Page 29 of Last Resort (The Collector Trilogy 3)

The little library is the one in Leo’s bedroom. It’s in the front of his house, overlooking the driveway. The bedroom door is open when I get there. One of the housekeeping staff is making the bed.

“Hi, Daphne,” she says.

“Hi, Lauren. I’ll be out in a second.”

She waves this off, and I go through. There’s a sitting area on one side, and another chair closer to the shelves. Ah. There’s the blue notebook.

My fingers catch the book beneath it when I pick it up. I hold onto Haley’s notebook, but the book falls onto the rug. A small piece of paper shoots out of it.

It’s Leo’s book. One of his favorites. It’s a very long story about building a cathedral in the twelfth century, and it has a sad opening. Leo reads it when he’s stressed out. He’s been reading it again, clearly. My throat tightens with guilt. I tuck it under my arm with Haley’s notebook and hunt down the paper that fell out.

It’s not just paper.

It’s a photo.

A printout from an ultrasound machine.

It’s early. So early that the baby is basically a dot, floating in a little black pool.

MORELLI, HALEY is printed at the top, along with the approximate age of the fetus and the date the ultrasound was taken, which was—

Which was while I was missing.

I slide it back into the book and put it back on the table.

How am I supposed to argue with him now that I’ve seen the press conference and now that Haley’s pregnant? No wonder he’s out of his mind. They found out about this and I disappeared. It’s all tangled up together now.

On the way downstairs, I make a silent vow not to say anything.

My heart aches for Leo. He has too much to worry about. And at the same time, more emotions come in waves that I can’t paint out. I can’t have a shared secret with Emerson. I can’t even talk to him.

I give Haley her notebook, which she accepts with a grateful, whispered thank you. I spend an hour across from her pretending to sketch. And then I retreat to the studio. My headache is getting worse. Much worse.

In the studio, I stand at the window until my legs get tired. All the emotions gather in my fingertips. In my muscles. I need to paint. I need Emerson.

I know how pathetic it must be, to need someone like this. At least, at a minimum, I need to know where he is. And Haley’s pregnant.

And nobody else in the family knows, because someone would have mentioned it.

My heart is going to give out.

I need both things—my family and Emerson. I need them all. I thought that when I was older, I wouldn’t need anyone, but I do.

The door opens as the sun dips toward the horizon. My body’s stiff. I’ve been sitting a long time.

“Daphne?”

“Hi.”

It’s Leo.

He takes me in while I stand up on unsteady legs. I feel dehydrated. Dried out. I see the moment Leo comes to that conclusion, too. Worry furrows his forehead.

“I thought you’d paint today, Daph.”

I shake my head.

“You didn’t even open the bottles.”