“Say you’re right…”
“Say I’m right? We’re fucked and Fleur will be devastated.”
I reach for the water pitcher on the side table and pour myself another glass, watching as Leo fetches something stronger from the bar.
“It’s late somewhere in the world,” he says when I look at my watch.
Time seems to run away with itself here. It’s three in the morning, and the snow hasn’t relented one bit. Everything is still. Like we are forgotten.
Taking the small measure of vodka, he presents to me. I knock it back followed by half of my water.
“If you’re right, do you honestly believe she doesn’t know what her father is up to?”
“She’s too loyal to keep something like that from us. Especially with Cassie being a hit.”
“Cassie’s her friend. Charles is her father. They’re blood.”
Leo swallows down his drink. “I trust her.”
“Because Cassie trusts her.”
“No.” His gaze squares on mine. “Because I didn’t have a clue about my grandfather’s role in all this. Or my father’s for that matter. And as much as she believes she knows what’s going on, she doesn’t know shit.”
“She’s not you,” I remind him.
That’s the thing about Leo—he’s soft as shit when it comes to the girls. But then, it’s not surprising with his mother’s history.
“I know that.”
“Do you?”
“Yeah, I do. I also know that she is broken by the fact her mother died without a real explanation. To find your mother the way she did…”
“Grace drowned. That’s explanatory enough.”
“Is it? Because the dates on those pages stop a couple of months short of her death. I’m not saying that there isn’t more, but it’s strange that what we have ends where it does.”
Jesus fucking Christ.
I down the rest of my water. It’s a way of pushing down the uneasiness strangling my insides.
“Is this what you went to see Dad about the other night?”
“No.” Leo shakes his head, a smile slowly lightening his face.
The bleakness emanating from him dims, and there’s a glimmer of excitement that takes its place.
“Actually, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about, but we got sidetracked.”
“Sidetracked?”
“You know what I mean.” He sits back into his chair. Silence stretches between us before he finally says, “Cassie’s birthday is coming up.”
I hadn’t forgotten, but with everything, it got pushed to the back of my mind.
“Yeah, Mum normally plans something. Last year she didn’t want anything.”
Taking a long breath, he says, “Your dad said.”