Page 83 of Love Me Carefully
“No. But you will,” Leon responded blithely.
He was dressed in all black, his eyes cold and hard.
“Why are you here?” Leah asked. Leon was in Terrell’s bedroom. The bedroom where Terrell had just thoroughly loved her—had he really watched?
“You know why I’m here. I had to bring you this.” Leon held up the statue, the one both Leah and Terrell knew they’d left in her apartment.
“That’s the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen. If you gave me a gift like that, I’d break up with you, too,” Terrell said as he prepared to get out of the bed. From what he could see, Leon didn’t have a weapon. Leon’s eyes were dazed when he looked at Leah, his obsession clear. If he could just get him away from Leah, out of this room, he could handle him.
Leon frowned at Leah, then turned an angry glare to Terrell. “Don’t be so smug. I’m here to take what’s mine. And to get rid of what stands between us.”
Tired of the war of words, Terrell climbed out of bed. “Why don’t we just go into the other room?”
Leon was looking at Leah again. “I had the perfect evening all planned for us. I’ve been waiting for you to come back home. But he wouldn’t let you, would he? Dragging you on a cruise to Jamaica wasn’t enough for him was it?” He gripped the statue tighter. “That’s okay, I’ll take care of him.”
Wait, how had he known they’d been in Jamaica?Her stomach churned with the realization—he was the man she’d seen the day they were leaving. The one she’d thought was a tourist. “You’ve been following me all this time?” she whispered.
Terrell was only a step or two away when Leon turned, threw the statue on the bed and pulled a knife from the waistband of his black jeans.
Leah gasped. “Leon, this is ridiculous. What can you possibly gain from doing this? Breaking into my house and now Terrell’s, holding us at knifepoint? Think about your business, your brother who’s been working so hard for its success. You don’t want to throw all that away.”
“Don’t tell me what to do! Not when you’re running around behind this fool, jumping on and off ships and actin’ like you’re some high school sweethearts. You don’t get it do you, Leah?” Leon looked at Leah. “I wanted you, Leah! I still want you. It’s that simple.”
His voice sounded calm, his words rational to any unsuspecting person, yet Terrell knew the man was teetering very close to the edge. “That’s not going to happen.” Terrell charged him, knocking the taller man to the ground.
Leah wanted to scream as the two men rolled around the floor struggling over the knife. But she refused to be like a pitiful movie heroine, crying and yelling on the bed while her man fought for his lifeandhers. She kicked the covers off and slid toward the nightstand, grabbing the telephone and quickly dialing 911. She didn’t take too much time explaining, only said there was someone in her house with a knife before she threw the phone onto the bed and leaped to the floor.
At the bottom of the bed, she saw that Leon was on top of Terrell, the blade raised in one hand, his other hand choking Terrell. Terrell struggled to tear the hand away from his throat and also keep the knife at bay. Leah didn’t hesitate. Using her training from years ago, she kicked at Leon, her foot landing just above his wrist and he dropped the knife. On a string of curses Leon turned his attention to her. He jumped off of Terrell and lunged for Leah. She kicked out again, but this time he caught her leg backing her against the wall where he dropped it, then grabbed her by the throat. The contact was so forceful that a picture that had been hanging came crashing down. “You’re mine! We’re meant to be. You’ll have my children and we’ll be happy. Understand?” he yelled at her.
Leah couldn’t breathe, and her vision was blurring. With each word he spoke his grip on her throat tightened. Her hands flailed wildly, trying to pull away the hand that robbed her of oxygen.
“He interfered. He showed up and threatened what we had. When I get rid of him, we’ll be happy.”
On the floor, Terrell sucked in air. He heard Leon’s voice but didn’t hear Leah’s. She had to be hurt, nothing kept her quiet for long. Grabbing at the bed, he hoisted himself up and spotted them near the door. Looking for some sort of weapon, he grabbed the statue and rushed forward.
“I love you, Leah. Don’t you understand?” Leon moaned pitifully, resting his forehead against Leah’s.
“You can’t have her!” Terrell yelled, crashing the statue against the back of Leon’s head.
Leon’s glazed eyes stared at Leah blankly for a second before he slumped over.
Terrell caught Leah and cradled her in his arms, moving them away from Leon’s limp body. “It’s okay, baby. It’s over. Come on, let’s get you out of here.” He’d come back and take care of Leon once and for all when he knew Leah was safe.
They staggered into the living room, and Terrell placed Leah on a chair, then checked for wounds.
Weeping and her chest heaving spasmodically, she managed to say, “I’m okay.” She swiped at his hands. “You, you’re bleeding.” She touched a hand to his chest where blood stood out on the honey-toned skin.
Terrell hadn’t even realized he’d been cut. “I’m fine. Just let me get to the phone.”
“I already called the police,” she said.
In the distance they heard sirens. Terrell went to the balcony to see if they were coming in this direction and discovered Seth’s limp form in a corner. He’d called Seth before he and Leah retired for the night and asked him to keep watch because Terrell had suspected Leon might make a move. Now he realized why Seth hadn’t signaled him of Leon’s arrival.
Leah heard a noise in the bedroom and stood dazedly, looking toward the room. He couldn’t be… When she heard more noise, she looked around for something else to use as a weapon but Leon was upon her too quickly.
“I’m going to kill him!” He roared as his open palm came crashing down against her cheek.
Leah staggered back, but refused to fall. She turned her head, albeit painfully, back in his direction. “I’ll never love you, and you’ll never touch me,” she spat at him.
