Total pages in book: 60
Estimated words: 56653 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 283(@200wpm)___ 227(@250wpm)___ 189(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56653 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 283(@200wpm)___ 227(@250wpm)___ 189(@300wpm)
She loved him, and with every little secret she shared only with him, she proved her love over and over again.
He wished he could say the same for himself.
Chapter Fifteen
“Thank God. You finally answered your phone,” Priscilla Strathmore exclaimed in relief.
“I’m sorry. I’ve just been terribly busy the past few days.” Leandro Christopoulos sounded genuinely apologetic but also genuinely distracted.
“I’m sorry if I caught you at a bad time, but you see I’m in this new class...”
Leandro did his best to rein his impatience in. He reminded himself that it was Priscilla who had given him his second chance with Bobby. He should at least attempt to listen to her. The only problem was that she always attended new classes and workshops all the time, and all of them seemed to be a waste of money as far as he was concerned.
“So I just wanted to ask, now that everything seems to be going well with Uncle Orion, is it okay if I clear things up? You see, according to my New Age Spirituality professor, I need to cleanse myself and purify my conscience...”
“Whatever you think is best,” he said, his attention mostly focused on reading the news from back home. He swiped to the next page on his iPad, and more good news awaited him. His father was recovering well according to the news, and his father’s scion – which was Leandro – was doing apparently just as well overseas. Public approval of his relationship with Bobby was at an all-time high. Most times, they thought him undeserving of the Christopoulos name.
“...so I’m glad that you’re totally supportive of my decision. I thought you wouldn’t be, but I’m glad I’m wrong.”
He forced himself to concentrate on his cousin’s words. “Whatever makes you happy, Priscilla.”
When the call ended, Priscilla beamed happily, and her reflection on her bedside mirror beamed back at her. That had gone better than she expected. Now, the next thing she needed to do was to schedule a call with Bobby Granger. That was the last step to clearing her conscience and after that, she would be able to enjoy peaceful nights and look more beautiful every day because of it.
Leandro was about to put his phone away when it vibrated in his hand. He frowned when he saw a message from an unidentified number.
GO TO THIS PLACE SO YOU KNOW WHY I HATE HER GUTS. NOW YOU’LL KNOW WHY YOU SHOULDN’T HAVE GOTTEN BACK TOGETHER WITH THE SLUT.
“YOU’RE REALLY BACK!” Bobby exclaimed as she rushed to go around the table to give her unexpected visitor a hug.
Sean Blackwood smiled at her. “Yes. I’m truly back.” His voice sounded carefully controlled, as was typical for deaf individuals who had mastered the art of lip reading and using it to speak on their own.
They took their seats, and even then she couldn’t stop looking at Sean happily. He looked so gorgeous – so unlike the last time they had seen each other, when he had found out the woman he loved had betrayed him. He was dressed impeccably like always, but he looked even more sophisticated now – certainly more than any fresh graduate of Molecular Physics had the right to be.
Sean had been her first and only sign language teacher, and he had been a very strict one, not communicating with her in any other way but gestures, forcing Bobby to check her sign language dictionary for every word he acted to her.
It had only been when he was truly convinced of her determination to talk to him that he had allowed himself to soften towards her.
“How have you been?” Sean asked with a smile.
She told him everything, even the things that she had tried to keep from him in the past because then he had been too vulnerable. Letting him know about her troubles would have just hurt him even more.
Sean suddenly whitened. “Valerie Martin?”
“Yes. Why? Do you know her?” She was alarmed when Sean paled even more at her confirmation. “What is it?” She gestured as she spoke, feeling like Sean was so disturbed right now he might not be able to read her lips properly.
“It’s because of me,” he said grimly. “I am the one she thinks you stole away.”
“You?”
“She must have seen us together all the time and because no one knows about us...” His hands moved, a sign that Bobby knew was roughly equivalent to ‘goddamn motherfucking shit’.
Bobby agreed silently. No wonder Valerie hated her. She gestured to him, Don’t blame yourself. She played around. You didn’t. She just thinks you did.
I should have told her about you.
She should have asked first—-
“Hello, mégaira.”
Bobby jerked. Leandro?
She looked up and there he was, still dressed in his leather jacket and dirty pair of jeans and causing a commotion everywhere. Most didn’t seem to realize that it was Leandro Christopoulos in their midst, their disdainful expressions telling Bobby that they were all going to request management to throw Leandro out.