Page 39 of Desire

“I can’t. I can’t risk breaking the contract I signed.” Tears form in my eyes. “But most of all, I can’t stand the thought of reliving what he did to me. Having to admit how weak I was, allowing it to happen again and again. I’ll never recover from that, Leo.”

He pulls me close to him.

“I’ll be by your side the entire time.”

I’m fully crying now.

“I can’t, please. We’ve got to find another way. Don’t make me do this. I won’t survive it. It’s why I signed the contract so freely because it allowed me to move on and forget it.”

“None of it was your fault, Elise. Don’t hide away, because you think it was.”

“I’m not. I just don’t want Izzy to see me as weak.”

Leo goes to open his mouth and persuade me some more when a noise from the kitchen doorway distracts us both. Izzy is standing there, staring at us.

“Mama?” I turn my head away and quickly wipe the tears from my eyes. “Has Simon said something to upset you?”

“No, Izzy, I’m fine.” I try to keep my voice strong.

“I think your mama is just tired from all the dancing.” Leo kisses the top of my head and stands up. “Have you finished your dinner?”

“Yes, Mr. Leo.”

“Good girl. Now, why don’t you go and get your pajamas on, and your mama can do the same. I’ll tidy up, and then we can all settle down for a movie night. We’ll worry about the outside world tomorrow. But tonight, we can get lost in the latest Avengers film. What do you say to that?” Leo moves around the room as he speaks, putting the phones on silent. He gets to the house phone and pulls it from the wall.

“Yes, please.” Izzy jumps up and down before running to her room.

“What if my mama phones?” I question, suddenly worried she’s seen the interview.

“Call her while you’re changing but only her.”

Leo brings my phone over to me as I stand up from the sofa.

“Tell me it’s going to be okay, Leo.” I plead.

“It’s going to be okay.”

Leo kisses me on the lips and pushes me toward my bedroom. But before I disappear from the lounge, I take one final look at him for reassurance. It doesn’t come, though, when I see his figure slumped in defeat.

Chapter 20

Leo

The next few days pass in a flurry of meetings with various different press people and lawyers. My father is sticking by his words and has sold his story to anyone who’ll listen. I’ve tried to speak to mymamáabout it, but she’s not been answering her phone. I called one of her neighbors to check on her, but they phoned back saying she didn’t want to be disturbed at present because the lies had hurt her too badly. Mymamáhasn’t exactly been known for her good mental health in the past, and I don’t want to push things with her, so I asked the neighbor to keep an eye on her.

On the day of the live show things get even worse. The fantastic jive we’ve been practicing falls apart not just in rehearsal but during the actual performance as well. We come in the bottom two after a score of twenty-four, but the judge who made the final decision saved us over the other couple.

Thankfully, the cast of the show are supporting us. It’s been made known that although we are now in a relationship, Elise and I were not, as Simon suggests, having an affair while she was married. A part of me wants to leave the show and hide Elise away from the limelight. Maybe she’s right. If she quits, then Simon might leave us alone. I can’t bring myself to let her do it, though. He’s nothing but an abusive bully, and this is another one of his tactics to destroy Elise because she’s better than him.

“Mama, the public are poopy,” Izzy cries as she runs toward Elise.

The look of upset on her face has me clutching at my chest in disappointment for her. It must be hard seeing her mama put in this position. I know it’s the reality of the show, but Izzy isn’t stupid—she’s seen the news reports and heard our whispered conversations over the last few days. She knows there’s more at stake here than winning a dance contest.

“Isabella French, you go wash your mouth out,” Elise admonishes her, not forcefully, though. It’s actually quite funny.

“Sorry, Mama,” Izzy replies. “But you taught me to always tell the truth.”

I can’t help laughing at Izzy’s comment. She has her mama dead to rights there.

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