A Waltz With Wolves (Book II in The Harrison Inc. Series) | ✓

Chapter Twenty-Nine: A Rock And A Hard Place

"Leslie!"

I sigh in irritation. Opening my eyes, I see Darcy coming towards me with her phone steady in her hand.

"What is it?" I ask her, pushing myself off from the wall. She doesn't say anything but instead shows me the screen on her phone. I read the bold heading.

"TWENTY-THREE DEAD IN BOGOTA NIGHT-CLUB MASSACRE"

"I just got the notification on my news app," Darcy tells me. "Isn't Alejandro in Bogota?"

"I...I don't...I don't know." I stared at the heading, re-reading it over and over again. "I don't know."

And that's when the room begins to spin. It spins around me, tossing me with it. Leaving me lightheaded and confused. The answers are in my head, sitting there taunting me, but I don't know how to connect the dots. That, or I don't want to. I don't want to know the truth or come to my own consensus. A week after hundreds die in Medellin, twenty-two die in a nightclub massacre in Bogota; Alejandro's in Colombia, somewhere in the large country. He leaves without telling me why, accidentally revealing that he knows the mall attack wasn't a terrorist attack. I don't know where Alejandro at. What if he was at the nightclub and got shot? What if he's...he's...

Someone else calls my name down the hall. Sebastian sees me standing with Darcy and walks towards me, grave in the face and eager in his stride. I don't know why he's here; I know that he's aware of Alejandro's whereabouts. I know that Sebastian knows where Alejandro is at.

"Leslie," he says to me. Darcy steps away from the both of us. "I'm sorry for what I said. I didn't mean to snap at you like that."

I ignore his apology. All I see is red in front of me, blurred by the tears pooling in my eyes. I grab Darcy's phone and show him the news heading. Sebastian reads it but doesn't say anything.

"This just happened," I say to him. "Twenty-two people dead in Bogota massacre." I read the first paragraph quickly, relaying the information to him afterward. "Officials are certain that it was a retaliative attack in response to the bombing in Medellin last week."

There he goes again. That vacant, dumb look despite the fact that he knows more than he's giving off. He doesn't know what to say to me and grows tense when he realizes that I'm becoming pissed off.

"Why is Alejandro in Colombia?" I ask him bluntly. No bullshit, no lies. Just the question and the answer.

"I don't know." Sebastian shrugs. "I don't know why he's there."

"You're full of shit. You know why? Because you just told me that if I knew why he was really in Colombia, I wouldn't be using his name to defend myself. That means you know why he's in Colombia, Sebastian."

It's clear that Sebastian feels like he's caught between a rock and a hard place. And he is - he and Alejandro have been keeping secrets from me for a while. I know that for a fact right now.

"Leslie, why don't you just ask him yourself?" he says. Not only am I becoming upset, but Sebastian is upset that he's in the hot seat for Alejandro's disappearance.

"I would ask him, but he won't answer my calls, my texts, my emails. Nothing." I'm crying at this point. Goddammit. "I just want to know the truth, Sebastian."

Sebastian feels conflicted, seeing me cry. It's obvious it hurts him when he sees me cry, but something else is holding him back from telling me the truth.

"Is Alejandro involved in any of this?" I hate even entertaining the thought.

"What? No! No, he isn't!"

"Then why can't you tell me why he's over there?!"

"Because it isn't my place!"

I want to believe him. I want to believe that conflicted look in those emerald eyes of his. The way his eyebrows lift up in concern and the way he wants to make me stop crying. But I can't believe him; lately, he's let me down too many times.

"For the last several months, you have lied to me numerous times," I say to him. "But every single time, I forgave you because I just...I can't seem to continuously hold you accountable for anything. But now? As you purposefully withhold information on my boyfriend's whereabouts?"

"Leslie, it's more complicated than that." He sighs. "He told me not to tell you where he was going."

I stagger back a bit. Alejandro didn't want me to know? For what reason? The only logical one is one that I don't want to believe.

"It's because he's involved in this drug-feud mess in Colombia, right?" The tears keep falling as the possibility solidifies. "Jesus Christ, that's the reason, isn't it? Oh, my God..."

"No, that isn't the reason, Leslie!"

Sebastian is frustrated. He paces around the hallway, fed up with the difficult position he's been put in. And I can't believe him. I just can't. I feel betrayed by both him and Alejandro even though the truth hasn't been set in stone.

"You know how I am, Sebastian." I wipe my tears away, confident I've ruined my makeup. "I will find out the truth about this. And when I do, I swear..."

I can't even finish my sentence. I'm overflowing with rage and frustration. Fear and worry. Distrust and confusion. Sebastian tries to grab my arms and console me, but I push him away from me. He's shocked at my reaction, making me even more upset at him and his secrecy; his lies and his childish antics that seem to put me in a dark, conflicted place. I need to get out of this hallway.

I need to get out of this place.

**

I booked a flight to Venetia.

Not for business or for leisure. Not with a client or with my boyfriend's family. I booked my own flight, by myself, first class, to Venetia to finally meet my mother.

After the fallout from Claire's birthday party last night, I came home and took the initiative that I was holding off on for so long - calling the phone number Alejandro gave me. So, I did. And Petra answered. And when I told her my name and Alejandro's name, she knew exactly what to do. In her thick, Venetian accent (which sounded like a mix between a Greek accent and a French one), she informed me to book a flight to Venetia as soon as possible and notify her by email of when I would be coming. She offered to buy the ticket but I refused; I knew that it would most likely be coming out of the royal family's pocket, and I'm unsure if they even know I'm coming. If they are in the dark, I want to keep it that way. This is between Genina and I; between my mother and I.

So now, I'm packing a couple of bags and forcing myself not to think about the trip, because if I dwell on it too heavily, I will convince myself to stay. Sebastian has a promotional event in Glasgow, Scotland in a couple of days that I need to go to. My heart doesn't want anything to do with him after last night, but my mind knows that I have to put my personal feelings aside and remember that business is business. I feel as if I've given him too many chances; that I've been too forgiving. I hate that about myself - I forgive too easily. I always think that there's going to be a time where they'll redeem themselves. Maybe this should apply with Alejandro as well; he still hasn't contacted me, and I have no idea what he's doing in Colombia. But I don't want to let him go too easily.

I don't want to let either of them go too easily, yet.

Once I packed my bags, I take Pedro into my arms. He knows he'll be staying with Beth for a while, but doesn't mind the absence too much. I think I will; Pedro seems to be the only one who hasn't let me down. But for this, I need to stop relying on other people to be there for me. I'm going to Venetia on my own. I'm going to meet her by myself, regardless of those who help me get to this place.

After dropping Pedro off, I make my way to the airport, knowing that now, there's no turning back.

**