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Leo chuckles.
“Oh now, don’t play poor with me, sweetheart. That bloke you married is worth about a thousand times that. And believe me, he’ll want to pay.”
“I—Leo—I can’t—”
“Because if he or youdon’tpay, you’re gonna be famous for a lot more that stabbing your step-daddy and burning your mum.”
Tears blur my eyes as I stare at him, gasping for air.
“What are you—”
“Your bartender friend’s flat seems real homey.” He smiles thinly as he pulls his phone out of his pocket. “But you shouldreallystart closing the blinds all the way when you get undressed, Ella.”
The ground drops from under my feet.
“You never know what sort of creep might be outside, getting a real eyeful.”
He turns the phone to face me. My hands fly to my mouth as I choke on a scream. And this time, I do actually vomit.
I wretch, yanking my head to the side and emptying the contents of my stomach across the pavement, the horrifyingly intrusive images of me getting dressed—shot through the open window of Harry’s guest room—seared across my mind.
Leo chuckles darkly.
“I wonder what one of them celebrity nudie websites would pay for a shot of Noel Ransom’s wife’s tits, eh?”
I puke again, tears and sick dripping to my feet.
“Oh and Ella?” Leo grunts. “A month is firm. And that’s being generous. Do be sure I get paid before you go to prison, yeah?”
I hear him laughing as he walks away. But all I can do is fall to the ground, hands in my own vomit. It feels like I go numb inside—like all of me is shutting down piece by piece as I just roll onto the filthy ground on my side and curl into a ball.
I can barely breathe. It feels like my heart is racing out of control like a runaway train, and like the whole world is crushing down on me.
I’m wide-eyed and staring straight ahead, but I can still barely see. Not when the backdoor slams open and Harry comes bolting out, screaming as she rushes over to me. Not when her and Jack and Gus carry me inside to the back room. Not when I curl up on the tiny couch against the wall, still sucking in air, still staring straight ahead with the entire planet crushing me to pieces.
Harry’s trying to get me to drink water. She’s dabbing my forehead and stroking my hair. But It’s just numbness, all the way through. Sean, the local 700 ex-welder and AA group leader from across the street kneels next to me, reading my pulse and peering into my eyes. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I remember he’s a former army medic.
Through muffled ears, I hear words like “panic attack” and “needs rest.” My eyes squeeze shut, my lungs trying to force my throat to allow more air. The pressure grows and grows and grows, pulverizing me until I’m sure I’ll crumble to dust.
And then suddenly, I know he’s there, even before I open my eyes. And when I do open them, I’m not surprised when I’m right.
Noel is crouched down next to me, his brow furrowed with worry and painfully obvious concern. His mouth is tight as he turns to say something I can’t even really hear to Harry.
It feels like I’m watching a movie play out with the sound off, and the picture slowed slightly, and blurred at the edges. I half expect the actress playing my friend Harry to knee Noel in the balls or break a bottle over his head. But instead, she wipes tears away and lays her head against his shoulder when hehugs her.
What the fuck version of real life is this movie?
He’s turning back to me, and all I know is the feeling of suddenly being weightless as he lifts me into his arms, cradling me against his chest.
He carries me outside, to his waiting Bentley. And there, finally, as he’s about to stoop to put me into the car, I turn my head to him.
“Why… you…”
My brow knits.
“Why?” I mumble.
His piercing golden gaze utterly captives mine.
“Because you’re mine.”
My pulse thuds, heat pulsing through me as he lowers me into the car and buckles me in.
“Because you’re mine, and we’re going home.”
