There was silence, before she said, “I know what you think of my brother and mom.”
He winced. “I’m sorry if I’ve said anything?—”
Cessie surged to her feet, surprising him.
“Take me to the bedroom.”
“Cessie, we need to?—”
“If you say you’ll take care of me then prove it. Take me to the bedroom.”
Heart sinking, he took her hand, leading her into the bedroom.
“Where’s the cage?”
He guided her hand to the bars, and something inside him broke because he knew what was next. She’d take off the hood, get dressed, and either they’d have a real fight, or she’d just leave. “I’ll take the hood?—”
Cessie hugged the bars, using both hands to feel her way to the open door.
She stepped inside and swung it shut.
Then she reached up and removed the hood herself.
Leon stared at her, not surprised that she’d removed the hood, but shocked that she’d put herself into the cage.
She was still obeying his rules—she could only have the hood off if she was in the cage.
Her eyes were red-rimmed, and when she blinked, tears slid down her cheeks. She gripped the bars as she looked at him.
“They’re using me. I know that. I talk about it in therapy all the time.”
He stayed quiet, watching and waiting.
“You can’t stand bullshit or lies, and my family is full of both. I help them, solve their problems for them, because it’s easier if I do it before a small problem becomes massive.”
Her breathing was a little too quick, and he tensed, ready to grab her if this blossomed into full panic.
“At least that’s what I tell myself. That if I just help them when they first ask or demand, it’s actually saving time.”
She dipped her head. “I knew it would sound stupid if I tried to tell you that going to Vegas on every free weekend was actually making my life less hectic. That my trips out there were a way of trying to manage their chaos. Contain it within those weekends.”
“I wish you’d explained what you were thinking.”
She swiped at her cheeks before looking up. “What would really make my life less hectic would be to tell them no. Set boundaries and hold them. Then I wouldn’t end up doing stupid things like falling asleep behind the wheel.”
He didn’t say anything, because the reality was that if it were up to him, she’d go low contact with her family for the sake of her own health and sanity, but that was a decision he both couldn’t and wouldn’t make for her.
“So, I pre-schedule crisis-management time. I told myself that eventually they’ll change, and I won’t have to go out there as often.”
That would never happen, and though she didn’t say as much, her tone made it clear she knew that.
“I help them because helping people makes me feel needed and loved. The one boundary I keep, the one person I protect… is you.”
He stared at her, not exactly surprised—this was another thing they’d talked about and around in the past. What he did feel was stunned.
“I protect you, by not asking you for help.”
Leon was shaking his head before she was even done speaking.
