Chapter 35
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
LEO
“Do you have something to bind his hands?” Leo drove his knee into the back of the bear-sized man beneath him.
Sirens sounded in the distance. His luggage now had a human-head-sized dent in it, and adrenaline and rage were charging through his veins.
He had showed up on Emma’s doorstep, ready to apologize, and instead found an intruder kicking the door down.
How dare this man break into Emma’s home? Who the hell was he?
The linoleum beneath his feet was scratched and thin, subfloor showing through in spots. The doorframe had splintered and given way, leaving Emma’s apartment vulnerable.
There was a lot of work to do.
Emma returned with the sash from a bathrobe, and Leo quickly knotted the man’s hands together.
He looked up at her. “Is this…?”
She nodded, and the knot in his stomach hardened. She hadn’t mentioned her father was out of prison.
The sirens were getting closer.
Emma wheeled her mom into what must have been a bedroom and slid the couch in front of the door.
She ushered the dogs into crates somewhere he couldn’t see, then returned to stand over her father’s body with the baseball bat extended.
Silence rang in the air. She didn’t exactly seem surprised to see him, but she didn’t take her eyes off her father.
His heart broke for her. How many times had she endured this man barreling back into her life? Trapped in an apartment he knew the address of? The urge to protect her was almost overwhelming. If he wasn’t a man of discipline, he would beat the shit out of her father.
“I’m taking him outside,” he announced. He grabbed the man’s feet and dragged him out the door and down the shabby ramp to the sidewalk. A couple people side-eyed him on the street and gave him a wide berth, but no one stopped to ask what was going on.
Red-and-blue lights glanced off the windows of the rowhouses across the street. The police pulled up, and he took a deep breath.
It was impossible to tell if it had been minutes or hours since the police had arrived. They had taken statements, photographed the door, and provided Lisa and Emma with an incident number for their insurance.
The ambulance door slammed with finality, and the paramedics sped off in the direction of the hospital with Emma’s father in tow.
Unfortunately, the blow hadn’t killed him.
Leo watched until the ambulance was out of sight, then jogged up the ramp and nudged the mangled door open.
Emma was still in the hall, pressed against the wall like it was the only thing keeping her on her feet. Her eyes were shrunken, hollow. Her knuckles were white around the baseball bat. He tugged it gently from her and set it on the ground.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
What a stupid question. Of course she wasn’t. She’d just been intimidated and threatened by her own father, and Leo had a sneaking suspicion it was his fault.
“Come here, sweetheart. You’re safe.” He opened his arms, and she hesitated for a moment before rushing into them.
All at once, he felt at home. It didn’t matter that he was on a different continent, or that his entire life had gone up in flames. With Emma in his arms, there was an overwhelming sense of peace. Maybe they could make a new beginning from the ashes of their old lives. Together.
“What are you doing here?” she finally asked in a shaky voice. She pulled back from his embrace to look at him, but she didn’t put distance between them. Maybe there was hope.
“I came to apologize. I wasn’t at my best in our last interaction. I was…frustrated that you didn’t let me try to help. But I understand why you did it, and you’re right. She wouldn’t have listened. And she deserved it. She needed a wake-up call, no matter what it cost.”
She snuggled back into him. “What did it cost?” Her voice was muffled against the lapel of his jacket.
Leo bit his lip. “Everything, I guess. But it wasn’t your fault. The project’s dead in the water. The land’s going to another ski resort company. And then they cut me off.”
“What?” She jerked away like she was going to storm over there and set them straight.
He smiled humorlessly.
“It’s not your fault. This has been a long time coming.
I’ve been disobeying her for years, slowly and increasingly pissing her off.
Even if you’d never come to Lynoria, the outcome would’ve been the same.
The worst part is that my people are the ones who are going to suffer the most. I used my salary for community needs.
Try to do something concrete and meaningful with my privilege.
But now, I don’t…I don’t know where to go from here,” he said.
“When everything fell apart, all I knew was that I wanted to be with you.”
Emma bit her lip, then pulled him into another hug.
“This is not the end,” she said in a low voice. “We’re going to figure this out.”
A glimmer of hope stirred in his chest. He nudged her chin up so he could look her in the eyes. Her hand was small in his.
“I also wanted to say I’m sorry for the part I played in what happened to you. I was incredibly selfish. If I had simply left you alone, you would have the second half of the money.”
She shook her head. “It’s not your fault. I told myself time and again that I was going to stay away, and I just…couldn’t.”
“I know the feeling,” he said softly.
A shiver ripped through her, and he tightened his grip. He ducked his head, aching to kiss her and take her in his arms again.
They were a centimeter apart when a voice came from down the hallway.
“Can someone let me out?”
“Oh, shit. Sorry,” Emma called. She had re-barricaded the door after the police had taken her mother’s statement.
Leo pushed the couch away, and Emma opened the door.
“Are you okay?” she asked in a low voice.
“I’m fine, sweetheart. Thanks to you two.”
She pulled Emma down and wrapped her in a hug. When was the last time his parents had hugged him? His dad had once when Manchester United won. He had also sloshed a beer down his back.
Being with Emma was joyful, but seeing evidence of such a close family was confusing and melancholy in a way he didn’t expect. The wheelchair creaked as Emma pushed her mother out, startling him out of his thoughts.
“You must be Leo.” Lisa still looked pale and shaken, but she spoke with a smile. She held her hand out, and it was delicate and cool as a Fabergé egg. “It’s so nice to meet you in person. Emma, dear, give him the tour while I prepare some refreshments. It’s not every day we entertain royalty.”
Emma froze, like she had forgotten she was in her own house. Her eyes darted to the ceiling, where a wispy spiderweb hung. Maybe she wasn’t comfortable having him in her home. Which would be problematic because he was cut off and didn’t get another trust payment until January 1.
“You don’t have to do that. You’ve been through so much today,” he said.
“No, it’s not that, it’s just—this isn’t going to be what you’re used to. We live on a very fixed income.”
Something squeezed in his chest. “Technically speaking, I don’t have a home right now. You’re miles ahead of me.”
Emma stared. “You have to move out too?”
“It was time,” he muttered.
“So you have to find a real job and a new place to live,” she said slowly. “What are you going to put on your resume?”
Shit. He hadn’t even thought about that. Beyond his royal duties, he had never held a real nine-to-five job. Who was going to want an employee whose only life experience was being a prince for thirty-two years?
“I don’t know. Maybe Sal will let me wash dishes or work in the kitchen. I’ll figure it out.”
“Damn. And I thought I’d messed my life up,” she said.
They both looked at each other for a moment, then burst into laughter.
“Stay with us. For as long as you need. Come on.” She tugged him forward.
Faded pictures of Emma as a little girl were framed all down the hallway—playing on a swing set, baking in an apron, smiling next to a Christmas tree.
Her history was written on the walls. Were they a little shabby?
Maybe, but the whole house felt lived in, loved.
It couldn’t have been more unlike the austere atmosphere of the castle where he had been scolded countless times for running down the hall, laughing, or just generally being a child.
A full blush had crept into Emma’s cheeks. It pained his heart to see her so ashamed of her home.
Hardwood floors snapped and groaned as they passed a couple of closed doors and emerged into a small living room. It smelled like the color green. Plants were everywhere—every windowsill, on shelves. It was warm and full of energy.
She released his hand and bent over to open the dog crates. Cooper immediately bounded over and put his paws on Leo’s shoulders.
Another smaller dog, a black lab, followed more cautiously.
“This is Arizona. My mom’s service dog,” Emma said.
He hesitated. “Am I allowed to pet her?”
Emma smiled. “Yes. She’s not working right now. But thank you for asking.”
He dropped to a knee, and Arizona immediately licked his face and put a rough paw on his knee.
“She’s beautiful.”
There was so much love and warmth contained in these four walls.
He had never been allowed to have a pet.
Maybe now he’d adopt one…once he found a place to live.
But there would be time to worry about that tomorrow.
For tonight, he was going to sink deeply into Emma’s world and find out what magnificent melting pot had created the woman he loved.
Bollocks. There was that word again.
“Anyway, here’s our living room and kitchen and—” She gasped, and Leo whirled around, half expecting to see another intruder trying to climb in their back door. But she was staring at the calendar on the wall.
“It’s your birthday,” she said.
“A birthday?” Lisa’s head popped up. “We have so much to do. What’s your favorite dinner, Leo?”
“Oh, you don’t have to go to any trouble for me. And I don’t want to derail your usual Christmas—” he started, but Emma threw a pillow at his face. It bounced off and landed on the floor.
“Don’t make us drag it out of you. It’ll help to have something to celebrate,” she added.
He debated. “I quite like spaghetti. We almost never had it at home. My mother always said it was too ‘pedestrian.’”
“Then I’m going to make you the best damn spaghetti you’ve ever had. Let me just run out and get a few—”
“No, please, let me,” Leo interrupted. “I need to pick up a few things anyway. Just make me a list.”
Emma jotted some things down, then handed it over. “Let me just get my coat—”
“I’ll go. I’ll come right back.”
She had done enough.
“But you don’t know where you’re going.”
Leo waved a hand. “I found my way here, didn’t I? It’s a grid system. It’s not even possible to get lost.”
“That’s Manhattan—” she called as the door closed behind him.