Chapter 45
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
Beckett
Fuck. Fuck. Fuuuuck.
This did not go to plan. But trust Astrid to flip the script and show up in Sutton Ridge.
And of course , Daisy didn’t listen to me. As soon as the words were out of my mouth, she charged ahead.
Now we’re standing on the terrace facing Astrid who is sitting on the outdoor sofa as if she fucking belongs here.
“You need to go,” Daisy says firmly. “I don’t know why you’re here but I will do everything in my power to ensure that you don’t hurt Beckett any more than you already have. You ruined his life. Haven’t you done enough? Please. Just go.”
So brave. So fierce. So loyal.
But she shouldn’t be defending me when I am the reason Astrid is here.
Astrid laughs. “Surely, you can’t be that na?ve. But it’s good to see you again, Daisy Maja.” From her seat on the sofa, she looks her daughter up and down appraisingly. “I knew you’d be beautiful. But you’re still a silly, little fool, aren’t you? Please tell me you haven’t fallen in love with your childhood crush.”
Her lips purse and her hand goes to her heart. “Oh dear, you have, haven’t you?” Astrid sighs, her gaze swinging to me. “Would you like to tell my daughter what you’ve done? Or shall I do the honors?”
Daisy looks at me, her brow furrowed in confusion. “What is she talking about?”
Astrid has no proof that it was me. It’s not like I left my calling card after emptying her bank account. I was careful to cover my tracks so it’s only a suspicion on her part, and I’m not about to divulge any of this in front of Daisy.
I jerk my chin at Astrid. “What are you doing here?”
“Looks as if I ruined your plans.” She gives me that devious smile I remember so well and crosses her legs.
She looks the same as I remember, but I’m not surprised she’s aged well. Unlike Daisy, she’s been living the good life and can afford the best that money can buy. Her dress, handbag, and red-soled heels are all designer, and the rock on her ring finger must be at least ten carats.
“I assume you were hoping I’d wait until you showed up in London,” she says, toying with the diamond tennis bracelet on her wrist. “But I’ve never been very good at following the rules. I grew a bit impatient, so I thought why not surprise Daisy and Beckett with a visit?”
“You live in London?” Daisy blurts out then shakes her head. “It doesn’t matter. I don’t care where you live. How did you know we were here?”
“A little birdie told me. Poor Georgia.” Astrid tsks. “She said you were quite rude to her. And as for where I live, yes, I’m currently in London,” she tells Daisy. “You’re more than welcome to visit me anytime.”
Daisy laughs harshly. “Wow. Okay. So I guess we’re being civil. In other words, we’re pretending that you’re a mother who actually wants to spend time with her daughter.” Daisy nods. “Thanks for the memo. It’s always good to know which game we’re playing.”
Astrid sighs. “You’ve always been such a drama queen. You made your choices, Daisy, just like I did.”
“I chose not to accompany you on another husband-hunting expedition. I chose not to be an accomplice in your schemes and manipulations because unlike you, I have a conscience. But I didn’t choose to be completely abandoned?—”
“Oh please, you were living in a multimillion-dollar house in Santa Monica. You act like I left you broke and homeless?—”
“You did!” Daisy cries. “Did you really think Daniel was going to let me live there after you robbed him blind and took off?” Daisy shakes her head and exhales a ragged breath.
She looks like she’s fighting back tears, which is exactly why I wanted to confront Astrid in London and not involve Daisy.
Her spine straightens and she lifts her chin and squares her shoulders like she’s preparing for battle. “But as you can see, I survived. After all, you taught me how to stand on my own two feet.”
Astrid scoffs. “Would you have preferred I coddled you? You would never be the artist you are today without the life experiences you’ve had.”
I can’t listen to this bullshit another minute. But it’s further proof that Astrid deserves what she has coming.
“Is that how you sleep at night?” I ask. “By justifying your actions and pretending it was for Daisy’s own good ? Do you have any idea what your daughter has been through?” I grit out.
“It’s fine,” Daisy says, putting her hand on my arm. “Just let it go.”
It’s not fine. Not by any stretch of the imagination.
I thought I hated Astrid before but after the way she’s treating Daisy, like she was just excess baggage and not her own daughter, I hate her on a whole new level.
“It’s interesting how you act like you’re so much better than me,” Astrid says, her eyes on me. “I suppose you’re going to tell me that you had Daisy’s best interests at heart when you tracked me down in London and lured me here?”
“What?” Daisy spins to face me. “ You tracked her down?”
“Oh gosh, was that supposed to be a secret, Beck? Ahhh, I see.” Astrid nods. “You don’t want my daughter to know just what kind of man you really are, do you? That’s why you were hoping to confront me on your own.”
“You flatter yourself, Astrid. What would make you think I’d ever want to see your face again?”
She smiles. “Maybe I know you better than you think. Daisy, why don’t you ask your precious Beckett what he did with the million dollars he stole from my bank account. I’d love to hear his answer.”
Daisy gasps. “What?” she asks faintly.
Fucking Astrid. “What wild assumptions you’re making, Astrid.”
She rolls her eyes. “You can drop the act. I know it was you. Just for the record, I hope you didn’t pay that PI a lot of money. He folded like a deck of cards.” Astrid studies her manicure. “Although I can’t say I blame him. Rocco can be incredibly persuasive. I hired my own security detail to keep me safe from the strange man stalking me. You can never be too careful these days. And to think that my poor, little Daisy was trying to defend you.” She gives me a mock pout. “You must feel like a real heel for keeping her in the dark.”
Fuck. Double fuck. Next to me, I feel Daisy tense.
Her words come back to me. “Promise me you won’t keep me in the dark.”
Daisy looks up at me. “Tell me none of this is true,” she pleads. “Look me in the eye and tell me she’s making this up. Tell me that you weren’t working behind the scenes this whole time and that you didn’t lure her here. Tell me , Beckett.”
I’m tempted to lie to her face and tell her I have no idea what Astrid is talking about. But since Astrid is here and she’s obviously aware that I was having her followed, I can’t take the risk that she’ll slip through my fingers.
I’ll have to take care of this today.
Which means that Daisy will eventually find out the truth anyway.
Rock meet hard place.
There’s no good way out of this so I stick to facts. “You knew I wanted to find her. I never made a secret of that.”
“But…that was three months ago. And I asked you not to—” Her eyes lower and she takes a step back. “God. I’m so stupid. Of course, you weren’t going to give up on my account. And now that this whole thing is over, you have nothing to lose because I upheld my end of the deal.”
She shakes her head and laughs under her breath. “Now it all makes sense. You got exactly what you want, and our three months are up. So, you don’t need me anymore, do you?”
“This has nothing to do with you.” As soon as the words are out, I know it was the wrong thing to say.
Daisy’s face falls. “Right. My mother’s here after I told you I never wanted to see her again, and this has nothing to do with me. Didn’t you even stop to think that maybe, just maybe, you should have discussed this with me? This doesn’t only affect you, Beckett. It affects me too. You’re so driven by revenge that it’s the only thing you care about, isn’t it?”
“It’s not the only thing I care about.”
I care about you.
But I’m not about to say that in front of Astrid so instead, I shrug and say, “You knew who I was. I never pretended to be something I’m not.”
She takes a step back and then another. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. Silly me for thinking I meant something to you. Another lesson learned the hard way. Thank you both for all the lessons. I’d say it’s been a pleasure, Astrid, but we both know that’s a lie.”
Daisy turns to me and the stricken look on her face nearly kills me. “How could you do this to me?” she whispers, her eyes filling with tears. “I trusted you. I thought…” She releases a shaky breath and shakes her head. “That’ll teach me.”
She backs away then turns on her heel and hurries away while I stand on the terrace watching her go. I have a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach that I’ve just ruined something precious.
So I chase after Daisy and grab her arm to stop her. “Hey. Come on, princess?—”
She spins to face me and stabs a finger at me. “No. You don’t get to treat me like I’m overreacting. You don’t get to minimize my feelings. I am sick and tired of being used as a pawn in everyone’s twisted game. You promised you wouldn’t keep me in the dark. You promised you wouldn’t minimize my feelings. And you promised you wouldn’t lie to me.”
Her voice wobbles on the words and her shoulders sag but she forges on. “You promised . And I believed you,” she says through clenched teeth as she furiously blinks back the tears. “But your promises were all empty, weren’t they? Was everything just one big game to you?”
“No.” I reach for her but she holds up her hand and backs away, crossing her arms over her chest for protection.
“I’m doing this just as much for you as for?—”
“Stop! Stop lying. This was never what I wanted and you know that,” she says, her chest heaving. “I told you that if you lied to me or kept me in the dark that I was out. I told you that if my mother showed up here, I was out. How convenient for you that she waited to show up now. You got everything you wanted, Beckett so like I said, you don’t need me anymore. It was just sex anyway, right? No big deal. I’m sure you can find someone else to fulfill your needs.”
My jaw clenches. “I don’t want someone else. I want you.”
“You could have fooled me. When you care about someone, you don’t go behind their backs. You don’t lie and manipulate and use them for your own personal gain.”
“I didn’t lie to you,” I grit out.
“Right. So you weren’t plotting and scheming behind my back? And you didn’t keep me in the dark about your plans? Is that what you’re saying?”
Fuck. I shove my hand through my hair. “She wasn’t supposed to show up here. I was going to take care of this on my own and not get you involved. I was trying to protect you.” Why can’t she understand that?
“Wow.” She lets out an incredulous laugh. “Do you actually believe your own bullshit? You didn’t do any of this for me.” She stabs her finger at me. “You did it for yourself. You never once considered what I want. Everything you’ve done was for your own personal gain. But you’ve obviously gone to a lot of trouble to find my mother, and now she’s here. Well done.”
She holds up her hands and claps. “Congratulations. You must be so proud of yourself.”
With a shake of her head, she turns on her heel and hurries away like she can’t get away fast enough, and I stand in the hallway watching her go.
I’m tempted to chase after her again , but fucking Astrid is sitting on the terrace, and I need to finish what I started so I can’t chase after Daisy right now.
After I deal with Astrid, I’ll sit down with Daisy and we can discuss this rationally.
But for now, I have some unfinished business to take care of.
So I return to the terrace and take a seat across from Astrid, who is watching me with an amused smile on her face.
Unfortunately, she probably heard our entire conversation.
“It looks as if you and my daughter have gotten close. You’re smitten with her, aren’t you? All the boys are. Men, too.”
She’s trying to get a rise out of me, but I’m not going to give her the satisfaction, so I keep my expression neutral and lean back in my seat, regarding her for a moment.
I’ve been accused of being cool and aloof, but Astrid is in a league of her own. She’s calculating, manipulative, and cold as ice. Unless she wants something. Then she turns on the charm.
Unfortunately for her, I’m holding all the cards. She doesn’t stand a chance of winning this game.
“How’s Rupert Osborne, Isabelle ? I suppose congratulations are in order. I’m guessing you’re still in the honeymoon phase and old Rupes hasn’t figured out what you’re capable of yet.”
She laughs, amused. “So that’s your plan, is it? You’re hoping to destroy my marriage.”
“From what I hear, he’s knocking on death’s door. Doesn’t have long now, does he? I’ve gotta hand it to you.” I let out a low whistle. “You sure know how to pick them. I’d be willing to bet his offspring aren’t too thrilled to have a new step-mommy though.”
Astrid doesn’t even blink. There are no cracks in her fa?ade. Nothing in her expression that gives her away.
Then again, she’s a professional con woman so I would expect nothing less. “His children are grown with lives of their own,” she says calmly. “They don’t care what their dear old daddy does.”
“But they do care about their inheritance. Which is substantial from what I understand. That could set you up for life, couldn’t it, Isabelle ? It would be a real shame if he changed his will at the last minute and left you with nothing. What would compel him to do that?” I tap my chin and pretend to think about it. “How much dirt would he need on Astrid Larsson to completely disown her?”
She sighs. “This is getting tedious.” She folds her arms over her chest and raises her brows. “What do you want, Beckett?”
This is the moment I’ve been waiting for. Fucking dreaming about.
I’m in a prime position to take everything away from her. Strip her of her phony title. Expose her for what she really is. And revel in her downfall.
And I will do all those things. I’ve already set the plan in motion. It almost felt like my duty to provide the Osbornes with Astrid’s real identity and all the information they need to persuade the old man to disinherit her.
But it won’t undo the harm that was done.
It won’t bring my mother back.
It won’t make up for the way Astrid treated her own daughter.
And that knowledge leaves me feeling as hollow and empty as Daisy predicted it would.
Astrid can’t give me anything I want. Except maybe one thing. “How did you get my father to give you everything?”
Her gaze is cool. “He obviously didn’t give me everything . But maybe you should be asking Daisy why he left her half of everything. Don’t be fooled by her innocence. After all, she is my daughter and I taught her everything I know.”
This woman is unbelievable. Three months ago, I might have even believed her. Hell, I know I would have. Now though? I know better.
“Daisy is nothing like you,” I bite out.
Astrid tilts her head. “Would you bet your life on it?”
I give her a long look. I don’t even have to think about it. I know the answer. “Yes.”
Surprise flashes across her face but in an instant it’s gone. She gives me a slow smile. “Well, well, well. How long did it take you to figure that out? I’m guessing you didn’t give her the benefit of the doubt when she showed up here, did you? I’d go so far as to wager that you treated my daughter like the hired help, didn’t you?”
She laughs. “I know men like you. Poor little Beckett. Abandoned by his mommy and his daddy so he steeled his heart against love and sought revenge from everyone who had ever wronged him. You know what happens to men like you? You end up miserable and alone.”
This goddamn woman. I need her to get out of my sight before I do something I’ll really regret.
“From where I’m sitting, you’re the only one who’s miserable.” I stand. “I want you gone. Go back to your pathetic life and stay gone. I never want to see your face again. And stay away from Daisy.”
She laughs as she stands up from her chair. “I think I gave you too much credit. Well, it’s been fun.”
She saunters across the terrace, her heels clicking on the terracotta tiles, and waves her hand over her shoulder. “Keep the money. Buy yourself something nice. Donate it to charity. Burn it for all I care. You’ve earned it.”
I follow her down the hallway and usher her out the door. I can’t get her out of here fast enough.
I’m about to slam the door shut when she turns and places her palm on the wood to stop me from closing it in her face.
“I was trying to come up with a way to get back at you,” she says casually. “You didn’t think I could just let this go, did you? But you’ve saved me the trouble. Looks like you’re about to get your just desserts without my help. You’re going to lose the only thing of value in your life. The only thing your money can’t buy. Daisy .”
Her smile is triumphant, and it takes everything in me to stop myself from wrapping my hands around her throat and wringing her fucking neck.
As soon as she steps away, I slam the door shut and grind my teeth, but her words echo in my head as I frantically search the house for Daisy.
I stride across Daisy’s bedroom floor and yank open the closet door.
All the clothes I bought her are still here but the dresser is empty and her bags aren’t here.
I have a bad feeling Astrid was right.
Because Daisy is gone .