done, he’ll never recover.
“Or maybe you’d be interested to hear that your father is required to attend all publicity engagements required by me or Morelli Holdings. That would mean press tours, documentaries, interviews…”
Publicity that Caroline Constantine would definitely see. Publicity that she could never allow. She’d kill my father before she let that happen.
I pick up the pen and start with my initials on the line he drew.
The ink is still wet when I put down my mark. It strikes me as almost painfully intimate, that ink meeting. Or it could be that I’m losing it in the face of the next month of my life.
He’s done me one kindness, which is that the whole contract is only one page long. I don’t have to fumble with the corner of the paper. I sign my name in big, swoopy letters, as if I am not ready to die of shame.
“Good girl.” He’s sarcastic. Mean. I turn my head to the side like he slapped me. Something in those words makes me want to hear them again. I don’t know what. I don’t know why. I keep my eyes on the fireplace while Leo signs the document himself. “Gerard.”
Leo doesn’t so much as raise his voice, but there’s movement in the doorway behind me. Another suited man, though his suit is different. More refined than the ones the guards wore. “Sir?”
“Take her upstairs.”
“Right now? I thought—” God, I sound so stupid, so scared. “I thought I would be able to get some things from home.”
A beat passes, and then Leo laughs, a sound like barbed wire. “No, darling. I’ve sent someone for that.”
Panic. Pure, crushing panic. “But then—”
“Your precious clothes will be here within the hour,” he snaps. “Do you have any other requests, or can I move on with my night?”
“No, I don’t.” I stand up on legs that haven’t stopped shaking. Leo’s eyes are coals, dark and fiery, and he watches me do it. I should be thankful that I’m not on my knees right now, though that is fully on the table. Unrestricted access is on the table. Those are the terms of the agreement. He’s within his rights to take advantage of them at any time. “Thank you.”
“Say it again. That was so pretty, coming from a Constantine.”
“Thank you.”
“For?”
“For—” I’m a ball of tension and nerves and tears and I need to get away from him before he sees me cry. “For saving me from those men. And for making a deal with me.”
“You’re welcome, darling. Now get out of my sight.”
Gerard holds out an arm toward the door and it’s all I can do to keep my footsteps measured. “Thank you,” I whisper to him when we’re out in the hall.
“No need, Miss Constantine.” Gerard has the same tense set to his shoulders that the bodyguard did. There’s worry in his eyes. He looks like he wants to say more, but then he presses his lips together and shakes his head, the movement almost imperceptible. “This way.”
It’s late, but a woman meets us back in the foyer. She takes one of my hands in both of hers. “Mrs. Page,” she says, wearing a smile that’s both soothing and sad. “You must be Haley. Your room is upstairs.”
The foyer, with its sconces and gold-stitched wallpaper, opens onto a grand staircase leading to the second floor. Mrs. Page walks in front of me. Gerard walks a step behind.
At the top of the stairs, the hallway stretches out to either side.
We go left, all the way down to the end, and go past an enormous door set into the wall. “Mr. Morelli’s rooms.” Mrs. Page gestures at the door, then passes by without stopping. It’s obvious now that the house is shaped like a square with a courtyard in the middle. I can see it lit up down below. Windows, everywhere. So much light for such a dark man.
Mrs. Page stops at a door at the opposite end of the hall and opens it. Her smile seems genuine but there’s a pinched look around her eyes. She’s worried, too. About me? I don’t plan to fall to pieces until I’m alone. At home, if I can make it that long. “Thank you,” I tell her. It seems wrong not to say it, even though she’s ushering me into the place I’ll live while I’m Leo Morelli’s prisoner. I can’t help asking the question, now that we’re here. “He said—”
Her expression stays mild while she waits.
“I’m supposed to be with