There’s a momentary flick of his eyes away from mine before he answers. “No.”
“Don’t lie to me.” I hiss the words, moving closer to him, getting up in his face. “It’s him, isn’t it? That arsehole who attacked her in the alleyway. Who attacked me, too!”
“He got out on bail.” Theo pretty much spits the words, disgust drenching them.
I inhale, shocked, moving back and dropping my gaze to the floor. It darts around our bare feet. “They let him out?” I don’t believe this. Theo handed him over to the police, rather than break his legs, and they let him out, free to terrorize Penny again, and God knows how many other women? It’s horrifying. “How did he get in the club?”
“I don’t know.” Just the way he says it tells me he’s absolutely raging. Has he realized, like I have, that he’s not untouchable?
“What are you going to do?” I look up at him, now worrying about his intentions.
“Hurt him.” He doesn’t hold back, doesn’t bother to try to pull the wool over my eyes. I can see the intent on his face, the thirst to draw blood from the worthless lowlife. The power behind his words matches the physical power I know he has. “I’m going out with Callum.”
“No.” I shake my head, moving toward him. “Theo, please, no.”
“You don’t think he deserves it?” His question gives me pause. There’s something in his blue eyes making me read between the lines. His question feels tactical. He’s gone low, and I’m not sure I can blame him.
“I know what you’re capable of, Theo.” I push on, desperate for him to understand my plight. “You’ll be locked up. You’ll be taken away from me.”
“That’s not going to happen.”
“It might! You thought you could hand him over to the police and they’d do their job. They failed, Theo. Not you.” His face twists in agony. It kills me, because I know my words aren’t sinking in. I lift my arm and let him see it, his eyes following my hand to his chest to where his new tattoo is still reddened and shiny from Vaseline. “Please, promise me you won’t do anything stupid.”
He studies my hand resting on his skin, taking a deep breath. “Promises are nothing but words that evaporate the moment they’re spoken.” Looking up at me, his face is completely blank. But the tinge of deadliness in his eyes is more apparent. “They disappear. They mean nothing.” He turns and walks away to the bathroom, leaving me shell-shocked, my palm warm from the lingering aftermath of our physical connection.
It’s ironic. I’ve welcomed Theo’s protective instinct, craved it. His safety and security. His ability to keep danger at bay. Now that instinct means I might lose him.
I can’t lose him.
He sees nothing but a need for revenge. Right now, he’s not seeing me. My need. My pain. Anger bubbles up from my toes, fear engulfing me. “You stupid, selfish pig!” I yell. “What about us?” I snatch my jeans from the nearby chair and yank them on before grabbing up my bag and heading for the door. I slam it behind me and work on slamming a lid on my mind as well.
* * *
My day is spent doing anything to stop myself from thinking. I went home, showered and readied myself, then headed out with a list of things to do. It took me longer to write the list than it’ll probably take me to actually do it all. I say all. All two things. The supermarket is my first stop. I stock up on everything, and I take my time doing it, roaming up and down every aisle, whether I need dog food or baking supplies or not. I pick the longest checkout queue, and I decline the offer of help to pack my bag. I don’t grab a coffee from the Starbucks in the supermarket; I walk the five streets to another one instead. And I don’t use the nearby Boots to finally get my photographs from Vegas developed; I walk a few miles to the next one.
As I sit on a stool in the booth, my phone linked via a USB cable to the machine, I flick through the images of my first girlie holiday in my twenty-seven years. I smile, selecting and printing as I go, reliving the time that feels like years ago through the images. After collecting my prints, I think of something else to add to my dwindling list of things to do. I need a frame. But not from this shop. Collecting my bags, I go in search of a home store.
* * *
Hours later, I’m on the floor in my lounge trimming photographs and arranging them in a huge frame made up of a dozen smaller ones. When I’m done, I’m surrounded by offcuts of photographs, and each of the frames contains a picture of either me, Jess, or both of us. I prop it up on the couch and stand back, scanning every image. Jess was my only family. Now, I have Theo. He should be in these photographs. But there are none in existence of Theo and me. I should fix that.
I hear the front door close and look up to find Jess wandering in, followed closely by Callum. My eyebrows jump up in surprise, then lower just as quickly when Jess approaches, dropping her bag to the floor.
“Hey, you okay?” she asks.
I sense a concern that can only mean Theo has given Callum the lowdown, and Callum has relayed it all to my friend. I squat and begin gathering up my mess. “What do you want?” I ask, flicking Callum a condemning look. “Did he send you?”
Callum frowns, his eyes flicking to Jess. “He’s not with you? I thought he was.”
My hands falter, and I shoot up. “He said he was going out with you,” I blurt, immediately panicked.
“Does it look like it?” His frown turns into worry. Deep worry. “Fuck.”
“I left him hours ago.” I’m unable to control the growing trepidation. “So where is he?”
“What’s happened? Between you two?” Callum asks, pulling his phone from his trouser pocket and looking at the screen.
“We had a disagreement. Haven’t you spoken to him?” I ask as Jess hovers behind Callum, the silent, pensive observer.
“Not since yesterday. And now his phone’s off. What did you argue about?”
“He told me Penny’s attacker was released on bail.” My voice rises a few octaves, and Callum’s wide eyes are the cause. “Oh my God,” I whisper. “You didn’t know.”
“No, I didn’t fucking know.”
Callum’s news takes my panic to another level. “Theo said he was going to hurt him. I asked him to promise that he wouldn’t, but he refused. He said he was going out with you. I left.” My eyes drop and dart. “I thought you knew. I thought you’d be with him. You’re always there when he needs to see to business.” Always there to stop him tipping over the edge.
Callum’s mouth twists, his eyes closing to gather patience. “Go get in the car.” His worry, and now my own, too, is the only reason I don’t protest. Without Callum by his side, who knows what Theo will do. He won’t just hurt the man he’s hunting down. Jesus, he’ll be up for murder.
* * *
Callum is obviously uptight on the drive to Theo’s, not that I expect small talk from him, but any talk would be welcomed. The silence is leaving the empty space free for me to fill with thoughts of dread.
When we pull up under the canopied driveway, Jefferson is waiting and looking as worried as Callum. “Miss White,” he says, sweeping his arm out, giving me the space I don’t need when Theo’s not with me.
I smile my thanks as Callum joins me, and we move into the large, empty entrance hall. “Make yourself comfortable,” he says. “I have some things to see to in the Playground.”
I slow to a stop, watching Callum carry on his way, pulling the door open to the corridor that leads through to Theo’s club. “What? I’m supposed to just hang around sick with worry, waiting for him to come home?”
He stops, the door handle in his grasp, and turns toward me. “Yes,” he says simply. A stoic face is the last I see before Callum disappears through the door.
“Great,” I mutter, pulling my phone from my bag and dialing Theo. It goes straight to voicemail, and I close my eyes, bringing the phone to my lips while praying that without Callum, he hasn’t found who he was looking for. Why would he go alone? Why?
“Would you like a drink?” Jefferson asks, st
artling me from my thoughts. “Or perhaps something to eat?” His hands join in front of him, waiting for my answer.
“I’m fine, thank you, Jefferson.”
“Very well.” He bows his head and backs away, and then I’m alone in the great big house with nothing to do but wait and worry.
“Izzy, darling.” Judy comes out of Theo’s office, seemingly relieved to see me. She hurries over, extending her arms and taking me in a hug. “Where’s Theo? Is he here? In the club?” She breaks away, looking to me for an answer.
I shake my head, and her red lips purse. “I haven’t seen him since this morning,” I explain. “We had a…disagreement.”
Her head tilts a fraction, making the perfect layers of her hair fall out of place. “About what?”
“Penny.”
Her pursed red lips twist in disdain. “What about her?”
I sigh, building myself up to explain all over again. Why am I the only person who knows all this? “Her attacker. He got released on bail.” She withdraws, a mixture of confusion and sheer aggravation splattering her lovely face. “I thought Callum would be with Theo,” I go on, rushing my words to get them all out, and maybe even to defend myself. I shouldn’t have let him go.
“Damn it,” she hisses, stalking away, pacing up and down, thoughtful. “That little slut will be the death of him.” She starts playing with her hands, her heels clicking on the floor as she walks back and forth.
My head retracts on my shoulders, her harshness cutting through me. “What do you mean, she’ll be the death of him?”
An over-the-top smile is plastered on her face in the blink of an eye. It’s an insult. “Nothing, darling. The girl is a troublemaker. That’s all.” She comes forward to claim me again, but I move away, wary, making her pull to a guilty stop.
“Judy, don’t treat me like I’m stupid,” I warn her, facing Theo’s formidable mother head-on. “Theo told me she’s the daughter of a friend who died.”
She laughs, short and sharp. It’s cold and it’s heartless. “If only,” she snipes.
“Theo lied to me?” I ask quietly, feeling hurt and confused. “Why would he lie?” My imagination goes into overdrive, reeling off the possibilities. What woman would be worthy of such protection from Theo? An ex-lover? Girlfriend? “Judy, tell me who she is.” I’m slowly going out of my mind, my breathing becoming strained and erratic.
Her eyes close and she inhales deeply, defeat coming out in an extended puff of air. “His sister.”
I recoil, shocked. “What? Your daughter?”
“No,” she refutes viciously. “She’s the bastard child of my dead husband and his whore of a mistress.” Judy staggers back, her head whipping from side to side. She’s checking that the coast is clear, making sure there’s no one listening.
“A love child?” I whisper, beginning to piece it all together.
“Love?” Judy laughs, the sound tinged with a hurt I’m unable to comprehend. “She’s the product of a fling, that’s all. Nothing more.”
My round eyes take in the desolate woman before me. “You hate her.” I state it as the fact it is. There’s venom pouring from Judy’s Chanel suit, poisoning the air.
She drops into a decorative chair, the conversation already taking its toll. “Theo has some unreasonable sense of responsibility toward her.” She waves her hand in the air. “I’ve long given up trying to dissuade him of his misplaced obligation.”
“Where’s her mother?” I ask, since she’s mentioned responsibility.
She snorts her repulsion. “Gone the moment my dear husband’s will was read and she learned she wasn’t getting a penny from his estate. She disappeared. Left Penny to fend for herself as a child.”
“That’s awful.”
“That’s life, sweetheart.” She rolls her eyes in the most heartless way. I’m stunned by her coldness.
“Penny didn’t ask to be brought into this world illegitimately,” I point out. “This isn’t her fault. Why do you hate her so much?”
“Because, my dear,” she says on a sigh, “my husband treated his bastard daughter better than he treated my boy. Our boy.” She falls into thought, smiling a little. “Our sweet, placid little Theo.”
I can’t pull back my frown. Sweet and placid? Never would I describe Theo as sweet and placid. Not now, anyway. But judging by Judy’s soft, reflective expression, there was once a time when those words could be applied to the formidable, deadly man. She’s full to the brim with resentment and bitterness. I’m partway between compassion and disdain for her.
“Theo wasn’t always so…” She thinks for a few seconds, looking at me. “Unapproachable. He was an adorable child, with no traits of his ruthless father in him. I loved that. I loved that he was nothing like my husband. But, of course, my husband hated it. Theo frustrated him. He saw his son as a pushover. He wanted an heir to take over his empire.” She throws her arms into the air in the general direction of the luxury surrounding us. “He was a bully. Told Theo daily how much of a disappointment he was and how his bastard little sister had bigger balls than him. He wanted a boy as merciless as he was to continue his legacy, and Theo wasn’t showing any signs of being that boy.” Her hands land in her lap with a light thud. “But he got his wish in the end, even if the callous bastard isn’t here to appreciate it. Theo is more formidable than his father ever was, and more respected.” Judy swallows. “And feared.” She looks at me. “Just how Bernard wanted him to be. Hollow. Cold. Merciless. But there’s one thing my Theo has that his father didn’t. Something more precious than money or status symbols or respect.” She stands and comes over to me, regarding me as I shift from foot to foot, uncomfortable, trying to take in the endless bombshells. She takes my cheeks, holding me in place. “My boy has a heart, Izzy. And you possess it.”
I choke up, not liking the conclusion I’m drawing. “His father made him feel unwanted?” I question.
I see tears form in her eyes, and she nods. “Trust me, darling. Where his father lacked, I made up for it.”
“I’m sorry.” I drop my head, sadness consuming me. And yet despite what he went through, he still shows compassion toward his half sister. Chose to take care of her instead of disowning her. “You can’t condemn him for wanting to help her.”
“No, but I can condemn her for continuing to make his life difficult. For getting him locked up, because that’s what will happen. He’s gone out there to hunt down whoever attacked her because he feels some misplaced sense of responsibility.”
I glance up at her. “He’d do the same for me,” I state, knowing it to be true. “Would you hate me, too?”
Judy smiles, understanding. “Theo’s responsibility toward you isn’t misplaced, dear girl.”
I open my mouth to argue, but quickly suck back my words. It’ll be pointless. Judy is scorned, and no matter how much I or anyone else tries to convince her otherwise, she’ll never see through her haze of resentment. Theo is her child. Penny is not.
“Come.” She slides an arm around my shoulder and turns me toward the stairs. “Go lie down. I’ll see what I can find out from Andy.”
Judy leads me to Theo’s private space, my body not my own, my mind trying to process the revelations about Penny, Theo, and their father, my worry for Theo rapidly growing. She opens the door for me. Encourages me inside. And then leaves me with a soft smile. And I let her. I put up no resistance, and I soon find myself frowning at the closed door, the silence loud. She expects me to kill time in here while they try to find him? Expects me to do nothing?
I pull up Theo’s name and dial him, pacing the room while I mentally demand that he answer, but I get his voicemail again. “Damn it, Theo,” I yell, marching to the door and swinging it open. I’ll find Andy myself. Get answers myself.
I make my way through Theo’s private quarters, my strides even, my legs strong, my determination unwavering. As I round the landing, something at the bottom of the stairs catches my eye and makes me pause. “Theo.” I exhale his
name, trying to assess his condition quickly. He looks…perfect. His clothes are straight, uncreased, and there are no signs of any dishevelment. I hate myself for it, but I check for blood, too. There’s nothing. No sign, hint, or scrap of evidence that he’s been teaching any lessons or breaking any limbs. Though his face is tired. Drained. He looks like he could sleep for a year.
“Hey.” He stuffs his hands deep into his pockets, looking up at me on the landing.
“Where have you been?” I ask, feeling my way around to the top of the stairs, not daring to release the rail for fear of crumpling in relief. “Everyone has been worried.” I take one step down.
“Looking for someone,” he says straight up, his despondency telling me that he didn’t find them.
I bite my teeth together, nervous to say what I’m about to say. “I know who Penny is.”
He shows no surprise. He doesn’t even blink. “My father was all she had. Her mother wasn’t interested in her, just my father’s money and status. When Dad died, all she had left was me. It’s been a constant battle to keep her on the straight and narrow.”
“I admire you for helping her,” I say quietly, needing him to know that. Judy would probably have something to say about it, but I don’t care. He deserves some praise, despite my not agreeing with what he set out to do today. But he’s back, and he didn’t find who he was looking for. I can talk some sense into him. I know I can.
“Don’t admire me, Izzy.” Theo shakes his head and looks down at his feet. “There’s nothing to admire.”
My shoulders drop, despair gripping me. “Don’t try to stop me,” I warn.
He smiles mildly, looking up as he takes a step toward the stairs. “Admiration is more than I deserve. I don’t deserve you, either.”
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