Chapter 46
Sol
They were having lunch at an outside table in one of the restaurants of the Four Seasons in Mallorca.
It was Jasper Fairbanks’s treat for the detectives—and Sol.
Or did Sol also count as one more of the detectives?
She wasn’t quite sure. She needed to talk to Divya and Luke about what they wanted from her future contributions to the agency.
But she first needed to talk to Luke. She needed the terms of her marriage proposal to be more clear—and to set an early date.
Once she was resolved on doing something, she wasn’t someone to take her time and wait.
The sooner they were husband and wife, the better.
Jasper was presiding at the table, serving cava for everyone, a smile never leaving his face, and checking every few seconds in the direction of Leonardo—as if to make sure that his leading man was still there and hadn’t disappeared again.
Sol would not say that out loud in front of Luke, but the actor looked outrageously hot in a way she hadn’t experienced the first time they’d met.
Was it completely wrong to say that kidnapping had proved Leonardo well?
Even though they’d spent half the night at the police station getting debriefed and pressing charges against Theo Summers, Leonardo looked well rested.
There was no trace of the dark circles under his eyes that Sol had seen when she’d interviewed him.
His skin was glowing in a deep, enviably golden tone.
His eyes were bright, and ready. He even looked as if he’d put on a couple of muscle pounds.
The Irrefutably Sexy Leonardo Pascual was back.
“Doesn’t he look gorgeous?” Sandro Palau said, beaming at his partner with adoring eyes. The actor had flown into Mallorca on the first available flight that day, after Leonardo had called him the night before from outside Theo Summers’s villa right after hanging up with the police.
“He absolutely does,” Jasper agreed. One thing was clear: if Sandro was ecstatic to have his man back, Jasper was probably as happy at the prospect of having his star by his side again.
“Mind if I ask you a couple of things—completely off the record!” Sol said, preemptively raising her hands in the air, as if to show her innocence.
She’d already written what she hoped would be the last article about Leonardo Pascual’s bizarre disappearance.
She’d drafted it in a rush the night before after the whole ordeal, and made sure to include a clear disclosure about her involvement in the whole thing.
Julie had been very happy with it, mentioning it would be a traffic boon for the site.
Sol had written about Leonardo’s newfound freedom, the man behind his abduction, and the fact that The Single Dad Situation was set to start production on Monday without further delays.
“After what you wrote about me and the show, I won’t say no to you.” Leonardo smiled at Sol.
“Theo approached you at the W after our interview, right?” The events of that day had driven Sol crazy for the last few days. Only having helped in finding Leonardo safe and sound had assuaged the feeling that she should have noticed something was going on then and tried stopping it.
“I didn’t recognize him at first. He got all upset because of that.
Introduced himself hastily, reminded me that we were supposed to do a show together.
I was simply trying to get rid of him and make my way to the theater,” Leonardo recalled, and as he did his face became a bit somber.
“He came with me to the street, two more men appeared next to him. I thought I would get rid of him once inside the taxi, but he also got there with me, with his goons. He talked to the taxi driver and managed to change the destination I’d given.
I’ve encountered my fair amount of weird Hollywood people throughout the years so I wasn’t too worried—not yet.
There are so many narcissists I assumed this was another one.
The taxi took us to the port. It was all a blur.
I kept trying to get rid of him and his men, yet getting farther and farther from where I was supposed to be.
By the time I realized my problem wasn’t that I was going to be late for the last performance of El bano de Edipo, but that I’d been kidnapped, I was in the back of a private luxury car and boarding a ferry headed to Mallorca.
I still don’t know how he got me through security. I don’t think anyone checked my ID.”
“Summers maintains that he was just trying to woo you to do his show,” Luke said. “That’s preposterous, of course.”
“In a way, I think this really was some sort of showrunning courtship for him. That’s why I wasn’t scared or worried—at first. I mean, I was pissed that I had to miss the play, but then I read about Sandro’s performance,” Leonardo winked at his lover.
“And I decided to make the most of the situation. I was exhausted when I got to this island. I think it’s nurtured me back into good health. ”
“How did you manage to get Summers to get your cosmetics and the clothes at the hotel?” Sol continued asking.
“I just asked nicely. Explained it was integral for my contentment. If I was going to stay here, I wanted to have all the comforts. I may have overplayed the bratty, spoiled actor part a tiny bit. I think Theo was sick of me by the end.” Leonardo flaunted his most blinding movie-star smile.
“The guy was so desperate to get me to do his show, that he just flew a couple of times to Barcelona to get my stuff.”
“And he left you at the villa? Alone?” It was Divya now who asked.
“He left me at the villa, locked inside, which was a downgrade from lounging poolside. I was worried that one of his goons was going to reappear and that they were muscle. But I’m starting to think they were probably just a couple of actors that he’d hired to be more intimidating and to get me inside the car with him.
Throughout the whole ordeal I had the feeling that Theo was improvising as it went. ”
Sandro took Leonardo’s hand over the table, suppressing a shudder. “An improvising kidnapper sounds terrifying,” the younger actor said.
“Do you think this was ever about the money for him?” Luke asked. “He talked about the ransom as his compensation fee.”
Leonardo closed his eyes, exhaled. “The way I see it, if he couldn’t get me to do the show, he wanted to be financially compensated for having his creative ego hurt.”
“That’s why he included all those hints at a ransom in the notes,” Luke continued. “He really was making things up as he went.”
“That’s why I started getting worried in the end, once I was completely rested and realized I had no agency or decision on what I was doing.
I mean, I could choose whether to do yoga or swim some laps, but I couldn’t decide if I wanted to leave the villa.
I brought that up with Theo. That night we went out. ”
“And you scrawled something on a napkin and gave it to a waiter in Palma,” Divya said.
“I just wrote Call Bobby and forgive me if it was a bit cryptic. I just didn’t have time.
I couldn’t even add Bobby’s last name, that would have made things a bit easier for you guys, I guess.
But I realized the waiters had recognized me so I just hoped someone would figure out that Bobby was my manager.
And I knew Bobby would realize that meant I was in danger, not just escaping reality and enjoying life while avoiding responsibilities, but taken against my will.
By then I was aware that Theo had abducted me and, no matter how much I overplayed the spoiled brat actor part, he still was reluctant to let me go. So I had to improvise,” Leonardo said.
“Bobby did warn us that the message had to mean that. I won’t lie and admit that we’ve been playing with the idea that you could have voluntarily disappeared…” Luke didn’t mess around with subtleties when discussing a case.
“But Jasper here seems to think that you’re gonna fire Bobby.” It may have been the cava that was making her all loose-tongued, but Sol couldn’t avoid the jab.
“Who? Me? Firing Bobby?” Leonardo’s voice hitched in astonishment. “He’s family! Of course I won’t fire him.”
“Dude, you know he’s totally lost his marbles, right?” Jasper’s flippant comment didn’t even cause a reaction from Leonardo.
“I’m not working without Bobby.” Leonardo was all graceful smiles and kind words, but also firm. That put an immediate end to the Bobby Lancaster affair.
“He’s the one who made us realize you were in danger,” Luke said.
“It’s not just that,” Leonardo added. “He genuinely cares about me. He’s the one who told me not to do Bibliophilia and he told me about your show, Jasper.
” The showrunner’s eyes shot toward his hairline, his mouth open.
“But when I told him I also wanted to do theater, he advised me to take the time off and not do The Single Dad Situation. I know you resent him for that but he’s solely worried about my comfort.
He’s a nice guy. He doesn’t tell me what to do based on his 10 percent but on what he thinks is best for me.
Not for my career, but for me as a person. ”
Jasper vowed in concession at the head of the table. The Bobby Lancaster issue had been settled.
“One last thing and I promise to stop pestering you about this and talk about something different,” Divya said, taking the opportunity to change subjects. “And please just feel free not to answer, but when did you decide you didn’t want to work in Atlanta?”
A quiet laugh escaped Leonardo.
“They thought it was because of me!” Sandro pointed to the detectives. “But you never mentioned anything!”
“I wasn’t looking forward to all the driving, to be honest. I decided I preferred to remain in Europe before realizing I was in love with Sandro.
Even if to you, Jasper, I may have given a different version.
” Leonardo wasn’t looking at the showrunner though, he only had eyes for Sandro. Sol almost sighed.
“Don’t worry, dude,” Jasper said. “I don’t want to sound as cutthroat as that theater director you were just working with, but I’m happy if you’re happy—and if you make my show. Be it in Atlanta, London, or Mallorca…”
“Don’t tempt me!” Leonardo teased.