Obsession (27 page)

“What about lately?”

“I’m good. Really good.”

“Amazing what true love will do to the wounded heart, how much strength can be gained from a genuine bond between two people. Do you really feel that bond with Leo?”

I darted a glance around, as if he was lurking nearby. “I do, but he doesn’t know.”

Judith adjusted her sapphire ring before shaking her head. “I’m pretty sure he does. I knew the second I saw you together. It shone from you like golden light, beamed from your smile, and the way you looked at Leo set even my old and jaded heart beating faster. If he’s blind to that, he’s a fool, and my son is no fool.”

“Do you, you know, do you think he feels the same for me?”

“Well, he’s never brought a woman to meet us, and according to gossip, any woman that he doesn’t consider a close friend or family has to call him Mr. Brass, I should think so. There’s also the fact that he had you calling him Leo from the get-go which shows me how absolutely sure Leo was that you were the one, the woman that was meant to be his.”

“Really?” I tried to keep my cool, but it was hard. “Wait, that’s crazy. Rational adult minds don’t work like that; love at first sight is a myth.”

“Or is it something so many people covet that when they don’t get it, they try to make the gift a curse, or pretend it isn’t real at all? I don’t know what you believe in, but I know in the time Leo has met you, he’s become a changed man, for the better. You give him the only thing he’s ever wanted, the love and devotion of a good woman.”

A little flutter of butterflies went through my belly and I really hoped she was right. He never failed to tell me how much he cared about me, how special I was to him, but he hadn’t used the “L” word yet and I didn’t want to be the first one to say it. All too often I’d told a guy I loved him, sure he was the one, only to get the dreaded “thank you” in return. If Leo responded with “thank you” instead of “I love you”, I might just slip into a depression so deep I’d never escape.

So instead, I was desperately in love with a man who I was too afraid to tell.

How pathetic.

“Hannah,” Leo said from behind me.

When I turned around, the smile on my lips faded at the sight of a bruise rising along his jaw. “Leo? Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Look, I need to spend a little more time with Fernando. Are you okay having dinner alone with Judith or should I have Mark take you home? I don’t think I’ll be much longer, I just want to make sure Fernando is…settled before I leave.”

The thought of poor Fernando, trapped in his grief, made my heart hurt with empathy for the man and his terrible loss. “No, no, you’re fine. I can do whatever is easiest.”

“Are you sure?” He glanced over at Judith, who appeared to be busy on her phone. “You don’t have to stay if you don’t want.”

“Really, Leo, it’s fine. Judith is lovely and I’m starving, so if you don’t mind, I’ll stay here and have dinner with her.”

Some of the shadows melted from his eyes as he scanned my face. “Thank you. I’ll make it up to you.”

“Nothing to make up. Now go, hang out with Fernando and I’ll just have to suffer through some no doubt delicious meal without you.”

My little bit of teasing worked and the gentle kiss he gave me had a reverent feel to it. “Thank you.”

He said something in Spanish to Judith that I didn’t understand, then gave me another kiss before leaving.

As soon as he was out of sight, the phone began to ring in my purse, an emergency beep alerting me that whoever was calling had something important to tell me.

After muttering an “excuse me” to Judith, I dug the phone out, hoping that it wasn’t Kayla calling with some bullshit emergency instead of a true problem. This past month had been trying with her because I’d finally found a backbone—and she didn’t like it. I’d never realized how much Kayla treated me like her maid until I stopped cleaning up after her, or an errand girl after I stopped running around and doing all her shit. I wasn’t home enough to really be bothered by her inability to pick up after herself, but Joy was just about ready to slit her throat.

I walked a few paces away to stand by the dark window before answering it. “Hello?”

“Hannah, you need to come home,” Joy said in a tense voice.

“What’s going on? Are you all right?”

“Honest to God, if you don’t come home right now, I’m going to call the police on Kayla.”

“What?”

“Hannah, please, I need you to help me sit that stupid bitch down and listen to reason. Please. We got an eviction notice today!”

“Are you kidding me? How? We pay our rent every month!”

“No, we give our money to
Kayla
, who supposedly pays the rent. The notice from the landlord says we’re three months behind! I don’t know what to do! I mean, I have enough to cover it in the bank, but then I won’t have any money for school in the fall. All of our names are on the lease, this could majorly screw with our credit.”

Worry filled me and I looked around the room, hoping to spot Leo. “I’ll be home as soon as I can.”

“Okay. I’m so sorry to ruin your night like this, I know you were meeting Mr. Brass’s surrogate parents tonight, but this is an emergency. Please apologize to him for me.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be there.”

I hung up then chewed on the edge of my phone, my mind pinging between the missing rent, what was going on with Kayla, and finding Leo.

“Hannah,” Judith said from right next to me. “Is everything all right?”

“I—no, no it isn’t, and I need to get back home to deal with some issues.”

“Is someone hurt?”

Not yet, but when I found Kayla, I was going to strangle her.

“No, just roommate drama, nothing life-threatening but I really need to be there for a sit-down with them. Can you give me the address here, please, so I can call a cab?”

“Don’t be silly, I’ll have one of my drivers take you back. But I think it might be a good idea if you waited for Leo to return.”

“I don’t want to rush him, but I really do need to get home and have a meeting with my roommates.”

“I understand. Just wait here and let me call my driver.”

“Are you sure? I can catch a cab.”

“Really, it’s no problem at all.”

Taking out her own phone, Judith began to text as I sent Kayla a text as well, asking her where she was. I didn’t want to let her know about the eviction notice, she’d just avoid us so she didn’t have to face the music, but I was baffled as to why she hadn’t paid the rent. She had a trust fund that deposited ten thousand dollars a month straight to her bank account, in addition to whatever money her parents sent her. There is no reason she couldn’t send the landlord a check for less than a grand.

It wasn’t until I was in the back of a luxurious Bentley on my way back to my apartment that I sent Leo a text, letting him know what was going on. When I didn’t get a response, I leaned back in my seat, really wishing he was here with me. Everything was easier when Leo was around, probably because he took care of everything, but I missed more than just his need to care for me.

I missed
him
. His laugh, his kiss, the way he always watched me with what I imagined was love.

By the time we pulled up to the apartment, I was feeling decidedly mopey and pissed. Mopey because Leo hadn’t returned my text—he was probably still busy with Fernando, so that was fine—and pissed because Kayla hadn’t returned my text or call either. She’d posted some pictures of herself at some party a few hours ago, taking a selfie with some chick I recognized from the movies.

Great, we were getting evicted and Kayla was off partying with movie stars.

I thanked the driver as he let me out, absently noting the people staring at me again. When I looked up at the building, I found a few people looking out their windows at me and nervously smoothed my hair behind my ear. I’d become something of a sensation in my apartment building and Joy liked to cackle about the rumors that I was some overseas movie star in hiding, a model, or a princess. Kayla, on the other hand, hated the attention I was taking away from her; she was used to being the object of envy, and went out of her way to try to upstage me.

I hadn’t seen it at first, but after she changed into a beaded gold evening gown that would have fit right in at the Oscars before Leo was due to pick me up, then answered the door with her most flirtatious giggle, I caught on. While Kayla claimed that Leo was ugly and not her type, she sure went all out to try to get his attention when he came over. We’re talking everything from making sure his favorite beer was always available, to touching him if she was able to get near enough to sneak a grope or ‘fall’ around him.

Not that I had anything to worry about. While Leo was polite to Kayla’s face, and very good at acting like she didn’t exist, I noticed the mask he wore around everyone slipping just a little bit and revealing his loathing for her when she was around. He didn’t just dislike Kayla, he despised her. Once, when Kayla had tripped going down the stairs of our apartment to the sidewalk, she’d tripped, for real, and for a moment I was positive Leo was just going to stand there and watch her fall down the hard steps to the equally hard concrete below, with a smile. The look in his eyes was actually scary at times, like he was thinking of different ways of killing her during the brief times they interacted. Because of this, I tried to avoid her as much as possible, but she was always around if she heard Leo was coming to pick me up. Stupid bitch was either oblivious, or so fucked in the head she really couldn’t see that Leo thought she was scum.

Joy said that Kayla had always done that with my boyfriends, that her self-esteem was such shit that she couldn’t stand the thought of someone wanting me more than her. At first I’d defended her, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized Joy was right. Kayla had flirted with my boyfriends right in front of me, but I’d always made excuses for her, that she was just being friendly and the like.

A sinking feeling hit my stomach and I wondered if she’d ever slept with any of them.

As I passed our neighbors place I sighed as the loud heavy metal they liked pounded through the thin walls and I wondered how long I’d have to listen to ‘Bang Your Head’ before someone complained about the noise. To be honest, I barely even noticed it anymore after living here for two years. The first thing I’d noticed about Leo’s house was how absolutely quiet it was. Here, in the beehive of my apartment building, there was constant noise and in a way I liked it.

The first thing I noticed about our front door was the bright yellow notice of unpaid rent from our landlord taped to it and embarrassment tightened my muscles, along with irritation. Joy and I busted our asses to make sure our bills were paid on time, that we were never late in order to build up good credit, and Kayla couldn’t be fucking bothered. My hand shook slightly as I opened my door, and shame filled me as I wondered how many of our neighbors had seen the notice.

After letting myself in and tossing my purse on the kitchen table, still holding the moldy remains of Kayla’s cereal and oatmeal bowls, I found Joy marching down the hallway from the direction of our bedrooms. She was still in her work clothes, a cute beige and black suit that flattered her curvy frame, and her wild curls had been tamed into a bun. Clenched in her hand was another bright yellow piece of paper that matched the one on the door and she waved it in the air.

“We have three days to either pay the rent or the landlord will start the eviction process.”

I took the paper from her, scanning over it and reading the notes about how many notices we’d been sent, including a registered letter, all of which Joy and I knew nothing about.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” I hissed.

“I told you that bitch was getting into some shady shit.”

My heart broke a little bit as I realized my longtime friendship was finally, and irrevocably, dead. “Joy, I’m so sorry.”

“This isn’t your fault. Jesus, don’t take the blame for this.”

“But both you and Leo tried to tell me that Kayla was trouble, and I didn’t believe you, didn’t want to believe you-even though I knew you were right.” My nose burned as worry and guilt twisted through me. “I’m so sorry, Joy, I’ll find a way to fix this.”

Joy grabbed me by my shoulders, and to my surprise, shook me. “Listen to me, woman, this isn’t your fault. What you need to do is help me get ahold of Kayla and find out what the fuck is going on. While that bitch isn’t on my favorites list at the moment, I
am
worried about her.”

“Me too.” I made my way into the living room before collapsing onto the battered couch, looking around the space that had been my home for three years. “Fuck. What are we going to do?”

Joy kicked off her heels then sat next to me, tucking her legs beneath her. “We’ll figure something out. Worse comes too worst, we can stay with my parents until we can find a new place. And I can’t imagine Leo will let you be homeless, so there is that.”

“Leo has plenty of room, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind you staying.”

Before Joy could respond, the front door banged open and a bleary-eyed Kayla wearing the same sparkling green dress I’d seen in her selfie from earlier tonight, stumbled in, laughing with her arms draped around some not-hot older guy and two of his friends.

I shrank back into the couch as I got a better look at them when they came deeper into the apartment, the scary vibes the guys gave off made the hair on my arms stand up in a harsh prickle of instinctive fear. Joy must have felt the same way because she pressed up against my side, exchanging a worried glance with me.

I gazed at the kitchen table across the room where I’d left my purse with my phone in it.

They were all laughing, loud, like wasted loud, and that laughter died off when they spotted us.

Kayla hung off the older man, her eyes overly bright as she seemed to struggle to focus on us before smiling. “Girls! I didn’t think you’d be home. This is Manny, Ray, and Doug. Guys, these are my girls I told you about!”

“Kayla,” Joy said in a tight voice. “Can we speak with you, alone, please?”

Snorting with laughter, Kayla mocked Joy, “No, you can’t speak to me alone. You’re always such a party pooper. Come on, live a little!”

We didn’t say anything and I studied the men with Kayla. The older guy, Manny, was busy groping my friend’s ass, but the two burly guys behind him, probably in their thirties, stared at Joy and myself like we were two pieces of meat on display in a butcher’s case. The one on the left, Ray, had dark brown hair that brushed his ears and mean little eyes. The one on the right, Doug, had light brown hair cut short and a cold gaze that made me even more uncomfortable.

“What, cat got yer tongue,” Manny said with a wide, super-white smile. “Don’t be shy. Any friend of Kayla’s is a friend of mine. You girls party?”

I shook my head mutely while Joy said, “No, no thank you.”

“No thank you,” Doug said with a not-so-nice smile. “What, you one of those straight-edge girls? You don’t like to have fun?”

“What about you?” Ray asked while taking a step closer to me, the gold necklaces draped around his thick neck glinting in the lamp light. “You look like the kind of girl that wants to have fun.”

Kayla, oblivious to the drama, giggled as Manny tapped out a line of what I was assuming was cocaine onto the back of his hand before holding it up for Kayla to sniff off.

She took a big snort, closed her eyes and sighed, then shouted, “Party!”

I felt like I was going to puke, and that feeling heightened when Manny squinted his eyes and looked at me. “Who’re you?”

“Nobody,” I whispered.

“Hey!” Kayla squawked as Manny abruptly pushed her towards Doug, who caught her with a leering grin.

Approaching the couch, Manny’s nostril’s flared as he stood before us and smiled wide enough that I could see one of his molars had been replaced with a gold tooth. “Pretty little thing, aren’t you? Normally I like my girls blonde, but I think I got a taste for something exotic tonight. You be nice to me, I be nice to you, right?”

Joy clenched my hand harder and scooted down the couch, away from Manny, pulling me with her. “Wish we could, but we have to run, you guys have fun. We have to get going. Meeting up with our boyfriends. They’re waiting right now.”

Kayla snorted. “Oh please, you don’t have a boyfriend. Just stay and hang out, stop being such a bitch. I swear you’re so fucking uptight.”

I gritted my teeth when Manny sat down next to me, throwing a meaty arm around my shoulders and pulling me to him, the musky scent of his BO grossing me out. “Nah, I think you girls are gonna stay right here with us.”

For the first time, Kayla looked slightly alarmed as she stared at Manny trying to draw me closer to his side while I resisted. Jealousy, along with worry, flared in her gaze, not that I gave a fuck at this moment. With her creepy ass…whatever he was leaning into me, I was fresh out of fucks to give for her emotional state. The stink of his heavily applied cologne hit me and I wanted to push him off, but I had a feeling if I slapped him, he’d be the kind of man to beat a woman to a bloody pulp. While he was thick around the belly, he was also big, and I didn’t doubt he could break me with one hit.

The pungent odor of some kind of heavy alcohol and cigarettes washed over my face as he leaned closer, the smell of him invading my senses. “You ever try coke?”

Trying to inch away from him, unsuccessfully, I shook my head and battled back tears. “No. Please, I have a boyfriend.”

He laughed, gold tooth gleaming, and it wasn’t nice. “That’s fine, I don’t need a girlfriend—I got a wife. I just wanna fuck you.”

“Her boyfriend,” Joy piped up, her voice breaking. “He’s not the kind of guy you want to mess around with.”

The men all laughed while Kayla had a vaguely uneasy look on her face, like she knew something was wrong but was too wasted to figure out what. “He’s an asshole. Makes me call him Mr. Brass instead of Leo. Why does
she
get to call him Leo and I don’t? I’m prettier!”

Manny jerked back as if he’d been hit, his whole demeanor changing from scary to terrifying. “You’re Leo Brass’s woman?”

I opened my mouth to say yes, but nothing would come out. My vocal chords had literally frozen and I made an unpleasant choking sound. Manny narrowed his eyes, then slapped me. “What the fuck is wrong with you, bitch? Are you or are you not Leo Brass’s woman?”

I couldn’t say yes, couldn’t make myself say the word, and I had no idea why.

Desperate to avoid another slap, I nodded as hard as I could.

That wasn’t good enough, because I got another smack by his big hand, this time to my other cheek, leaving me with a throbbing face and what would probably be bruises. “I asked you a fucking question, bitch, use your fucking words or I swear to God you’re going to regret it.”

“Yes,” Joy blurted out, “she’s dating Leo Brass. Big guy, long blond hair, scary. Rides around in a Rolls. Please—don’t hurt her. They’ve only been together for a few weeks. She hasn’t done anything.”

Loud music continued to pound through the wall from our neighbor’s place and I prayed someone still managed to hear me.

“Cunt, no one asked you your opinion.” Ray fisted his hand into Joy’s curls and held her as he slapped her once, then twice, snarling when she cried out. “Shut the fuck up. I don’t wanna hear none of your bullshit.”

Moving sparingly fast, Kayla tried to put herself between me and Manny. “Leave her alone.”

I let out a sharp scream, my vocal chords finally unfreezing, as Doug grabbed Kayla by the back of the neck and slung her across the room so hard she hit the wall with an ugly thump.

“Get these bitches out of here,” Doug snarled. “Take ’em to one of the bedrooms and tie ’em up.”

Ray grabbed Joy by the hair, then Kayla, shaking them hard when they tried to fight him. “Bitch, you better shut the fuck up and behave or I’ll fuck you with my knife, cut you up good from the inside out.”

“No,” I gasped. “Please, don’t hurt them! Just do what he says.”

Doug turned to me and I held my breath at the violence, the hate in his gaze. No one had ever looked at me like this and I despaired as I realized these guys were bad, like truly bad, and I was in great danger.

My brain went into panicked-rabbit mode and it took a great deal of effort to comprehend Doug’s words as he looked me in the eye and said, “That motherfucker you let in your snatch killed my brother. Tortured him to death over slicing some stupid whores. Must’a taken Leo days to do it, and that sick fuck loved every minute of it. Bet he jacked off while he was cutting Kamron up. Been waiting a long time for a chance at revenge, and you, doll, are going to suffer.”