My gaze shifts to the empty space between us. I can’t look at him. We’ve been through all of this already; there’s no point rehashing the heartbreak when we’ll end up in the same place.
“Leo—” I choke at the wave of tears. “You can’t be here.” There’s no point questioning how he got in, or why he’s broken into my parents’ house.
“You were planning on leaving me?” The raw betrayal in his voice guts me.
Staying here means living with my parents, being reminded of Leo, and avoiding Joyce, who I’ve been ignoring since I suddenly upped and moved out. Not to mention the career I’vegiven up. Putting thousands of miles between me and the person blackmailing me won’t fix things, but maybe this way I’ll at least have a fighting chance of surviving this.
“I-I already broke up with you.”I’ve already left you, Leo.Please don’t make me say it all again. “I can?—”
“I don’t accept.”
My eyes snap up to see the hurt in his. I can taste his fury in the back of my throat, and I wish I was never stupid enough to look at him. “Leo?—”
“Tell me why you did it,” he demands. “Look me in the eyes and tell me it’s because you don’t want this. That you feel nothing for me. That this was all a passing phase for you.”
I shake my head, glasses fogging up from the tears. “Please.”
“Tell me.”
“I-I don’t want this.” The words feel like razors tearing through my throat.
“You don’t even sound convincing,” he scoffs. His anger still lingers, but behind it is something soft and vulnerable. “So it has nothing to do with this?”
Leo comes around the bed to my side, unlocking a phone as he does. He thrusts the device out for me to see the screen loaded on the message threads between me and my blackmailer.
My stomach twists at the reminder. I haven’t heard from him today, and yesterday he made me change the bank account to his for one of the distribution companies that I receive my royalties from.
Last night, he left me a text saying his next set of demands would be coming, but I haven’t heard from him since. I have no doubt he’ll be back soon, wanting something else.
Nausea has me curling my arms around myself. I’m not sure whether it’s from shame, hurt, or exhaustion.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper, dropping my gaze.
In my periphery, he kneels beside the bed and cups my cheek. He pulls me closer to rest my forehead against his. That’s what breaks me.
The dam opens, and the tears pour in a never-ending stream. Sobs rack my frame as I clutch onto his hoodie. I take my glasses off and bury my head into the crook of his shoulder to muffle the sounds, but it feels like I’m suffocating under the weight of the world.
It’s too much. I’ll never escape, no matter what I do. I’ll have to live knowing I’ve let everyone down. I don’t know how much longer I can keep living like this and running from someone who will always be right in front of me as a constant reminder that whatever I build, however far I get, he can make everything crumble.
Leo pulls me into his arms and sets me on his lap, so I’m practically straddling him. The comforting circles he rubs over my back do nothing to calm the tears because once I stop crying, he’s going to leave, and I’m going to be left dealing with all of this by myself.
I’m not sure how long I sit on him, crying into his shoulder, saturating his shirt with my tears. This is the first and last time I’ll be able to do this, and that knowledge kills me.
My sobs finally dull into sniffles, and he cups my nape, so I look up at him. “Don’t think for a second that I’m upset at you for trying to protect me. We’re a team, alright? We handle things together.”
Does he realize how badly I want that? Withhim? He doesn’t understand the severity of the shit we’re in.
“He— I put a tracker on your car, Leo. You saw those texts from him. He has what he needs to send you to prison.” My voice cracks, but I push forward. “It also means he’ll be able to see that you’re here with me, and that I’ve gone back on my word that I wouldn’t see you, so he’s going to send the email?—”
“He’s been arrested.” He cuts my panic off.
“What?”
No, that— No, he can’t be. He texted me last night asking for more money.
Leo pushes aside the hair sticking to my wet face. “His name is Jeremy Holstead. The police charged him earlier today and found evidence that he’s been blackmailing his victims.”
I search his eyes for the lie or deception, but find nothing there. “So it’s over?”
