An Exceptional Twist (21 page)

Heading toward the car, he
thought,
worst idea ever.

All of his bags were packed in the car and
Stefen was ready to get the hell out of here. He’d already wrapped
everything up today, delivering his flowers and saying his goodbyes
to Abby and Madison before the girls left to run errands. Just as
he stepped outside, his cell phone rang.

Dammit! Again?

“Yeah, Pop?” Stefen let out an irritated
breath, pacing back and forth in the driveway. This was the third
time his father had called today, and he was sure it was the same
damn request.

“Stefen, be reasonable. Things haven’t been
settled here yet. We have no idea what he has planned. For your own
safety, please stay there a while longer.” His dad was pleading at
this point.

He glanced toward the
front door to make sure Caleb wasn’t coming out yet. Speaking under
his breath, he told his father, “There’s no way in hell I can stay
here, Pop. I only stayed this long because you wouldn’t let me come
back to the office. You said a few weeks and I kept my part of our
bargain. I’ve outstayed my welcome already.”
At least with Leah I have.

Clearly confused, his father asked, “Caleb
wants you to leave? That doesn’t sound like him.”

Shaking his head, he regretted wording his
answer that way. “No…don’t worry about it, I just…I have to get
home.”

“Why aren’t you more worried about this?
Every time I’ve called, you act like it’s not a big deal. This is a
big fucking deal, Stefen.” His father’s voice was gruff, on the
verge of anger.

"I
was a little…preoccupied here and didn’t want to waste any time
with this crap.
Delgado’s full of shit anyway. There’s no reason to take his
threats seriously. He’s got other crap to deal with, he’s not gonna
waste his time on me." Although Stefen was beginning to wonder
himself.
I can’t
stick around here forever though.

“He said he would kill you, Stefen. That is
a real threat. I can’t lose my son over some asshole who’s holding
a grudge.”

“Pop, really,” he tried to
calm him down. He didn’t believe a word of this bullshit. It was
all threats. Nothing real.
Right?
“I don’t care about his threats. He’s just trying
to intimidate me, and it’s not going to work. I’ve been away from
my cases for too long already. I’m not stressing about this. I live
in a secure building and there are guards in the lobby of our
office. I promise I’ll lay low until we figure out what he’s up to,
but
I’m coming home
.” Stefen turned to find Caleb standing next to him, his face
tight, questioning what was going on. Stefen raised his index
finger up in the air, silently asking his cousin to wait a
minute.

“Okay Pop, I’ve got to go. Caleb is taking
me to the airport now.” He headed toward the car, opened the
passenger door, and stood outside as Caleb got in the driver’s
side.

“Dammit, Stefen. You are so fucking
stubborn,” his dad barked.

A bemused smile covered Stefen’s lips. “I
wonder where I learned that from.”

Sighing heavily, his father gave in. “Please
be safe and call me when you arrive. I’ll have a car waiting for
you.”

“Will do. Bye, Pop.” Stefen ended the call,
then got in and closed his door. “Thanks for driving me, man. I
could have taken a taxi though.”

“The airport is right here in town. Why
wouldn’t I drive you? Besides, the girls needed some time
together.” Driving down toward the main street, Caleb finally
asked, “So are you going to tell me what all that was about?”

Stefen shook his head. “Nah, no big deal.
Just pissing people off. Nothing new.” Squinting when the sun hit
his eyes, he reached into his carry on that was sitting behind him
and pulled his sunglasses out, slipping them on.

His leg began to bounce.
He would be lying if he said he wasn’t nervous about returning
home.
I can’t hide forever,
though.

“Jealous boyfriend? Husband?” Caleb raised
an eyebrow, and Stefen rolled his eyes.

Of course Caleb would think this has
something to do with me sleeping around. He thinks all of my
problems stem from my lack of self-control with women. Then
again…maybe he’s right.

Snickering, Stefen answered, “Something like
that.”

“So why can’t you just stay longer?”

Stefen ripped his sunglasses off. “Shit, not
you too Caleb. I’ve been hearing that crap from my dad all week. I
need to go home. End of fucking story.”

Caleb held his hands up. “What the hell are
you jumping all over my ass about? I was just inviting you to stay
longer.”

Stefen opened his mouth and couldn’t stop
the words from rolling out. “I know what you’re really saying,
though. You still think I’m a fuck up and need to grow the hell up.
Just because you chose this life, doesn’t mean I want to have
anything to do with it.”

Caleb’s eyes grew wide.

Shit. I went too far.

“Fine. Won’t bring it up
again.
Ever
.”
Caleb’s knuckles turned white, they were squeezing the steering
wheel so tight.

“Fine by me.” Stefen
peered out his window, knowing he’d just put a wedge between Caleb
and him.
Great. Just fucking
great.

Leah was still fuming when Abby pulled up to
the shop. She missed spending time with her best friend and was
elated that Caleb had insisted they go out to dinner this evening.
The car had just come to a stop when Leah jumped in and attacked
Abby with a hug. “I missed you so much.”

Abby chuckled, hugging her back. “That’s
more like the greeting I was expecting when I got back.”

Leah pulled away and buckled her seatbelt.
“I know, I’m sorry. I feel much better now, though. Thanks for
coming over to take care of me.”

Without hesitation, Abby pulled onto the
street and made her concern known. “Are you ready to tell me what
happened between you and Stefen?”

As
nonchalantly
as she could fake, Leah
answered, “I just realized that he was as big of an ass as I
originally thought.”

“Leah…” Abby looked like she wasn’t sure
about the next question. “Did you sleep with him?”

Her eyes closed, filling with shame. “Yes.
Please don’t judge me.”

Abby gasped before a blanket of sadness
covered her face. “Leah, I’m not judging you. I would never do
that, but this isn’t you. There has to be more to the story. Don’t
you trust me anymore?”

Reaching for Abby’s hand,
Leah held on, assuring her, “I trust you with my life. I just can’t
talk about it.
Please
understand. I don’t want you in the middle of this mess. We
clicked, and I thought more was going on than he did. That’s all.
I’m okay now, really.”

Who am I trying to convince here?

Abby wrinkled her eyebrows, concern evident
in her expression. “You do know that he sleeps around, right? I
found that wrapper, so I assume you were careful.”

Leah snapped, “Of course
we were. I wouldn’t have done anything without protection,
Abby.”
Plus, Stefen made sure I knew he
wouldn’t do anything without it either.
He
didn’t say it, but she was sure it had something to do with him
protecting himself from getting trapped by a woman. The thought
made her sick but she could only imagine how many gold digging
woman were after his money. He flaunted it enough to grab plenty of
attention.

“I’m done talking about him. Can we please
go eat? I’m dying to hear all about Greece.” She hadn’t heard much
about Abby’s honeymoon yet.

Rolling her eyes, Abby said one last piece,
“Don’t ever keep something like this from me again. We’re still
best friends. I’m always here.”

Smiling, Leah agreed. “I don’t plan on ever
putting myself through this again, believe me.”

And she repeated those words in her head,
over and over, until she believed them herself.

Less than twelve hours had passed since
Stefen left Santa Barbara, and Leah was already starting to
feel like herself again. He'd blown into her life like a tornado,
nearly destroying every part of her in that short period.
 

As she was setting up the store for the day,
her cell phone rang.

“Hello?” She held it against her shoulder
while she carried some flowers out to the front.

“Leah! You will
never
guess what I just
heard!” It was Jenna, her friend who worked at the dance studio.
Her shrieking voice pierced through, causing Leah to drop the
phone, almost shattering the screen in the process.

Scrambling to pick it up, Leah complained,
“Jenna, you practically blasted out my eardrum.”

“Sorry.” She didn’t sound sorry. “But I’m so
excited for you! Celeste wants to talk to you about adding
classes.”

“
What
?” It was Leah’s turn to scream.
She’d been trying to get more classes for what felt like forever.
“What changed?”

Celeste, the owner of the studio, was
difficult to work with and hadn’t wanted the class there in the
first place.

“I don’t know,” Jenna sounded as surprised
as Leah was, “but you’d better get your ass down here, like now,
before she changes her mind.”

“On my way.” She untied
her apron, threw it on a side table, and started rushing
around.
Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my
gosh! I can’t believe this!

“I have to run out for a bit,” Leah yelled
to her assistant on her way out the backdoor. “Everything is set up
in the front already, and Shanna is scheduled to work in fifteen
minutes. I’ll be back. Call me if you need anything.”

With only her cell and keys in hand, Leah
jumped into her van and drove as fast as she could to the
studio.

Flying through the door, she halted in front
of the reception area.

Jenna’s eyes darted up. “Damn, you don’t
mess around. Let me tell Celeste you’re here.” Jenna left her desk
to walk into one of the dance rooms.

Leah ran her palms down the strands of her
hair. She’d rushed here so fast, she was sure it was sticking out
in all directions.

The studio owner wasn’t one of Leah’s
favorite people. She’d been a beauty queen in her younger years.
Now in her late fifties, she’d gone through every cosmetic surgery
known to man to reclaim her youth. Nothing worked. She looked like
a scarier version of her old self. Plus, she wore way too much
make-up and had a personality as fake as her boobs.

In her typical fashion, Celeste glided out
of the room, wearing a way too revealing outfit for her age. Leah
assumed she was getting ready to teach her pole dancing class,
which was a disturbing thought in itself.