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My eyes met his when I realized he’d used my words. The same words I’d said a couple months ago when I’d first moved into the apartment and he asked me about my life and what I held dear.
I looked at the box and swallowed hard.
Opening it, what I saw was the most unexpected, perfect thing.
“A macaroni necklace,” I whispered.
“You’re kind of hard to shop for,” he said, and took a step closer. “But I thought this was something you never had . . . something maybe you might like to keep.”
That sting I’d been fighting since I met Leo pulled a line of water to my eyes. My chest felt heavy and achy in the best way. In total gratitude and . . . love.
Because I realized that a man like Leo was beyond anything I could ever hope for.
I ran my fingers along the smooth surface of the macaroni and everything I’d ever felt was missing in my life came together. There, in Leo’s eyes, I felt seen.
He was giving me something to hold on to. Something to cherish. And something that meant more than any diamond or fine thing in the world. It summed up our time together. Who I was and what I was missing.
A light drizzle came down around us and I snapped the box shut so the necklace wouldn’t get wet.
“Shit,” he muttered, and ran a hand through his hair. “I know it’s lame, but I hope you know that I will get you diamonds if you want—”
“This is perfect,” I said. “I don’t want diamonds.”
“You’re worth so much and . . .” He glanced away, and for the first time the charismatic man with a tattoo and sexy grin was . . . nervous?
“You’re beyond anything I can describe, Paige,” he said.
My heart hurt and I clutched the box tighter against my chest. Thinking about him stringing macaroni somehow made me feel important. It was easy to go pick out jewelry, but he was a busy man and somehow found time to sit down and make this. Because of what it symbolized.
Realization hit: Leo was the light in my day. It seemed so simple. So honest. Just like when I had read my book to Lyssa, the truth of how I felt about Leo hit me so hard, I couldn’t deny it.
I rose to my toes, grabbed the back of his neck, and yanked him down for a kiss. Nothing in the world could have stopped me from saying the one thing I felt, the one thing I shouldn’t feel, but I did anyway.
“I love you, Leo.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
I paced the bedroom of the massive suite, cell phone to my ear, waiting for my mother to pick up.
“Hello?”
“Mom, it’s me.”
She let out a sigh, maybe of relief or of exasperation, I didn’t know. Either way, I continued to my point. After spending today with Leo, hell, after spending the last three months with Leo, I had realized something. I was hurting. In a lot of ways, for a long time. And I couldn’t hold on to this negative, awful feeling anymore. Because it was slowly killing me.
I had told him I loved him and he had stared at me for a long moment, then kissed me. For now, I’d take that as a good sign, though we hadn’t spoken about it since.
“How are you, Paiges? You finally ready to come home? I’ve been calling Hazel and—”
“I know and I wanted to call to tell you something.” I took a deep breath, drawing on strength I’d been running from, and decided once and for all to tackle this situation. “I forgive you.”
“What? I don’t understand.”
“I know.” My voice was soft and I mentally cursed the tears welling up but I forced them down. I still believed that tears would be a sign of victory for those who brought them out. I couldn’t have that. I needed to stay strong. “I’ve been so mad at you. So hurt. You should have believed me. But I can’t hold on to that anymore.”
“I don’t want you to either, sweetie. Just tell the truth—”
“I am, Mom. I have told it, over and over. But I’m done telling this story. I love you, and you betrayed me when I needed you most. But I’m done holding on to that. So I’ll say this one more time. Frank tried to rape me. I won’t talk about this again. Not with you, or anyone. I won’t forget it, but I won’t pretend that every time you disbelieve me, every time you make a point to remind me that you aren’t on my side, that it doesn’t cut me. It does. I can’t do it anymore. So I’ll leave it up to you.”
