“Did you?”
She nodded. “I found a picture of Alex at my father’s funeral. Why would he have been there, Mateo?”
I should’ve been surprised, but I wasn’t. Her admission was just another string in what had become a multi-layered web of deceit. “I have no idea, but we can look into it. Seems like our friend Atwood has more on his agenda than the law. Did you ask your mother about it?”
“No.” Sighing, she melted against my chest again. “She left to make some phone calls. I tried to call her on my break, but I guess she was out picking up Finn’s clubs.”
“His what?”
Leighton brushed her lips against my skin and raked her nails down my ribcage. “She ordered him a new golf club. I guess he lost his six iron. She was pretty pissed off about it.”
Something harsh stirred in my chest. “Did you say a six iron?”
“Yeah, country club life is no joke with the Donovan duo.” She let out a sarcastic laugh, but I fought to remain still.
Hector’s head was bashed in with a six iron.
Shit, I have to call Val.
Shifting to the side, I simultaneously reached for my phone while attempting to slide out from under her. Oblivious to my revelation, Leighton had other ideas, wrapping her small fingers around my wrist.
“Mateo, there was one other thing I talked about with my mother.” Her brown eyes glistened, darting around the room as if afraid to look at me. “I’m not sure if you care to know, but you keep saying you want to be with me, so—”
I cupped her cheek. “I do.”
“If you want to be with me, you’re going to have to accept all of me. You can’t ignore it anymore.”
My throat constricted. “What are you talking about?”
Tilting her face inward, she brushed her lips against my palm. “Matty, I told my mother about—”
My phone rang, cutting her off. “Jesucristo, what is it with this fucking phone?” Still holding her face, I reached across with my other arm and swiped it off the nightstand. “Yes?”
“You have a reprieve, Cortes.” Val’s clipped voice crackled through the line. “Eden is having some kind of pregnancy pain. She keeps telling me she’s fine, but I won’t leave her until I’m positive my son is all right.”
I have more time. Thank God.
“Understandable. Give Eden my best.”
He spoke to someone in the background before returning to our conversation. “It’ll be at least two or three more days until I can I arrive in Houston. Consider it a gift,” he added before hanging up.
Leighton tucked a piece of blonde hair behind her ear. “Everything okay?”
I nodded, letting her go and scrubbing both hands down my face. “Eden is having some sort of pain. She’s okay, but for once, a kid came in handy instead of being a pain in the ass, huh?” Laughing, I leaned back against the pillow, pulling her with me. “What were you saying?”
Swallowing, she rolled over and pulled the blanket up to her chin. “It’s not important.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Mateo
“Has it started yet?” Handing Leighton a cup of coffee, I sat down beside her on the couch.
Her ponytail swayed as she shook her head. “Nope. Jackie just said a whole lot of nothing.” Tucking her bare legs underneath her, she played with the hem on the black T-shirt of mine she’d worn to bed.
I tilted my mug toward the screen. “What do you think she’s going to say?”
“I have no idea.” She shrugged, her eyes never leaving the screen. “I tried to call her all day yesterday, but she wouldn’t answer her phone.”
My question was somewhat rhetorical. I had a good idea what her impromptu Saturday morning press gathering was about. Forty-eight hours after kidnapping Finn Donovan, I still hadn’t decided what to do with him.
“Leighton, I should probably tell you something.”
“Shhh, it’s starting,” she said, dismissing me with a wave of her hand.
Laying a hand on her thigh, I watched as Lilith took the podium and adjusted the microphone. She wore a black dress and a somber expression as she gazed out at the crowd.
Almost as if she were already in mourning.
“Thank you all for coming,” she said, her voice uncharacteristically soft. “I’ll keep this brief. My husband, Finley Donovan, CEO of Donovan-Ross left for work at his corporate office Thursday morning and never returned.” She paused, balling her fist and pressing it under her nose. “Finn’s always been a workaholic, so I didn’t panic until Friday morning when I woke to find he’d never came home. It’s now Saturday, and my husband is still missing. I’ve filed a missing person’s report with the Houston Police Department and together, we’re offering a two-hundred and fifty-thousand-dollar reward to anyone providing information leading to the safe return of my husband.”
As Lilith deadpanned a hard stare into the camera, Leighton shuddered beside me. Part of me wanted to assure her I had this under control, but I didn’t. I’d enjoy every second of what was to come. Keeping Finn locked in that basement gave me control in a situation that didn’t know the meaning of the word. I wasn’t there to stop her pain four years ago, and I wasn’t there to prevent it a week ago, but I sure as hell would draw blood for it now.
Unable to hold back any longer, I reached for her, pressing her face against my chest. “Hey, it’s okay.”
“What do you think happened to him?” she whispered, her words muffled.
“Don’t worry about it. I’m sure he’s fine.”
He wasn’t, but she didn’t need the details.
A question rested on Leighton’s lips I wasn’t sure she was ready to hear the answer to. I braced for it, prepared to drag her into the dark, when she lifted her head and shoved her hands against my chest. “You don’t understand!” she screamed. “I don’t want him to be fine!”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m glad he’s missing,” she said, loathing in her eyes. “I don’t want him to come back. I hope he’s dead.”
Taking her face in my hands, I opened the gate to hell and pushed her through. “You cried out in your sleep all last night, Leighton. I asked you after the party why you were so afraid of Finn, and now I want a straight answer.”
She settled a blank stare on me. “Are you sure, Matty? Once you open that door, you can’t close it.”
“I already know,” I said quietly. “I need to hear you say the words.”
“If you already know, then why have you blamed me for walking away? You think I don’t belong in your world, but you’re wrong. I’ve made choices and sacrifices you could never imagine. If anyone understands that money is thicker than blood, it’s me.”
May – Four Years Ago
Dragging myself through the door, I dropped my purse and made it up two stairs when the light flickered at the top of the landing.
“It’s well past midnight, Leighton. Where have you been? In fact, where have you been every night?”