Chapter 56 Kiera
KIERA
I could hardly breathe. Dom had sucked all the air out of the room with her shit attitude. Not only did she have the nerve to hold me hostage in this house, she had the gaul to be a fucking bitch about it.
Grabbing Leo’s hand, I let her guide me away from the kitchen and down the hall toward the wellness wing. I hadn’t seen all of it on my initial tour, Spencer stopping us before we could make it to the end of the long, wood-panelled hallway.
But Leo was moving fast, trying to get me as far away from Dom as possible.
In my haze, I felt like I was getting lost in the massive house. It would take years to know where I was in this labyrinth of a building.
Until I entered the massive hallway, smelling the warm wood of the sauna, the musk of the gym, and the humidity of the pool at the very end.
Leo brought us to the glass door, the last one in the hallway, and pushed it open. “After you, Princess.”
Still holding her hand, I brushed past her and into the natatorium. There was no heavy chlorine smell hitting my nose, sending a wave of confusion through me as I looked at the water.
But my hesitation only grew as I tore my eyes off the water and looked around the room. Floor to ceiling windows, the width of two Leos, surrounded the pool and faced the manicured gardens outside.
Tall, stone columns separated each window, gilded accents sprawling up toward the ceiling where a warm, cherry wood was illuminated by the skylight overhead. The columns were old money but the wood ceiling was a midcentury modern touch — something the last owners must have put in themselves.
It was one of a kind.
Which is why it sent a shiver down my spine.
I know this place.
Stopped in my tracks, my eyes flicked across the room, trying desperately to connect the vague dots in the back of my mind.
The familiarity the rest of the mansion had inspired in my heart every day felt like a generic resemblance to a style I’d seen in dozens of places my entire life. But this pool was far too recognizable to be mistaken.
Managing to take one step closer, I peeked at the bottom of the pool. Swirls of gold mixed with the blue stone and tile of the pool's walls.
I know I’ve been here before.
Just as the hair on my arms rose, Leo stepped past me and in one swift motion peeled off her shirt. She pulled the fabric over her head, her muscles tensing and flexing as she did. Tossing the shirt to a nearby lounger, Leo headed toward the pool.
All I could do was stammer out a few words. “I don’t have a suit.”
“Me either.” Leo winked as she flashed a charming smile back at me.
But as I crossed my arms, unsure I was in the mood for a swim, Leo turned on her heels and offered a softer look. “Wanna dip your feet in?”
Nodding, I caught up to her and took a spot at the edge of the pool. Leo held out her hand for me as I lowered myself to the cold stone of the deck. There, Leo lifted the leg of her sweats and dunked her feet into the water.
Bracing myself for a chill, I slipped my own feet inside. A squeal slipped past my lips as I felt the warm water lap onto my feet and shins.
Leo laughed, nudging me with her broad shoulders. “Feel good?”
“Yeah, just warmer than I thought.” I shook my head.
“Can’t have our girl in a cold pool. Although, you know I’d love to warm you up.” A smirk took over Leo’s chiseled face.
Rolling my eyes, I let myself take a deep breath. Despite being completely enclosed, the air in here felt light and breezy, like we were outside. But the leaves outside had almost entirely fallen to the ground, the grass starting to brown as the cold of late fall set in.
In here, you’d think it was summer.
I watched the water ripple over my skin, the eerie feeling of old comfort washing over me. I’d sat here before, dunked into the water and squealed.
Who was I playing with?
My mind searched for the answer, digging through ancient filing cabinets of information long stored away.
All I knew about this house from my captors was that Dom had bought it after a foreclosure.
Maybe it was just one of my mom’s rich friends' old place. After Dad passed, we spent summers with family friends — Maura always on a mission to find a new husband’s checks to cash.
No one I knew who didn’t come from money would ever let a home like this fall into disrepair. It had to be one of those rich douchebags.
Even in its roughest form, no first time mansion owner would ever let their prized possession become a heap of rubble and cobwebs.
Whoever’s house this was, they were more than happy to let it rot in the dirt.
Until Dom found it.
“I’m sorry for her.” Leo nodded toward the pool room's entrance. “I don’t know what’s gotten into her. She’s usually grumpy, but not like this.”
All I could do was shrug. “It’s not your fault she’s a rude bastard.”
Leo groaned out answer, her frustration with her friend evident. And it wasn’t just about me. There was more going on, plenty I wasn’t privy to. It had become very clear over the past 24 hours that I was being left out of plenty.
More than anything, it seemed like Major Callahan was getting tired of apologizing for Dom’s sins. Maybe I could use that frustration to get her to spill.
“Was she like this when you two were younger?” Leo tilted her head, so I continued. “In school. You said you guys were friends.”
“Oh,” she nodded. “Not really. We went to the same prep school, but we ran in different circles, so we didn’t hang out much. I’m pretty sure our parents knew each other, though.”
“Huh.” Looking down at the lightly lapping water, everything made a little more sense. I’d been wondering how Leo got away with confronting Dom.
Too much history in this damn place.
It wasn’t just the house either, it was Valemont as a whole.
“We only got close when she saw me in The Hollow and told me to come by her shop. I needed work post-discharge and Dom was willing to take me in.” Leo watched me as I stared down at the water, lost in thought.
“Why didn’t you just get a job in medicine? Wouldn’t it pay better?” It felt odd to be so blunt, but I knew Leo could handle it, could take the honesty.
Nodding, Leo gripped the edge of the pool. “Yeah it would.” Her fingers tapped against the stone deck. “But I couldn’t do it, not after what I saw out there. Besides, it felt like I’d come back here to heal people and let them leave with hospital bills that would just kill them in another way.”
Under her breath, she muttered. “There’s plenty of other doctors to take care of people.”
I bit my lip. “So, underground medicine is a little better?”
Leo lifted her brows and laughed. “Yeah, no insurance companies. And helping Valemont Violence is far more rewarding than anything else I’ve done.”
A silence drifted over us as we let our feet dangle in the water. It was comforting but I couldn’t get one question out of my mind. It made sense why Spencer and Leo had ended up in this rundown, college town…
“Why would a rich asshole like Dom want to live in a shithole mansion like this in the middle of nowhere, in a sleepy town like Valemont?” The words were past my lips before I could consider whether I was ready to ask it aloud.
Avoiding my eyes, Leo stammered for an answer. “I don’t… I mean it’s a nice change of pace.”
My eyes flicked across her face, trying to glean as much information from her as I could. If I had any hope of getting out from under Dom’s grasp, I needed more data. I needed to figure out what made her tick and why she was out in these woods hiding from the world.
She had everything, the money, the status. She could have anything.
But as I looked at Leo’s stern face, I couldn’t tell if this was all a deflection — a way to obscure the truth Leo wasn’t ready to spill to me yet — or if Dom had been keeping secrets of her own.