Chapter 116 - (Hundred) Fifteen: Miscommunication

" You!"

Why the hell was he answering the phone? Why was he with Becca? Where was Becca anyway? Questions drenched Regina's mind, the frown on her face darkening by the second.

" It's honestly too early for this. If it's an address you want then I will send it to you. Just make sure you wait until the sun rises properly before calling." Leo said and hung up. He looked at Becca— she went frigid out of shock— and he smiled as he held out the phone to her. 

He already predicted that type of reaction from her. Normal people would typically try their best to be nice and respectful to their future in-laws but Leo didn't give a shit about it. He didn't care, why would he when all Regina would do was rave all day about how she would never let Becca be with him.

She would try to take Becca away. His Becca. Doing that wasn't just impossible but also ridiculously stupid. And for some reason, he was still the crazy one.

With eyes widened to the size of basketballs, Becca took back her phone from Leo. " Why on earth would you do that?" 

Why? Like just why? Doesn't he know that what he just did only worsened the dilemma? Did he have to be that disrespectful? How was she going to explain to her mother that she was living with a man she wasn't even married to? It was Liam and Kristina's situation all over again. How would Johnny react when he finds out that she was dating and sleeping with his friend? He would freak out for sure.

A turmoil gurgled through Becca as she sat thinking of ways to pacify her stepmother's rage after the fiasco that happened. And what was Leo doing at this period of distress, if you may ask? He laid next to Becca on the bed, flashing her a smile because he had no sense of remorse for what he did.

" What do you mean why? The call was clearly making you uncomfortable so I ended it." Leo explained and Becca blinked twice, the level of her confusion and disbelief skyrocketing. Yes, the call did make her a little uncomfortable but it was completely because she received a shock from Regina going to her old apartment, so stupefied that she couldn't seem to form a single thought. It doesn't excuse what Leo did.

" But you shouldn't have done that." Becca rubbed her face with her hands and blew out a worried sigh." I have so much explaining to do." 

Leo sat up on the bed and hurled his arm around her shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze but even that didn't get her to look his way. He wasn't too disturbed by it as he usually would. Becca wasn't angry, just nervous.

" You look so uneasy, my love." Leo's soothing voice streamed into her ears. " Look at me."

Becca didn't resist. Her lashes cast a shadow on her face as she veered her gaze to look at him.

" Mother is going to be so mad at us for this." She muttered, the contagious smile on Leo's face inciting her to giggle. The man was truly something, smiling without a morsel of regret as though he hadn't just done anything that required him to be. It was baffling.

Leo pulled Becca closer to him and recumbed her head on his shoulder, his arms still fastened around her.

" It's not going to be the first time that's for sure." 

Regina's pettiness was so renowned that even Leo, at some point, wound up in her hate list more than he should. He and Regina go way back that they weren't just acquaintances, but they also didn't have a mother-son relationship either.

They stayed in that position, not a single word being uttered. Silent. Somewhat peaceful but not to Leo though. The silence that sagged between them was so deafening, Leo almost clawed his ears out. He hated her silence, no matter the circumstance, it still tormented him.

" My love?" Leo broke the agonizing torture that might have been the end of him altogether. He gazed at her face as she blinked before peeking at him. " What's wrong?" 

The issue must have left her distressed. She probably wouldn't be if she knew what compelled him to do what he did. Wrong, she would be even more distressed if she knew.

" I'm thinking." She whispered and a frown contorted Leo's face.

" About? " 

He already knew though but he still asked anyway just to hear her speak.

" Things with my family, my stepmother. She would be fuming. No one has ever done that to her for as long as I remember. Johnny would be even worse when he finds out." She said and sighed. " But then again, you don't look worried." Or even remorseful. 

Guilt was certainly out of question.

" Why should I be?" 

The real question here is was he supposed to be? After his sister's death, him feeling empathy for anything used to be absurd. Ridiculous, before his little kitten clawed and smiled her way into his heart, marking it hers. But even in a situation like this, he lacked the ability to truly give a fuck. Perks of being psychotic.

" Why not? Johnny is your friend and I know about his family commandment. Aren't you worried he would get pissed at you?" Becca held his gaze as she asked.

Again, why should he be? With how Leo's obsession ran deep in him, Johnny should be the one worried if he, Kristina, or even Regina ever make an effort to take Becca away. Leo wouldn't be the biggest smuggler or own the richest mafia in America if he didn't know how to hold onto what belonged to him and Becca was his.

" Johnny is just a person."

" He is your friend." 

" If he is truly my friend then he wouldn't hinder me from loving the woman I want." 

Leo's answer silenced Becca for a few seconds before she spoke once more. But fear not, those seconds of stillness were greatly used by Becca as she peered into his eyes. Into his soul, as though ransacking it for enigmas. She found a lot of them.

" I see why you have so many enemies. You are a little disrespectful?" 

A little? With the way his enemies hated him to the core, he would say that he was much more than a little disrespectful but he didn't bother correcting her.

Leo chuckled. " Guess I kind of am but those people aren't major threats. Never something I can't handle." He said and he meant it. Leo never saw his so-called enemies as walking red flags, only one person made himself an exemption though. A monster.

The sun rose and Becca got ready and left for work. Once she got to Atlas, she went straight to the vice president's office and was greeted by the sight of Navaya sitting behind her desk, holding a book to her face, grumbling.

" If I wanted to know about how everything around his surroundings affects his cock, I would have just gone ahead and watched porn," Navaya grunted and put the book down but before she did, Becca already saw the cover. It was an erotica, no doubt about it.

" What got you in such a piss-poor mood, this time?" Becca asked as she took a seat in front of Navaya, placed her bag on the desk and picked up the book to take a look at it.

" It's these weird authors and their single facial expression characters. Being broody doesn't sum up a person's personality, and apparently, a man's penis is now used to detect stimuli."

Becca couldn't hold it in anymore, she exploded in hysterical giggles. " It's an erotica, a sexual fantasy. It's supposed to be like that. Don't tell me you expected Jane Austen and William Shakespeare miscommunication type of shit in there." 

Navaya shot Becca a sharp glare. " I don't think anyone would ever fantasize about the type of shit in this. Besides, miscommunication is relatable. This mess is not. " Navaya retorted and Becca itched to ask her why she bought it in the first place but if there was something she had learned from their friendship, it was never to interrupt Navaya's rants. Doing so would just open up a can of crazy. Johnny was the first one to realize this fact.

" I don't see why someone would write this. It's ridiculous. The love interest is a walking dick who only sees the main character as a potential hole to enter. It's just so stupid." Navaya went on with her tirade and Becca listened with an amused smile on her face, occasionally indulging her.

" You say it as if you haven't swooned over some erotica in the past." Becca laughed. Not some but many and Navaya wasn't ashamed to admit it. She always made sure to fill Becca's ears with stories of how steamy the sex scenes were, squealing her lungs out. But this time was different. The sex in that book was cringey. 

" No, I don't." Navaya lied, denying the unabashed truth and Becca rolled her eyes.

" Yes, you do. Remember when you read and watched twilight?" Becca arched her brow and Navaya scoffed.

" I only went crazy over it because I heard the protagonist is going to be fucking Vampires. It's not every day that happens." She defended herself, surprisingly very well.

" What about Fifty Shades of Grey?" 

Navaya grimaced at the question. " Don't use that as an example. Please, don't." 

" Why not?" Becca chuckled, already knowing that Navaya was going on another diatribe. She hated both the book and the movie.

" Fifty Shades makes this book I'm currently reading look like the Great Gatsby in comparison. Anastasia was a dumb bitch and Christian Grey didn't need sex but therapy." 

After those words left Navaya's lips, the sound of her phone ringing chimed in the office, interrupting the flow of their conversation.

Smiling, Navaya plunged her hand into her purse and fished out her phone, eyes flickering as she glanced at the caller ID.

Dad.

Her smile flattered slightly and immediately declined the call then slipped the phone back into her purse, not wanting to answer now. Not yet. She reverted her gaze to Becca and her face lit up with a smile. A forced one that shone even brighter than the last.

" Anyway. Where were we?"