Page 30 of Absolution

The intensity of his stormy sky-colored eyes sent a tremor through me.

“Thank you for telling me, even though it doesn’t erase the role I played. I swear to you, I’m here for you now. You can trust that I’m not going anywhere. Iwillprotect you like I should have.”

My eyes were gritty, and I could feel the exhaustion settling into my bones. After my confession, I was emotionally spent. I needed to recharge.

“I’m going to bed.”

Leo nodded and rose to his feet. When he held out his hand, I paused before unwrapping the blanket from me and tentatively placing mine in it. Once I was standing, I released our hold, still feeling too raw and exposed.

“I’ll see you in the morning,” he said softly.

I closed my bedroom door and sagged against it with a sigh. There were conflicting emotions swirling inside me right now. Relief that Leo finally knew the truth. Fear that I wouldn’t be able to keep my final secret hidden. Terror that a reckoning was coming.

Quickly making a decision I stepped into my bathroom. I dug behind the crap stockpiled under the sink and finally found what I was looking for. With the bag in my hand, I stood there staring down at the one thing that could make all this anxiousness disappear for a little while. But after spilling my final secret to Leo, I didn’t want Gideon taking one more thing from me.

Before I could change my mind, I opened the bag and upended the entire thing into the toilet. Once it was empty, I flushed and watched every last pill get swallowed down. Shakily, I made my way to my bed and pulled down the covers crawling beneath them and praying sleep would come.

* * *

“Hey short stuff.”

Leo reached over and ruffled my hair before I could bat his hand away. I turned and straightened to my not so impressive height at the same time I fisted my palms against my hips.

“Leonides Xavier Marshall, I told you if you called me that stupid nickname one more time I was going to punch you in the nuts.”

He winced and backed up a couple feet with his hands protecting his precious jewels.

“Ouch, so vicious. I need to tell Gideon to keep watch over you so you don’t unman some other pitiful soul.”

My body momentarily froze in paralyzing fear at the name. “What do you mean? Why would he need to watch over me?”

Leo shifted nervously and cleared his throat. When he wouldn’t make eye contact with me, dread washed over me.

“Leo?” I whispered his name.

“Have a seat. We need to talk.”

He took my hand and led me to the kitchen table. My steps were slow. Once we were both seated, the silent tension grew until finally he broke it.

“I wasn’t going to tell you yet.” His gaze was earnest as he continued holding my hand.

My mind raced with terrible thoughts, and I started to sweat.

“Tell me what?”

Leo gently squeezed my fingers. Not for the first time, I noticed how strong and large his hands really were. They were the hands of a warrior, a fighter, and his knuckles were cut and nicked. I glanced back up to meet his eyes.

“I’m done working for Lorenzo.”

“That’s good, right?”

“Yes and no. I want to do something good and positive with my life, you know? I don’t want to go to prison.”

“If you quit working for him, then why would you go to prison? I don’t understand. What does that have to do with Gideon looking after me?”

Although deep down I think I knew. Lorenzo would never let Leo just walk away. The nauseous feeling in my belly grew, but I swallowed it back.

“I can’t stay here. Not once he finds out I’m done. Besides, I deserve better than being nothing but a criminal.

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