Leonardo was now an expert in undressing her. Finding her erogenous spots was as easy as finding his way home.
However, Summer did not want it, especially in that condition. Unfortunately, she felt that strength had left her body, and Leonardo finally got his desire fulfilled. His style of making out was just like his style of doing other stuff: rough. Nonetheless, he had been careful not to touch her swollen ankle.
The bath had taken longer than usual. When Leonardo wrapped her in a bath towel and carried her out of the bathroom, she could not even keep her eyes open. She then fell asleep.
…
The next morning, when Summer woke up, she heard movement in the room. Despite the owner of the footsteps having done his best to keep the noise down, the room was too quiet, and she could still hear it.
She opened her eyes and saw Leonardo emerging from the walk-in wardrobe in a business suit. His eyes drifted to the bed and met her groggy eyes. Pausing for a moment, he walked over.
“You’re awake.”
“Obviously I am. Can’t you see?” She sneered, then turned to face the other side with her back facing him. She was not in the best mood when she got home last night, yet Leonardo still… Thinking of that made her blood boil.
Leonardo stared at the back of her head as if he was thinking of something. At last, he spoke, his voice nonchalant, “I’m going to take care of a few things, but I’ll be back very soon.”
Summer just replied with a lackadaisical “okay”. He was not too happy with her lukewarm attitude. He knitted his brows together, hands clenched into fists. He then released them, went up to her from behind, and leaned over her shoulder to kiss wherever his lips would land to make himself feel better.
“Leonardo, are you done yet?” Summer could not hold back her anger. She flipped her body around, sitting up, and yelling at him. Her hair was a mess, and the bangs on her forehead were pointing out at all angles. With no makeup, she looked a little innocent.
Instead of getting worked up, Leonardo curled his lips into a smile. He thought she looked cute like that.
She thought otherwise, though. She thought that he was, without a doubt, a psychopath. She could never be more shameless than him. If she could not fight him, she could ignore him, she thought.
Getting out of bed and standing up on her feet, Summer had forgotten she had sprained her ankle. The pain was excruciating, and cold sweat formed all over her forehead.
“Are you a pig?” Leonardo rushed up to help her, frowning.
“I’m not a pig. Don’t you know that as my husband?” Summer mocked. She may have been stupid to stand up on her injured leg, but she would not let him ridicule her without fighting back.
Still frowning, Leonardo did not say another word. Instead of leaving immediately, he stood outside the bathroom, watching as Summer brushed her teeth and cleaned herself up. It was as if he was worried that she would slip and hurt herself again.
Once she came out of the bathroom, Leonardo threw sportswear on the bed.
“What is that for?”
“Put it on.”
“Don’t dictate what I should wear!” Summer started to find the man annoying. He said he needed to go half an hour ago, and half an hour later he was still there, even telling her what clothes to wear.
Leonardo kept quiet, just taking a long hard look at her with his unfathomable dark eyes. His stare was giving her the heebie-jeebies.
Come to think of it, she had been taking digs at him since early in the morning, but he did not get angry. Was it because he felt guilty for the day before and had decided to indulge her?
Just as she was deep in thought, the sound of the door opening jolted her. She looked up and managed to catch a glimpse of Leonardo’s back before he disappeared out of the doorway.
Finally, he was gone.
…
In the end, Summer still put on the sportswear that Leonardo took out for her. The loose-fitting winter outfit made her look bloated like a drowned pig. There was nothing aesthetic about it, but she would just have to make do with it.
When she went downstairs, it appeared that no one was in the living room. Just when she thought so, a bodyguard suddenly came out of nowhere.
“Mrs. Emerson, what would you like to eat?”
“Anything.” Summer was startled by him. He was just as elusive as his master.
Sitting at the dining table, she gave Jessica a call after she began to dig in.
“How could you allow Leonardo to abduct me just like that last night? I thought we were besties?”
“As much as we are besties, I need to stay alive first! Leonardo is my boss now. If I defy him, he could have killed my career!”
Perhaps she and Jessica were more like toxic friends. They babbled for a while more before hanging up.
There was a new notification from Wechat, and she tapped to open it; it was a friend request. The requester had a photo of the sea as the avatar and the nickname, A. W. .
She paused, her finger hovering between “Ignore” and “Accept” because she already guessed who it was. Since the incident from the night before, Summer had started to feel a little sick of Adams and Leonardo. But still, she added him.
The moment she accepted him as a friend, A. W. sent a message.
“Summer, this is Adams.”
She did not reply immediately, but he kept sending her messages.
“I’m sorry about last night. I promise it won’t happen again.
“How are you and Leonardo doing?”
Adams sent three messages consecutively, but she did not respond, not that she refused to. She was just at a loss for words. After a long while, she finally replied.
“Mm.”
She finally understood why “Mm” was Leonardo’s favorite response. It was simple and convenient, a great way to avoid awkward moments.
“Happy to hear that,” replied Adams.
“Is there any chance for you, Leonardo, and me to have lunch or dinner together?”
“You’ll have to ask Leonardo about it.” This time, Summer replied without having to think. She stared at her mobile phone, her mind drifting away.
“Summer!”
Douglas’s voice rang behind her, and she looked back.
“Had breakfast yet?”
“Had it.” Douglas sat down across from her, yawning big time. He had eaten a while ago and gone back to sleep again after that.
“You didn’t answer my question yesterday,” Summer suddenly asked, and Douglas gave her a puzzled look.
“What question?”
“It’s about Rachel.” Douglas was the best person to get the answer from.
He was frozen for a moment, the expression on his fading as he began, “She was our neighbor, the girl next door, literally. Back then, she would come to our house, and we’d mingled together. She was a nice girl.”
Summer had long guessed that Rachel had a good relationship with them. It did not come as a surprise anymore when Douglas told her that, but there was one thing she was most concerned about.
“Did Leonardo know her?”
“Yeah, of course, he did. Back then, Leonardo, my elder brother, and Rachel were as thick as thieves. They treated her very well.” After he said that, it suddenly dawned on him that he had said something he was not supposed to.