Dark Heir by Faye Pierce
Chapter Nine
Midnight
Somewhere in the night, the reality of what I agreed to with Leo starts to sink in. The morning passes before me in a blur. I sleep through breakfast. My body needs the time to recover after last night.
Lily brings me lunch as if the room change isn’t strange at all. She returns for my tray and brings me a white dress. The skirt is short, doesn’t fall much below my knees. The loose white fabric of the skirt sways around my bare thighs as I walk. The bodice top is fitted to me, not unlike a corset, zipping up the back. Small embellishments decorate the material, little embroidered flowers stitched into the lace overlay of the clean white fabric. The boning of the bodice hugs my torso, and the curved, sweet neckline accentuates my breasts. I can’t say that I hate it.
I don’t hate it at all. I love it. It’s exactly the dress I would have chosen for myself with short notice. It seems like this is the dress that I would wear for a reception, so that I could dance in it.
I choose a small necklace from the many options in the three boxes presented to me: a delicate gold chain with a single pearl dangling that falls just below my neck. Lily helps me with my hair, curling the strands into loose waves around my face. Lily insists on a touch of makeup, just enough to accentuate my soft features, as I don’t normally wear any.
Leo is smart to choose a shorter skirt for me. Lots of fabric tends to get tangled in my way, which makes walking hard. There’s no danger of that here, so I won’t have to compensate when I walk. He’s thought of everything. He didn’t bring any shoes up, and I’m thankful for that as well. Heels are impossible for me to walk in. It also tells me that we won’t be going far at all, probably not even leaving the house.
I am led down the stairs, too much in a daze to properly inventory my surroundings.
I should memorize the rooms or the path that I walk down to get to the parlor, or even the art on the walls. I can’t begin to imagine how much all of this costs. A house like this is larger than anything I’ve ever dreamt about before, and nicer.
When I was a little girl, I would daydream about being kidnapped away from the poverty I was born into and whisked away because I was secretly a princess needing to return to my kingdom. The sorts of things that all little girls dream about when they have too much time on their hands, I guess. Even then, in my childhood mind’s eye, the castle and all of its lands could fit inside of these walls.
How has Leo hidden all of this for this long?
Sometimes it’s hard to pick apart the Leo that I knew with Caspian from the full version of himself that he’s showing me now. Whenever it’s just the two of us, the version of the Leo I knew for years blends with the version that kidnapped me, who is now intimate with me.
How much of himself did he hide from Caspian? Can I trust that he’s being himself now? That this isn’t another game? It’s surreal. If it weren’t for the whole kidnapping thing, I might even think I am dreaming.
I turn the green velvet box over in my hands. He left this for me as a choice. If I say no, then he might still do it anyway. He made that clear last night, but still I wonder.
Something tightens in my stomach.
I’m getting married today.
Butterflies? Nerves? Reluctance? No, certainly not that.
Inside this box in my hands is a ring. I couldn’t bring myself to open it this morning. I woke up in Leo’s room, still tangled up inside of his sheets, with that box resting on the pillow beside my head. I was no longer restrained, free to move about as I wished. While it’s a small gesture, I know that it means he trusts me. At least we’re moving in the right direction. I tried to look through his things, but even the drawers of his sleekly designed dresser wouldn’t budge. So small amounts of trust, but trust regardless.
Goliath guides me around the corner into a formal living room. He’s starting to grow on me. All of the men that Caspian assigned to me never felt quite right.
Goliath doesn’t say anything, but when I nearly stumble on the carpet runner he puts his hand out to steady me, genuine concern on his normally blank features. I’m sure many of them would have just let me fall, or maybe they wouldn’t because they didn’t want me to fall on my face and piss off their boss by letting me get hurt. But they certainly wouldn’t need to take those extra few minutes Goliath does allowing me to put myself together. I appreciate him for that.
All of the furniture is pushed out of place and against the walls. A single chair is off to the side, like it was carried in from another room. Goliath’s arm extends behind me so that turning and bolting for the large dark wooden double doors isn’t an option.
I don’t want to run.
It’s a startling realization as I look at the backs of the two men in suits on the other end of the living room. Neither one is Leo, and neither looks familiar to me. One turns, and I can see the clerical collar that marks him as a priest.
Engaged for less than twelve hours, talk about a short engagement.
It’s surreal. I glance at the other man. He’s not as tall as Leo, but their noses are similar. The man has the same determined set of his pronounced jawline as Leo, but his hair isn’t as light as Leo’s. Are they related somehow? That would make a lot of sense. His lips are pressed into a tight line. He turns his attention from the priest to me, and something in his look darkens. I can tell he’s judging me, though I’m not sure what I’ve done to offend a person I’ve just met.
The man gives me a once over, and clearly finds something about me wanting because his lip curls. Little alarm bells go off inside of my head. There’s something not quite right about this guy.
Goliath shuffles forward behind me, a suddenly comforting presence despite urging me wordlessly to join the two men. Then he takes the single seat for himself, serving as witness, I guess, or at least to catch me if I attempt to run.
Leo doesn’t make me wait long. Shuffled footsteps move quickly down the main staircase. I can hear the shoes tapping against the polished marble and then softening as they turn onto the carpeted floor I’m standing on.
I don’t turn. I roll that box over and over in my hand. If I look at Leo, I will let his handsome face affect my choice. If I don’t choose now, before I see him, before I admit that I’m standing here, wearing a wedding dress he picked out, then...
My heart is beating so hard.
I lift one hand to press against my chest, then press the back of my hand to my cheek to feel the flush of heat there.
And I know. I’ve always known it was Leo. Since the day that we met, it’s always been Leo. Decided, I turn to face him, and a slow happy smile spreads across his face from ear to ear as he takes in the sight of me. He lets out a low whistle of approval for the way my hair falls softly around my neck and shoulders, and the fit of the dress.
He looks amazing. I’ve seen him in suits, so many, but this one feels different. The cut is bold, perfectly tailored to his muscular frame, and he offers me his arm, playing the consummate gentleman.
Despite the situation, I laugh, and the tension in the room breaks.
I’m getting married.
Leo lifts the ring box out of my hand, and we slowly cross the living room to the priest and the other man, who bows his head in greeting as we approach. Leo finds my hand and weaves his fingers through mine, and we stop to stand in front of the priest. Somehow having him here makes everything feel a little more formal, a little more official, a little more real.
Leo pulls me forward until I’m standing in front of him, my arm crossed in front of my body to keep holding his hand. It’s the softest he’s ever been with me. Leo leans forward and presses his lips against my temple. He nods to the priest to get things started.
I can tell the priest is flustered. He probably doesn’t do things like this very often. Or, perhaps he does. As a wife, I’m going to be entitled to more information, I hope. I hope that it means I will be informed, that the questions eating at me since my arrival will finally be answered.
No more being locked into a room for me.
I hope.
“Midnight, this is my cousin, Angelo.” Angelo nods his head in my direction. “This is Father Daimetti.”
“Lovely to meet you all.”
“You as well, Midnight.” The priest clears his throat, and starts speaking, but I can hardly hear the words coming out of his mouth. My heart is beating too loudly. I can feel Leo’s thumb pushing softly over the skin of my hand as he holds me close against his chest.
I love him. I have always loved him. This should be a happy moment, but it is tinted dark with all of the surrounding events. My brother should be here. Caspian was always the one that was going to walk me down the aisle. A tinge of sadness hits me in the gut. If Leo hadn’t kidnapped me, if this weren’t an act of revenge, it would be different.
My hand tightens around Leo’s accidentally, and he returns the gesture. It shouldn’t help, but it does. Unconsciously, I lean back into him for support, drowning out the specifics of the words until he nudges me forward. “That’s the part where you’re supposed to speak, Midnight.”
I snap out of my daze, glancing over my shoulder to Leo.
“This is the part, where you say ‘I do’.” Leo grins, “You also can promise to honor and obey, but you’ve already promised me that, haven’t you?”
Pink flushes my cheeks as I turn forward, my tongue dry in my mouth.
“I know this isn’t what you pictured for a wedding ceremony, Midnight. When all of this is said and done, I promise you can pick the time and place, anywhere in the world to celebrate this properly. Here, I’ll even go first.”
Leo spins me in his arms, snapping open the ring case and pulling the breathtaking ring from inside before tossing the box off to the side of the room. The light catches the diamond, four or five carats easily. Small blue sapphires adorn the band and support the ring. They’ve been my favorite stone as long as I can remember.
Leo finds my hand and lifts it between us, “Midnight, I give you this ring as a symbol of my love. As it encircles your finger, may it remind you always that you are surrounded by my enduring love.” He slides the ring onto my finger. It’s even more beautiful in this lighting.
Leo gives me a comforting smile, and motions to the priest to continue.
“Do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, to put her above all else, to have and to hold until the day you die?”
“I do.”
The priest turns to look at me, and I nod sheepishly.
“Do you, Midnight Knight take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, for better or worse, to love and cherish until the day that you die?” Father Daimetti repeats.
“I do.” My voice sounds small, even to my ears. I’m doing this for Caspian as well as myself. He will forgive me for the fact he can’t be here to see this. In time, he will understand how much I want to be with Leo. This will save us all.
That’s it then.
The Priest turns to the other men in the room with a grin.
“You may place the ring on her finger and kiss the bride.”
Leo crooks his finger under my chin and lifts my face to his, kissing me softly. My body wants to react on autopilot. He pulls me closer but doesn’t deepen the kiss, aware of the other bodies in the room. “Now I can do that whenever I want, Mrs. DePonte.”
My blood runs cold.
“What did you say?”
A knowing smile spreads slowly across Leo’s face, and things fall into place quickly.
The DePonte family is supposed to be gone.
Caspian never speaks about it, but I know he was involved. I listen to his conversations; I can vividly remember him speaking to the first of his men before he climbed high enough to get us out of that terrible two-bedroom house we were born into. Not too long after, the head of the DePontes died. The news had even covered it.
TheDePonte family? They were known to everybody, even before Caspian started the life he did. Always evading police, always on the run, always making massive donations to suspect causes…and that was only the tip of the iceberg.
Mrs. DePonte.
“We have a lot to discuss, my dear wife, don’t we?”
* * *
I want to rip this blindfold off of my face. I want to tear it from my eyes and demand answers, but Leo is rubbing soft circles into the skin of my back as he leads me down the hall. There’s no point in attempting to memorize the layout of his house now.
My house now. Is half of all of this mine? Does this mean that the doors are unlocked to me? Leo has no guarantee that I won’t throw myself out of the window and go running back to Caspian or pretend that the marriage never happened. Or that it wasn’t under duress.
It wasn’t. We both know it. There’s no point in fighting what we already know, what he confirmed last night well into the late hours.
Leo finally stops and pulls the blindfold from my eyes, and there’s a beautiful feast laid out on the table in front of us. I can see bits and pieces of everything that I love, not unlike the first night here. Desire pools in my stomach at the memory as I look out over the food, unsure where to start. “It’s a bit much, isn’t it?” I want to tease him about it, but I can’t. Candles are everywhere, giving a romantic glow to the space as he watches me take in the setting. In so many ways, it’s perfect. We can’t run away for a honeymoon or anything, but at least this will ensure that my wedding night is romantic.
Leo walks slowly, pulling out a chair just to the right of the head of the table, his spot. I amble over as evenly as possible, tucking my skirt under my thighs and allowing him to push me into the seat.
“I can’t explain to you how nice it is to see you wearing my ring knowing that you have my last name.”
I want him to come clean to me, to tell me what this is about. I want the truth. I want all of the truth. It would be so easy to sit here and stare at my ring or his handsome face, to allow him to kiss me, to consummate my marriage here on the floor…but I need answers. I have that right.
I start to pull bits and pieces of the dishes in front of me onto my plate, but I don’t feel very hungry.
“You’re not going to say anything until you have your explanation, are you?” Leo asks, already guessing what my answer might be.
My eyes cut to his pointedly, not responding just as he knew that I wouldn’t.
“Of course not.” Leo smiles and pulls a plate of focaccia toward himself, pulling a piece from the lot and tearing it into smaller pieces, more as something to occupy his hands than intending to eat it. “I think I always liked your determination best. No matter what you choose to set your mind to, you’ve always accomplished that goal.”
Leo leans back into his chair, turning his body toward me, and it’s the most relaxed that I’ve ever seen him look. The tense way he holds his shoulders never seemed strange to me before; it seemed natural that somebody who needs to be at constant attention all the time would be on edge. Now that it’s gone, he looks almost like a different person. He seems more like the man I used to steal glances at when he thought nobody was around. We were younger then. He was still adjusting to life off of the streets...or acting like he was from the streets anyway.
“We have that in common, you and I.” I can’t look away from him, but he’s not meeting my eyes anymore. “I always knew that I was the son of a bastard. Son of a bitch too, in all the variations of the word, but I didn’t know that I was the product of such an important bastard’s seed until I was eighteen. Bit of a nasty shock considering I had been toying with the idea of running for the DePonte family for years, needing to make ends meet and all.”
Leo turns the bread over in his fingers and then thinks better of eating it. “I didn’t want to get involved with him, any of them. I figured if he didn’t want me as a kid, didn’t care about my mother enough to at least take care of her, to keep her off drugs, then what sort of man could he be anyway? Naturally, I didn’t take into account the fact that he was making plenty of effort to do exactly that, but my mother was spending all of the support money behind my back. I underestimated just how terrible she really was.”
Was, not is. I wonder old was he when he lost his mother? During his time with Caspian, Leo never offered up information to me about his past. Any time Cas caught me asking too many questions he would brush them away or dismiss them under the blanket excuse of ‘his past is his past; what matters now is the future.’ Which makes me wonder the extent of the lies Leo told Caspian all that time ago to shut down any further questions. He told me back then his mother was terrible, and that the streets suited him better. That much it seems is true.
Did Leo mourn her? Sometimes I catch myself missing my own mother, even with the terrible things that she stood by and allowed to happen to Caspian and myself. I don’t think I’ve ever missed my father, though; in my darker moments I’m even happy that he’s dead.
“When he caught wise to what she did, or maybe just because I came of age in his eyes...he wasn’t ever really clear about that, but that’s when I started getting these letters. Not many, but every so often a guy on the street would find me and hand one over. Guys like Angelo. You met him just now at the ceremony, not a very talkative fellow. Anyway, they would hand me letters that were my old man attempting to reach out, to get to know me a little, in his own way. He would always attach a cutout of a crossword puzzle. He swore that it was for a reason, but he died before I got to know what it was. I’ll never get to apologize for the way that I was too hard on him when we met; it must have been so hard on him, thinking that I rejected him.”
Leo pauses for a moment, taking a few long breaths to steady himself before continuing. “We had only just scratched the tip of the iceberg and then he was gone...just like that. Can you imagine what that does to a lonely, eighteen-year-old street kid? Having a light at the end of the tunnel, something so close that you can feel it and then it’s just ripped away from you like that?”
Leo snaps his fingers, finally looking up at me. I don’t know what to say.
“My mom was in and out of the cancer unit, tongue cancer if you believe it. I’m surprised it wasn’t something nastier with how much shit she liked to pump into her body. I thought she’d at least blow her liver out, but no. I had so many things I wanted to ask her. Why did she do it? Why did she force me to grow up the way that I did when I had a father who wanted me...wanted her, against all odds? She died before I could get any answers. Seems to be a running theme in my life. I was orphaned and alone until I discovered I had a whole other sort of family waiting for me.”
Leo looked up and around the room that we were in, no doubt with the same heavy sense of purpose that I feel. I can’t imagine how hard that time of his life must have been, the choices that he had to make and so quickly. “How does Caspian tie into all of this?”
“I think you know.”
I think I do as well, but I don’t want to believe it.
“My father’s life, his legacy…in a handful of sloppy moves Caspian managed to unravel my family name and everything that was supposed to be mine into the wind.”
I can see the rage building on his face, his eyes darkening, and I can see the raw pain running under that current of hate.
“He stole my only chance of ever having a family, of turning my life around in a real way, all for his own ambition. He stole my family, and now I’ve stolen his. Bit of poetic justice don’t you think, Midnight? Though...you were always mine, weren’t you?”
I look at my food, unwilling to change the subject. “Caspian and I were your family…Valeria even...they loved you, accepted you.”
“Sure, when they thought I was a charity case. Caspian was only too willing to build me up in his image. He never would have allowed me to stand on my own. He’s always seen me as a threat, but so long as I needed him, depended on him and never tried to come out from under his wing, sure, he loved me. I’m your husband, and you’re still defending him?”
Tears well in my eyes that I won’t allow to fall. “You’re not the only one who has suffered under his grasp, Leo, but he always means the best…”
“You cannot honestly be telling me that if we just sat down and talked about it that it could all be fixed?” He sounded incredulous. Caspian will certainly never listen to him now. “I learned everything; I stroked his ego and made sure he never suspected a thing. Just like he did to my father. I played the dutiful student, and then when he thought that the snake was tamed, I turned and bit him. It’s the nature of this game, Midnight, and I hate that it hurts you, but this is how it’s done. I have given everything to rebuild my connections, to rebuild the DePonte name...your name. All from the shadows, tiny piece by piece.”
Leo’s chair scrapes across the floor as he stands, his voice raising in passion as he nearly starts shouting. “I have worked twice as hard as the rest of them, living two lives with all of the dangers that come from it! You have no idea the sort of things that I’ve had to do to get here, the nightmares I still have! The guilt…”
“What are you talking about?”
“That bullet was meant for your fucking brother!” Leo shouts, gesturing wildly at me, and I can tell the moment that the words left his lips he didn’t mean to say that.
“B-bullet? Which...which…” I cannot say it, my hand reaching around to my spine as the oxygen in the room starts to feel too thin. “What are you saying?”
“I was aiming for him…that day…and then I never would have been involved in your life in the first place. If you hadn’t gotten in the way at the last minute…”
No amount of explaining will ever make this better. “You’re the one who shot me?” My face screws up in a mess of disbelief as I push away from the table myself. “It was you?”
Leo doesn’t have to answer. I can see the answer clearly on his face. Years of physical therapy, half a dozen corrective surgeries, and years in and out of the hospital...of course he was the one who accompanied me so often. It was guilt combined with pity. He never wanted me, not in the way that I wanted him. He did all of this to ease his conscience and hurt Caspian at the same time, and nothing else. I’ve been tricked by him a second time.
I don’t know if I expect him to say something else, to apologize, to have a magical turn of phrase that will make it better, but suddenly the ring on my hand feels like a weight. It might as well be a noose around my neck.
Leo takes a step toward me, as if he wants to say something but cannot phrase it right, and I take a step in the opposite direction. “Don’t.” I warn, backing toward the door, turning to leave as soon as I know he’s not going to stop me. I take off for safe haven. Any haven.
I don’t know how I end up back in my room, but I do. I run through the halls in a state of shock, tears blurring my vision as I go. When I finally find the room designated as my own, my personal prison cell, I throw myself on the bed. Despair eats me, consuming me from the inside out, and no matter how hard I cry, I cannot get my tears to push the pain out of my body.
So I cry and cry, and cry some more, until my body gives way to nothingness.