Page 141 of Leave

I smiled back and squeezed his hand. Under any other circumstances, I’d have said,“Of course it hasn’t. If you hadn’t enlisted, you wouldn’t have your cats.”

But the air between him and his brother was too fraught, and a tension-breaking joke probably wouldn’t be welcome right now, so I kept my mouth shut.

After a moment, Andrew rubbed the bridge of his nose, then dropped his hand to his lap with a smack. “It also turns out you’re not the only one.”

Nolan sat straighter. “What do you mean?”

His brother swallowed hard. “The kids. Two of the three aren’t…” His eyes welled up as he looked away.

My stomach flipped. I could see where this was going.

“Two of the kids aren’t mine,” he finally whispered. “And they’re not full siblings, either.”

Nolan paled, and I squeezed his hand. He almost choked on his voice as he croaked, “There was a chance—I always wondered but didn’t know how to say—that Zoe could be… I mean, the timing…” He winced as if his own words were physically painful.

His brother barked a caustic laugh. “Yeah. Leann came right out and said she was shocked as hell that Zoe turned out to be mine.”

Nolan’s eyebrows climbed. “She is, though?”

Andrew nodded. “Yeah. The other two…” He trailed off. “Leanne won’t tell me who the fathers are. I—I don’t even know if she knows, or if…” He winced.

Nolan lost some more color. “Do you… Do you really think she did this to other guys?”

“Yeah, I do. Because…” Andrew paused, and he deflated even more. “Because the whole shitshow gets worse.”

Nolan and I exchanged wide-eyed glances.

Rubbing the back of his neck, Andrew said, “We managed to keep things on the downlow for a long time. I didn’t think anyone outside the family knew, but… I guess rumors got around recently. Someone heard what happened—what you accused her—whatshedid, and… anyway, it got back to her office.” He pushed out a heavy sigh and sat back. “And… there’s an intern in her office. Young guy.”

The horror dawning in Nolan’s expression mirrored what was coiling in the pit of my stomach.

“She did it to someone else?” he whispered.

With a pained grimace, Andrew nodded. “He just came forward—I don’t know, a month or so ago. He’s planning to press charges. Says he’s got hard evidence, and…” He trailed off, shaking his head.

Nolan closed his eyes and wiped a hand over his face.

“One of her coworkers gave me a heads up,” Andrew went on, sounding absolutely drained. “She said there’s at least one more. A former intern. Maybe two. I… We don’t know how much evidence they have, but apparently they’re making statements.” He swallowed. “They might be pressing charges too. Or at least be witnesses in the other guy’s case.”

“Holy shit,” Nolan whispered.

“Yeah.” Andrew’s voice was barely audible. “Would you testify against her?”

Nolan stared at him. “Are you asking because you want to talk me out of it?”

“No.” Andrew shook his head slowly, and his eyes welled up as he said, “No, Iwantyou to testify.”

Nolan blinked. “You do?”

His brother dropped his gaze. Staring down at his wringing hands, he said, “I get why you’re not pressing charges. It’s… I mean, it’s your word against hers. There’s no evidence. It’s been—fuck, it’s beenhowmany years?”

Nolan shuddered. “Not nearly enough.”

“No,” Andrew acknowledged. “Definitely not. But enough that I could see it being an issue with a jury. So I get it. Why you don’t want to press charges. I wouldn’t want to drag you through that either. But… this kid—I guess he’s got recordings on his phone. Audio, I think. If he’s got that, plus you and the other two testifying that it happened to you…” He paused and swiped at his eyes before meeting Nolan’s gaze. “She doesn’t have to get away with this, Nolan.” He winced as if he realized what that sounded like. “I don’t… I don’t mean this is on your shoulders, or that you have to do it. But this is your chance to get some justice.”

Nolan hung his head and exhaled. He had to be completely overwhelmed by everything; I couldn’t begin to imagine what was going through his head right then.

I wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

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