This would mean... I’m free. I won’t have to move across the country, or end things with Leo, or quit being a writer.
A voice at the back of my head pulls back enough to make me think logically. “Are you sure it was him?”
There’s a note of unease on his face that squashes my hope. “It’s a risk I’m willing to take.”
I suck in a sharp breath, sitting straighter. That’s not good enough. “He could destroy both of us with the evidence he has, Leo. He’s hacked into my computer and gained access to all of my accounts. There’s no way to know for certain if he has evidence of where you were that night, but I couldn’t live with myself knowing something happened to you because of me.”
His forehead wrinkles as he studies me, running his hand up and down my thigh. “Do you want this? Do you want to make this work?”
The tears start up again. “What I want doesn’t matter.”
“It always matters.”
“Not with this, it doesn’t.” He needs to stop reminding me how powerless I am.
“How many people will you let dictate your life? Him, your mother?—”
“You,” I add for him. “You keep pushing me to do things.”
“Someone has to convince you that you’re allowed to do the things you want.” He says it so seriously, I could almost deludemyself into thinking he’s right. “So I’m asking you again: do you want this?”
“Yes, more than anything. But?—”
“Nobuts,” he stops me. “My question was a simple yes or no, with no caveats or exceptions. The man who did that to you is likely going to prison. You’re at an all-time high in your career. You have the power to free yourself from your family. I want this with you, Mina. I’ve wanted it with you since the moment you first messaged me.”
“What if the police have the wrong guy?” I’m not trying to make excuses. I worry Leo doesn’t understand the severity of the repercussions if he ends up being wrong about the police catching the guy who’s doing this.
His hand finds mine, and he threads our fingers together. “We take it as it comes.Together.”
I stare at where we’re linked. He means what he says—I believe this to be true, with every fiber of my being.
Is it wrong of me to want to fall into the illusion of safety with someone who seems so infallible in my eyes? To give myself a real chance at happiness and live without anyone to hold me back? To want stability with him and to not be so alone? To be able to finally catch my fucking breath?
Does it make me selfish?
Even as I think the last question, I can’t fool myself into believing that I care about what’s right and wrong when I’ve been skating between both lines for months.
If he means it, if he trulyswearsit, that we’ll take it as it comes, and any risk we’ll deal with together... Then I want him.
I want to be free.
“Okay.”
Leo’s hand curves around the base of my spine to tug me closer to him, and I don’t think twice; I press my lips to his because I have been dying to feel them again. He doesn’thesitate. His mouth moves against mine, slow, reverent, gentle, like he’s afraid I might break.
A whimper threatens to break past my lips when he pulls away to say, “I have to go to Chicago tomorrow to film a commercial for one of my sponsors. Come with me.”
The foreboding sense of dread comes back at the reminder that this isn’t a make-believe world where my problems will vanish with a couple of words and true love’s kiss. Even though half of my things are still in the apartment I shared with Joyce, I’m living with my parents. I still have to see Mom’s scathing glances and listen to her snide comments.
But I won’t be subjected to either of those things if I’m not here. Like Leo said, we face things together now. Except...
“I have an interview for a virtual administration position.” I frown at myself. Why am I still holding back?
“Is that what you want? To quit writing and go back to school?”
I have to think about my answer because even though my latest release is going well, my blackmailer’s claws are still in me. It could all be ripped from me with a press of a button.
Still . . .
