Leonica's eyes narrowed at his words. "Kennedy? Get to work would you. She dismissed with a were of her hand.
Kennedy chuckled at her and walked out of the office, carrying his tablet along. However, less than a minute hadn't passed when he stuck his head into her office again. "We can discuss it over a hot cup of coffee, Ms, what do you say?" Leonica smiled. "Kennedy, get back to work or else you won't even have a work to slack off from." Kennedy feigned surprise, chuckled and then left. But as quickly as he had disappeared and closed her office door, it had opened again. Leonica was about to explode at him for his sudden nature to gossip, but when she looked up, she was surprised to see the person standing there wasn't Kennedy but Leonardo.
"I flew halfway across the globe because you called sounding desperate and the situation did indeed look desperate, but looking at things now, it's safe to say you've handled it perfectly with your charms. So why bother myself? Leonardo teased as he walked closer to her table and opened his arms for a bug when she stood up.
Leonica gladly accepted the hug from her adoptive brother, squeezing him tight. Although they were not siblings by blood, Leonardo was still someone she relied on as much as she had done with her real brother. He had treated her like a real sister as well, always being there for her in tof need. And without even knowing it, he had saved her life like that A few more seconds of heartfelt hugging went by before Leonica pulled back, smiling broadly, "You said your research didn't conclude until tomorrow." "Well, what can I say, my family is more important that scrap knowledge can always pick up from where I left off." He said and gently patted her head. He looked around once again, spotting the gifts and recalling the press videos he had seen. "But, it seems like you've got everything covered over here. Was there really any need forto call the way here?" He teased. Leonica playfully swatted his arm. "Of course there is." She sank down into her chair after rounding the table and Leonardo sat across from her. "Things may seem fine now, but in the future I'll be putting one third of my energy into the IVF procedure and things may get stressful with the company. That's when you cin." "So what, I'm gonna be like what, second in command?" Leonardo joked and watched as his sister laughed and nodded her head. But he could only bring himself to smile.
When Leonica noticed his distressed demeanor, she asked. "What's wrong? He hesitated, "I'm sorry for missing your call, Leonica. I was in the mountains and they had no signals and the call couldn't go through. But that's still no excuse fornot being here for Ashley when he got into the accident. I'm sorry." "Whoa whoa whoa, there's no need for you to be apologizing, Leonardo. It wasn't your fault and I know you're going to say 'I should never have gone o that dumb research trip maybe then I could have been there for him, but don't you dare. I won't permit it because that trip is your dream, Leonardo. You've scarified so much for this family since Melvin left, too much if you askedand your dream isn't going to be one of the things you'll sacrifice, alright?" Alright." He forced a smile and Leonica returned the gesture, except hers was more genuine With that matter out of the way, they both eased up a bit and discussed Leonardo's coming back to the company. She had saved Rodrigo's former spot on the board for him in case something like this ever occurred. In the middle of their discussion, Leonica's phone began to ring. She placed their conversation on a hold briefly and answered the call after confirming it was from Doctor Bailey.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"Doxtor Bailey, Hello." "The greeted as soon as she pressed the phone against her ear.
However the voice that greeted her ears didn't belong to Doctor Bailey. "Good morning Ms. Romero. My name's Alana, Doctor Bailey's assistant. Doctor Bailey couldn't make this call because he has an urgent matter at hand, but he askedto make it in his stend and request that you cto the hospital right away because it's an emergency." The urgency in the Alana's voice had Leonica rising to her feet and sharing a worried look with her brother. "Is is everything alright?" Worthy Enough To Deserve Her Love.
Those words were enough to have Leonica racing out of the company without second thoughts, Leonardo was confused, but during the drive, she had taken the initiative to explain the call to him.
"well, did they say what the bad news was about?" He questioned as they get closer to the hospital, Currently, they like it hadn't moved for the past two hours, but in reality, they had only been there for five minutes.
y were stuck in a traffic that looked "No. And I never said it was bad news. They never said it was bad news, just an emergency." She tapped her finger on the steering wheel as she corrected and waited for the traffic to free. At spoint, she contemplated jumping out from her car and just jogging the remaining mile or two to the hospital.
She could make it; after all, what was a little stress for Ashley's safety.
Was the emergency even about Ashley? Fuck, she should have asked questions before hanging up the call and skidding to the lift. She cursed in her mind.
"Hey, calm down." Leonardo sald and reached for her right hand, giving it a gentle squeeze to get her to calm down.
Leonica appreciated his efforts, but she couldn't calm down. "I can't Leo. What if Ashley's the emergency? What if something happened to him?" She asked.
"It can be something totally unrelated, Leonica, calm down, okay?" He said and squeezed her hand one last time.
When she took her brother's advice, drew in sbreath and calmed down, the traffic had begun to lessen up, Quickly, she stepped on the breaks and drove the remaining mile to the hospital. She parked her car and rushed out, ignoring Leonardo's calls from behind, telling her to slow down Stepping into the hospital, her eyes scanned around for any signs of Doctor Bailey, but instead, she spotted Gabriel talking nearby with a hospital nurse Figuring that he might have gotten the scall and now having more reason to worry over Ashley's safety, Leonica approached him The sound of her nearing footsteps bad alerted Gabriel. He hated his conversation with the nurse and looked over his shoulder at her just as she reached him. Now beside him, Leonien quickly noticed signs of stubbles on his jaw and how disorganized he looked from usual Strands of his hair brushed freely in his face, rather than being perm back like usual. His the hung loosely around his neck and the first two buttons of his shirt were undone. Those were all things Gabriel disliked and wouldn't do on a normal day.
All these little details weren't anything too bad, but were something that could be noticed if you knew Gabriel well enough. Like she does Knowing it was caused by the whiplash of the things be had said in the press conference and as a result, stocks and investments had dropped and he was now trying to handle it, Leonica couldn't help but feel a little, just a little worry, after all, he had held that press conference to alleviate the press from coming after her any further. But with the situation at hand, she quickly pushed those worries aside and asked. "What's going on?" Gabriel shook his head. "Not sure." He answered and as if knowing the next question she was going to ask, he added. "But thankfully it's not related to Ashley." His words brought instant relief to Leonica. Her body language becless tensed and she reland, Gabriel equally becrelaxed after watching her relax. Then from behind her, he caught sight of Leonardo approaching and narrowed his eyes to confusion Last be heard, Leonardo was off somewhere in the mountains, When did he cback? And why was he here? Accompanying Leonica perhaps? As normal as that sounded, it didn't sit well with Gabriel. Having Leonica rely on any other man than him didn't sit well. Blood brother or not. Casting the thoughts aside, he fled his gaze back on Leonica.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmShe looked at him after feeling his eyes on her for quite stime. "Is something the matter?" Gabriel shook his head. "No, not at all. I just wanted to find out if you got the flowers and gifts I sent?" Leonica's mind went back to the basket of pink Daffodils and the gifts that had calong with it and the letter card. And she blushed after recalling the words she had read on the card -Thope you can forgivefor my mistakes and givea chance.- Those words were so much like the ones he said during the press conference.
*Sendinggilts are pointless, Gabriel. Don't waste your time." She said, cleared her throat and looked away.
But that didn't discourage Gabelel. In fact it encouraged him, because Leonica of two months ago, when she had first smashed would have g gifts in his face, insulted him and then proceed to burn those gifts... like she burnt his dresses five years ago. All in all, it was a good sign, probably sign that she was warming up to him? Forgiving him perhaps? t going to give 1. up.
Ha, wishful thinking, she had just told him not to waste his time. But despite that, he wasn't p *As pointless and twasting as it may be, don't intend to stop. Not until you've forgiven me. And even then, I don't intend on going back on what I said, Leonica. I will do whatever it takes to becworthy enough for you to loveonce again. Worthy enough to know I deserve that love,"
Leonica remained quiet, not out of speechlessness, but rather because she wasn't sure of the words that would cout of her mouth the moment she decided to speak. But even remaining silent was risky because she could feel and hear her heart beating and hoped that Gabriel won't be able to hear it too she stared at her.
Thankfully, Doctor Balley showed up at that exact time, saying her from the pain of staying silent or saying something that she was sure to regret later. That was at the effect Gabriel had on her.