Chapter 23
Stella
“Mr. Lawson,” Theo said, releasing Richard’s hand. “How are you?”
“Good,” Richard said, shooting a sideways glance at my dad. “This one’s been filling my inbox with work, and I’m half-tempted to give my two weeks’ notice and flee to a Tuscan vineyard of my own.”
Mom grimaced. “And turn into one of those insufferable people who does nothing but talk about grapes?”
Richard rubbed a hand over the back of his head like he’d been caught. “So what if I did?”
Mom’s look was chiding. “You’d be out of your mind with boredom within a month and beg us to come back, but by then we’d have hired someone far more qualified than you to fill the position, and it would all become unbearably awkward.”
Richard looked to Theo. “Thirty years, I’ve been putting up with this kind of workplace harassment.”
Theo chuckled, and to anyone who didn’t know him, it probably sounded fine, but my ears caught a forced note.
Was he still thinking about Maddie? Had he spotted her through the crowd?
I searched for her, adrenaline-laced blood pumping through my veins as my fight-or-flight kicked in.
Where was she? In my head, I saw her lurking behind every group of people, waiting to pounce the second my guard was down.
“Oh, Jerry!” Richard said, raising his glass to someone across the room. He sent us an apologetic smile as he stepped away. “I know we’re not supposed to talk about work at these things, but I want to thank him for getting a report to me ahead of schedule.”
My parents left us a few minutes later to make the rounds, and I noticed Theo’s gaze still tracking Richard.
“Does he always attend these parties alone?” he asked.
“Yeah, he’s been single as long as I’ve known him. I mean, he’s dated, but I can’t remember him ever being in a long-term relationship.”
Theo snorted. “Typical.”
“What do you mean by that?”
He eyed me. “Just another wealthy playboy.”
“Richard isn’t like that.”
His answering laugh was condescending.
“He isn’t,” I insisted. “There was some big drama when I was younger, and he and his wife had a very long, very ugly divorce. I think he met someone else during it? But then she just up and vanished, and he’s been alone ever since.
” There was more to the tale, including Richard’s desperate search for the woman who’d vanished, and a child he’d been trying to find for over two decades, but I wasn’t about to spill his secrets.
“Quite a story,” Theo said, sounding like he wasn’t buying it, which made me feel defensive. Richard was a good man, and I didn’t appreciate the insinuation that he wasn’t.
“You know, just because he’s rich doesn’t mean he’s a liar.”
Theo opened his mouth, a cruel look on his face, but then he seemed to think better of it and slugged back the rest of his champagne. “I need something stiffer than this to get through tonight. Where’s the bar?”
“I think it’s in the Cretaceous period.”
He gave me a blank look.
“This way.”
I kept my eyes peeled for Maddie as we walked, my shoulders inching upward, muscles clenched with tension. Where the fuck was she? From the way Theo tracked the crowd, I could tell he was wondering the same thing, and by the time we reached the bar, we were both silent and tense.
After ordering (a water for me, an old-fashioned for Theo), we meandered our way into the Hall of Human History, trying to act casual when we both knew what we were really doing: hunting down Maddie.
“Oh, look,” I said as we approached a particularly ugly caveman. “Now we found your twin.”
Theo had no reaction whatsoever. No choked laugh, no eyeroll.
Just silence. Like he hadn’t even heard me.
It was oddly deflating, and yes, I did have the sudden realization that I’d been hoping for a response.
That I wasn’t just being mean to him for my own satisfaction, or because he deserved it (which he did), but for some other (probably tragically sad) reason I should probably speak to my therapist about.
Another thing to ask her? If I had Stockholm syndrome. I couldn’t think of any other reason why the thought of not seeing Theo anymore made my stomach drop.
On second thought, screw my therapist. This was above her pay grade.
What I really needed was Runa. She’d be able to unpack this with me.
Maybe I could stop by her place tomorrow, use my problems as an excuse to see how she was doing now that she was out of the hospital.
I could call first, see if she needed me to pick up groceries or anything on the way over because despite how ADA-compliant her apartment was, there were still areas that were a pain in the—
“Stella?” a tentative, feminine voice said.
I wrenched around, horrified that Maddie had managed to sneak up on us.
She stood a few feet away, her blond hair perfectly coiffed, makeup equally flawless. In her white ball gown, she looked like the picture of innocence, which was probably her intention.
“Maddie,” Theo drawled.
“No.” I put my hand on his arm to forestall whatever he was about to say. Because I had things I needed to get off my chest first. “What do you want, Maddie?”
“To talk. Please.” Her eyes glistened, and I wondered how anyone could possibly fall for her crocodile tears.
“Fine, we can talk,” I said, forcing my tone to remain calm, refusing to give her whatever she was after.
She’d always been a drama queen, loved causing scenes, loved the eyes of a crowd on her.
Maddie thrived off the attention, especially if she found some way to make herself look like the victim, and I’d always wondered why.
Did she crave the attention of others because her parents had been so absent throughout her childhood?
Was it narcissism? A personality disorder?
I’d tried asking my therapist, but she said she’d need to speak to Maddie in order to properly diagnose her.
Maddie’s bottom lip quivered. “I tried to talk to you at the last party, but you were so mean.”
I didn’t answer, refused to show any outward reaction, and it was probably the hardest thing I’d ever done. This woman had framed me for a crime I didn’t commit, had almost gotten away with it, and yet here she was, for the second time, publicly acting like she was the victim.
“I think . . .” Her lower lip trembled, and she steeled herself like she was gathering courage. “I think you owe me an apology.”
Theo’s hand pressed against my lower back in a silent show of support, and it buoyed me, knowing he was ready to fuck up Maddie’s life if I faltered.
For the first time since we’d met, his presence gave me courage.
He’d practically dragged me in here when all I’d wanted to do was flee, but I was grateful for that now, because it made me realize two things: Maddie wasn’t invincible, and I needed closure with her, as ugly as it might get.
And while it was nice to have this big, ruthless bastard by my side, I didn’t need him to fight my battles for me. I was going to do this myself.
“Why should I apologize?” I asked. “I wasn’t the one driving the car. I wasn’t the one who fled the scene sobbing on the phone to my parents. I stayed there and did the right thing, and you’ve been punishing me for it ever since.”
“Why do you keep lying?” she cried.
“Why do you?” I waved toward the people around us, watching this scene unfold.
It was a mixed group, some were company employees, others my parents’ friends and acquaintances.
I spotted Mrs. Heidi Ashley and pointed to her.
“When we were eight, you broke her Bronze Age amphora because she said you couldn’t have it. ”
“That was an accident,” Maddie argued.
I pointed to Angela Renner next. “When we were twelve, you were desperate to get a pony for your birthday, but Angela got one first, and you were so mad that you knocked her cake over while we were all singing ‘Happy Birthday.’”
“That was another accident,” she cried.
“You tried to drag the pony away, screaming that it was supposed to be yours.”
“I didn’t.”
Angela harrumphed. “You absolutely did, and there are fifty other witnesses to confirm it.”
I shot her a grateful look before refocusing on Maddie.
“One day, all your horrible behavior is going to catch up with you. People will start reflecting on all your ‘accidents’ and wonder if your innocent act is just that. They’ll start to see who you are.
Who you’ve always been. A selfish, spoiled, entitled bitch. ”
Her answering laugh was ugly, the real her peeking out. “Like you’re any better.”
“I am,” I said, fully believing the words.
“Maybe I wasn’t always, but I’m trying to make up for my past, while you’re acting like a thirty-five-year-old child lashing out because Mommy and Daddy don’t love you enough.
” I shook my head, doing my best to mimic Theo’s most obnoxious grin because I knew firsthand how infuriating it was to have it directed your way.
“I actually pity you, Maddie. Your life must be so sad if you have to resort to rage-baiting for attention.”
A crack split the air, and suddenly I was looking at the wall.
My cheek was hot and painful. My ears rang.
She’d slapped me.
I rolled my neck, shrugging it off, my tongue coated with the taste of copper because her rings had split the inside of my lip.
Theo made a low, angry sound in the back of his throat and tried to move forward, but I grabbed him.
“That’s assault,” I told Maddie.
She retreated a step, eyes wide as she searched the crowd for support. “She pushed me into it. You heard what she said.”
“I didn’t hear anything,” Angela Renner spoke up. “But I did see you hit Stella unprovoked, and I’ll be happy to tell the police that when they arrive.”
“So will I,” Mrs. Ashley added.
I leaned forward and smiled, knowing it must look deranged because of the blood coating my teeth, “Run, Maddie. It’s the only thing you’re good at.”
She fled.