Leo showed up at the Greenwich estate a little after nine at night, unannounced, soaked from a downpour that hadn't been in any forecast, and looking like a man who'd made the decision to come here somewhere around the second time he'd talked himself out of it.
Viktor caught him at the gate first — a call up to the main house before anyone let a stranger, even Elena's brother, walk the grounds unescorted. By the time Elena reached the foyer, Leo was standing dripping on the marble, arms crossed tight over his chest, refusing the towel Mrs. Higgins was trying to hand him.
"Leo. What's wrong?" Elena crossed the floor fast, worry outpacing everything else — the awkwardness between them, the weeks of unanswered calls, all of it forgotten the second she saw his face.
"Nothing's wrong," he sa
