Page 99 of The Retaliation You Deliver
Before I can respond, he presses his lips to mine in the sweetest, most intense kiss. It’s innocent… mostly, but I feel it all the way down to my toes.
I’m smiling when he rights me once more, immediately pulling me back into his side as if it’s where I belong.
“Two meatball subs for the lovebirds,” Paulo says. “And two cookies, on the house for my favorite customer.” He gives me a wink.
“Looks like I’ve got some competition,” Leon jokes.
“If I were forty years younger, young man, you might have a problem.”
We all laugh as we pay. It’s just another reminder of why I love it here so much.
Leon takes our food in one hand and wraps his other arm around my waist, leading me from the shop and toward the park.
“Back to where it all started, huh?” I ask as we lower ourselves to the same bench.
“If we wanted to go right back, we’d need to be in Charlie’s room.”
“Yeah, or we could forget about that and just imagine it all started here.”
“I couldn’t believe it that night when I turned around and saw you standing there. Ten years I’d been looking for you. I’d searched social media regularly. Googled you, Richard, anyone who might be connected to you. I never found anything.”
“Exactly how I wanted it. After Dad died, the media were horrible. Keeping me from that was probably the only good thing Richard ever did for me.
“I know the main reason Dad did what he did was because of losing Mom. But the press played a part. They were always there, wanting to know what was happening. He never had a chance to grieve properly and because of that we paid the ultimate price.”
“I’m so sorry you lost them both like that.”
Even after all these years, I don’t have a suitable response when someone says something like that. So instead of saying anything, I reach out, take my sandwich and begin unwrapping it.
“They’d be so proud of you, you know that, right?”
I shrug, not wanting to hear it. Both of my parents were outgoing people. They loved life until too much of it was ripped away from them. I often feel like I would have been the ultimate let down.
“I haven’t exactly done anything,” I mutter.
“You survived, Macie. Do you have any idea how fucking strong you are? The fact you’re still putting one foot in front of the other is a miracle in itself.”
“It’s just life, Lee. What else can we do?”
He stares at me and I hear his unspoken words about taking the easy way out like my dad did and I hang my head.
No matter how hard shit gets, I’ll never do that. I might not have many people in my life, but I refuse to ever put anyone through what I went through when I was barely old enough to understand why my dad did what he did.
“I’m in awe of you.”
“Stop it,” I say, shaking my head, unable to accept his words. “You of all people can’t say things like that to me. Not after what you’ve been through.”
“I thought all my Christmases had come at once when I found you standing in Charlie’s room,” he says, going back to our earlier topic. “I thought you were a figment of my imagination. I’ve never felt anger and relief quite like that ever.”
“I was mostly terrified. No one had ever held me by the throat before.”
He laughs as he takes a bite of his sandwich and I forget about what we were talking about as I watch him lick some sauce from his lip and chew.
Why is that so hot?
Eating shouldn’t be so freaking hot.
“You loved it, though, didn’t you?” he asks, looking over at me and catching me staring.
