“You’re not eating anything, Leo.”
“I’ve eaten.”
He’s such a liar. “Okay, but you know you have to eat more than that. You’re going to starve to death. Plus, it’s good salad.”
“I hate salad.”
I drop my fork and put my hands over my eyes. I double-checked the menu with him earlier. I made Gerard go in and show him so I’d know he was alive. “Why are we having salad, then?”
“Penance.”
A shout echoes down from Leo’s foyer. “What is that?”
“Go up to your room.” He gets out of his seat. “Put on some music and don’t come down until the album’s over.”
Not a chance in hell. “You’ll have to carry me there yourself.”
“Might be a little short on time.”
It’s Leo’s security team doing the shouting. Fear is a bitter taste on my tongue. If someone came in—if that someone was Emerson—
Gerard tries to stop us. “Go back,” he says. “Go up.”
We’re two steps into the foyer when the police burst in. It’s all I can do not to scream. Panic swells over my skin. Oh my god. Emerson actually did it. I told him I couldn’t leave, and he sent the police to come see if I was okay. He sent the police to Leo’s house. This is going to end in a war, or worse. Gerard sticks out an arm to keep me from going to Leo’s side.
The police captain waves a piece of paper in Leo’s face.
He doesn’t react. “You’re supposed to show me the warrant before you invade my house,” he says.
The captain steps in closer. No one stands that close to Leo. No one gets in his face like that. “Mr. Morelli, we have a warrant to search your property for evidence of the kidnapping and captivity of Haley Constantine. We had reason to believe there would be interference with the collection of evidence, necessitating a no-knock entrance.”
I open my mouth to tell them that I haven’t been kidnapped when the meaning hits.
Haley. Not me.
“Her toothbrush is upstairs in the master bath, if you’d like to start there,” Leo answers.
“My god. You have the right to remain silent, you sick fuck. Everything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you can’t afford an attorney, one will be provided for you. Do you understand the rights I’ve just read to you?” He’s sneering at Leo. He looks disgusted. I know people don’t like him. I know people are afraid of him. But this contempt—I’ve never seen it happen like this before. This openly.
“You didn’t read them,” Leo comments. “Let’s strive for accuracy.”
“Do you understand your rights?”
“Yes, Captain, I do. Everyone’s body cameras on? Let’s make this simple. I kidnapped Haley Constantine.”
“Leo, stop. Let me go.” I push Gerard’s arm away and go to stand next to him. He can’t do this. “Stop. Don’t say that. You can’t say this.”
“Haley Constantine was my captive.” The noise level in the room drops, and so does my heart. They want to hear him say this. They’re all listening to him lie. “I held her here, and I didn’t let her leave.”
“Leo.” Gerard cuts in. “That’s not what happened.”
But Leo doesn’t stop. “I forced her to sign a contract with me in exchange for releasing her father from a business deal. I coerced her. Exploited her.”
I put a hand on his elbow and pull. Hard enough to get his attention. “Don’t lie to them, Leo.”
“I’m telling the truth. God as my witness. I held Haley Constantine hostage.”
“You didn’t.” Why is he saying this? She loves him. She loved him. I saw them at her birthday. “You didn’t hold her hostage.
She wanted to be here. What are you talking about?”
“I held her hostage. She wasn’t free to leave. Or would you prefer if I called her a prisoner?” Leo’s voice fills the foyer.
“It’s not true.” Tears spill over and run down my cheeks. He’s not in his right mind. He shouldn’t be doing this. “Stop lying. Stop, stop, stop.”
Leo looks down at me, and his eyes are dead. Nothing there. Nothing left. “Sorry, sister mine. I’m not the man you think I am. I’m as bad as your collector. Worse. Dry your tears. They’re not worth crying for me.”
I let go of him and wipe my tears. Fine. I won’t cry. Fine—but he can’t do this.
“Anything else you’d like to confess?” Police are everywhere in the foyer. The police captain grins like he’s won the lottery.
Gerard is on the phone to Eva. Explaining. It still doesn’t make any sense.
“Leave her alone, Gerard,” Leo says, voice flat. And then he laughs out loud. It sounds like he’s coming apart at the seams. It sounds like the end of everything.
“Is this funny to you?” the police captain snarls.
“I’m entertained. Of course I am. You and thirty of your buddies are in my house, rifling through my things because you’re so convinced I kidnapped a woman. Fine. I agree. I kidnapped her. It doesn’t matter that she came here by herself, does it? Or that she’s home with her family as we speak.”
They’re starting to leave now. So many officers. Boxes in their hands. It’s sick. When the last one is out, the police captain checks behind him. Then he turns back to Leo.
“Charges are pending investigation, Mr. Morelli.” He looks all around the foyer. “I bet you’ll miss this place when we put you away.”
Leo smiles at him, and it’s like watching a wolf. I move to stand in front of him. No one should be seeing him like this, least of all this police captain. “Stop trying to scare us. You’ve done your job.”
The police captain looks me up and down. Head to toe. It’s not like when Emerson looked at me. It’s disgusting. Leo growls behind me. “Get the hell out of here.”
As soon as the front door closes, I turn to face him. “Why did you say that?” I’m pissed again. I’m so royally pissed. I don’t understand. “Why did you say that you kidnapped Haley when you didn’t? They’re going to use that against you.”
“Because it’s true. So close to the truth, it might as well be true. I forced her to be with me. Did you think your brother was kind and noble? No, sister mine. I made her trade her body to save her father.”
I can’t believe it.
I can’t.
He’s out of his mind with grief. He misses her and he’s lying. It’s so reckless. It’s so unlike him. I can’t speak. I leave him standing there in the foyer. I don’t know what else to do.
“I don’t believe you,” I say at the top of the stairs.
He can’t hear me. No one can.
The next time I see Leo is two and a half hours later, from the door of his office. No more winter sun. Only firelight. He’s sitting on the rug in front of his fireplace, silent tears streaking down his cheeks, Haley in his arms. She keeps wiping them away. Murmuring soft things to him. He can’t take his eyes off her.
The office is a mess. The furniture is turned over, his desk in ruins, the glass paperweight shattered on the floor. A knife lies on the edge of the rug, near the paperweight. My heart might never stop racing.