“Is this some sort of joke?”
She shakes her head. “The two hundred thousand is the remainder of what you agreed. The five million is for reparations.”
“Well, tell him to take his reparations, and shove it.”
Fionnella’s mouth tightens. “Lucky—”
“My name is Elyse. So what else does he want? Please don’t insult me by implying you flew all the way here just to deliver this.” I slap the envelope on the porch bannister.
“He wants to see you. But he can’t, not with that restraining order you have against him.” Her mouth twists. “A little much if you ask me.”
“I didn’t. I don’t want the money.”
She doesn’t respond. Her chin juts forward, her eyes contemplative as they rest on me. “I told him you wouldn’t take it.”
“And he sent it anyway. Of course.”
“It’s a natural reaction.”
“To throw money at everything?”
“To seek what he thinks is the most effective solution to a problem.”
“I’m not a problem! At least not his problem. He can’t pull my strings and manipulate me any more. And how the hell did you two find me anyway?”
“I’m very resourceful. And let’s face it, with Getty behind bars, you haven’t tried very hard to hide your tracks. Or he wouldn’t be sending you those texts within days of buying a new phone.”
“Maybe I should try harder then. Maybe I should take this money and use it to place a few continents between us, hide in a place where he can’t find me.”
“He will always find you, Elyse. There’s nowhere on earth you can disappear to that I won’t find you, if the boss wishes me to.”
“I know who he is now, Fionnella. You don’t need to keep calling him the boss.”
“He may no longer be your boss, but he’s mine.”
“What’s your deal, Fionnella? Why are you here, fighting for him?”
She looks off into the rolling fields and paddock for a minute, before she meets my gaze. “He tried to help me with my son. Michael came home from Afghanistan with PTSD. He was Adriana Nathanson’s patient. You’ve seen the footage. You know how she treats her young male patients. He was under her care for a year before he committed suicide.”#p#分页标题#e#
My hand lifts to my mouth as horror drenches me. “I’m sorry.”
Grief blankets her face for a moment, but then her brisk manner returns. “Take the money, Elyse. If not for yourself, then for the sister you gave every dime of those eight hundred thousand dollars to. Think what this could do for Petra.”
“Please don’t say her name,” I mutter, still caught in Fionnella’s confession.
A dart of hurt crosses her face. “What did I do that was so bad, Lucky? Hmm? You signed up to do a job. I ensured you were taken care of so you could do it. Are you condemning me for that?”
“You knew what he was doing with me. With Elyse. Lucky knew what she signed up for. Elyse didn’t deserve the mind-fucking that came with the deal. She didn’t deserve to have her feelings fucked with.”
“No, you’re right.”
I exhale in disbelief. “That’s all you have to say?”
“It’s not for me to apologize for him.”
“So what, you want me to go have a cup of coffee and a conversation with him?”
“He can’t have a goddamn coffee or conversation with you when you’ve got a restraining order out on him. And he certainly can’t do that when he’s hell-bent on killing himself!”
Icy chains shackle my heart. “What are you talking about?”
She sighs and it’s a weary, hollow sound. “This was his plan all along, Lucky. Expose his father, stepmother and shrink. Then find a way to end it all. Except you came along. You gave him hope! Probably even love. Am I right?”
I shudder in the face of the raw accusation.
“And now you’re withholding it.”
My eyes widen. “Please tell me you’re not finding some way to blame me for all of this?”
She shrugs. “Love comes with responsibility. Whether you want to admit it or not, you’re responsible for him. It’s your name he toasts to every time he gulps down a mouthful of whiskey, and trust me, he does that very often. It’s your name he screams out for in his sleep. You be the judge of what needs to be done. The jet will be at Vancouver International for the next twenty-four hours. I’ll leave your name with the crew. If you’re not there by midday tomorrow, it’ll take off.”
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