Chapter Seven
She was halfway down the block when she felt the hand on her arm. She turned to find Leo holding out a pair of sneakers and a beat up leather jacket.
“It’s cold,” he said. “I didn’t know if you had a chance to try on the new stuff.”
She looked at the shoes. “I’m guessing we don’t wear the same size.”
He shrugged, and she realized that while he was holding out his jacket for her, he was in nothing but shirt sleeves. He must have left the flat in a hurry to catch her.
“It’ll do for now.” She didn’t know what that meant. Would they go back to her apartment? Is that what she was supposed to do? Go home. Go back to work like nothing had happened? “Diana,” he said. “Please. Take the jacket.”
She slipped it on, then shoved her bare feet into the too-large sneakers. Leo immediately dropped to his knees to tie the laces. She looked down at his head and was transported back to grade school. She couldn’t count the times Leo had kneeled at her feet.
To inspect a skinned knee.
To pick up a shiny coin that he would inevitably present to her.
To pick tiny wildflowers she would use to weave a crown.
But it was different now. Now when he stood, he towered over her. He was no longer a boy, a playmate. He was a man. And he was still willing to kneel at her feet.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” He rubbed the whiskers at his jaw. “There’s just one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“I can’t let you walk alone.”
She sighed. “Leo, I just need — ”
He held up a hand. “I understand, Diana. And I’m happy to follow at a discreet distance. But you were witness to a murder last night.” She saw the anguish in his eyes, knew that he hated having to say it out loud. “And you left your bag. Your identification. I’m sure I don’t have to explain why it’s a bad idea for you to be out and about alone.”
“You think they’ll come after me?”
He hesitated, like he was considering lying, then exhaled. “I don’t know. But I’m not willing to take the chance.”
She turned away, used her fingers to pull the hair back from her face. “This is mad. Utterly mad.” She turned to face him. “It’s time to go to the police.”
A shadow passed over his eyes. It was gone a moment later. “Okay.”
“Okay?”
He nodded.
She eyed him suspiciously. He’d put up such a fight the night before. Had been so worried about whether or not they could trust the police.
“What aren't you telling me, Leo?”
He sighed. “I have one stop to make first. If you want to go to the police after that, I’ll drive you there myself.”
“Promise?”
“I promise,” he said. “But first we’re going to have breakfast.” She started to object and he held up a hand to stop her. “I know you don’t feel like eating, but if you want justice for Maggie, you need to be strong.”
She did want justice for Maggie, and she would tell the police everything she could remember to get it, even if it put her at risk.
“All right.”
He tucked her arm in his. “Still want to walk?”
She shook her head. “Let’s just get it over with.”
They were heading back to the flat when she remembered the name that had drifted through her mind on the heels of sleep.
“I think I remember something,” she said, looking up at him as they walked. “Something the man said last night.”
“The man who chased you? Or the other one.”
She appreciated his avoidance of Maggie and what had happened to her. There would be time enough to mourn her friend later. Now was the time to do right by her, and she could only do that by staying focused on the men who had murdered her.
“I’m not sure,” she said. “It was when they were in the office. I was in the hall.”
Leo held the door open to his building. “What do you remember?”
“It’s a name, I think. Benny Saff.”
“Benny Saff?” He made sure the door was locked behind them before following her up the stairs.
“I’m pretty sure that’s what he said.”
“Does it mean anything to you?” he asked.
“No,” she said. “And I can’t even be sure it’s English. It’s just something that jumped out at me when they were talking, one of the things that didn’t sound like it fit with the other stuff they were saying.”
He opened the door to the flat. “Why didn’t it fit?”
She thought about it. “I can’t explain it. It just… felt like a name.”
“I’ll look into it,” he said. “Why don’t you finish breakfast while I take a shower? Then we’ll head out.”
She wasn’t sure she could eat. Maggie’s death sat like a lead balloon in her stomach. But Leo was right; she needed to be strong for Maggie — and for Evan. There would be time later for grief.
She headed to the dining room while Leo made his way down the hall. A few minutes later, she heard the water running in the bathroom. She poured herself a fresh cup of coffee and sat down at the dining table. The food was cold, but she forced herself to take bites anyway. Her eyes wandered the flat as she ate, and she tried to imagine Leo watching TV on the overstuffed couch, putting his feet on the rustic coffee table, maybe snuggling with a woman late at night.
She couldn’t. The place was nice, but it lacked Leo’s presence, the quiet strength and warmth that he brought to every situation, every room. She had been able to feel it even when they were teenagers. She would walk down the staircase and know he was there before she ever reached the bottom. She wouldn’t even have to hear his voice. She just knew.
It didn’t feel like Leo was here. It didn’t feel like he’d ever been here.
Which wasn’t that strange. She worked a lot, too. Traveled a lot. Judging from all the times they’d been able to meet on the road, Leo was probably home as little as she was. She wondered if her apartment felt as empty. If it felt cold in spite of the designer furniture and all the care she’d taken decorating it. The truth is, she didn’t like being there very much. It was lonely. Silent in a way that would have been hard to explain, even when she listened to music or on the rare occasions when she watched a movie on her perfect ivory sofa.
What were they both running from?
She put her cup and plate in the sink, then went to the bedroom to get dressed. She forced herself not to look at the bathroom door as she passed. Forced herself not to think of Leo, naked and wet in the shower. But then she was closing the door to the bedroom, and her gaze snagged on a sliver of white tile.
He hadn't closed the door. Not all the way.
Look away, look away, look away…
Except she couldn’t. Her eyes were pulled to the crack in the doorway, past the white tile, the steam rising from the hot water to the blurry figure moving behind the foggy shower door.
He was bent over a little, that much she could tell. He moved his hands over his legs, and for a moment, it was like they were her hands. She could almost feel his big thighs under her palms, feel his muscles tense as she worked her way up to his muscular buttocks. She could feel his skin slip under the soap in her hands, could hear his breath become labored as she moved her hands down the ridges of his stomach, reaching for his —
The water shut off, and she was immediately pulled from her fantasy. What the hell was she doing?
She closed the door to the bedroom before she could catch a glimpse of Leo stepping naked from the shower. That was the last thing she needed.
Obviously.
Leaning her head against the door, she forced herself to breath slowly, to try and calm the too-rapid beating of her heart. This whole situation had thrown her off balance. It was completely understandable. She’d been witness to a murder. Not just any murder — the murder of someone important to her. She’d fled for her life, dodged bullets, raced through the city in the dark of night, half expecting to be killed at any moment.
It was only natural that she would be acting irrationally.
She jumped as a knock sounded at the door.
“Are you decent?” Leo asked from the other side.
She straightened, drew in a deep breath. Thank god she hadn’t started to change. “Perfectly decent.”
The door opened, and he walked in wearing nothing but a towel. It was hung low on his waist, barely clinging to his hips from what she could see. She knew she was staring, but her eyes seemed to have a will of her own. His hair was damp from the shower and darker than usual, the way it had been when they went swimming as kids. She wanted to slip her hands into it, feel the strands of it in her fingers as she tugged his lips to hers.
His chest was wide, and strong, the muscles perfectly sculpted, the ridges of his pecs narrowing to corded abs which only narrowed further to the trim waist, a perfect showcase for the line of hair that started at his naval and disappeared beneath the towel.
She could step toward him, reach him in three steps. It would only take one tug and the towel would be at their feet. She could wrap her arms around his neck, press her body against his. It would be cool and slightly damp. She could lift her leg, wrap it around his thigh. Would he lift her off the ground, allow her to wrap her legs around his waist, to press her soaking pussy against his cock?
“Diana?”
She forced her gaze upward only to find him staring at her. Was it her imagination that there was a knowing look in his eyes? The shadow of a grin on his mouth? She busied herself looking through the shopping bag he’d given her earlier.
“Hmm-mmm?”
“Are you all right?” he asked behind her.
“I’m fine,” she said. “Just a little out of sorts.” It wasn’t a lie.
“I’ll get dressed in the other room,” he said. “Give you some privacy.”
She didn’t turn around. “Thank you.”
The door clicked quietly behind him as he disappeared into the hall. She dropped onto the bed, clutching the pile of new clothes in her hands.
She needed to go to the police immediately. For Maggie, first and foremost. But also because she couldn’t stay here with Leo. Couldn’t rely on him for protection. Not when it was becoming more and more obvious that she was her own worst enemy.