Page 47 of Carter

“I missed this too,” he mumbles into my hair. My lungs let out a deep, content sigh. I could officially sleep in peace.

Chapter thirty-nine

Carter

I’m a nervous wreck right now as I feel my hands start to sweat a little. The butterflies in my stomach dance as I pull up in front of the Park Hyatt Sydney. Taking a few deep breaths as I ride the elevator up.

As I raise my hand to knock, the door swings open, and I come face-to-face with Leandra. My mouth was wide open as I tried to speak, but no words came out. Fuck! She looks gorgeous. She’s wearing a white dress shirt with a beige sweater on. As my eyes make their way down her body, I see the high-waisted black skirt with a belt around her waist. She has her knee-high boots on, and fuck me, do I wish she had nothing on except for those fuck me boots.

“You look beautiful,” I finally say as I hand her the roses I got for her. She thanks me and makes her way to the en suite. A few minutes later, she returns with a vase full of roses. She grabs her beige coat, and damn, does that coat seal the deal. She smiles as she passes me before opening the door; she turns around and gives me a sultry smile. “You look handsome.”

I lock her gaze as I smirk, showing her my dimples, knowing damn well that they affect her. “Ready,” I say as I reach past her, opening the front door.

We arrive at the bookstore that happens to have a cafe inside. Her eyes watch me carefully as I open my door and go around the front of the car so that I can open her door. Her eyes go wide as we enter the bookstore.

She looks around, and I can’t help but chuckle at her reaction to this place. I knew she would love it here. Leandra looks like a kid in a candy store. We look around for a few minutes as she reads the back covers of some of the books, putting some aside for purchase later. I make a mental note to buy them for her before we leave.

We approach the cafe as she looks up at the menu. There are two people ahead of us. As I read the menu, I can see that she’s pulling out some cash. “Leandra,” I say, my voice smooth and soft as she looks up. “I invited you on a date. Let me get this, please, baby.” She nods, giving me her order as I instruct her to find us a place where we can sit and talk.

It doesn’t take long for me to return with our drinks. “ Here you go. Your eiskaffee,” I say as I hand her the plastic cup, which makes me regret not getting one. The eiskaffee is an iced coffee with a scoop or two of vanilla ice cream.

“Thank you,” she smiles as she receives the cup from me, taking a sip from her straw. “So, I guess we should have that pending talk,” I say, my eyes watching her as I awkwardly swallow.

“I guess,” she pauses. “Carter,” she says with so much emotion I can feel the butterflies dancing, and my nervousness starts to kick in. “I went to the pack house when I found out I was pregnant. I swear I was going to tell you, Carter, but then I saw you out in the dock, and you looked happy, and I could see the love in your eyes.” She pauses. I can see that she’s trying to control her emotions.

“ I didn’t want to come between you two. Carter, she was your mate, and I know your wolf craved that connection, and you did too. When I saw what I saw, I decided to leave. I thought it would be for the best. You would have eventually started your own family with her. I didn’t want my son to feel like he was a burden.” She takes a deep breath in and out before she continues. “I was about five months pregnant when I had a doctor's visit in which I heard our pup's heartbeat. I had this ache in my heart and the guilt was killing me. I spent hours in my office looking for a sign of what to do when suddenly our pup kicked me pretty freaking hard giving me the answer. So, I called you, and the call was answered. I heard some breathing and rustling then the call ended. Not even five minutes later I get a Facetime call and the first thing I hear is moaning and then I see your secretary riding you.”

“Peach. I didn’t sleep with Candace,” I swallow hard. “When you left I was not okay. I focused on work and I resorted to drinking in order to drown my pain. When I went to New York I drank my sorrows away after talking to your sisters. They wouldn’t give me information. I did some digging and I reviewed CCTV video from my office. I passed out drunk, baby. She came into my office, opened up my shirt, and then got herself naked from the waist up. Peach, that bitch planned that Facetime call. She wanted you to see that. Baby, there’s a video to prove what I’m telling you is true. Nothing happened except for the fact that she assaulted me while I was passed out. I had Connor send me the surveillance video from our archives. You don’t have to worry about her, she's gone, baby."

I can see the tears fill her eyes, and it breaks my heart that the misunderstanding cost me so many precious moments I lost with Luca. “I’m sorry for keeping our son away, and I understand why you’re mad. I do, but please forgive me.” I lean forward across the table, taking her hands between my own. “I don’t need to see any video, I believe you. I trust what you say is true.”

“Peach. Baby, look at me. Please don’t cry.” I say as one of my hands lifts her chin so that she can look at me. I wipe away the tears that have now stained her cheeks. “The love you saw that day reflecting in my eyes is and will always be for you,” I say as my thumb continues to trace circles onto her soft skin. Her breath hitches, and I can tell that my words surprise her.

“What you saw that day at the dock was our goodbye. The happiness you saw was because I was going to go after you, Leandra. The love you saw was for you. I swear to you, baby, nothing happened with Sienna and me. We hugged goodbye, and I kissed her cheek. Peach, I promise you that my wolf hurt more the day I lost you,” I say holding her gaze as I watch her take in every word I have just spoken, but I can see the guilt in her eyes. My own eyes reflect the same guilt.

I can’t help the tears that rim my eyes. “I shouldn't have made you feel like you were just good enough to fuck. You weren’t my entertainment. These past three years. I have continued and will continue to love you, Leandra Russo. My wolf craves you and only you, baby. No one else can make us go feral, and no one else can own us as you do. I'm yours, baby, and trust me when I say there is nothing to forgive. I meant what I said that day at your house.” I say, wiping away her tears and my own.

Leandra takes another sip from her drink, grabs the spoon, and starts eating some of the ice cream. Looking at her, I smile and mentally scold myself for getting hard as I see her lick the spoon clean. I reach down to adjust myself, but it's too late cause her eyes follow me catching me in the act. I clear my throat.

“Tell me about the birth of our son. Your pregnancy? How was that?” I question wanting to know everything. Did she have any cravings? Morning sickness? My mind is full of questions. I don't know where to start.

“My pregnancy was okay. I had the usual morning sickness and a few cravings here and there but nothing too crazy or weird.” She giggles. “The birth of our son was natural. I was in labor for about twelve hours, and on May 25, 2026, Luca Greyson Russo was born. God, he had a pair of lungs. He screamed and cried, making his presence known." She pauses, taking a deep breath, and I can tell she hesitates to continue. Something tells me I won’t like what I hear next.

“It was after the birth of our son that I got postpartum depression. It didn’t help that he was the spitting image of his daddy, but through the years, I've come to love and appreciate that. The depression got so bad that I stopped producing milk and lost significant weight. So, I started therapy which helped me get through some of my dark moments and the feelings about being a bad mother.” She explains my eyes never leave hers as she talks.

“I went to therapy for about a year in which I spoke about my past, my early years of law school, and our relationship. My therapist is the one who encouraged me to listen and read the messages I didn’t delete. It helped me understand that my feelings for you and the anger I felt diminished. Carter–” She pauses, reaching across the table to take hold of my hands. “Carter, listening to your message about you waiting for me broke my heart because I wouldn’t want you to do that. You deserve to be happy, and when I listened to that, I was at a point in my life where I was working to better myself for the sake of my son. I love you and would have been truly happy for you if you moved on with your mate or someone else as long as you were happy. But I want you to know I would have waited a lifetime for you.” My eyes beam at her, and I can’t help but grin brightly at her words. She looks at me with such loving eyes full of hope, love, and passion.

After finishing our drinks and purchasing a few books Leandra liked, we make our way up the block walking hand in hand. “What about you? What have you been up to?” She questions, but I can see the sadness in her eyes before she tries her best to mask it. I know Isabella told her some things. I squeeze her hand, letting her know that I’m okay. “I wasn’t myself after you left. My wolf and I were going crazy without any answers about where you could be. So, I did what I did best and buried myself in work and training. I hit the ring almost every day and lifted heavier weights. My wolf and I need an outlet to release our anger.” She stops walking, and before I know what’s happening, she studies me up and down as her eyes trace every inch of my body.

“I can tell. Have you seen the size of your body? God, you're hard!” I chuckle as she blushes, just realizing what she said. “I mean, your body is hard because of your muscles.” She says, walking away but only walking a few steps as I grab her arm. I lick my lips, her eyes focusing on every one of my moves. I lean down close to her ear, breathing in her scent. “I’ve missed your honesty," I whisper, sending chills down her spine as goosebumps arise. I pull away, giving her my panty-dropping smirk.

We talked for about another hour or so and when it came time to say goodbye, a part of me didn’t want to let her go. We hug each other, but none of us wants to let go, but she pulls away. “ I have to go. Ashton will be here soon to drop off Luca.” She says, smiling at me. I nod. “Thank you for going on a date with me,” I say as I stand by my car. I want to walk her up, stay and see my son but I also want to give her time.

“Walk me up?” She says with a smirk as if she can read my mind.

I pull her towards me one last time, pushing her against the wall by the door. Her breath hitches. Her eyes gently flick between mine. I lean my forehead against hers as I allow the feeling of her body to take over mine. “Tell me. Tel –” I pause, finding the courage to ask what I'm dying to know. “Tell me there’s a chance for us, Leandra?” I ask as my eyes show so much vulnerability and concern.

“There’s a chance,” she says, cupping my face as I close my eyes in relief and gently press my forehead to hers. Sparks shoot through every inch of my body, too busy savoring the moment, but what she does next takes me by surprise. She pulls me in for a passionate kiss full of urgency as her tongue dominates mine. My right-hand grabs a fistful of hair, pulling her closer so that I can deepen the kiss, causing her to groan into my mouth.

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