Read Online Leopold: Part Five by Ember Casey, Renna Peak - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Ember Casey, Renna Peak
Ads: Link
Stephan.
“Please,” I murmur to Elle. “Let’s just go inside and discuss this.”
She nods. “Okay.”
As she starts up the stairs, I gesture at the car, making it clear to the driver that he is no longer needed.
I can’t believe how close I came to losing her again. I can’t believe that even now, after everything that has happened, she’s thinking of walking away from this. What might have happened if I’d come a moment later? When I returned to her chamber and found it empty, I nearly had a heart attack. If I hadn’t heard the car horn, I might still be looking for her. She might have been well on her way to a plane by now. She might have been halfway across the Atlantic before I’d even realized where she’d gone.
We’re not back to her room yet, but I don’t think I can wait that long. I need answers.
I grab her arm, and she gives a little gasp of surprise as I pull her into the nearest room—a parlor that sees little use this time of year. The room is dark except for the last red rays of the sun coming in through the window, but I don’t care. I pull her against the nearest wall and prop my hands against the wall on either side of her.
“Why were you going to leave?” I demand. “I want the truth, Elle.”
“I’ve already told you Stephan made it clear I wasn’t welcome here,” she says.
“And I made it clear that you were. Why would you believe that bastard over me?”
“It’s not that I believed him over you. It’s just… Look around you, Leo. Then think back to where we met. Or to my house. That is my reality. Not this. Sure, I can spend the next three months playing princess, but why? What happens after that? At some point, the clock will strike midnight and then all of this will be over. I can’t just spend three months of my life living in a fantasy world. Life doesn’t work that way for most of us.”
I don’t say anything for a long moment. My entire body is rigid, and my fingers press hard against the ornate wallpaper.
Finally, I blurt, “And you think you’d be happier spending those three months in Oklahoma?”
“That’s not… Dammit, Leo, my whole life was turned upside down overnight! A few days ago, I had no idea I’d ever see you again, and now suddenly I’m somehow committed to living in Montovia for three months. It’s a lot to take in.”
I push off from the wall and spin away from her, trying to think. I’ll admit I was a little quick to agree to the terms laid out by Andrew, but I was so relieved that my father had agreed to them, I didn’t stop to think. Still, it changes very little. I want to be with Elle. I’m not about to let either of us walk away from this again.
“You didn’t answer my question,” I say carefully, still keeping my back to her. “Do you or do you not think you’d be happier in Oklahoma than you would be here?”
She only hesitates a moment. “In Oklahoma, I’d have a job.”
“You can have a job here,” I say, turning. “Or you can volunteer with Sophia down at Montovia City School, or you can just think of this as an extended vacation. Whatever you wish.”
“I still have that interview—”
“Which you could cancel. My understanding is that it happens all the time.” I take a step back toward her. “The truth is that you have no commitments back in the United States. You have no professional or social obligations there. Which means you have the freedom to make this decision based entirely on what you want , not what you feel you must do.”
“This is just a fantasy,” she says. “It has to end sometime.”
“Perhaps. Or perhaps not,” I say, taking another step closer to her. I see something flicker in her eyes—uncertainty? Fear?—so I try it again from a different angle. “Every moment I spend with you is a fantasy, Elle. I can’t say when or if this will end—only the universe knows that. I might walk outside tomorrow and be struck by lightning and die on the spot. But that’s why I
“Please,” I murmur to Elle. “Let’s just go inside and discuss this.”
She nods. “Okay.”
As she starts up the stairs, I gesture at the car, making it clear to the driver that he is no longer needed.
I can’t believe how close I came to losing her again. I can’t believe that even now, after everything that has happened, she’s thinking of walking away from this. What might have happened if I’d come a moment later? When I returned to her chamber and found it empty, I nearly had a heart attack. If I hadn’t heard the car horn, I might still be looking for her. She might have been well on her way to a plane by now. She might have been halfway across the Atlantic before I’d even realized where she’d gone.
We’re not back to her room yet, but I don’t think I can wait that long. I need answers.
I grab her arm, and she gives a little gasp of surprise as I pull her into the nearest room—a parlor that sees little use this time of year. The room is dark except for the last red rays of the sun coming in through the window, but I don’t care. I pull her against the nearest wall and prop my hands against the wall on either side of her.
“Why were you going to leave?” I demand. “I want the truth, Elle.”
“I’ve already told you Stephan made it clear I wasn’t welcome here,” she says.
“And I made it clear that you were. Why would you believe that bastard over me?”
“It’s not that I believed him over you. It’s just… Look around you, Leo. Then think back to where we met. Or to my house. That is my reality. Not this. Sure, I can spend the next three months playing princess, but why? What happens after that? At some point, the clock will strike midnight and then all of this will be over. I can’t just spend three months of my life living in a fantasy world. Life doesn’t work that way for most of us.”
I don’t say anything for a long moment. My entire body is rigid, and my fingers press hard against the ornate wallpaper.
Finally, I blurt, “And you think you’d be happier spending those three months in Oklahoma?”
“That’s not… Dammit, Leo, my whole life was turned upside down overnight! A few days ago, I had no idea I’d ever see you again, and now suddenly I’m somehow committed to living in Montovia for three months. It’s a lot to take in.”
I push off from the wall and spin away from her, trying to think. I’ll admit I was a little quick to agree to the terms laid out by Andrew, but I was so relieved that my father had agreed to them, I didn’t stop to think. Still, it changes very little. I want to be with Elle. I’m not about to let either of us walk away from this again.
“You didn’t answer my question,” I say carefully, still keeping my back to her. “Do you or do you not think you’d be happier in Oklahoma than you would be here?”
She only hesitates a moment. “In Oklahoma, I’d have a job.”
“You can have a job here,” I say, turning. “Or you can volunteer with Sophia down at Montovia City School, or you can just think of this as an extended vacation. Whatever you wish.”
“I still have that interview—”
“Which you could cancel. My understanding is that it happens all the time.” I take a step back toward her. “The truth is that you have no commitments back in the United States. You have no professional or social obligations there. Which means you have the freedom to make this decision based entirely on what you want , not what you feel you must do.”
“This is just a fantasy,” she says. “It has to end sometime.”
“Perhaps. Or perhaps not,” I say, taking another step closer to her. I see something flicker in her eyes—uncertainty? Fear?—so I try it again from a different angle. “Every moment I spend with you is a fantasy, Elle. I can’t say when or if this will end—only the universe knows that. I might walk outside tomorrow and be struck by lightning and die on the spot. But that’s why I
Similar Books
