Secret Crown

XIV. Fourteen

Scarlett

I woke up around nine a.m. to the sound of the side table alarm ringing. I rolled over and stretched my body across the huge bed to turn it off, then turned back over to lay on my back, staring at the ceiling. As my eyes wandered to the corner where the camera was, I was shamefully reminded of what I had done last night. I didn't even know if Adrián was the one watching those cameras. For all I knew, it could have been one of his soldiers or brothers. My cheeks began to burn with embarrassment as I finally rose out of bed. Adrián had mentioned last night about me going back to work, and he was right. A missing doctor would trigger authorities to look into it. But I had no scrubs here to get me through the day. As I searched his closet and drawers for anything that was passable as mine, there was nothing suitable to wear. As I finished my search in the last drawer, I found a family portrait-style photo of Adrián and his family. At the top was an older man who could only be his father, who locked arms in the hands of a beautifully aged woman with toasted almond skin and long brown hair, who was probably his mother. Adrián was standing on the left side of a woman who was sitting front and center, as if she were the precious jewel of the family, with the same features as her mother. Leo and Ian were on the right side. All the Leon men looked so similar and took after their father, Mateo. I had heard the stories of him and his family throughout the neighborhood and how they always gave back to their communities but had a darker side to them. It's funny how fate brought its current leader into my life after only hearing stories.

There was a loud knock at my door that made me scramble and put the photo back in its place. As I paused at the door, my heart beat out of my chest, as I wasn't ready to face Adrián after what happened. I tried my best to act unphased as I opened the door. "What do you want?"

"Relax, sleeping beauty," Leo teased as he handed me two bags full of clothing and a couple garment bags. "Adrián isn't here; I'll be your guard for the rest of the day." He smiled. "Also, he had someone run the shopping for you for today already."

"Where is Adrián?" I was confused. "Doing what a leader does," he shrugged. "Why do you ask? Do you miss him already?" He teased as he batted his long black eyelashes.

"Leave me alone." I rolled my eyes and shut the door behind me. He yelled from behind the door, "Be ready by 10:30. We don't want you to be late." I could hear him laughing as he walked away down the hall.

I opened the first bag, revealing expensive scrubs for every day of the week. These were way out of my regular budget, but I guess being a Leon meant money wasn't an issue. The second bag contained more bras, underwear, and something wrapped in pink and violet paper. As I peeled back the golden sticker that they were closed with, my cheeks burned even more, seeing that Adrián had sent over lingerie. I stuffed it all back into the bag and proceeded with the garment bags that were the heaviest and longest. As I unzipped them, each revealed a different dress. The first contained a white, sleek satin dress held up with thin straps. The second one contained a red sequined cocktail dress that was off-shoulder and seemed tight. And the third contained a silky, light pink dress that was corsetted at the waist and flowed down at the end with a high slit on the side. I couldn't help but wonder what he had brewing and why it would involve me using a dress. My thoughts were interrupted by a loud knock at my door: "Hurry up, Scarlett! I still need to take a look at your car before you clock in."Leo yelled.

"And why do you need to do that?" I yelled as I was changing in the room, "I'll tell you when we get there; now hurry up!" He replied, pacing back and forth in front of my door. I quickly opened the door after finishing changing and getting ready. Leo was standing against the wall, fidgeting with a pair of brass knuckles in his hands. "One last thing," he said as he reached down and removed my ankle monitor. "We can't have you walking around with that on your leg without raising some brows. But don't forget, if you run, Luca will find you," he grinned as he came back up, "then you won't be our problem."