Abby wanted to say thatpared to Leonard, her own Joshua was far more dangerous.


    After all, men like Leonard preferred to use their fists.


    But Joshua... he seemed harmless, but his methods were hardly kind. His kindness was reserved for Ste alone. He was already holding back a lot in front of her; in private, he was probably even more ruthless than Leonard.


    Ste followed Abby''s gaze and nced at Leonard. "And Joshua would never ept it," she added.


    Abby sighed.


    That was true. Joshua would never ept it. The only reason he hadn''t killed Leonard was because he knew Ste could never like him. Now that she was with him, he didn''t want to bring any negative influences into her life. But if Ste had any contact with Leonard, Joshua''s personality dictated that he would eliminate him without a second thought.


    Looking at Ste, a question urred to Abby.


    "Star, it''s great that Joshua is shifting his business assets to help you. But have you ever thought about what would happen if... and I''m just saying if... you and Joshua were to break up?"


    As they walked away from the store, Ste replied, "I haven''t thought about that."


    "I think," Abby said, "Joshua might be even harder to deal with than Leonard."


    It was only because Joshua had always been on Ste''s side, helping her without expecting anything in return and receiving her affection, that everything seemed calm and wonderful. But if Ste hadn''t gotten together with Joshua, he might have be even more unhinged than Leonard.


    At that thought, Abby remembered Foreman.


    "Star, what is it with you?" Abby asked. "How do you manage to attract all these dark, twisted..." She paused, feeling it was wrong to describe Joshua that way.


    She rephrased. "How do you always end up attracting such intense men?"


    Ste was in no mood to consider these ''what-ifs.'' The look in Leonard''s eyes just a short while ago made her skin crawl, and a sense of dread washed over her.


    After a moment of thought, Ste said to Abby, "Contact Harold and Jaketer. Have them scout the locations I''m going to ahead of time and do a thorough sweep." Abby knew Ste wanted to avoid running into Leonard again.


    She nodded slightly. "Okay, I''ll call them right now."


    ***


    Three dayster, Harold called Ste.


    "Miss, I looked into it. More than half of the ces you frequently visit are under Leonard''s name."


    Ste was silent for a few seconds. "I see."


    After hanging up, Ste turned to Abby Abby, notify the other that we''re changing the


    meet het


    location for the contract signing."


    "Okay, I''ll do it right away," Abby said.


    After contacting them, Abby returned to report to Ste.


    "Star, they''ve been notified of the new location. Should we leave now?"


    Because of thest-minute change, the new venue was now even farther away.


    Ste didn''t want to dy. "Yes, let''s go."


    The car sped down the road.


    They had left in the afternoon, a time when traffic was usually light, but for some reason the road was


    unusually congested today. Seeing the growing line of cars ahead, Abby checked her phone''s navigation and discovered a multi-car pile-up just ahead.


    "Star, there''s been an ident. Should we take a detour?" Abby asked.


    Ste nced at the time. If they stayed in this traffic, they would bete for the signing.


    "Let''s take a different route," Ste said.


    Changing the location at thest minute was already impolite. Beingte on top of


    that would be downright arrogant.


    At her word, Wilbur turned onto a


    shortcut. Perhaps because the met


    road wa


    blocked, this side road


    was also packed with cars