Page 98 of The Bridesmaid
A disembodied voice comes back from the dark below.
‘Depends how you define OK,’ he calls back.
I move nearer to the steps. ‘This is no time to joke,’ I tell him, glancing over my shoulder. ‘Are you OK or not?’
Something inaudible floats up the steps. He must have gone deeper into the panic room. I step forward, putting a hand on the doorframe at the top of the stair.
‘Fitzwilliam?’
More inaudible mumbles. Is he … groaning in pain? A flash of hot adrenalin hits me. Should I go down after him?
‘Fitzwilliam?’
He doesn’t answer. And before I can decide what to do, I feel a hard shove in my back.
My arms fly up on reflex as I pitch forward. Steps rise up to meet me as I fall headlong into the dark. Behind me, the portrait swings shut.
Chapter Eighty
PETRA
The bachelorette party ended in slow chaos. By the finish, we were scouring Fortune House for a drunk Adrianna, who it seemed Ophelia had taken upon herself to put to bed.
I’m back in my beach cabana when Leopold finally comes to see me.
‘You’ve been avoiding me,’ I accuse.
He shifts uncomfortably. ‘The wind’s picking up,’ he says. ‘The wedding guests can’t land.’
‘You need to be careful the police don’t crash in,’ I tell him. ‘Silky overdosed. Police might put it together that you supplied her with drugs.’
‘And? So what?’ says Leopold tersely. ‘Of course I supplied Silky’s drugs. Third time she got beat-up by a street dealer, she nearly lost an eye. Silky couldn’t do rehab just then. She just couldn’t.’ He shrugs. ‘They can arrest me, for all I care.’
Sometimes Leopold’s bravado is frightening, even to someone like me.
‘Icare,’ I tell him. ‘I covered for you. Told the police I didn’t hear a speedboat the night Adrianna was kidnapped.’
He blinks, confused. ‘What are you talking about?’
‘Yourcocaine deliveries?’ I remind him. ‘You had drugs delivered nightly by speedboat. I told police I heard it, then changed my story when I realized it could get you into trouble.’
He runs a hand through his hair. ‘I’ve got bigger problems,’ he says. ‘Everything Adrianna has been through, and now this.’
‘Everything she’sbeenthrough?’ I can’t help but sound a little contemptuous. ‘Leopold,’ I say, ‘you do everything for her.’ I sound bitter, because I am.
Leopold shakes his head, and sits on the bed. ‘I messed up when she was a kid. Didn’t see her much. That morning, three years ago … When we woke up, and Adrianna was gone … You start thinking about all the ways you let your kid down. All the lost time, you know?’
I don’t know. But part of my role with Leopold has always been to listen. He isn’t the kind of man who would book a therapist.
‘When Adrianna started school,’ he continues, ‘her mom, Athena. There were things she told me. Like Adrianna was begging to come home. I ignored them.’ His brown eyes seek mine out, part smiling, part guilt. He sighs. ‘But Adrianna never liked to be ignored. She somehow got connected to my direct line. Little eight-year-old kid. Don’t ask me how. She was smart.’ He makes the same little smile of reminiscence that always gives me a nameless ache somewhere. The part of him that will never be mine. Since Athena died, she’ll always be on a pedestal. Leopold has conveniently forgotten that their marriage was far from perfect.
‘Adrianna was crying,’ he says. ‘Likereallycrying. I could almost hear the snot coming out of her goddamn nose. She said, “Daddy, you have to get me out of here. Please come get me.”’ There’s a distant look in his face. ‘She said a bunch of other stuff I don’t really remember. The food was bad, or whatever. Other girls weremean.’ He takes a long, shuddering breath. ‘You know what I did?’
I don’t. But I know he’s going to tell me so I keep a dutiful silence, waiting.
‘I got mad. Really mad with her. Called her a brat and entitled. Said she was lucky to even have food. Told her she didn’t know what mean was. I grew up with guys who’d nail your hand to a park bench ‘cause you had a Polish surname.’ His eyes are on mine now, imploring. ‘I messed up. First time in my life I didn’t know what to do. Honestly. I didn’t have any experience of boarding school or any of that stuff. I didn’t know what was usual. Hell, I didn’t even know what a normal childhood was.’ He shakes his head. ‘Wish I go could back now, and take her out of there, like she wanted me to.’
‘No, you don’t, Leopold.’ I take both his hands. ‘We all hated that school at first, but it made us strong. Adrianna is lucky to have a dad like you, even if she doesn’t appreciate it.’
