out of his grip, but he was too strong. I was being carted out of the shed like a sack of potatoes, completely against my will. I didn’t want to go anywhere with him. I hated him so much all at once that I almost would have rather been left with Jorge.
“You’re a monster!” I sobbed, pounding my fists against his back.
“And you’re drunk. Tomorrow you’ll thank me for this.”
“I would never thank you for anything a day in my life! I suppose I should thank you for how you treated me when I was your grandfather’s caregiver too!?”
“For giving you a job and letting you keep it? Even while you were endlessly ungrateful and constantly questioning my authority? Yes. Yes, I do think you should thank me.”
I hit and kicked even harder, and suddenly it all came back to me. The day he was convinced I poisoned Don German, he wouldn’t even listen to what I had to say. He didn’t even try to give me a chance to prove my innocence. He locked me in a closet and then carted me off, just like this, before throwing me into a shed - not caring if I lived or died. The same Leonardo that did all of that was the same one I gave into in the woods, and again just moments before when I kissed him. I felt sick with myself. What was wrong with me?
He was almost worse than Jorge because he was capable of manipulating me into thinking there was more to him well after he had proven his true colors. The blame fell on me for not believing it. I had been so wrapped up in my game of revenge that I somehow fell for my own game. I wanted to travel back in time and walk up to myself in that shed and slap her for ever thinking there was anything more to Leo than what I had known to be true all along.
But none of that would help me now. Once again, I was at Leo’s mercy, being carried off into the darkness.
13
Leonardo
Lucia was half-drunk, kicking and screaming, as I carried her out to my truck. With every step, I was thinking about how she had a special knack for making me feel like an idiot. It was almost too easy to give into her kiss in the shed, but I knew it was all an act. Whatever reason she had for trying to seduce each of us...it had nothing to do with desiring us. How stupid I was to think that out in the woods she was giving into some suppressed longing in the same way that I was.
I opened the door to the truck and shoved her inside, quickly shutting the door behind her before she had a chance to make a run for it. Jorge could walk until his feet were bloody all the way back to the manor for all I cared, but I wasn’t about to let her do the same.
I climbed into the driver’s seat and looked over at her. She was furious. Her hair was all out of place and her clothes were ripped. I never would have forgiven myself if Jorge had been able to finish what he started without me making it to her in time.
I kept wanting to get sucked into her eyes and her lips. I thought maybe I could forget everything I understood about her now long enough to kiss her again, but the truth was that she was using us. I didn’t really care if she was using Dario and Jorge, but I wanted to be different. And I sure as hell didn’t want them putting their filthy hands on her. Just the thought of it made me sick. The only thing that felt worse was being so close to her again and not being able to touch her myself.
But I could at least help her put herself back together. I reached over and brushed the hair from her face and used my thumb to wipe away the smudged lipstick from the edges of her lips. She grew very still and looked at me with surprise. I adjusted her clothes so they covered more of her, even though Jorge had torn big shreds in them. I took her face into my hands and wiped away the lingering wetness of tears she had cried at some point that evening.
With that, she slapped my hands away. And each attempt I made to