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His “oh” was one hundred percent disingenuous. What had she ever seen in him? He was such an oily bastard. “I recently learned you had a relationship with Ella when she was in college. When she was nineteen years old, by the way. How old were you then?”
His insincere smile turned to something even more grating. “I remember meeting you now. You’re the pilot.” He blinked at me, all innocence. “I was a few years older than Ella, yes, but we had a healthy relationship. Aconsensualrelationship, if you know what I mean.”
“I know what you mean,” I said, answering his unspoken query. Yes, I was kinky, too. Yes, I was onto his shit.
His eyes narrowed as he checked me out. “I had a feeling you two were more than friends. Is she still a glutton for pain?”
“None of your business.”
He burst into forced laughter. “I’ll take that as a yes. I have to tell you, in all these years, I’ve never met anyone quite like her. So capable, so driven, and yet so willing to offer her body for whatever the hell you want to—”
“I’m not here to shoot the shit with you.” My rough tone shut him up, which was good, because my stomach churned when he talked about her that way. My hands curled into fists as I focused on his weaselly gaze. “Ella tells me you have photos you’re using to control her. Is that true?”
“Control’s a strong word.”
I took a step closer. “What word would you prefer I use? Blackmail? Extortion? Illegal coercion? Revenge porn? Take your pick, asshole.”
Any remaining mirth in his punchable expression bled away. “If we’re not here to talk about ACE Con, or Gibraltar’s generous donation toward our research, then I’m going to get back to the Institute. I’m a busy man.”
I caught his arm, exerting pressure with my fingers. He took it like a pussy and stopped trying to walk away. “I’d like to go now,” he said. “If you’ll release me—”
“You’re not going anywhere until we talk things over, Leopold. You see, I happen to care about our mutual friend Ella. I don’t like to see her taken advantage of.”
“Look, she needed to be here,” he said, shoving out his chin. “She’s so flighty and neurotic, she always has been. She needed…motivation. I did what I had to do.”
“That’s fucking bullshit, and you’re an asshole.”
I increased my grip on his upper arms. I wanted to pummel him. He looked around for someone to rescue him, but this area of the park was dead.
“Men who bully women are the worst kind of shit-sucking scum,” I said, getting in his face. “Do you know how I know that? Because I watched my father bully my mother, and I was just a kid, motherfucker. I was four years old, and I knew it was wrong. I watched him beat her and control her, and manipulate her until she didn’t know which end was up, because he was a fucking asswipe, and so are you.”
“Let go of me,” he whined in a shaky voice.
“And I decided, when I was four fucking years old, that I would never let anyone hurt a woman again if I could help it. So here’s what we’re going to do.” I shook him to regain his attention. “You’re going to promise Ella right now, today, that you’re going to delete her pictures, and never threaten her with them again. After that, you’re going to leave her alone, understand? You’re not going to think about her, or look at her, or talk to her in the cafeteria, or have anything to do with her outside whatever science-y shit has to go on. Because if you ever interact with her again in a way that offends or hurts her, I will make you pay. My family has a lot of money, Leopold. Enough money to donate to your fucking project, but also enough money to screw up your life, you know what I’m saying?”
He stiffened in my grip. “Are you threatening me?”
“Yes, I’m threatening you. I have enough money to out your kinks and slander you, and end your career. If you end hers, I end yours. If you hurt her, I hurt you. Yes, I’d say it’s a threat, because what you’re doing is shitty and illegal. It’s not okay. She shouldn’t have to wake up one more morning and think, ‘oh, I let him take those photos. I shouldn’t have done that. What if they get out?’ It’s been ten fucking years.” My grip on his arms tightened until he grimaced. “And those photos are not going to get out. Ever. You’re going to delete them as soon as you get back to your office, and then you’re going to write Ella a long, apologetic email about how wrong you were to threaten her with them, and what an asshole you’ve been.”
“What if she leaves?” he asked, trying to shake me off. “That’s the thing about her. She does what she wants, whenever it strikes her fancy. She gets lost for months concocting ridiculous theories about time travel, and that lab in Pisa? They’re years behind us. Do you want her to go back there?”
“I guess she should be able to do whatever the fuck she wants in her career.” I let him go and started to walk away. Any more words, and I would lose my tenuous grip on control.
“No.” Leo followed me. “She needs guidance. I owe it to the field of astrophysics to—”
I held up a hand, cutting him off. “I don’t know who’s crazier. Her with her time travel, or you believing that you get to run her life and career. Get rid of the photos, okay? That’s all I care about. What she decides to do after that is her own business.”
“She’s going to leave,” he argued. “She doesn’t like working for ACE Con. She’ll go back to that damn lab in Pisa because they put up with her crazy tangents, and you’ll lose your little plaything here in New York. Sheisyour plaything, isn’t she? You’ve got a lot of heart involved in this, or a lot of dick. I know, man, I’ve been there.” His salacious grin made my fists ache. “She’s a delectable little piece.”
“You’ve got a lot of heart involved in this, too.” I realized it, said it, shoved the truth in his face. “You still want her, huh? You stilladoreher. She was the best fucking thing that ever crossed your plate.” It made sense now, his fakeness, his grasping need for control. “That sucks for you, doesn’t it? Sad, that she hates you so much.”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “Like I said, she’s crazy. She always has been. I learned my lesson when it comes to Ella. My interest in her is purely professional.”
“Purely professional?” I threw back my head and laughed. “Jesus, what’s it like for you, going to work every day, wanting to have her, control her, dominate her? You’re doing what you can to force her obedience, but you’ll never have her body again because she’s just not into you, and that’s got to sting.” I smirked at him. “I don’t mind sharing thatIhave her body on a regular basis. Of course, she’s into me. Our relationship is willing and mutual, not criminally extorted with a pathetic stash of outdated sex photos. And you know what? Sheisa delectable little piece.” I threw his words back at him with exaggerated relish. “Okay, this has been fun. Upon further consideration, I think you should resign too.”
“What?” His eyes bugged out, his jaw working. “Resign from what?”
“From your leadership position in the ACE Consortium. I think you should find a job somewhere else, maybe teaching at some university on the west coast, far away from this beautiful, intelligent woman who doesn’t want to work for you. It would probably be best.”
