AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You can rot together in hell!” August yelled. He leaned back in his chair and scowled. “We’re not friends. Never were.”
“August,” I whispered. “Please calm down.” August had no idea just how much Atticus had done for him behind the scenes. It was a twisted situation I didn’t know how to navigate. He needed to know the truth, but I wasn’t sure if he was in the right headspace to hear it.
“I am calm,” he sulked.
Loud raps on the front door rumbled through the room, followed by a pause, and then another series of sharp knocks. August and Atticus looked expectantly at me.
“I suppose I’ll answer it then,” I said before getting up. Nerves had my limbs shaking.
“You okay, Little Monster?” Atticus asked in a quiet voice.
“I’ll be fine,” I said with a weary smile. “I need to speak to him.”
August and Atticus watched me closely, and I thought I saw the tiniest glimmer of solidarity and understanding pass between them, but then August spoke, ruining it all.
“When you’re done chatting with Leo, tell him to see me so I can fire him.”
“You cannot fire him, August,” I said while pinching the bridge of my nose.
“Like hell I can’t!”
“That’s what Augustus does when he doesn’t get his way. Just runs from the problem.”
“Oh, like you would know, you son of a bitch!”
I left them to bicker and walked down the long hallway leading to the front door. With a shaky breath, I twisted the knob. The hinges groaned and Leo stood on my doorstep with a look of expectation.
Leo’s breaths were deep and throaty, like his lungs were trying to drag air in by force. He was shaking, his hands fiddling with his silver rings and the leather of his vest. “Guess it was Atticus that found you,” he said softly.
A breeze picked up his hair, making it float around him as he stared at me.
“Atticus wanted to find me,” I said, pain lacing my words. “I’m not sure you did, considering the way we left things.”
Leo frowned. “Of course I wanted to fucking find you,” he said slowly. Leo took a step closer, grazing my arm with his as he invaded my space, his body radiating heat like a furnace. “You think I wasn’t worried sick? You think I haven’t been pacing the streets of Aldrich looking for you all night?”
“Leo,” I said softly. I could feel a now familiar tingle race up my spine. Leo’s presence was like a drug, his touch addicting. His presence triggered something primal inside me, a need for him that was hard to deny. A need for him to hold me, to tell me everything was going to be okay.
“Do you want a declaration?” he asked. “Is that it? You want to know how I can’t fucking focus when you’re in the room? Do you want to know how I have to force myself to tear my eyes away from your beautiful face? Should I tell you that my heart races when you’re near? Should I get down on my knees and beg you to pick me? Stay with me? Will that convince you, Christine?” He grabbed my chin. “What will it take? Because the truth is, I was fucking terrified that something happened to you. I was scared that I was making the wrong choice in trusting Atticus. I agonized every single night you slept in that goddamn castle.”
“I never meant to make you worry,” I said.
I looked at Leo, love and pain swirling like a tornado in my gut. I observed the way his shirt stretched across his shoulders and the way his eyes were pained. How the morning light made him look like he was made of marble. I wanted to dig my fingers into the ridges of his stomach and hold onto him forever. I could feel drops of tears collect and well up, flooding my eyes until I couldn’t see. I reached out to stroke his stubble-covered chin. “I’m sorry, I just—”
His lips took mine, and I didn’t have time to say another word. Leo’s tongue swirled around my own, probing and demanding. He grabbed my waist and pulled me against him. Leo spun us around and pinned me against the doorframe. My head thumped against the wood. The corner of the doorframe left bite marks on my skin, as Leo’s hands bruised my hips, his lips so soft but demanding.
He kissed me, hard and urgent.
“Christine, I can’t—” he whispered.
I cut off his words with another kiss. His skin smelled sweet like soap and rain and the clean cotton of his shirt. My back arched as Leo’s hands roamed over my body. His fingers trailed down my spine and squeezed my hips before wrapping around my ass. I gasped and Leo’s tongue plunged into my mouth. I wrapped my arms around his neck, relishing in the heat radiating off his body.
“Oh great. Now she’s kissing him,” August said. Leo tore his mouth from mine, and we both snapped our attention to the hallway, where Atticus and August were standing with their arms crossed over their chest.
“I personally didn’t think he had it in him,” Atticus said, his eyes twinkling with something I didn’t understand.
“Fuck off, Atticus,” Leo said. He grabbed my hand, pulled me into the house, and slammed the door behind us. We were both still breathing hard. I fought the urge to feel embarrassed. This was what I wanted, right? All of them. Together.
“So, since we’re all here. What the hell happened?” Leo asked, ever the practical one.
