Chapter Thirty-Two
With a resigned exhale of breath Lee walked outside into the sunshine and found Kelley and Mason leaning against the truck. He felt oddly lighter like he'd left a weight behind in that visitation room. He was glad now that he'd spoken to Steve and thanked him for giving him a chance at life.
“How was it?”
“It was good. Thanks for pushing me to come see him.” Lee attempted a smile but he gave up before his lips fully turned up and before it could reach the starkness of his eyes.
Kelley smiled and he didn’t look as ferocious with the scar around his eye. When he didn’t smile, he looked hardened, dangerous and a little scary. Mason was the one with the good looks and he always noticed how girls looked at him. Lee was the mysterious one, the intimidating one where Mason was the nice one and Kelley was somewhere in between. He liked the dynamic of their friendship and he knew for a fact that they'd be friends for the rest of their lives.
“Did he say you owed him?” Kelley’s question was straightforward, they didn’t need to beat around the bush with each other.
“He said I don’t.”
Mason’s eyes twinkled suddenly. “We should let the twins do a check on him. See if there’s some other way we can help him.”
“We?” Lee looked questioningly at Mason.
“Yeah, we. We’re whatever you want to call us. We’re in this together for as long as we live.”
“Blood brothers,” Lee murmured.
“Scelto.” Kelley smiled as he looked at them. “We’re the Elite.”
“I like that. Nascosto Scelto.” Mason nodded his head and grinned and even Lee cracked a rare smile. On their own they were tough, but together, they were unstoppable.
They drove back to Yorkdare Bay, Lee feeling like he could breathe easier. He closed his eyes the last half hour back to Mason’s house and for the first time in his life, he smiled as the house came into view.
“Do you think you’ll ever tell Marella?” Mason had been wondering about that because Marella had asked him why Lee was so cold towards most people. He'd kept quiet because he'd never tell Lee's story, not to anyone.
“I don’t know Mase … it’s a hard story to tell.”
“I’m not saying you should, it’s your story after all.”
Lee climbed out of the truck and looked at Mason. “Then why are you asking?”
“If she’s the one then …”
Kelley chuckled. “What the hell Mase … ‘if she’s the one’, Lee’s seventeen, so’s Marella. Nobody meets the one when they’re seventeen. I’m not even sure true love exists.”
“It does Kelley. Marella’s seen some ugly and so has Lee, hell so have you. My point is if he loves her and she loves him then honesty is the best thing going forward.”
“So you don’t love Juliana?” Lee cocked his head to the side as he looked at Kelley. He wasn't ready to talk to them about his feelings, especially not his feelings towards Marella. He didn't even know what to call what he felt because there was no way she actually liked him.
“I like Juliana … but love? I barely know her.”
Mason grinned at the change in topic. “You should get to know her then. She told everyone that she’s your girlfriend and you know on Monday morning, everyone will treat her as such.”
Kelley shook his head as a smile appeared on his face. “We all know why she said that. She’ll probably ignore me again on Monday and glare at me the moment I look in her direction.”
“You’ve got it bad.” Mason laughed loudly as they walked up the paved walkway.
Kelley stopped walking. “I do not!”
Lee opened the front door and the smell of bacon permeated the air. “Ah, food.”
“You’re late.” Marella came into view and she stood with her hands on her hips and pointed a finger at Lee’s chest. She was also the only one that could make Lee stop in his tracks.
“We were in prison.”
Mason and Kelley burst out laughing at Lee’s rapid answer. Only Marella could leave him tongue-tied and have him falter over his words. “Prison? You were arrested?”
“No. I was in prison. They waited outside.” Lee shook his head as Mason and Kelley laughed louder. “Stop laughing at me, assholes!”
“Were you in jail or not?” Marella looked completely confused now.
“Lee went to go visit someone.” Mason ducked under Lee’s arm and rushed into the kitchen.
Marella looked at Lee who looked down. Her gaze found Kelley’s and he lifted his hands in mock surrender. “I’m sitting this one out.”
Lee made another growling sound at the back of his throat and grabbed Marella’s hand. “Come with me.”
Lee got into his car and waited as Marella clicked on the safety belt. He drove away from Yorkdare Bay and towards Longview Bay. He was quiet on the ride over and Marella was too. She had no idea where they were going or what was going on with Lee.
Lee parked his car on the street and turned sideways to look at Marella. “That house over there … that’s where I grew up.”
“What’s going on, Lee?”
“I … I like …” Lee gritted his teeth. He wanted to say the words but he just couldn’t.
“Lee …”
“My father kept me in a cage in the basement and made me crawl on all fours like a dog. He told me I was his dog. Most days I ate dog food, other days nothing, not even water. I was allowed a shower once a month if he was in a good mood and I didn’t see sunlight for months at a time. I don’t like being touched and the first time I knew what a home felt like was when I moved in with my uncle and aunt. I have scars and I’m probably not normal …”
“I don’t care about scars, Lee. Where are your … those people now?”
“They’re in jail.”
“Is that who you went to see?”
“No. Someone broke into our house one night, he found me in the cage instead and led the police back to the house. I went to go see him because he saved me that night.”
“I’d like to meet him someday, the man that saved you.”
“I understand if you don’t like me anymore.”
“Lee … I don’t like you … I more than like you.”
