Paint Me Claimed - Book 2

10 | Breaking point

Zemira

My feet dragged me outside the community center. Thoughts clashed in my head and rebounded in my eardrums. My steps misaligned on the pavement, much like the beatings of my heart.

Like the missing pieces of a puzzle, everything began falling into place.

Amara, the nurse who looked after Leo at the hospital, was here with him. He left Miami to be with her in a new city!

When Kiera visited me before I left for New York, she always had an update on Leo. Somehow, she knew the right people who helped convey how Leo was doing. She was aware when Dave Brenton managed to get the gossip columns to run fake news about Leo, blaming him for the mission's outcome.

I came across one such publication about his new love interest, which according to my father, was Dave Brenton's smear campaign against his one son to protect another.

So, it wasn't surprising that Leo left the place that danced to his father's tunes and waited for him to be burnt at the stake.

What bothered me about his escape was the company he retained.

The brisk air invigorated my lungs. It was then that something pricked me about Amara.

I visualized her face clearly from the day we met at the hospital. There was somewhere else. I couldn't keep a finger on it. My senses churned. I'd seen her.

Somewhere.

Debby's gender reveal party!

It was Amara who drove Leo to the party. It was she who sat inside the car.

Suddenly, all the gossip about Leo's new love interest began weighing down on my shoulders. It whirled in my stomach, unwilling to be absorbed into my bloodstream.

Here I was, waiting for Leo to recover. Waiting for him to walk back into my life.

He chose someone else to give him company.

My mouth felt like sandpaper. My brain consumed every bit of residual energy in comprehending the truth. My trembling legs were inadequate to handle the additional weight pushing me towards the ground and ripping me from the inside.

Black dots appeared around my vision. My head felt weightless. Distant noises sublimed in my senses.

I knew I was falling.

I tried opening my eyes.

I should have eaten more than a salad.

My head would hit the concrete pavement.

Wake up.

I've to hold onto something.

Zemira, focus.

My head did hit something.

Soft.

Warm.

Darkness.

~

Something fishy and slimy slid over my face.

My eyes sprang open.

Woof woof.

An ivory-toned Retriever tilted its head, watching me. Thrashing its tail on the wooden floor, the dog widened its eyes, lending a paw towards me.