"I need to go freshen up," Alicia said, stretching her arms lazily as she slid off the bed. "I'll see you downstairs."
"Sure thing," Alice replied softly. "And… thank you so much for yesterday. "You don't have to thank me," Alicia smiled gently. "We're family. "You're right. And… sorry about Mom."
Alicia chuckled lightly as she reached for the door. "Don't worry about it. I'm already used to her."
With that, she exited the room, her smile still lingering while she made her way to her room.
"Good morning, Leo."
He didn't say a word just gave a lazy, disinterested nod. Alicia blinked. "How rude," she muttered under her breath. Leo turned, an eyebrow raised. "Excuse me, did you say something?"
"I said you're rude."
Leo scoffed. "Not surprising. I get that a lot."
He stood up sluggishly from the armchair and walked toward her. Without warning, he planted a quick kiss on her cheek.
"Hey—where's that from?" Alicia asked, startled. "I missed you, lioness." Alicia's eyes softened for a split second. "You really missed me?"
"Of course I did…"
Before she could respond, Leo grabbed her arm hard. Ahhh….Leo! Let go!" Alicia winced, pain shooting through her voice. "You're hurting me!"
"You really thought I'd just kiss you and hug you after all the sleepless nights you gave me?" His voice was low, sharp. "What did I even do ouch!" she whimpered. Tears welled up in her eyes as he finally released her.
"What was all that noise about, huh?" Leo snarled. "Do you really think this is some dumpster like the one you crawled out of? You should be grateful Mom was asleep. If she'd seen this circus, you'd be out of this house before sunrise."
"Wow. So now you're throwing me out?" Alicia fired back. "Well, guess what I'll gladly leave."
Leo folded his arms with a wicked grin. "What bags? I don't remember you bringing anything."
"Fine. I'll go back to wherever I came from," she said through clenched teeth. "I only stayed because of your sister. You should've seen her yesterday, Leo she was crushed, broken. I was just trying to help her. "Your definition of 'help' is insane."
"Oh, spare me your morning tantrums. It's too early to argue with you." She rolled her eyes, glancing around. "Where's the first aid kit?"
"What do you need that for?" Ointment, genius. I have blisters on my arm thanks to you."
Leo's voice softened slightly. "Alicia… I'm your husband. You really need to watch your mouth. "Well, maybe I would if you treated me like your wife!" she snapped, holding up her arm. "Just look what you did!"
"Does it hurt?"
Alicia shot daggers at him. "Of course it does, you asshole!" Leo's face darkened. "Say one more curse word and I swear, I'll kill you."
"Oh, please. As if you've got the balls."There was silence.
Then Leo sighed, "Just sit. I'll get the ointment." A few minutes later, he returned with the first aid kit. He sat beside her, opened the tube, and gently applied the ointment on her arm. Alicia hissed slightly but didn't pull away.
"Thank you…" she said softly.
Leo looked at her this time, his expression unreadable. He leaned in and placed a kiss on her forehead.
Alicia stared at him, confused. "Why are you suddenly sweet to me?"Because," he said calmly, "we're stuck together for a lifetime."
Alicia blinked. "Uhm… I think I didn't hear you right."
"Want me to shout it for you?" he teased, but his tone was deadly serious. Spare my ears," she said quickly. "What do you mean we're stuck together? I thought this was all fake!"
"I thought so too," Leo admitted. "But my Dad had other plans. He pulled some strings and replaced the documents. With the real ones."
Her heart dropped. "The real ones?" Leo nodded.
"We're lawfully married, Alicia."
"What??" Alicia shot up from the couch. "You've got to be kidding me. How… how could he do that to me? This is worse than a prison sentence!"
"Relax," Leo said with a smirk. "I'm not that bad. I mean I'm rich, handsome. I could give you anything you want." You're so full of yourself!" Alicia fumed. "I have dreams, Leo. Goals. A life to live!"
"I get it," Leo said, his voice softening again. "And whatever you want to do… I promise, I'll support you." Alicia paused.
"…Thank you, Leo."
He smiled slightly. "You're welcome, lioness."