AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Children were obviously not a problem with Leander. But marriage? Not once in all of our time together did he expressanydesire to get married. Ever. To anyone. Least of all to a man.
So why thefuckdid I think this was a good idea, again? I would have been better off tattooing his name across my chest as a sign of my commitment. But nope. Instead, I asked him to take the biggest leap of faith there was with another human. I asked the man with a ridiculous amount of childhood trauma and abandonment issues to marryme, a man who lies, drinks, and murders his way through life and historically hightails it to the hills when the going gets tough.
Marry me.Oh, yeah. Great idea. Bennett, you fucking moron!
At last, Leander saw fit to put me out of my misery.
Nodding, he licked his lips, his reply barely audible. “Yes.”
“Yes?” I wanted to make sure I heard him over the wild beating of my own heart and the waves smacking the bottom of the kayak.
“The answer is yes, Bennett. I’ll marry you.”
Relief, love, euphoria — whatever fucking emotion it was exploded inside my chest. We crashed together again, our tongues and bodies twisting together until I couldn’t tell where I stopped and he began. All around us, the water glimmered and glowed. If I could have stopped time, I would have. I wanted this moment, this indescribable feeling of pure happiness, to last for an eternity.
* * *
The hotel lobbywas mostly empty when we strolled in, still damp and disheveled from our little illegal dip in the bay.
I, for one, was on Cloud Nine. From the impish smirks and sideways glances Leander kept giving me, I was pretty sure he was too. I’d spent most of the drive back daydreaming about our future together. It was full of endless possibilities and I couldn’t wait to see what adventure was waiting for us after this one. Maybe I’d finally get to take him to Malta and show him the palazzo. Or we could go to Paris. Of course, we’d probably have to stop and see Allegra in Barcelona, even if that meant meeting her — ugh — “boyfriend.”
My happiness popped like a soap bubble the minute I heard someone else say Leander’s name. Not the cordial “Señor Welles” I was accustomed to hearing or even an accented “Leandro,” but straight-up American “Leander Welles.”
Stopping dead in my tracks, I looked around for the source. It was another male, so it was easy to skip past the few women I saw. My gaze zeroed in on the TV, catching a glimpse of dark curls on the screen before it cut back to the news anchor.
“The search for missing millionaire Leander Welles continues into its third week,” the man said, shuffling through a stack of index cards.
Without even looking, I clawed the air until I grabbed ahold of Leander’s arm and dragged him to my side.
“What’s the matter?” he asked.
My jaw dropped when they flashed Leander’s picture on the screen again. It wasn’t a hallucination or some freak coincidence. They were talking aboutmyLeander, the one who was most certainlynotmissing.
For once, the picture the media used was actually flattering, versus the ones theEaston Sentinelran leading up to his murder trial. On TV, Leander was every bit the charming and dapper CEO you’d expect. The picture featured him smiling politely as he shook hands with the mayor, right after he’d donated a fuck ton of money to the school system.
Leander followed my gaze to the TV. “Oh, shit.”
“His vehicle was located at a private airstrip outside Chicago,” the news anchor continued, “along with his cell phone and other personal effects. As of yet, police have not advised if there have been any ransom demands. Investigators are still searching for anyone with information.”
“You didn’t tell anyone where we were?” he asked, both brows raised and his eyes wide.
I gave the same incredulous look right back at him, tinged with irritation. “Uh… no. I thoughtyoutold them?”
Groaning, he pinched the bridge of his nose, his eyes closing. “God, this is going to be a nightmare.”
Before either of us could speak again, a familiar face popped up on the TV. A face I, frankly, never wanted to see again.
Her.
Lorelei.
“And now, a heartfelt plea to the public from Leander’s girlfriend,” the newscaster said in a voiceover as she changed positions with whatever detective spoke before her.
I inhaled sharply, seething in silence.
Leander opened his eyes and looked at the TV again, his head canting to the side.
Silently, we watched her approach the microphones with trepidation. Given the fact it was daylight on the TV and it was currently after midnight in the real world, it was obviously the replay of some sort of press conference outside the Cook County Sheriff’s Office. Besides the gaggle of suits and uniforms, she appeared to be the only civilian on the “stage.”
