Page 53 of His Wicked Revenge

“I have it under control.” I finally find the right words I want to say and lock eyes with Myles.

“Yeah, okay.” He’s doubtful. I get why. I do, but I wish people had more faith in me. I wish I had more faith in myself. “Chloe just texted. They are done with their fitting and want to meet for lunch.”

Great. “Okay.”

We meet Chloe and Veronica at a cafe downtown and sit near the wide window. The girls sit beside each other today, discussing the wedding while Myles and I sip coffee. We all ordered a sandwich, and Veronica opted for a salad.

Odd.

My eyes stay trained on her while she speaks to my sister and involuntarily drop to her mouth. Memories of those pretty lips wrapped around me in the alley flood my mind, and no matter how much I don’t want to think about my cock in her mouth at this moment, I can’t help it.

“Leo?” My sister’s voice snaps me out of the dirty thoughts, my hand flinching, and coffee spills over the rim of my cup, landing on top of the table.

“Shit,” I mutter, setting down my mug.

“You should clean that up,” Veronica teases in a way that only I know the meaning behind her words.

The corner of my mouth lifts as I stare at Veronica. There is a challenge in her eyes, and I’m taking it. Leaning forward, my tongue meets the table as I lick up the coffee spill.

“Leo, that’s disgusting!” Chloe exclaims with disgust. “This table is probably so dirty!”

I sit back in my chair, shrugging my shoulder, but gaze at Veronica. “The coffee is delicious. I didn’t want to waste a drop of it.”

“Don’t complain if you get sick.” I see Chloe shake her head out of the corner of my eye. Veronica, on the other hand, is staring at me in disbelief. Neither of us expected me to lick up coffee off a dirty table.

“I can handle being sick, Chlo.” I glance at my sister before returning my heated gaze to the woman across from me. “I’ve been through worse.”

“You mean prison?” Veronica bravely asks. “Why did you get sent away?”

Chloe spits out her coffee, quickly grabbing a napkin to clean up. “We don’t need to talk about that.”

“No, it’s okay.” I wave my sister off. “Camille knows about my time in prison. If she wants to hear why, I don’t mind telling her. We should open up and get to know each other more. Correct?”

“Yeah, but this is a topic that should come later in a relationship,” Chloe states, then speaks through her teeth. “You don’t want to scare her off.”

“I don’t scare easily,” Veronica informs my sister. “I want to know.”

She wants to relive it; hear the pain she caused you.

Nodding, I set my coffee mug down and intertwine my fingers together. They rest on the table, and I tilt my head. “You want the long version or the short version?”

“Whichever you want to give,” she answers with a sweet, fake smile. She already knows the story, so we will go with the short version.

She’s enjoying this, Leo. Don’t give her what she wants.

I shake off the gnawing anxiety that keeps creeping in and hold my stare on Veronica. As much as I don’t want to give her the satisfaction of reliving the hell she put me through, I’d love to see how she reacts.

“I was a doctor at an insane asylum. I got hired to take on a patient named Veronica.” She doesn’t even bat an eye at the mention of her name. Myles, however, huffs out a breath of hatred next to me, making me grin. “Things were normal, and then they weren’t. We formed a connection. A bond, if you will. A very unprofessional relationship.”

“You slept with her.” It wasn’t a question because she didn’t have to ask. She knows that answer.

I can sense Chloe's nerves as her eyes dance between Veronica and me. The family and I talked about it briefly while I was in prison, but once we discussed the situation, we never brought it up again. It was buried in the past until now.

I nod at her statement. “I fell in love with her.”

Veronica swallows hard at my confession. I’ve never said those words to her, and I’m glad I never did.

“It was wrong, those feelings I grew for her. I knew it, but I couldn't stay away. She was a magnet, and I was the unlucky object stuck in her force field. I would have done anything for her, and she knew that.” I pick up my cup, taking a lengthy sip before continuing, “She used me, pretended that the love wasn’t one-sided, and she used my weakness against me to help her escape.”