Always There

Chapter Twenty-One

"Elena and I had been seeing each other ever since I moved back from New York City. Even after her and Caleb DiLaurentis married," Leo says, his voice somehow calm, cool, and collected. "Mateo, Elena's second son, isn't actually Caleb's. He's Elena and I's child."

Everyone in the room seems to be speechless, including Adriana and Addison, despite that they have no clue who any of these people are. My parents and uncle are looking at one another in wonder, and after they all look between Elena, Leo and then Bryce, my dad quietly asks, "Really? Mateo is your son, Leo?"

Leo nods at him, but Elena gives a verbal answer by saying, "I know it's cheesy, but I named him Mateo because the name is sort of similar to Leo's name."

Her cheeks redden a little bit as she blushes, and Leo smiles down at his girlfriend as she anxiously awaits a response from everyone else.

"I really didn't expect that. I don't blame you for cheating on Caleb, I really don't. He was such a jerk back then, to you especially. I'm sure much hasn't changed," Uncle Michael comments, and to my surprise, my parents nod in agreement.

I could've sworn that Elena's eyes teared up for just a second.

"Yes. He wasn't always the nicest to me, but our marriage gave me two of my beautiful sons, and it made my parents happy," Elena responds wistfully, and I watch as Leo bends down to kiss her on the forehead.

This gesture surprises my parents and uncle, but they don't have a chance to make anymore comments before Elena's phone begins to ring from in her pocket.

She pulls out her phone, her eyes widening as she reads the caller ID. She looks up, telling the room, "I'm very sorry, but I've got to take this," before she accepts the call and walks to the doorway of the dining room for a little bit of privacy.

Leo's eyes don't leave his girlfriend for a moment, not even when she begins to speak in Spanish. Since Bryce's understanding of the language seems to be fairly good, I catch him listening in on the conversation that Elena is having.

I find that Adriana and Addison seem to be eavesdropping as well, despite the fact that I'm almost entirely certain that they can't understand a single word in Spanish. I can only assume that they've probably secretly been listening in on the whole conversation about Mateo that had just gone on, but they've somehow managed to keep their mouthes shut so far.

My parents and uncle seem to have flocked together as they have a hushed conversation. Charlie is back on his phone, Adriana and Addison talking amongst themselves as they've apparently given up on eavesdropping.

Glancing back to Elena, I find that she has her lips pursed together. "Do you know who she's speaking to?" I ask Bryce, who doesn't have the opportunity to answer me before Elena lets out a gasp.

She then says something in rapid Spanish, and whatever it was was enough to make Bryce go pale.

He curses under his breath, and Leo raises an eyebrow at his son. Bryce says something to him in Arabic, and despite feeling like a complete idiot for only being able to speak one language, I don't cut in as they converse.

Elena's voice seems to somehow have lowered even more, and she whispers something into the phone before ending the call and tucking the phone back into her pocket.

She immediately looks up to Leo, softly asking, "May I speak to you in private for a moment? You as well, Bryce."

Bryce's eyebrows raise, and he bends down to whisper, "I'll be right back, darling," in my ear before he follows his dad and Elena in the direction of the hallway.

Just before the three of them leave the room, Leo turns around to tell my parents, "We just need to chat for a moment. I'm very sorry for the interruption."