His head jerked up. His eyes searched hers unbelievingly and his brow creased, as if unable to comprehend her question.
'What did you say?' he asked with a rough undertone.
'Marie,' she answered in a soft voice. 'Who is she?'
His arm slowly unwound itself from around her waist and went back to his side. Leon laid back down and shut his eyes as if fatigue had suddenly hit him.
'I don't know who you are talking about.'
'You don't have to lie to me,' she hissed.
He ignored her, knowing that the look in her eyes would probably tear him apart and eat him up. Already, the mixture of guilt and anger was churning in him, threatening to burn him alive. Why did she have to talk about this now?
'Why aren't you saying anything?' she pushed.
He could hear the tears in her voice, the odd half-strangled sound that a crying person makes. His fingers clenched at the sheets, knowing that if his arm moved to hold her, words would spill from his mouth. This kind of thing was something that she didn't have to know about.
'Is she your mistress?' Her voice broke on the last word.
Silence.
Then, an exasperated sigh.
'You're such a jerk,' she whispered harshly, her eyes bright with unshed tears. How could he tell her he loved her, whisper sweet words to her, make love to her and then sleep with another woman?
Her breaths came in deep gasps.
'Why aren't you saying anything? You aren't going to defend yourself?' she demanded, her voice rising a crescendo. 'You're just like my family! You don't have to protect me from the truth! I won't break apart!'
She sat up hastily, pushing the quilt away from herself.
'You aren't going to talk?'
He stayed silent with his eyes tightly shut against her.
'Fine.'
A shuffling met his ears, followed by a slight bounce of the bed. As his eyes flicked open, he saw that she was about half way out of the room, wrapping a cardigan around her shoulders.
'Hana.' Leon jumped off the bed and grabbed her wrist. 'Darling.'
She flung his arm away, her eyes boring straight at him.
'Don't call me that.'
Her eyes were red and raw from crying and she wouldn't meet his gaze. Her lips were pressed together in a thin line as she spun away from him and continued her steps.
'Where are you going?' he asked as he followed her.
'The kitchen.'
'Why?'
Another exasperated sigh.
'Because I'm hungry and too angry to sleep.'
~
Hana stepped into the kitchen with Leon trailing behind her. The tiles chilled her feet and the chilly air froze her lungs. The kitchen lights slowly flickered to life as she made her way to the refrigerator.Taking out a carton of milk, she poured it into a pan and started up the fire.
It was a welcomed source of warmth in that cool autumnal night as her fingers shivered involuntarily despite being stuffed into her cardigan pockets. He moved to stand beside her. Despite being centimetres apart, she could feel the solid block of tension steadily growing between them like a brick wall. Even the quiet ticking of the kitchen clock seemed so loud.
'You cold?' he mumbled after a few awkward seconds.
She nodded slowly.
Leon tentatively placed an arm around her and pulled her closer.
'Me too,' he mumbled.
Hana elbowed him aside.
She grabbed her mug and squeezed in a dollop of honey from the honey bear. As the milk came to a boil, she switched off the stove and slowly tipped the milk into her cup. The liquid turned slightly yellow when she stirred it with a spoon, and the steam from her favourite hot drink warmed her face. She carefully blew on it and took a sip.
Meanwhile, the boy with the dejected look in his eyes watched on pensively, teetering on the ledge of attracting her wrath a second time.
'Hana?'
'You have a lot of explaining to do,' she stated firmly as she easily climbed onto the kitchen stool and perched herself on it.
He rubbed his forehead with a hand as he let out a sigh.
'I know, I – '
'You can start with who she is.'
Another heavy sigh left him as his eyes flew to hers reluctantly.
'She's – ' He ducked his head. 'Juan's girlfriend.'
'Eh?!' Hana shot to her feet and the stool skidded back noisily. Her mind clogged up for a second as she tried to process the information he had just fed her. 'Juan's girlfriend?! Are you insane?! Of all people!'
Which idiot would go sleep with another boss's girl? The penalty for such an act was death.
She threw her arms up and scoffed, 'Juan's girlfriend!'
What a joke! She spun about and stomped around the kitchen, feeling the need to work off her confusion. Then she returned to their bedroom where she fetched her phone and with a few angry taps, opened up the chat she had with Marie.
When she reclaimed her seat, Leon had taken the stool on the other end of the kitchen island.
'Juan Gonzales' girlfriend,' she enunciated as she placed her phone down. 'His real, actual girlfriend.'
'Yes.'
'Oh, my God, Leon,' she mumbled, pressing her face into her hands. 'Of all people, why sleep with her?'
'I did not sleep with her.'
'Don't you dare deny it!' She pushed her phone to him, her brow crinkled as she regarded him. 'This is evidence!'
At the sight of the picture again, he turned his face away, his jaw tightening.
'I did not have sex with her, alright?' he muttered.
'Then what is this?! A naked photo shoot?!' she yelled.
'No!' he grumbled. 'Can you just – Just listen!'
Her mouth snapped shut as she stared back at him.
'Right now,' he said, 'we're using her to find out where Juan has his main hideout. I installed a tracker in her phone and we're using that to track her movements.'
His explanation did nothing to soothe her anger. They were using that girl to find out Juan's hideout? They were using such a method?
'I still can't believe it,' she mumbled. 'Why would you use this sort of method to do that?'
'It was...the only one we could think of,' he admitted sullenly, his gaze on his knees. 'Mickey, Val and I drew lots, and I got it.'
~
'When was this?' she asked, her voice tiny.
How he itched to erase that picture from her phone, erase that picture from her memory.
'A few days after we came back from Japan.'
'Wow,' she murmured. Then a frown creased her brow. 'But if she's Juan's girlfriend why would she just – do this?'
Not everyone has shining morals, he wanted to say.
'I don't know,' he said instead. 'Does it matter?'
'She's pregnant and she has asked me for money.'
'What?' he burst out. Then he settled back down onto his stool. 'She's probably lying, just wants money.'
'Are you sure you didn't have sex with her?'
He deflated with a sigh as he shot her a wry look.
'I only had a glass of vodka. Other than that, I'm sure I know whether I had sex with her or not.'
~
She was lying on her side of the bed with her arms around her knees, turned away from him. He silently crept up behind her and lay propped on one arm. He found that he could encircle his other arm around the whole of her, just like that, all curled up.
'What are you thinking about?'
'It's just – ' she choked and hastily wiped her eyes.
She sucked in a shaky bout of air, her eyes downcast, unwilling to meet his gaze even as he peered over her.
'I couldn't imagine,' she started softly, her words broken by heavy breathing. 'I didn't want to think about it but I couldn't help it. I kept thinking about you...holding her like how you held me...kissing her like how you kissed me...'
A shiver racked through her frame and his gut twisted.
'I couldn't bear it.' Then she shook her head and let out a shaky chuckle. 'And here I thought we were something.'
'You said you liked me,' she went on. 'And then you do something like that?'
'I'm sorry,' he whispered as he buried his face in her hair.
'I treated her like a tool,' he admitted. 'Not as someone to satisfy me.'
'And what am I? Someone to satisfy you?'
His squeezed shut.
'It's not like that,' he murmured.
'I didn't give myself to you fast enough?' she went on.
'Hana, stop that,' he begged. 'Please stop that.'
'I'm sorry you had to downsize to me!'
He heaved a sigh, a hand reaching for her back.
'Darling,' he murmured, 'don't say that. You're enough for me. I don't need more.'
'Stop torturing yourself, please,' he urged. Stop torturing me. 'I'm sorry.'
~
'You won't forgive me?' he tried helplessly.
He could only see her vague outline even though she lay in front of him, with her back facing him. Darkness enveloped them so that if he lifted his foot from under the blanket, he couldn't see it. She had refused to be held to sleep by him, not wanting him to touch her anymore. To him, it felt strange. His arms felt awkward, aching to have her in them, and the spot beneath his chin was odd, as the top of her head would usually be there.
She shook her head adamantly.
'Never?'
Another shake.
A sigh left him.
~
A/N: Well, Leon's screwed isn't he?
But the next chapter will be more fun. Remember to vote and comment!