Page 36 of Soft Tissue Damage
For God’s sake, Elena, I chastise myself. What happened to my resolution to think and act only professionally at this job? There is something dangerously wrong with me.
I mumble something about checking on Rosie and go upstairs. As I rest my hands on the crib, gazing at her sleeping face, I can’t help but think that Cullan Grant fathers adorable daughters.
I say goodbye to Cullan just after nine-thirty, and I’m feeling so tired that I decide to shower and go straight to bed. First I look in on Rosie, tuck in a corner of her blanket, and watch her for a moment, smiling to myself. I check that everything in Rosie’s room is well stocked and tidy, and then I head for the shower.
I’m dressed in white shorts and a little white camisole as I towel-dry my hair. Suddenly, my bedroom door opens, and a masculine figure appears.
Panic leaps into my throat. I open my mouth to scream.
“Hey, babe.” Leon smiles disarmingly while he takes an appreciative look over my body.
My shoulders slump as I breathe a sigh, my heat racing. “Leon, you scared the hell out of me. What are you doing here?”
His face is a picture of innocence. “I’m just saying hello to my girlfriend. Isn’t that allowed?”
9
Cullan
Normally, the anticipation of a slick, well-planned break-in puts me in a good mood, but my heart’s not in it tonight.
My phone chimes while I’m sitting in my truck waiting for my team, and my eyes widen when I see that someone has entered my house. Someone is in my house, and Elena and Rosie are alone and unprotected. I feel a spike of alarm, and then I notice the code that was entered for entry. Leon, my son. What the hell is he doing there? I told Leon three days ago that he had to sleep at his mother’s tonight, and I confirmed it in a text to him this afternoon. He replied with a thumbs-up. My son is deliberately breaking my rules.
Angrily, I reach for my laptop and open it against the steering wheel. After a few keystrokes, the security camera feed from my house appears on the screen, and I toggle through the different cameras in the shared spaces, but neither he nor Elena is anywhere in sight.
There’s only Elena’s bedroom left, but I hesitate before pressing the key for that one before I know if she’s dressed or not.
The mic in the hallway picks up her indistinct voice. “…not supposed to be here when I’m working.”
I feel a rush of pleasure. Good girl, Elena. I switch to the bedroom camera so I can watch her throw Leon out of my house. She’s wearing her pajamas like she was about to go to bed.
Leon shrugs like he doesn’t know what Elena is talking about. “Can’t I drop in randomly and say hello to my beautiful girlfriend?”
Randomly? All Leon’s thinking about is that his girlfriend’s birth control just kicked in. Elena isn’t fooled by this “surprise” visit either.
“I told you I’m not ready for that, Leon,” she pleads. “Can’t we take this slow?”
He smiles and wraps his arms around her. “Of course we can take this slow.”
Elena tips her face up to him and puts her hands on his shoulders as they kiss. I look away from the screen and glare out the window. I struggle to take a calming breath through the envy that’s swarming in my chest. Yes, Leon has broken my rules, but it’s none of my business what twoadults in a committed relationship are doing with each other.
Tell that to the jealous monster rampaging around in my veins.
“What if I just went down on you? I don’t want anything for myself,” Leon offers.
My eyes leap back to the screen. “Tell him to get out, Elena. Tell him right now,” I urge under my breath.
But this allegedly selfless offer makes Elena hesitate.
“Don’t fall for it, Elena.” I grip the sides of my laptop screen. It won’t just be going down on her. After she comes, he’ll say, “Just the tip,” and before she realizes what’s happening, they’ll be having sex. She’s already said she’s not ready for sex. My heart aches for her.
“Well, okay,” she says uncertainly, and Leon takes her in his arms and kisses her again, pushing her toward the bed.
Fuck. I check on Rosie, hoping she’s about to wake up and interrupt them, but my daughter is deeply asleep.Fuck.
I push my hand through my hair. I can’t watch this. I can’t. My choices are to close my laptop and pretend I never saw what I wasn’t supposed to see, or to go home and startle Leon out of my house. I feel torn by what I want versus what is right, and so I’m frozen in place, staring at the laptop screen.
Elena is kissing Leon, but her body is tense, and her lips are closed. She’s putting herself in a horrible position just to make Leon happy, and I can’t stand it.
