by Meader, Kate
Christ, he loved this woman.
“I’m okay. Just low blood sugar.”
He grasped her hand and raised it to his lips, closing his eyes as he held her knuckles there. “So you didn’t eat enough today?”
“I did. I promise. I made one of those salads you brought over with the chicken breast.” When he still looked unmoved—because there had to be a reason for this—she whispered, “Can you shout at me later?”
That made him smile, jockeying with his need to be very annoyed with her. “Oh, I’ll be happy to.”
She looked over his shoulder, making him aware that they weren’t alone. Elle’s parents had finally turned up.
Her mother was dressed in an elegant wraparound dress with humungous red flowers on it. Younger than he’d expected, she had big blue eyes like her daughter’s, high cheekbones, and dark hair in a knot at the nape of her neck. She stepped forward and squeezed his arm, subtly checking out his biceps. Weird.
“Theo, it’s so wonderful to meet you at last. I’m Dee, Eloise’s mother.”
He searched for those flat New York vowels, but her accent was cultured and unplaceable. Behind her stood an older, distinguished guy in a well-cut tan suit that stretched tight over broad shoulders. His trimmed goatee picture-framed a thin mouth. All-seeing brown eyes assessed Theo and flickered to warmth as he offered his hand.
“George Butler,” he said.
Theo shook. “Theo Kershaw, sir. It’s great to meet you at last. I didn’t know you were coming to town.”
“It was meant to be a surprise,” Dee said. “We’d just called Eloise to let her know we were on our way when we heard what happened. Trying circumstances under which to meet, but everything seems fine.” She sounded brisk, maybe even a little impatient.
He turned back to Elle, hoping to tell from her body language if everything truly was fine. He wasn’t sure if he could believe a word out of her mouth. She wasn’t eating right, she wasn’t looking after herself, she was keeping things from him. Something felt off.
“Yes,” Elle said tensely. “The doctor checked in with Dr. Patel and wants to keep me here for another hour of observation, but then I’m free to go. How did the game go? They didn’t tell you until after—I told them to wait.”
She did what? “We won.”
“Oh, thank God. You were playing great before …” She waved a hand over herself. Yeah. Before.
“Well, my love,” Mrs. Butler cut in. “We’re going to leave you for now, but we’ll catch up tomorrow.”
“Where are you staying?” Elle asked, and there it was again: that frisson of tension.
“Oh, an Airbnb in the city. But we want to take you out to dinner tomorrow night. If you’re free, Theo.”
“We’ll see how the patient feels,” Theo said. “I can’t wait to hear stories about little Ellie.”
“Little Ellie?” Dee’s expression was amused, and something about it bothered him. There was a trace of cruelty in that smirk. “Plenty of stories, that’s for sure.” She smiled at Theo and patted his arm.
Mr. Butler said, “We’ll want to know all about you, Theo. Make sure you have what it takes to look after our girl.”
He leaned over and kissed his daughter on the cheek. “We’ll be in touch.” They both left quietly.
“The famous parents,” Elle said, blinking rapidly. She looked relieved that they’d left. He had to say he didn’t feel so bad about that himself.
“Tell me what happened. Exactly.”
“I had just finished a phone call outside the owners’ box—”
“With one of your parents?”
“My sister, actually, when I became dizzy. Next thing I knew, they’re taking me here. It’s all overblown, Theo.”
“Tommy said he might have upset you.”
She shook her head. “Tommy? We were talking but he doesn’t scare me. Don’t blame Tommy—he’s got your best interests at heart.”
Defending his asshole agent? Didn’t see that coming.
“And everything’s okay with the hatchling? You’re sure?”
“Yes.” She sent a glance toward the ajar door through which her parents had just exited.
He went over and closed it. “I’ll talk to the doctor in a minute but first we need to have a chat.”
“I said I was sorry about the eating. That wasn’t it, though.”
“You didn’t say that, actually, and I’ll deal with that later. For now, I need you to tell me what exactly is going on with your family. The truth.”
25
If Elle was a turtle, Theo suspected she’d have withdrawn her head into her shell and stayed there until the danger had passed.
But she wasn’t a turtle. She was Elle Butler, the woman carrying his baby, the woman he had fallen in love with, and he wanted an honest, forthright conversation about what was worrying her.
“You and I need to talk about the in-laws.”
“Well, they’re not technically—”
“Ellie. Stop. I know you’re the queen of deflection, but not today. Today, we need to talk about your family and why it bothers you so much that they’re here.”
“I’m just trying to protect you.” At his bafflement, she added, “From them.”
“Okay. You’re going to have to be more specific.”
She swallowed. “I told you we don’t get along. I don’t approve of how they make their living. The thing is, they’re, uh, grifters.”
“Grifters.” That sounded old-timey. “You mean—”
“Con artists, Theo.”
Theo hauled in a breath. He’d been prepared for any number of things about Elle’s people: toxicity, psychological abuse, outright disapproval of their daughter’s choices, or just plain don’t-get-along-itis, but not this.
“So they what? Convince people to buy pieces of London Bridge? Run Ponzi schemes? That kind of thing?”
She nodded. “That and more. They’re not like other parents. They lie, cheat, steal. They’ve never done an honest day’s work and that means I was raised on the backs of other people’s hard graft, on the coattails of their pain and suffering. They move from one scam to the next, squeezing people for every cent they can get. They’re consummate liars, though they’d call it storytelling. And I’m a product of them. I lied about who they were because I was ashamed and then I was scared that once you knew, you’d hate me or take the baby away. I’m already screwing up with the diet and exercise and late nights. This would be just one more mark in the ledger of bad motherhood.”
Had he been so hard on her, so adamant that she get this motherhood thing right that he’d closed off all channels of communication?
“Have they broken the law?”
She nodded.
“Have you broken the law?”
“No. Or, not as an adult. When I was a teen, I did some behind the scenes stuff. Dodgy websites, drop-offs. An accessory, I suppose. But my parents … I’m sorry, Theo. I didn’t want you to get caught up in this.”
“Ellie.” He placed his hands on his hips and walked back and forth. “I wish you would have told me, but I get it. So you’re … not like them?” He needed to know everything.
“Let me tell you a story. When I was sixteen, my parents said it was time for my training. Amy—my sister— was the same age and she’d already been running games since she was fifteen. She looked older, more sophisticated. I’d hoped I wouldn’t have to work the front lines. Maybe I could be behind the scenes, taking care of documents or IDs, but they needed people they could trust to hustle. I was supposed to meet a guy in a bar and steal his hotel key—that was it. No bother for anyone in the business. But he caught me. And I think I wanted to be caught.”
Jesus. What a horrible thing to do to your child. “Did you get into trouble?”
“No. It turned out he was a friend of my parents, just a guy they’d asked to be the mark. They didn’t trust me with a real one, so they tested me and I failed. And that’s when I knew I could never do it. Cou
ld never be one of them. I headed to Miami, got a fake ID to say I was eighteen, waited tables, tried to make an honest dollar. And then I joined the army.”
“Kind of a switch.”
“I wanted to do something that was the opposite of the life they’d led, the life they were grooming me for. Give back. Prove I’m not like them.”
Imagine living a life that devoid of trust. Not so different for him as far as his mom was concerned, but at least he had Aurora.
“This is why you wanted to hide the pregnancy. You didn’t want them to know because you were worried about … me?” The relief was overwhelming. It wasn’t because she was ashamed to be connected to him. So the future in-laws were hustlers, but at least Elle wasn’t embarrassed by him. He’d take that as a win. “You think they want to scam me.”
“You’re the perfect gull.”
“Gull?”
“Gullible. Mark. You’re so nice and kind and you’d give the shirt off your back to anyone who asked.”
He wasn’t that nice—and this appearance of a threat to Elle, his baby, and the life he was imagining for himself would show her just how not nice he could be.
“Maybe I’m not as cynical as you.”
“Well, that goes without saying. However, getting involved with me means that you’re exposed to some shady characters who I happen to share DNA with.”
“What about your sister? Is she here, too?”
Sadness curtained her expression. “No. She’s lying low after a scam gone wrong. One I—I interfered in. I broke up a con she was running and now the people she pissed off are looking for her. To be honest, that’s why I haven’t told my parents to take a hike. I’m trying to get Amy out of the game and I need to keep the channels open while I work that.”
This was … a lot. “You’ve been dealing with all this and you didn’t tell me? I could have helped.”
“I don’t want your money to solve this, Theo.”
“Not just that. I could have been a shoulder for you to lean on. Jesus, Ellie!” He paced the room for a few steps but unfortunately the room was too small to get a good pace on. He pointed at her. “I have great shoulders, you know.”
She bit her lip and said quietly, “I know.”
“I mean for moral support. Stop objectifying my shoulders.”
“You brought them up!”
He had. Okay, think, Theo. What else was happening here? He’d seen her fear, but it was for him. Worry he’d be scammed. He also got the impression that Elle was looking for something from her parents. Approval, support, just plain old love. We can’t choose our family, and even if they hurt you, you can still want to make the relationship better. Theo knew this intimately.
“Tell me. Do you miss them?”
“Sometimes,” she said. “It wasn’t all bad. They love me in their own way, but whenever they’re around I’m on a knife’s edge waiting to see what havoc they’ll wreak.”
“But they can’t do any harm to us because I know who they are. What they do.”
If he’d expected her mood to brighten, he’d clearly overreached. She didn’t look convinced. What happened to the truth will set you free?
“This is why you’re so weird about money. Why you can’t take a dime from me that’s not accounted for.”
“I can’t owe you anything, Theo. You’re already paying so much and I can’t have you think for a single second that I planned this. I didn’t.”
“Okay, we’re not retreading that. I know you didn’t plan this. I also know that you’d rather cut off your right arm than take a single dime from me that’s not related to feeding, clothing, sheltering, and educating our kid. You’ve been pretty clear about this and unless you’re playing the ultimate in long games, I’m going to take what you’ve said at face value. For the record, I don’t agree with your position because I want to give you and our child—and I mean both of you—everything. I want you to feel safe and protected and valued, and sometimes money is necessary to provide those things. But I’m not going to argue with you over that now because we have other things to consider, such as whether you actually want your parents to be here.”
Her eyes went as wide as pucks. “What? That’s what you’re asking?”
“Yeah. They’re your parents. You’ve said they’re bad role models and maybe they’re shitty parents, but I’d like you to have a choice. You’re an adult, this is up to you. You’ve told me what they’re like, what they’re capable of, and how different you are from them—now tell me if you’d like them to stay. If they’re too toxic and are detrimental to the health of you or the baby, then I’ll send them on their way. But if you’ve missed them, if you’d like to give them a chance to redeem themselves in your eyes, then we can ask them to stick around and we can tackle this as a team. But I reserve the right to send them packing if I think they’re overstepping.”
Her eyes filled with tears. “I—I didn’t expect to have a choice. Theo, are you just being nice here? Are you really furious but keeping it in so as not to upset me or harm the baby?”
“Of course I’m furious! You shouldn’t have kept this from me but I’m not pissed because of the secret you kept, I’m pissed because you couldn’t trust me enough to come clean. I’ve tried to be honest with you. I’ve told you stuff I’ve never told another living soul. Now you’re telling me this because I’m prying it out of you.”
She swiped away more tears. Shit, now he was just upsetting her again.
“I was getting ready to tell you, I swear. I’m not used to opening up like that. We were raised to mask everything, to keep our true feelings hidden because it signifies weakness. Gives an advantage to the opponent. And that’s what my family thinks. It’s us and them. I want to give them the benefit of the doubt but they’re probably here to make a score, Theo.”
“But now I know what their game is. We’re what do you call it?”
“Forewarned.”
“Right, so we can be …”
“Forearmed.”
“Finishing each other’s sentences, baby! And you said it could never work.” He turned grave. “Say the word and I’ll kick them out on their lying, thieving, con-artist asses.”
More surprise, more tears. Didn’t she understand yet the lengths he’d go to protect his new family?
“Theo, I didn’t expect this. I didn’t expect you.”
“Well, looks like we’re still surprising each other.” He dropped a light kiss on her lips. “You think about how you want this to play out. I’m going to chat with the doctor.”
“Because you don’t believe me?”
“Because you underplay everything, Elle Butler. I’ll be back in a second.”
He left the room, his pulse rate no calmer now than it had been going in. Elle and the hatchling were his family and he would protect them with everything in his power.
Before he sought out the doctor—because Elle was right, he didn’t believe her—he made a phone call.
“Hey, I need a favor.”
26
“A glass each of champagne?” Dee wrinkled her nose at the patient server in the Peninsula’s famed Lobby on Michigan Avenue where they were seated for afternoon tea. “Make it the bottle. And let’s do the Dom, not the Veuve Clicquot.”
Twice as expensive, of course.
“Eloise,” her father said, “we’ve stayed away because that’s what you wanted. You’ve made it clear you have your own path to tread.”
Today, George Butler looked sharp, with his (dyed) greying goatee and Southern gentleman suit, a costume he donned when entering small towns and wholesome lives. People stopped looking further, seeing only an elegantly dressed man instead of the charlatan beneath. Despite his failings as a father, she believed he did actually care for her, or as much as someone with such loose morals could.
“Things are actually going well, Dad. The baby was a surprise but Theo is very supportive.”
“And you two …” Dee trailed off.
Elle shook her
head. “Oh, we’re not a couple. It’s purely a co-parenting arrangement.”
Her parents exchanged glances, likely assessing if their least talented daughter could possibly attract someone like Theo beyond a one-night stand and how they might use it to their advantage.
“Well, darling, it’s all very nicely done,” Dee said, though Elle couldn’t be sure whether she was talking about the pregnancy, Theo, or the imminent score of a lifetime.
She’d not missed how Dee’s eyes had glittered with knowledge on meeting Theo in her hospital room two days ago. Only two days, yet Theo was still here. He’d not abandoned her despite knowing her family’s history and all the ways they could rip a life to shreds.
“I’m actually happy, Mom. Don’t ruin it.”
Dee managed to look affronted. “Why would I do that? I’m thrilled for you. I did worry you would have trouble finding someone because you’ve never been one for using what the gods gave you. So pretty, but would any man ever see it as long as you’re wearing those baggy clothes and not a dab of makeup? And then the army—good Lord! I thought you must like women, not that there’s anything wrong with that. In fact, it might have opened up some new avenues, but … well, this strategy of yours is as good as any and Theo seems to be hooked.”
“It’s not a strategy, Mom. It was an accident and Theo and I are making the best of a bad situation. Not a couple, remember?”
Her mother grimaced, then lit up on seeing the bottle of champagne appear. After the pop and pour, she raised her glass toward Elle, who had no choice but to pick her own up and clink it. Never mind that she couldn’t drink it in her condition.
“What was that face for?” Elle asked.
“What, my love?” Her mother perused the tea menu. “Maybe Russian Caravan? Or should we go traditional with a nice Assam?”
“What was that pained expression for when I told you that Theo are I are doing the best we can in the circumstances?”
“Well, look at him. I’m amazed you managed to get this far. The man is gorgeous, and while I’ve no doubt you’ve learned a few tricks on your travels—we must have done something right—Theo wouldn’t look at you twice if he wasn’t such a decent guy.”