Abby wanted to say that compared 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 Stella alone. He was already holding back a lot in front of her; in private, he was probably even more ruthless than Leonard.
Stella followed Abby's gaze and glanced at Leonard. "And Joshua would never accept it," she added.
Abby sighed.
That was true. Joshua would never accept it. The only reason he hadn't killed Leonard was because he knew Stella could never like him. Now that she was with him, he didn't want to bring any negative influences into her life. But if Stella had any contact with Leonard, Joshua's personality dictated that he would eliminate him without a second thought.
Looking at Stella, a question occurred 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, Stella 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 Stella's side, helping her without expecting anything in return and receiving her affection, that everything seemed calm and wonderful. But if Stella hadn't gotten together with Joshua, he might have become 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?"
Stella 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, Stella said to Abby, "Contact Harold and Jake later. Have them scout the locations I'm going to ahead of time and do a thorough sweep."
Abby knew Stella wanted to avoid running into Leonard again.

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