Page 35 of Jonathon, After All

“As you wish,” Markus said and bowed low in front of Muriel.

“That won’t be necessary,” she murmured, waving at Markus and dismissing him.

“Please, tell me why he stopped painting.” Leo allowed Muriel to see how heartbroken he was and how deeply he regretted the pain he had caused. “I stayed away so Jonathon could follow his dream. I was afraid he’d end up like Ella,” he explained, causing her to flinch and muffle a watery gasp.

She nodded, her lip quivering before she gave his chest a hard shove. “Well, he still did, didn’t he?” Muriel barked at him. “He said he was done with painting after Schönbühel and refused to tell me anything except that he had moved on. He said he found a new passion and was going to express himself as an influencer,” she said and pulled a face. “I thought that maybe the pressure had gotten to him, or that I had pushed him too hard. I shouldn’t have accepted it so easily, but I would have done anything if it made him happy. I was so worried and weary with all the moping after Austria.”

“I swear I had no idea.” Leo hung his head, ashamed. “I promise, Muriel, I will make it up to Jonathon, if you will help me find him.”

She glared at him for several moments before letting out a loud “Humph!” and turning for the hallway. “You had better, Lord von Hessen,” she said, hurling his title at him like an insult as she stormed out, gesturing for them to follow. “Perhaps he’s left a clue in his room.”

Leo experienced a flash of dread when Muriel stopped and pointed at a door at the end of the short hallway, certain he was about to face more proof of Jonathon’s misery. At first glance, it looked like a teenager’s room, with clothing, chargers, magazines, and other odds and ends strewn about. The bed was unmade and several drawers were open with their contents spilling out.

“Where’s his phone?” Markus asked her when he leaned into the room but Leo heard a stubborn grunt.

“You will not be getting that without a warrant,” she informed them, making Markus roll his eyes. “You can look around in here for clues, but I won’t allow you to invade his privacy by going through his phone and reading his messages. And you can’t touch his laptop.”

“This is more than enough,” Leo stated when Markus opened his mouth to argue with her, then paused when he noticed a door frame peeking over the top of a tall bookshelf. “What’s behind that? There’s a door.” He pointed at it and Muriel shook her head, stretching as much as she could to see.

“I have no idea. I didn’t even notice it when I was in here yesterday.” Her head tilted curiously. “You two, get to moving it!” Muriel ordered them with another imperious humph.

“Let me,” Markus said and stepped around Leo. “It shouldn’t take the two of us if Mr. Hawthorne can move it,” he added under his breath, but Leo had to bite back a grin when Markus leaned and had to put his whole weight into pushing the bookshelf. “There!” he said breathlessly, once it was out of the way.

“Mr. Hawthorne is much stronger than he looks,” Leo noted as he passed Markus and tried the handle. The door opened and Leo sucked in a startled breath as he stepped into the closet and saw an array of brightly colored suits and overcoats. He ignored the garish colors and patterns, filling his lungs when he recognized Jonathon’s scent. “There’s something in here,” he said, then nodded at the short, narrow door on the back wall. “This is where he spent the most time when he was at home,” Leo guessed and looked at Muriel for permission before opening the crude door. It had been covered over, judging by the holes around the frame and its ancient, yellowed paint.

And Leo knew he’d found Jonathon’s secret sanctuary when he stepped inside the darkened stairwell and saw all the self portraits.

“This used to go down to the 5th floor!” Muriel waved at the stairs and banister, then gasped when she noticed what must have been hundreds of portraits. Canvases—all with Jonathon’s glowing, happy face—surrounded them. “What is this?” she wondered out loud.

“They’re all Mr. Hawthorne,” Markus said, emerging from the narrow door and unfolding. He had to angle his upper body and crouch to pass through it.

“No…” Leo’s heart sank to his feet as he turned, scanning around them. He recognized the arched windows and doorways behind Jonathon and he knew those views of the Danube. They were the same moments Leo returned to in his dreams and when he missed Jonathon the most. “That’s who he used to be. That’s my Jonathon, not the man we’ve been chasing since the gala.”

“Oh, Jonathon…” Muriel placed a hand over her heart, shaking her head. “I forgot that he could laugh and smile, it’s been so long. I hadn’t realized how much I missed seeing him like this.”

“But you encouraged all of his…stunts,” Markus argued as he held up his phone. “I’ve studied his Instagram and it’s a journal of his self-destruction and as far as I can tell, you were more than his aunt and benefactor, you were his sidekick and at times the instigator.”

She used her cane to knock the phone out of Markus’s hand. “At least I was there for Jonathon and he wasn’t alone. I might have been clueless in Austria and I shouldn’t have believed Jonathon when he said he was reinventing himself. But I’ve always believed in Jonathon, even when I didn’t understand him, and I’ve done everything in my power to make him happy.”

“By pushing him at every eligible bachelor in Manhattan?” Markus said sarcastically, then flinched and ducked when she raised her cane, threatening him.

“Muriel,” Leo said sternly and shook his head. “I do not assault my employees and neither will you.”

She made an indignant sound but lowered her cane. “I’m not going to live forever, you imbecile,” she growled up at Markus. “I’m all the poor dear has ever had. His parents never cared about him so he spent most of his days in a nursery, forgotten and alone, until I sent for him. The boy barely talked when he came to me but we managed to get along nicely and he was happy until Schönbühel. He became so tiresome and expensive, I didn’t know if anyone would want him after I was gone,” she said with a forlorn sigh. “It was like my sweet boy had vanished and a hair-brained twit had taken his place. But what was I to do? I was all he had.”

“You have my sincerest apologies,” Leo said and swept her a low bow. “I see how much pain I have caused the both of you,” he told her. “Sabine convinced me that I was doing the right thing by leaving him alone. But she’s gone now and I won’t stop until I find Jonathon and I will make him happy again.”

“Good.” She gave him a firm nod. “See that you do,” she added before she turned and left them.

Markus sighed at her back, shaking his head. “This isn’t entirely your fault. Sabine kept you in the dark about?—”

“Because I chose to be in the dark,” Leo interrupted. “I was afraid of seeing what his life was like without me—too selfish to cope with Jonathon being happy without me—so I allowed Sabine to pull my strings. None of this would have happened if I had faced it like an adult and checked up on him myself.” Leo took one last look around the abandoned stairwell before making his escape. His conscience had been battered to hell and needed a break. “Find him, Markus. Please.”

Eleven

“He’s here!”

Those two words, uttered by Riley as he and Luna raced into Milo’s room, induced pure panic and euphoria.

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