I pocketed the cell and strolled out of the bathroom into the living room, which had been my bedroom for the past few days. Ruhua was standing there in her bathrobe, her husband nearby. “What is it?” I asked urgently in Cantonese.
The Wongs had gone to bed an hour ago, and I had retreated into the bathroom to keep my conversation with Emil private. But now they were awake. Something must be wrong.
“There’s something you need to see,” she hissed urgently, motioning for me to follow her.
Cursing the very fact that I didn’t have a fucking weapon on me, I followed her down the stairs and through the kitchen. My injuries were on the mend, so I could fight well enough. But I needed to get the two of them out of harm’s way soon.
They had already put their lives on the line for me, and I wasn’t about to repay them by having them killed over something I caused.
“Let me go first,” I told her as she pushed open the door.
Ruhua stepped aside and I barreled through, expecting to see one of Adrian’s men or Carmine himself in the restaurant.
What I saw instead knocked the breath out of me.
“Lucas?” Leda asked, pushing out of her chair. “Oh God.”
I couldn’t even form her name on my tongue, my stomach twisting in knots as I realized that this wasn’t a dream. Leda was here. She was right in front of me.
When she launched herself at me, I caught her, crushing her to my body. “You’re alive,” she cried softly, her hold tightening on me. “Oh God, I thought I lost you.”
“You’re here,” I mumbled, pulling back to look at her gorgeous face. “You’re actually here.”
I had thought the worst, from her dying in some hospital somewhere to her father having gotten ahold of her and using her for his own plans. My nightmares were filled with the possibility that I would never be able to save her, hating that I couldn’t protect her to begin with.
“I’m here,” Leda sobbed, pressing her face into my T-shirt. “You’re not dead.”
A low laugh escaped me as I clutched her tightly. I had felt dead without her, wondering what my life would be now that she wasn’t in it. I had made the ultimate mistake in sending her away and was paying the price of knowing that her blood was on my very soul.
My revenge on Adrian was going to be driven by the fact that he had taken the most precious thing away from me.
Yet Leda was in my arms, and my body suddenly felt like everything was right in the world, even when the world around me had come crashing down
“Food,” Ruhua said briskly, patting my shoulder. “You both need food.”
I didn’t pull away from Leda, letting her tears soak my shirt. I didn’t want to move, worried that this might be some sort of fucking nightmare and the moment I stepped away, she would be gone again.
But those tears on my shirt were real. The smell of her hair—that familiar citrus scent—tickling my senses was real. “Fuck,” I breathed, pressing my face into her hair. “I missed you.”
Leda shuddered in my arms before pulling back, her tear-filled eyes meeting mine. “What happened?” she asked, touching one of the cuts on my face.
“I could ask you the same question,” I replied, noting the bruises marring her delicate skin.
“I think I need to sit down,” Leda breathed. “God, I can’t believe you are in front of me.”
Hell, my knees felt a little weak themselves. I kept my arm around her as I led her to one of the tables, choosing to pull the chair next to hers instead of across the table. Leda took one of my hands and brushed her thumb over the back of it, passing it over the scars that dotted the skin. “Where were you?” I asked, my voice full of emotion that I wasn’t about to show.
She drew in a breath. “I woke up in a hospital. Nico and Rory were there. I don’t remember anything after I watched you…” She swallowed hard. “After you fell to the ground.”
The emotion was evident in her voice, and I swallowed this time, clutching her hand tightly. “I was trying to protect you and did a shitty job at it.”
Leda shook her head. “You tried, Lucas.”
“Not hard enough,” I growled. I had replayed the scene in my mind repeatedly, wishing that I had done a thousand things differently to keep her safe, one being never to have sent her away.
Then we wouldn’t have each suffered alone over the past few days.
Leda looked up and met my gaze, bringing her hands to frame my face. “I love you,” she whispered, her gaze going watery once more. “I thought I wouldn’t have another chance to tell you that again.”