Fallen Rose by Amelia Wilde
Chapter Nine
Leo
The voicemail comes in too fucking early to be a polite call. Just after seven. I didn’t notice the call itself. I’ve been sitting in the only way I can at this moment, with my head in my hands, watching the corners of the room take on the hue of the dawn. At various intervals I look out the front windows of my house, down onto the driveway. From this smaller library and sitting room I have a clear view of anyone approaching the house from the road.
Sleeping is becoming impossible. Fucking Haley last night, feeling her cunt ripple and clench around me, bought me three hours. Then came the pain. Then came the guilt. She was terrified when I found her in the bed. Cracking her fists against the headboard like it was a door to a prison cell. What she imagined was worse. My office. Not being able to get to me.
A better man would have whispered sweet nothings to her and stroked her face until she fell back asleep.
I’m not a better man.
And Haley, for all her innocence, for all her sweetness, can’t stand gentleness. Not right now.
So I have been awake. My back is killing me. Razors down my spine and across my ribs. And a restless, unsettled pit that can only be soothed in a way that’s not available to me in the daylight. That will have to wait.
My phone buzzes again and I swipe it off the table by my chair.
A voicemail from Lucian.
Lucky me.
I lean on the arm of the chair, prop my forehead in my hand, and hold the phone to my ear. I don’t particularly want to hear what Lucian has to say on his way home from his sex club. His recent involvement with my security team means I have to listen. I don’t trust how much he’s become involved. I don’t like how much he knows. My eldest brother is coming dangerously close to the real secret of what happened with Caroline, and I fucking hate that.
I hate it so much I miss the beginning of the message and have to start over.
“Learn to answer your phone when people call, Leo. Voicemail is for hired help and women you want to avoid. Elaine has had an interesting conversation with her mother.” He takes a barely noticeable breath. Elaine. That’s right. Has he been at the sex club with her? Without her? Why the hell is he up so early? I don’t care. “Caroline has been bribing Rick Joseph Jr. with a place in the Constantine family in exchange for doing her a favor.”
The favor will be to kill me.
“She wants him to kill you. Kill the Beast of Bishop’s Landing, and Caroline will make him a hero. She’ll make Haley his wife.”
My spine goes up in flames at the suggestion. At this fucked-up promise that Caroline can’t make, but that she has made to Rick Joseph Jr. That’s why he kept his mouth shut while I beat the hell out of him. He thought he had something on me. He thought if he could survive me, he’d have a chance to get what he wants.
An insidious voice hisses like a snake in the back of my mind. She would be better off with him. Hand-picked by the Constantines. He’d give her family back to her.
It’s bullshit.
What’s not bullshit is the thought underneath.
She would be better off without me.
Lucian’s voicemail continues.
“—come to dinner—”
What the fuck?
I start the damn thing over and listen again.
“I’m so pleased to accept your invitation, Leo. Of course we’ll come to dinner tonight. Happy to accept your thanks for helping to rescue the love of your life and then ensuring your safety while you shut yourself up in your room with her. Elaine can’t wait.”
That’s where it ends.
I let the phone fall onto the bedside table. “Fuck.”
“What is it?”
Haley’s at the door, cheeks pink with sleep, her hair so adorably rumpled and gold in the morning light that I could believe it had some healing quality to it. Like running my fingers through it could be a kind of blessing. She wore one of my shirts to bed last night. I almost order her to take it off, but she needs an answer first. This surprise dinner party will take up the rest of the day.
I beckon her over to me and pull her into my lap. She’s as warm as she is pink, and the scent of her skin calms some part of me that’s been knotted and tense while I waited for the night to be over. Haley kisses the side of my neck, waiting.
“Lucian called,” I tell her. “He and Elaine are coming for dinner tonight. Now lift up your shirt. I need to see you.”
* * *
Haley stands inthe middle of my bedroom in an Armani dinner gown in black, looking down at its shimmer, which reminds me of starlight. She bites at her lip. “Are you sure about this?”
“It’s the perfect dress for you.”
“I meant—”
I finish buttoning my jacket and cut off her question with a kiss. A forceful grip on her chin, her lips soft against mine. “I know what you meant. And you’re coming to dinner.”
Haley has been fretting about the dinner since I told her about it. I’ve been pretending to be completely at ease with a fucking dinner party that my brother has demanded. Let him in the house once, and he’ll keep coming back. Of course, I am not at ease. Of course, pain has spidered out along my ribs from the added stress.
Nothing to be done about it now.
“Do you always dress up when your brother comes to dinner?” She’s peeking at us in the mirror.
“Lucian’s never been here for dinners. But for other family gatherings, we dress.”
A slow nod. “Have you been to one? Since I came to stay with you?”
“No.” Haley doesn’t ask why, but the answer is obvious. She was here, and then Ronan paid his visit, and so far I have missed one family dinner. I’ve missed other commitments as well. Commitments I’ve never told her about. Important ones. “Let’s go, darling. They’ll be here any minute.”
I usher Haley out of the bedroom and down the stairs to the foyer. We arrive at our place by the doors just as the doorbell rings. I didn’t give a shit what Lucian did the night I brought Haley home, but now I feel unsettled to have him here. It’s less tightly controlled than I’d prefer. My life is less tightly controlled, now that Haley’s in it.
Gerard opens the door to let in Lucian and Elaine. Haley steps closer to my side. She saw him at Caroline’s, but this is different. He’s sharp as a knife in his suit, a stark contrast to Elaine’s red dress. She’s a ruby come to life, her eyes as bright as his. A match.
Like Haley is a match for me now. She’s the one who chose black, and she draws herself up next to me, her chin lifting. If I didn’t know her, if I didn’t spend every available second drinking in her expressions, I wouldn’t know she was nervous. It’s not just Lucian, either. It’s Elaine.
Elaine, who might be Caroline’s wildest daughter, but who is still Caroline’s daughter. I can tell from Haley’s shallow breaths that she doesn’t think she measures up. But even without her hair shining in its twist the way it is, even without the dramatic makeup, she surpasses every other woman on the planet.
Lucian brushes a stray lock of hair back from Elaine’s cheek, the two of them making a portrait. Morellis are always putting on a show. He is no exception. He’s created a dark frame for Elaine’s red dress.
“Hello, little brother,” he says, glancing between Haley and me. “Haley.”
“Haley,” Elaine echoes, her pointed, perfect smile broadening. “I didn’t think I’d ever find another Constantine in this family.” She leaves Lucian’s side and links her arm through Haley’s. I hold my breath. “How are you?”
Haley allows herself to be led away, glancing back at me only once. I don’t hear her murmured answer. The touch was a risk on Elaine’s part, but Haley doesn’t pull away. This is perhaps the first time in history that Lucian’s presence has made a situation more tolerable. Less tense. Elaine can’t be with Lucian and be in league with Caroline.
When they’ve disappeared into the dining room, Lucian scans the foyer. The visible security. The lack of our sisters. “Where are the girls?”
Eva and Daphne. “Upstairs. They should be down soon.” A sigh escapes before I can stop it. “Daphne isn’t speaking to me.”
Lucian arches an eyebrow, watching my face with that pointed stare of his.
“The security in her loft is shit, so I made her move in here for the time being. And she has a stalker.”
He blinks. “What the fuck?”
“I’m taking care of it.”
Lucian slides his hands into his pockets, his posture casual. “You always did that. Take care of the family.” A pause. “It should have been my job.”
I look away, toward the dining room. Toward anywhere that isn’t him. I don’t want to get into the past, though it’s true. Lucian was always a cold motherfucker. Some of it came from living under our father’s influence, and his fucked-up behavior driving a wedge between us. Some of it was his inability to feel pain. And some of it was just Lucian Morelli.
“You’re back now. Aren’t you?” I will never expect for him to take over from me in any meaningful way, but with my back on fire and Caroline making unhinged promises to anyone who will listen, a part of me wishes he would.
Pointlessly. Foolishly.
“Yeah,” he says, eyes meeting mine. “I’m here to stay.”
“Were you waiting for us? How nice.” Eva descends the stairs with Daphne by her side. Daphne’s worn a gown of emerald green, her hair in loose waves, and Eva’s in sleek black with her hair in a twist that matches Haley’s. Eva is the only one to look at me on the way down.
“Of course we were,” says Lucian. “We have manners.”
Eva rolls her eyes. “Debatable.” But she leads the way into the dining room anyway, where Elaine and Haley are by the window. The six of us take our seats around the table. My staff spent the day rearranging the room, taking furniture out, and redecorating for this dinner. It’s understated, black and gold, and Lucian takes it in with an appraising glance. Eva waves the staff in as soon as we’re seated.
“You have enough room to fit all of us,” Lucian comments. “Do you plan on it?”
“Not fucking today.” Not ever. I have never planned to have all my siblings to dinner at my house.
“I can’t believe you left Lizzy out,” my brother needles. “You couldn’t have flown her here?”
“You put Leo in charge of the guest list?” Eva asks the question with faux shock on her face. “You’re lucky he let you in.” True. “Which one of you forgot Eden?”
“No one forgot Eden,” I sigh. “No one forgot Carter. No one forgot Tiernan. If you missed me this much, Lucian, all you had to do was call. You didn’t have to insist on a dinner party.” I invited Eden but she declined to come. She’s probably in some unsavory part of the city stirring up trouble. Carter is the quietest of all the Morellis. Serious. And a fucking genius. He went to Oxford for college and stayed overseas, preferring it to the drama of home. And Tiernan—Tiernan is my father’s hired hand. He’s always been so determined to get our father’s approval that he’s let himself be used to hurt, to maim, to kill.
“You invited me,” Lucian says, a glint in his eyes.
“You mean he didn’t throw you out,” answers Eva.
“Not yet,” says Haley. Eva snorts. The tension breaks. And it’s dinner, and not some high-stakes negotiation like it is at the Morelli mansion.
It’s different, without my parents here to fuck it up. Daphne won’t look at me, but Eva is a good host. She asks Haley about a book she’s read and Elaine about a new restaurant that opened in the city.
“You should try it,” I tell Eva, when Elaine finishes describing the place. I’ve hardly heard her, but Eva looks interested. “I finished the security review yesterday.”
What I mean is that she’s free to go back to her apartment, if she wants. “Thank you,” she says, and reaches over Haley to pat my hand. Elaine watches this with interest. I can see her Constantine mind working, replacing what she’s always known about us with what’s happening in front of her.
“You’re welcome.”
Everyone loves the first course, smoked trout crostini with grilled fennel that Eva chose. She didn’t mind planning the party, just like she didn’t mind redecorating my guest bedrooms. She’s smiling with pleasure by the second course. My sister thrives in last-minute situations. In the hurry and the adrenaline and all the many, many details. It gives her a slice of happiness to do this, but I wish there was more.
More happiness than a damned dinner party. I despise Lane Constantine. May his soul rot in hell forever.
One of the waiters is refilling Lucian’s wineglass when my brother turns his attention to Daphne. “So,” he says to her. “I hear you have a stalker.”
Daphne glares at me, forgetting to keep her eyes carefully away. Haley puts her head in her hands. And Elaine coos, “Oh, sweetheart, the obsessed ones are the best ones.”
As she says it, Lucian traces a single fingertip over the curve of her neck, his eyes drinking in his touch on her flesh like he can taste it.
“He’s not a stalker,” Daphne insists.
“He is.” I address Lucian and Elaine, because Daphne and I have had this argument. “He came into her apartment when she wasn’t there and left a gift. I had to fire a whole security team for the lapse.”
“A charming stalker?” Elaine’s eyes light up. “How’d he get past them?”
“Just because he likes my art doesn’t make him a stalker, Leo,” Daphne says pointedly.
“No. His having your address, going inside your apartment, and leaving things for you when you’re not there makes him a stalker, Daphne.”
“Anyway,” she says. “I don’t understand why I’m so interesting. Are we not even going to talk about how there are two Constantines at the table? Our mortal enemies?” Daphne says this with a Morelli gleam to her narrowed eyes. She’s paying us back. Causing a bit of trouble. It’s for show. She likes Haley, and given time, she’ll probably like Elaine too.
“Constantines can be convinced,” Lucian says, toying with the strap on Elaine’s dress. “It’s hard to stay mortal enemies if you put enough sweat and tears into the project. They are stubborn, however. I plan to keep convincing Elaine forever.”
I swallow hard around a knot of jealousy in my throat. Haley leans into me. It’s subtle, but I feel her heat now. I want more of it.
I want forever with her, but I can’t even promise her tomorrow.
