old enough that living together so soon into our… relationship shouldn’t be a huge deal.

But why does it feel strange?

This is what I wanted when we were in the asylum. I wanted her to be mine, and I wanted to live a normal life with the woman I loved. If I have that now, why does it feel so different from what I expected? Maybe it’s because of the events leading up to this point.