Page 28 of His Wicked Revenge

“Uncle Leo?” His little voice pierces my heart.

I stare at the young boy standing by the door. “It’s late, Carter. You should be in bed.”

“I couldn’t sleep and saw you in the backyard. Are you okay?” His shoe presses into the dirt as he comes closer. I nod once, hoping it would be enough to ease his mind. “It’s okay if you aren’t. Mommy still gets sad sometimes, too.”

That earns another soft cry from me, but I muffle it with my hand. Wiping the tears away, I finally look at my nephew. “I know I told you I was happy again, but I still get sad.”

“Me too.” He gazes down at me. “Can I tell you something?”

“Of course,” I say, finally taking a deep breath.

Carter walks toward me, dropping to the ground to sit before me. He sits down, criss-crossing his legs, placing his hands in his lap.

He surveys the dying plants around us before he says, “When I stay the night and can’t sleep, I sneak out here.” Carter shoots his eyes in my direction. “Don’t tell Grandpa.”

I laugh a little. “I won’t.”

His tiny shoulders fall in relief, and then he continues, “I like to talk to Grandma in the greenhouse. I do it at home too when I can’t sleep or if I miss her, but talking to her here, it’s like she can really hear me.”

Carter drops his eyes to his hands, which are now poking at the dirt. A slight sniffle sounds from him, and my already broken heart shatters. It took me up to this moment to realize that my panic attack has slipped away.

“I feel the same way,” I reassure him. “It almost feels like she is sitting here with us.”

“Yeah, it does.” He raises his head and offers me a little smile. “Uncle Myles gets sad, too, but he pretends to be strong for Mommy. So that’s what I do. I pretend not to be upset around her. It would make her even more sad if I were sad.”

“It’s okay to be sad in front of your mom, Carter. It might upset her, but she understands that you are also going through this trouble.” It’s pretty cute how Carter is taking after Myles and trying to be strong for Chloe. He is already looking up to him as a father figure. “Speaking of Uncle Myles, how do you feel about him and your mom getting married? Are you happy about it?”

His eyes light up at the mention of the marriage. “Yes! I’m really happy that I’ll finally have a dad again!”

There goes my heart breaking. At this point, I’m not sure it can be put back together.

When I was still in prison, Chloe told me that Carter’s father, Jeremy, finally got arrested after the fifth domestic violence call. Luckily, he didn’t come to the prison I was in. If he did, I would have killed him.

That was two years ago, and since then, Carter hasn’t had his father in his life. It was for the best, but as a kid, he didn’t understand that.

“And the baby?” I smile at the thought of having a niece.

“I’m going to be the best big brother!” he beams.

“I have no doubt that you will be.” I reach out and ruffle his hair. “It’s late. Why don’t we get you back inside and into bed?”

He nods, pushing himself off the ground as I do the same. We dust the dirt off our clothes and return to the house when Carter asks, “Can you read me a story? The one Grandma always read to me?”

“Of course I will.”

CHAPTER 15

Veronica

A few days have passed since I had the honor of seeing Leo, and it went how I assumed it would. I knew he’d be angry with me, but I wasn’t expecting him to be so hellbent on revenge.

The look in his eyes after he threatened me showed he could have it in him. However, I don’t think he will follow through with it, and I will ensure he doesn’t. I wasn’t lying when I informed him of the reason for my return. I did come back for him.

I had been laying low in Seattle, making sure no one was following me and watching over his family. I’d follow them around town, and one specific night, Chloe and Myles had gone to dinner, and I invited myself.

Not with them, but I did sit at the table directly behind them.

The music in the restaurant was low enough for me to overhear their conversation. They were talking about Leo and how he would be released in the next few months.