Page 157 of What's Left of Us

Lincoln pops into my mind, and I know she knows she has me.

“What did you call me here for?” I ask, shoulders squaring at whatever idea she’s been cooking.

“I need you to listen very closely to me.”

Nerves buzz under my skin as the stretch of silence lasts longer than I’d like it to.

“I had an affair with William Murphy shortly after he became partners with your father. I was in love. He always made me feel appreciated, and I felt like I mattered in a world where us women rarely are. We’d both been having some troubles in our marriage that were caused by the stress of MDR’s rapid growth, and things went too far. Your father was never going to love me the way he loved your mother, but he hated when anybody hadcontrol over something he considered his. And that is what I was. His.”

She takes a deep breath and winces, holding her side and making me wonder if she has more injuries than I can see. “William Murphy treated me like a person rather than a pawn, and I will be forever grateful for what he has shown me. But I don’t want to keep being punished for falling in love. Your father is losing control because he was driven by greed and money, and now he’s drowning in the consequences of his actions.”

Leani looks away from me.

“You loved William.”

Her eyes sadden. “I did.”

It’s more than sadness. There’s grief. “Did my father do something to separate you two?”

A fresh glaze settles into her eyes. “He made a deal with the devil,” she whispers, shedding one tear and hastily swiping it away.

“Stefan Mangino.”

She dips her head. “Stefan has intervened in your father’s life since your mother turned away the Mangino family. Your father thought if he could strike a deal with him, that they would be even. William—” Her voice breaks. “William was in over his head with the people he was working with. I told him to stop, but he couldn’t. He was becoming a risk, and Nikolas knew it was only a matter of time before he was caught. So, he set him up in the hope of proving to Mangino that he was loyal. He wanted William out of the picture and Stefan Mangino to let go of the vendetta he had against him.”

But he didn’t. “So my father got his partner locked up, the business in his name, and Stefan Mangino became an investor.”

Her throat bobs. “He thought he could show Mangino that they were on the same side. That they didn’t have to be enemies. But Mangino would never forget what your mother did. So hewent back on his promise to Nikolas and started making the business beneficial to him and his…associates.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

She reaches into my bag and pulls out the phone to reveal the recording in process. “I’m telling you this because you have gotten good at playing the role of the dutiful daughter. But you are like me, Georgia. You are done wondering when the punishment will end.”

When she releases my hand, I hit the red button that stops recording audio. “Why tell me this when he’s here and put us both at risk? Why not go to the police yourself and tell them what you know?”

When she lifts her shirt, I suck in a breath when I see the large bruise covering half of her torso. “Because I won’t survive any more of his wrath. You have far more officers on your side than I do on mine.”

Lowering her shirt, she takes my hand in a softer grip. “I can’t have children of my own,” she tells me, her lips wavering. “And I’ve taken that frustration out on you when it wasn’t deserved. But you are better than your father. Better than me. You have something worth living for. Something to lose. Do something with it.”

Something crashes in the study, making both of us flinch as voices begin raising.

My eyes dart to her, dipping to her torso where the bruises are hiding. “Why is he speaking to his lawyer anyway?”

She swallows. “He wants to void the contract with Mangino before he can run the business into the ground. He needs his lawyer to figure out how.”

If Stefan Mangino is as powerful as he seems, then no lawyer would be able to void a contract like that.

As if she knows what I’m thinking, she murmurs, “The devil never takes back a deal without a sacrifice. And I fear that one of us may be the lamb brought to slaughter.”

“So, what do you propose?”

The study door opens, and Leani pulls me off to the side and out of sight when a man with a red, round face scurries down the hallway.

As he opens the door, he spots where we’re hiding and freezes. His eyes widen when he sees me before they dart behind him.

In a voice low enough for only us to hear, he says, “If you were smart, you would get out while you can.”

He says that to me, not Leani.

---