Chapter 67: His Plans

Chapter 67: His Plans

Ivy

The boy his mother left behind?

What was that about?

His grip on my hand was thankfully gentle. He wasn’t gripping me tight the way he usually does, like he wants to break my bones or leave another set of fingerprints on my skin.

Leo was being careful. Deliberately careful. As if he could sense how close I still was to bolting, even after everything we had said in the hallway.

I shook my head, desperate to stop the miscommunication before it turned into something else. “That’s not what I meant. Julia did not abandon you—”

“She did.” He cut me off. His voice was quiet but firm. “She left me behind. She threw me away.”

I didn’t know Julia too well. And I knew it was stupid to vouch so hard for someone I barely knew. But that was exactly what I saw myself doing. Vouching for Julia. Defending a woman who wasn’t even in the room while her son stood in front of me looking like the memory still had its hands around his throat.

“That’s not true. Your mother loves you.” I said. “Julia did not abandon you. I know I have no right to speak on this. But I’m telling you for a fact that she wouldn’t look at you the way she does if she abandoned you.”

He scoffed. The sound was low and bitter. “She looks at me like you do. Like I’m a freak. Something she can’t control.” He stared faraway, eyes fixed on some invisible point past my shoulder. “Every woman I’ve ever loved picks Anderson. They always abandon me for Anderson.”

The name landed between us like a stone dropped into still water. I felt the ripple of it in my chest. Andy. Always Andy.

The comparison never seemed far from Leo’s mind, no matter how carefully I tried to steer conversations away from it.

“Julia did not pick Andy over you.” I insisted. “You’re her entire world. Her face literally lights up like a Christmas tree whenever she sees you. Your mom is very proud of you, Leo.”

He lifted his hand carefully and patted my hair, a half grin on his face that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “You don’t know anything, Ivy.” he said. “Let’s go inside. You’re only in a t-shirt.”

As he pulled me along carefully, I was still adamant on defending Julia even though she wasn’t here. I’d seen that woman with Leo and I’d seen her with Andy. The difference was night and day.

With Leo, there was a softness in her expression, a pride that seemed to radiate from her whenever he walked into a room.

With Andy, it was different—polite, civil, the kind of affection that came from sharing a house only, not the fierce, almost desperate love she reserved for her own son.

She would give up the world for her son in a heartbeat. The only closeness she shared with Andy was the fact that they both lived in the same house, she was married to his father and they saw each other every day.

“Julia loves you. She was only mad at you because you hurt Andy.” I said as we reached the bedroom.

“My dad was proud of me for defending myself against Anderson.” He said, stopping at the foot of the bed. “My mom yelled at me, avoided me and hit me for doing the same. All while sticking to Anderson like he survived a life-threatening situation.”

I stared at him. The image of Julia hitting him was hard to reconcile with the warm, elegant woman I had met. But the pain in his voice was real. Too real to dismiss. So I believed him.

“Leo, you nearly killed him.” I reminded him gently. “You nearly murdered Andy in anger. Anybody that loves you will tell you that. You were wrong!”

“No. If you love me, you’ll support me.” He insisted. His eyes locked onto mine, searching. “Anderson’s father didn’t seem pissed. He was quite chill. Makes me wonder why my own mum lost her shit over it.”

I was about to say something else in Julia’s defence—something about the difference between a father who maybe didn’t care enough and a mother who cared too much—but he placed a finger on my lips, silencing me.

“No more, Ivy.” He said with a small smile that didn’t look entirely playful. “Say another word about my mom and Anderson and I’ll fuck you.”

I gasped at the unexpected and strange threat.

Heat rushed to my cheeks. My body reacted before my mind could fully process the words—an instinctive clench low in my belly, followed immediately by a sharp reminder of just how sore I still was.

“I know you’re sore. And you know it’s going to hurt a lot.” He smirked.

The expression was wicked, but there was something softer underneath it, almost like he was testing me.

“Better get your ass in that bathroom in the next five seconds else I’ll bend you over this bed.” He leaned closer. His breath brushed my ear. “And don’t forget we have somewhere to be.”

I took a step back. I could still feel the burning sensation between my legs from the two times I had had him inside me.

The stretch. The fullness. The stamina. The way my body had struggled to adjust even when my heart had been racing with something closer to need than fear.

Going a third time without giving myself any real rest would be madness.

Needless to say, Leo looked like he wanted me to spend another minute defending his mom so he’d have a reason to have his way with me again.

The challenge was clear in his eyes.

I had no doubts he’d stop if I told him to. That much, at least, I believed.

But the threat of having sex with him again while I was still this tender was enough to have me sprinting toward the bathroom door.

“I’m going to take a shower.” I said, already moving. “But I don’t want to go out anymore. I want to stay here with you for the rest of the day.”

He cocked a brow. “Really?” Then he folded his arms, bulging those biceps in a way that made him look scary. “What’s with the change of heart?”

“I told you I want to get to know you. And I’m serious about it.” I said. But that wasn’t entirely true. The truth was more complicated. “I want to fall in love with the real you.”

In a confusing moment, he held up a finger in the air and scrambled to the table beside his bed. “Wait.” He said.

I watched him grab his phone and return to where he stood in front of me. He opened the recording app and looked at me with an expression I couldn’t quite read—something eager and almost boyish, completely at odds with the man who had just threatened to bend me over the bed.

“I know you don’t love me yet. But I just want you to say these words, ‘I love you, Leo’. Can you do that for me, baby?”

“What’s that for?” I asked, genuinely confused.

“Doesn’t matter.” He said. His voice had gone softer. “Just do this for me. Just a little favour.”

Though I was confused, I still did what he asked. I looked at the phone, then at him, and said the words.

“I love you, Leo.”

Honestly? It didn’t feel that weird as I expected a lie to feel. The syllables left my mouth smoother than they should have. There was no immediate sense of wrongness. No sharp internal recoil.

Just the quiet sound of my own voice saying something I wasn’t ready to mean yet—and the way his entire face transformed when he heard it.

His smile was the widest I’d ever seen on him.

He genuinely looked like I’d given him the best gift anyone had ever offered. The recording app was still running. He didn’t stop it right away.

He just stood there staring at me, phone in hand, like he needed a few extra seconds to absorb the sound of those three words in my voice.

Confused, I pointed towards the bathroom. “I’m gonna go shower now. I hope you stop being weird when I get out. I’m serious about getting to know you.”

He chuckled. “I'm flattered.”

That was the truth. But it wasn’t all the truth. It was only half of the reason why I wanted to stay home.

The other half was because of Poppy.

I wanted to be here when Poppy arrived with the pills I’d requested. I wanted to be the one to see her—not Leo.

I didn’t trust him with those. Not after the way he had looked at me when I brought up the possibility of pregnancy. Not after the way he had dismissed the morning-after pill like it was an insult instead of a basic precaution.

He’d clearly shown me that all he wanted to do was get me pregnant. Or at least that the idea didn’t scare him the way it should.

I didn’t even trust the condom he promised we’d buy today. I wasn’t stupid enough not to suspect he’d tamper with it if given the chance. He’d do just about anything to bind me to him more tightly.

And I’d do just about anything to stop that from happening on anyone’s terms but my own.

So while he made his plans, I’d make mine.

He wouldn’t find out about the pills.