Chapter 38 More than Enough – Rhodes
MORE THAN ENOUGH
RHODES
I didn’t even think about what I was saying to Gigi. Words and numbers, admonitions, and finally, an agreement. All I could focus on was Rory and the look on her face before she’d walked away. There had been disappointment there, but no surprise.
But why would she be disappointed in me?
In offering Gigi more money, all I was doing was protecting Luke.
And honestly, she’d done the same with her own mother that very morning, trading cash for her promise to go away.
How was that any different than what I’d done?
Why did I have a sinking feeling that Rory no longer felt the same way about me?
Fuck it. She’d signed the contract. If she didn’t care about me anymore, so be it.
I stormed back to the house, grateful to get away from Gigi but for little else. I knew I’d made a mistake by having Tammy Harris followed and offering her money without talking to Rory about it. But I’d admitted my wrong. I’d owned it. Why wasn’t that good enough?
Because people are complicated. Which was exactly why I avoided getting involved with them.
Fuck it, I thought again. If Rory didn’t want our relationship to be real, this could still work. We would still be married. I would win the company and retain custody of Luke. That was what I was paying her for. That was why I’d hired her in the first place.
It would be easier this way. It was, after all, a transaction at heart.
And I refused to let my actual heart be impacted any further.
“Philips.” I stopped the butler in the hall. “Where’s Miranda?”
“In her office,” Philips said. “Shall I fetch her?”
“No, I’ll go and see her.”
“Is everything settled with Ms. Gigi?”
“She’s staying for the wedding—it was easier than having her try and crash it.” I scowled. “By no means is she allowed near the boy. Have the staff bring her lots of wine, and keep her door guarded. Hopefully, she’ll just hole up and stay out of sight until the ceremony.”
A headache formed behind my eyes. “Speaking of that. Please clear my calendar for the rest of the day and let Alicia know I’m unavailable. I have to finalize the remaining details.”
“Would you like me to assist, Sir?”
“I would like you to do it all, and also keep the arriving guests as far away from me as possible, and cancel the rehearsal dinner, which I am loath to attend,” I admitted. “But as it’s my wedding, Philips, not yours, I suppose I will have to manage.”
“Yes, Sir.” He dropped into a bow. When he rose, he said, “Miss Rory has retired to your room. I detected some consternation, Sir.”
I arched an eyebrow. “I’m aware, and that’s an understatement.”
“Agreed,” Philips said. “I will attend to Ms. Gigi as you have instructed.”
“Attend to her by locking her door from the outside,” I snapped. “I don’t want to see her until I have to.”
With that, I marched off to find Miranda. Gigi’s comment about Miranda calling Rory a “two-bit hooker” needed to be addressed. My stepmother had no proof, as far as I knew. It would behoove her to shut her mouth.
“Miranda.” Just as she’d done to me earlier, I barged into her office uninvited. “We need to talk.”
She sat back in her chair and crossed her legs. “I assume you saw Gigi?”
“I didn’t just see her—I heard her, as did the entire staff and all of our guests.” I frowned. “You have no right to encourage her. She’s bad for Luke. She was screaming in front of him. The boy got hysterical.”
Miranda tilted her head. “She’s his mother, Rhodes. She has a right to see him. Just like Rory’s mother has a right to see her.”
Fuck. She knew. “I assumed you’d hear about that.”
She smiled. “News travels fast across the grounds. I also heard that she’s a bit worse for wear. You should take note, Rhodes. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”
My blood started to simmer. “Rory’s mother isn’t any of your business—and for that matter, neither is Luke’s.
Gigi doesn’t care about him, Miranda. She’s only here so that her picture gets taken at the wedding, so the world doesn’t forget about her, and so that she can siphon even more money from us. ”
“Us?” Miranda snorted. “I don’t recall you ever including me as a Barrington before. You really must be desperate.”
“I’m not desperate.” I sank down into the chair across from her. “I’m just tired.”
Miranda’s stare contained only assessment, no empathy or warmth.
I sighed. “Gigi said you told her that Rory is a prostitute.”
“Gigi always did have a big mouth.” Miranda sounded pleased.
I leveled her with a stare. “It’s not true. I would appreciate it if you would stop your defamation campaign against my bride. It won’t get you anywhere except frozen out of the board and evicted from Barrington Manor.”
“You can’t evict me from my own home.”
“The hell I can’t.” I leaned forward. “After the wedding, I will have fulfilled the terms of the trust. I’ll be in full control of the estate and of the company.”
I let that sink in. “The board’s already on my side.
They don’t want you to lead, Miranda. It’s not your place, and it never has been.
If you call off the witch hunt, I might tolerate you out of respect for my father.
But if you don’t, I will make sure that your bony ass is out on the sidewalk and you’re never invited to insufferable cocktails on the lawn ever again. ”
“I have proof.” She lifted her chin. “The mother likes to talk as much as Gigi.”
“That’s not proof, and you know it—that’s someone looking for a handout. But you can make your own decisions.” I rose to leave.
“It’s not a legal marriage if it’s only for show, Rhodes,” she said quietly.
“I know for a fact that you’d never met the girl before she arrived here.
That’s a false premise if I’ve ever heard of one.
You can’t have a legal contract, including a marriage, if it’s based on fraud.
You know that. You’re playing with fire. ”
“No, you’re the one playing with fire.” I started toward the door. “You don’t know what’s between my bride and me. It’s none of your business. And as for fraud, you’re wrong. Rory and I have real feelings for each other. That’s all that matters.”
“We’ll see.” Miranda’s mouth curved into a smirk. “The truth always comes out in the end.”
I nodded. “In that vein, I should have told you a long time ago—you were a terrible stepmother. Cold, calculating, and borderline cruel. How’s that for the truth?”
She shot to her feet. “Me? I was the cold one? You were horrible to me, Rhodes. Remember the iced tea debacle?”
“That wasn’t cold—that was hot. Hot sauce, and a good amount, if I remember correctly.”
“I was sick for three days.” Miranda shook her head. “You were hell as a teen. If I was distant, it was because I learned the hard way you weren’t safe to be around.”
“I don’t want to hear your crying.” I headed for the exit.
“Nor do I want to hear yours,” she countered.
I didn’t bother saying goodbye as I slammed the door shut.
Damn her. Miranda had always been awful to me. She’d tolerated my brother because he knew how to play the game, maintaining a mask of civility while deriding her behind her back. But I’d lacked a game face when I was younger. I couldn’t hide my dislike.
But her comment about the iced tea incident rankled, getting under my skin.
I’d forgotten that one. Miranda always drank iced tea, and one afternoon, I’d intercepted her drink from the staff and poured half a bottle of high-octane Caribbean hot sauce into it.
I’d laughed when she’d coughed and gagged, tears streaming down her reddening face.
In retrospect, it was sort of a dick move.
But I refused to feel sorry for her. She was trying to take my company from me. She was fighting me every step of the way. Miranda had never been on my side.
But the voice in my head—which I quickly quashed—pointed out that I’d never been on hers, either.
Enough. I didn’t want to think about it anymore.
Sighing, I locked myself inside my office to finish planning a wedding that no one seemed to want but me.