He Left My Bed for His Secretary, So I Took His Brother novel · Chapter 19 of 24

Chapter 19: Once, Plainly

He came at eleven that night, and I heard him on the stairs before he knocked.

The third step on my building's staircase creaked, and nobody climbed it silently.

I sat on the mattress in a T-shirt, oiling a wrench from my father's toolbox.

Nolan had gone to the cottage for his mother's medicine.

I was alone.

The pounding began.

"Leah! Leah, open the door!"

I stood up with the wrench in my hand.

"Go home, Preston."

"I don't have a home! You took it!"

The words slurred. I could smell the whiskey through the wood.

"You sold it for half," I said through the door. "You did that yourself."

"Because of you!"

My neighbor across the hall opened her door a crack, saw me, and shut it again.

I put the chain on and cracked mine open two inches.

He stood on my landing in a wrinkled coat, with no tie.

The steel watch was gone from his wrist.

The gray in his hair had spread.

"You look terrible," I said.

"I've been looking for you for three days."

"I wasn't lost."

"I know where you are." He put a hand on the door. "I always know where you are. I put a tracker in your phone nine years ago, Lee. Did you ever look?"

My stomach turned over.

"You tracked me?"

"I wanted to keep you safe." His eyes filled. "I did everything for you. I built that company for you. I bought the house, I paid for your doctors, I kept your father's name out of the papers..."

← Chapter 18 · All chapters · Chapter 20 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend