Page 66 of Ruling Scar
What was I thinking? They’re both crazy motherfuckers. There’s no way this ends well.
Pressure builds behind my eyes. Janis would advise me to get up and walk or work on some breathing exercises. It’s only been a week since Leopold appeared in my life. I need to take a beat and recognize that there’s still time for things to work out.
And they will.
They have to.
Or else everything’s just gone to shit for no reason.
I pull up Ren’s number and press call. It’s mid-morning and there’s no guarantee she’ll pick up.
“Hey,” she says with her usual cheerfulness. “What’s going on?”
“Sorry for calling. You’re not busy are you?”
“No,” she assures. “And you can always call me. Honestly, I love having an excuse sometimes to pause a meeting.”
Sounds like a classic power move, Ren telling a bunch of mobsters to take a break.
“Leopold sent flowers to my house.”
“Gross.” The familiar sounds of pots and pans bang in the background.
“Are you already at Fujimori’s?”
Part of me wonders if she lives right above it, she’s there so often.
“What gave it away? Abe and his dad arguing. But anyway, what happened to Elijah getting him to back off?”
“I don’t think it worked.” And I’m worried.
“Well, it’s only been a week.”
This is why I called. I can tell myself that, but hearing it for someone else proves I’m not crazy.
“We both know Elijah plays the long game. There’s no telling what he’s got up his sleeve,” Ren says.
“But what about Leopold?” What does he have up his sleeve? “Have you heard anything about his family?”
“Uh, his uncle is in parliament now. A rising star and they’ve made a lucrative deal recently. Something pharmaceutical.”
“He made it sound like they were trying to make inroads here.”
“They are but everything’s above the board. Or at least not as below it as some of our favorite friends.”
“What do I do?”
“Well, for starters tell your security you have a stalker.”
I chew my lip in thought. Mom sounded so excited about a man sending me flowers. Adeline used to bounce from boyfriend to boyfriend. Nat and Lia constantly give each other jewelry. I don’t want to keep being the loser daughter but I can’t give into Leopold. But I also can’t let Mom torch the city down.
It’s on me to fix this.
“How did the sleepover go?” Ren asks.
Thankfully, this conversation is over the phone thereby hiding my red face.
“It was great thanks.”
