Page 115 of His Wicked Revenge

It made me feel light, like I could float away from this world and not have to deal with anything anymore.

Finishing off what is in my glass, I pick up the fork to my right and dig into the pasta. There is a mixture of red and white sauce. Grated parmesan lies neatly on the surface, with some green herbs sprinkled over the entire dish. Dipping my fork in, disrupting the beautiful presentation, I twirl the utensil until noodles wrap around the prongs.

Steam is leaving the pasta, creating a trail toward the ceiling. Forming my lips into an “O,” I blow on the food to cool it down. As I do this, my eyes lift slightly to catch Leo watching me—watching my mouth.

Internally, I smirk. On the outside, I remain calm and insert the fork into my mouth. Once I close it and the sauce and noodles meet my tongue, a moan of satisfaction leaves me.

This is the best thing I’ve ever tasted.

In the process of eating, my eyes shut to enjoy the flavors that were bursting in my mouth. When I open them again, I find Leo staring at me with hunger in his eyes. And not for the steak that is plated before him.

The sensation that comes over me from his gaze is almost too much. I lower my fork, bringing the napkin to my mouth. I pat my lips, swallowing hard as I think of anything to say to ease the tension.

“How do you like your job?” Seriously, Veronica? Out of all the things you could have asked, that was it?

Why am I feeling flustered all of a sudden? This is Leo. I shouldn’t be feeling this way about him.

Leo shrugs, stabbing the knife into his steak. “It’s alright. Pays the bills.”

My heart deflates a little. “You don’t enjoy it?”

Slowly, he saws the knife forward and back, cutting a small piece of steak. “It’s not that I don’t like it. It’s just different. It isn’t as rewarding as it was being a doctor.”

“You’re still helping people,” I point out.

“But not in the way I would like to.” He pops the steak into his mouth, chewing it until he finally swallows.

“Is there really no way you can get your license back?” Leo lowers his eyes, shaking his head. “I’m sorry, Leo. It’s my fault.”

He freezes in his seat, eyes lifting to mine. “Let’s not talk about that.”

“Okay. What do you want to talk about?”

“How come you never got a job?” he asks.

“They do background checks.”

“Your friend Slater couldn’t figure that out?” He doesn’t sound angry when bringing up Slater, which leads me to believe he got over the fact that Slater helped me.

“He probably did figure something out to help,” I sigh, eyeing the glass of wine. “But with the money he sends me, I can afford to live off that.”

“Like your own personal sugar daddy.” He laughs a bit, suppressing the jealousy with a sip of wine.

“Jealousy looks good on you,” I smirk.

“Not jealous,” he lies, unable to look me in the eye.

“Mhm. Tell that to the green monster on your shoulder.” Wanting to change the subject again, I pick up my glass and swirl the liquid around. “You know, a few more of these, and I’ll be drunk. Was that your plan tonight?”

He thinks about it for a second. “That wasn’t the plan, but I’ve never seen you drunk. Now I’m curious.” He nods his head toward my glass. “Drink up.”

In the past hour, I’ve added three more glasses of wine to the two glasses I drank from when we sat down to when our food arrived. After the fourth glass, I didn’t feel flustered anymore, which made the conversations flow easier.

We talked about many things, but the past wasn’t one of them. We didn’t talk about the asylum. There was no discussion about his time in prison or what I got up to while on the run. Why would we? All of that is in the past now. We are looking at our future, which I am hoping is together.

He talks to me about work some more and how he isn’t sure if it is something he wants to do for the rest of his life. He told me that his dad mentioned Leo taking over the business when he could no longer run it, but he doesn’t know how to let his dad down.

He is yearning for something better—a career where he can impact people’s lives like he used to, but there isn’t much out there for him to do. I don’t miss how his eyes light up while discussing helping people in need. And then that light dimming quickly when that reminder that he can no longer work in that field rolls through his mind.