Colson and Ripley shared the same confused expression. So did I.
“Who is?”
The question was rhetorical. Police swarmed in a few moments later, moving with purpose. They fanned out through the hotel hallways, pushing past the stragglers still wandering, stunned, from the events of the ballroom.
Theo motioned us together, then leaned in closer.
“Nailing Donovan legally and financially was one thing,” he explained. “And those charges will land a few days from now. But there were other things on that drive, too. Things that I… well… I didn’t really show you.”
“What kinds of things?” pressed Ripley. He looked a little uncertain.
“Bad things,” Theo said grimly. “Monstrous things.”
His pretty eyes were sorrowful, now. It scared me worse than being up on that stage.
“The kinds of things that get you arrested immediately,” said Theo, his voice low and almost broken. “Once the police are alerted to them.”
There was a commotion as the crowd behind us suddenly parted. And then there he was: Donovan, head down, shuffling slowly forward. He had his wrists secured behind his back, and a NYPD officer looped through each arm. The worst part however, was the look in his eyes. Those darting eyes were absolutely feral; like an animal searching for a way out. Not yet realizing that he had been hopelessly trapped.
He was babbling something incoherently, and barking orders to his once-subordinates. But Donovan’s voice no longer held any command. It was angry, sharp, desperate. And for once in his life, no one would even look at him.
Walking past us, his eyes shifted to me. At long last, I saw recognition there. Not only of what he’d lost with me, but of everything else he was about to lose.
He said nothing as they led him through the grandiose doors of the hotel, where he was met by another storm of camera flashes and shouted questions from the press. A few moments later he was in the back seat of a cruiser, and then finally, gone.
And just like that, it was over. I stood there with Ripley’s hand, lightly resting on my back. With Colson’s fingers, interlaced with mine. Theo leaned into me, smiling down, looking proud and happy and wholly in love.
We’d weathered the storm together, the four of us.
And nothing had broken us apart.
