Page 166 of Innocent

Okay, so, ironically,nowit all makes sense in my head. That’s what this whole thing really boils down to, for me.

He hurt my boy. He hurt Elliot by his withdrawal.

On top of that, he hurt me by giving up and letting me go without more of a fight.

Worse? Me leaving was supposed tofixthings for Elliot, and Leo was too stupid or stubborn or selfish—or maybe a combination of all of the above—to see that and take care of Elliot.

The reasons don’t matter, I guess. Elliotneededhim and he wasn’ttherefor Elliot.

I’m angry and hurting, and now that I have a solid mental grasp on the whys, that pain is rapidly ballooning and threatening to explode out of control.

“Because untilthattalk happens,” I continue, “you and I havenothingto talk about that doesn’t involve work.”

A hand reaches in from behind Leo and plucks the phone from his hand, startling both of us. Leo spins around to reveal Kev standing there and wearing an inscrutable expression.

He walks up the stairs and hands me my phone. “The vice president is looking for you, Jordan.”

“Thank you, Mr. Markos.” I step around them and head downstairs.

Behind me, I hear, “And, Leo, the president is looking for the economic council briefing folder she was studying earlier. She can’t find it and thinks she left it in the bedroom. Go look.Now. She needs it.”

That’s an order if I ever heard one. “Yes, sir.”

I look back when I reach the lower landing and see Kev glance down at me, waving his hand to shoo me out of there.

This whole power-walking thing is getting easier the more I do it. If I was worried about making a step count total, I’d have blasted it into the stratosphere today.

I don’t know if Elliot really needed me or not, but I stop there first to check in and find him on the phone with someone. I duck out and head to the kitchen again to order Elliot’s dinner and arrange for it to be delivered to him in his office.

Then I hustle my ass back upstairs and gather my shit together, step into Elliot’s office, and close and lock the door behind me.

Once he’s off the phone, I round his desk and hug him.

“What’s wrong, Sir?”

Shit. “Had a minor run-in with Leo upstairs. He wanted to talk, I didn’t, and Kev intervened. Look, dinner will be here for you at five. Then yougohome.” I hand him the burner. “Tell Leo you want him to come over tonight. I can’t talk to him until he talks to you.”

Fear fills his eyes, until I lean in and kiss him. “Be honest with him, El. Tell him you were lonely and scared and missed him. Tell him everything you told me about why you came to me. Tell him your fears about losing him—everything. Let himhearit. He’s a big boy. He can deal with it.”

“Then what?”

I rub his head. “Then I’ll talk to him sometime this week. But he needs to absorb your words first.” I cup his head in my hands and kiss him again. “Because heneedsthe honest feedback from you. I’m not going anywhere. Ipromise.” I kiss his eyelids, his forehead, the tip of his nose, his lips. “I love you.”

His breath hitches. “I love you, too, Sir.”

And that’s what it boils down to, isn’t it? My building righteous indignation on Elliot’s behalf for what Leo did by withdrawing from him. Especially in light of the sacrifices I made so that would not happen in the first place.

I stroke his hair. “We’re a team now, you and me. For this to get fixed, permanently, and for there to be any hope of the three of us being together forever, Leoneedsto hear the truth from you. Youhaveto tell him your feelings about everything. The good, and the messy.”

“What if he walks away?”

That thought guts me despite my best efforts not to get my hopes up. “Then it’s still you and me. I think the past three weeks have proven we’re stronger than we thought, right?”

Barring this morning.

I’ll have to figure something out for that, if Leo refuses to figure this shit out inside his own brain.

He nods. “Yes, Sir.”