“The club operated right in front of me,” I quickly said. “They weren’t forthcoming with club matters, but they didn’t shirk from it. They didn’t shut me out, and because of that I didn’t pry. It worked, Leo.”
He understood what I was trying to say, but he shook his head. “We’re nothing like the club, Skye.”
“What are you like then?”
“It’s different.”
I waited for him to explain, but he didn’t. I held in a sigh, saying instead, “I guess what I’m trying to say is…you don’t need to hide that side of you from me. Switching off isn’t better than seeing what you are behind that wall. And if I see it, I won’t prod, Leo. I understand there will be secrets, but don’t shut me out fromyou.”
While he didn’t respond, I could tell my words were seeping in. He stiffened a nod, and then, as if listening to my words, his walls dropped. His emptiness morphed to need as he picked me up and led me to the bedroom. He didn’t kiss me. He just looked at me, bumping his nose along mine, losing himself in each other’s gazes.
The food went cold.
*
After the first couple weeks, Leo was warmer. His smiles reached his eyes, and as I stuck by him every minute of the day, he was starting to relax.
“You’re not going anywhere,” he would say.
Whether it be showering together, waking up to each other, or taking me out, those words would come out suddenly, like he was reminding me. Like it was fact.
He started to take calls around me. They were short, and some of the things he said didn’t make sense, like he was talking in code or something. Like I had promised him, I didn’t pry. I simply went about what I was doing, be it cooking breakfast or reading a book.
But I was curious.
Of course I was.
It couldn’t be helped.
I had nothing to do, and it was eating me up inside.
“Would it be overstepping the boundaries if I still went to fundraisers?” I asked once.
“Would you be around the Warlords?”
“I would be.”
“Then yes.”
“How about if I saw Jesse? He’s become a good friend—”
“He’s a Warlord.”
“So no.”
He looked at me. “You’re in my world now, Skye.”
Feeling my heart sink, I just nodded.
Leo
Try. Try. Try.
Be a gentleman.
Breathe. Breathe. Breathe.
Skye