have dinner with me that first night, or were you just looking for dirt on all my neighbors? I must have been a jackpot for you, huh? Telling you everything about the people who live here. Now it all makes sense.” And then it hit me. “Oh my God. You’re not even writing a book, are you?”
That hurt, too. A lot. Him being an aspiring author was a big part of my attraction to him. Granted, he had plenty to offer, even without the book thing, but still, I’d really liked that about him. And it was fake. He was fake. I’d fallen for yet another guy who wasn’t who he pretended to be, and suddenly I heard my mouth asking, “Are you married?”
He took a step backward as if I’d slapped him. “What? No, of course not.”
As far as silver linings went, that one was whisper-thin, but at least I hadn’t accidentally committed adultery. Again. Still, this absolutely sucked. “How could you do this to me, Leo?” I couldn’t stop the catch in my voice as anger gave way to a tsunami-size sense of betrayal. Tears puddled up in my eyes, but I blinked them back.
“Drama queen much?” Gina muttered, picking casually at a cuticle.
“Shut up, Gina,” Leo said. He turned to look at her. “Maybe you could go get another cup of coffee or something? Give us a little privacy?”
She arched a dark brow as if he’d just suggested she try eating garden slugs, which, come to think of it, was something I’d like to see.
“Yeah, no. I don’t think so, Romeo,” she said, her voice full of snarky dismissal. “First of all, you are emotionally and professionally compromised. Second of all, we can’t let this one out of our sight”—she pointed at me—“or she’ll go running straight to honeybee man and warn him. And third of all, you’ve already been on this Podunk island for well over a month. The Wellingtons aren’t paying you to hang around and fraternize with the suspects. We need to wrap this up. We need to haul ass over to Jimmy Novak’s house and get whatever is left of Marian’s jewelry before Mick gets to him. That’s what we’re here to do. That’s what we’re getting paid for. We have bills, Leo, and other clients. Chop, chop. Wrap it up.” She slapped the back of one hand against the palm of her other.
Leo’s jaw clenched, the tightly coiled spring aspect of his personality coming out. “I need fifteen minutes here, Gina. Come on. Give me a break. Give me a chance to explain this to Brooke without your wiseass commentary.”
She rolled her eyes again. “Fine, lover boy. I’m going to go stand on the porch for ten minutes. While I’m gone, don’t let her use the bathroom.”
“Why can’t she use the bathroom?”
“Jesus, Leo. Because she might climb out the window or try to text somebody. Have you forgotten all your training?”
Climb out the window? Damn it. I wish I’d thought of that. I could jump out and run all the way to Dmitri’s house. If there was any way to contact him, he could move the jewelry, and I could just say I’d made a mistake. That the jewel thief wasn’t Dmitri at all. Whoops. Sorry! But this Gina person was ruining my plans before I could even make them. Have I mentioned that I really don’t like her? I didn’t like Leo anymore, either. Not at all. In fact, my heart was currently in a state of breaking into sharp, tiny fragments, but I had to figure out this Dmitri thing before I could indulge in that bit of clusterfuckery.
Gina stepped outside and slammed the door, and Leo stared at it for a long moment before turning back to me. His shoulders drooped, and he had the decency to look remorseful—but not nearly remorseful enough. He had a sort of bad dog, I just ate from the garbage can expression, but I wasn’t buying it. This situation called for groveling, serious groveling. Not that any kind of apology would change the outcome.
“I never meant for this to happen,” he said, in the weakest sort of mea culpa.
“Really? Maybe you should have thought of that before you kissed me. It’s bad enough you pimped me for details at dinner, Leo, but all that phony seduction stuff was so beyond necessary.”
His sigh was nearly convincing. He might actually feel bad, but it didn’t matter.
“That wasn’t phony. I know you don’t have any reason