Chapter 27
TWENTY-SEVEN
SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT
Callum
A grey haze hung over the dirty city. I used to hate London, but a place had appeared for it in my heart. After all, I first met Mathilda here, and I intended to win her back here, too.
The line for taxis outside Gatwick Airport crept along, and I considered my plan.
It didn’t help that I was hours behind her, but she’d told me where her parents lived, and I’d already been to her father’s office on my last visit, so I had a place to start. My guess was she’d already have challenged Dominic so now would be with her kin.
And…I was going to barge right on in.
Fuck. Wasn’t that exactly the bullheadedness she’d accused me of?
I slowed my feet. What was I doing chasing after her like this when she’d wanted space? Proving I couldn’t listen.
Behind me, someone cleared their throat, and I blinked up from staring at the concrete.
The line had moved on half a dozen feet, and I was next in the queue.
Then the impatient fucker cleared it again, and I swung around.
A lad in his twenties looked back at me, his hair punked up with red and green stripes. I glared. He recoiled.
“Sorry, man,” he said.
I sucked in a breath, remembered my resolve. If I was going to support Mathilda and not run my mouth, I had to start now.
“My fault. I’m nae paying attention,” I replied in the most reasonable tone that had ever come out of my mouth, and I got into the next waiting cab.
At the mansion Mathilda had once called home, I marched onto the fancy porch. Ready to go to battle, I took a breath and raised a finger to press the buzzer. Then a wee redheaded missile flew out of the door, nearly knocking into me.
“Oops, sorry.” The girl righted herself, and I caught sight of her face as she hefted a rucksack on her shoulder. Tear-streaked and familiar. An accent with a hint of California. Wait a second…
“You wouldnae be Scarlet, would you?” I said. She had Mathilda’s features, though she was as pale as a Scot.
The lass spun around, taking me in properly. “Who are you?”
“I’m friends with your sister. Mathilda.”
Her narrowed gaze softened. “You’re him. Callum McRae.”
It wasn’t surprising my name was familiar in that household. Her father had probably thrown it about enough. “Aye. For my sins.”
“No! Your name has been a good thing,” she said and took a step backward, glancing at the door as if anxious to get away. Maybe her father was on the warpath and that was why she’d escaped. My muscles tensed, readying for a fight.
“What’s going on? Problems, aye?”
“Aye,” she copied.
Such cheek. I already liked her. “Your family has issues.”
Scarlet blinked. “No one ever sees it like that, aside from Mattie. They say I have an attitude problem.”
I pointed a finger at her. “I’m not saying ye dinna, but it’s not all on you.”
Scarlet blew out a breath. “I have something to say to you. Can you wait a minute to see my sister?”
“She’s here?”
“Yes, but I left before seeing her.” The girl smiled through her tears. Then she said something which nearly had me falling to the floor. “She’s in love with you but she won’t tell you because I screwed everything up. It’s all my fault.”
In love with me? All of a sudden, a weight I’d been carrying fell away. “Mathilda said that?”
She glanced at the door again and made ushering motions. “We need to go! Come on, McRae. One foot in front of the other if you want to hear this story.”
Teenagers and their drama were no strangers to me. But no way should I walk off with the lass. I was a stranger to her. On the other hand, she looked ready to fly, and I’d bet good money she was running away.
I scrubbed my fingers into my hair. Mathilda might be in the middle of an argument, maybe even over me, but her sister was about to disappear again.
She’d want me to make the girl my priority, so I wouldn’t let her out of my sight.
“First, I need to let your sister know you’re with me.
I’ve brothers not far off your age so dinna give me any quarrel. ”
The girl rolled her eyes and gave me a sarcastic thumbs-up. “Fine. But talk fast, will you? I need to get away from here.”
With a huff, I took her bag—almost as heavy as she was with all she’d stuffed in it—and slung it over my shoulder. Then I pulled my phone from my pocket to text Mathilda. It buzzed in my hand, her name on the screen. I answered.
“Callum! Oh my God, Callum. I need your help—”
“Are you looking for a redheaded scrap, by any chance?”
She paused. “I… How did you know that?”
“Your sister is glaring right at me. She’s just like you, same frown on her forehead.”
“Where are you?”
“Nae far from you. But I’ve got a girl in need of a chat with me so I won’t come up just yet.”
“Scarlet is with you. You’re in London.” Mathilda floundered. “How… No, do you know, this is exactly why I called you. Because you fix things like this.”
“A coincidence. I came for you,” I murmured, vulnerability plain in my words.
“I’m so glad. And I was so worried about my sister. Is she okay?”
I eyed Scarlet. The girl had a defiant set to her chin, not liking my ‘scrap’ comment, I guessed, but she was folding in on herself, her hands jammed into her armpits. Whatever had happened, she was upset.
“I think so but I’ll let you know. She has one or two things to share with me.” Then I dropped my voice. “By the way, Mathilda?”
“Yes?”
“I heard you love me. I love you, too.” With a chuckle at the stunned silence, I hung up the call.
My new friend Scarlet stepped down onto the pavement, and I went to follow, but something nagged at me besides walking away from the woman I’d flown hundreds of miles to chase.
I glanced down the street. Ah, there they were.
Two men had pulled up in a nondescript old banger, sneaking in behind a sleek Jaguar.
Something flashed, reflecting the light. A camera?
“Why have we stopped?” Scarlet asked.
“Photographers,” I muttered. I ushered the girl back to the porch and held up a finger to ask her to wait. I dialled Mathilda back.
“You’ve got company outside the house.”
“Not the press again?” She groaned. “I already ran into a couple at Dominic’s office. It’s only Mom and me up here, but we could do without more hassle.”
Dominic. Even his name had me seething. “Please tell me you punched him,” I ground out.
“Do you mean Dominic?” Scarlet practically pogoed in front of me. “I’d love to punch him, too! I hate his smug face. Do you know my sister almost married him because of me?”
“I know.” I smiled at her, and her eyes welled again. For a tough kid, she was having a hard time.
“I told Dominic where to shove his proposal and then I told the reporters it was a mistake. They wanted me to say it on camera, but I came right here,” Mathilda said in my ear, her words shaking me more than I’d anticipated.
She’d rejected him. Thank fuck for that.
“Problem solved, or so I thought. What can they want with me now?”
Another car eased past the end of the side street and pulled up adjacent to Mathilda’s home. Similar-looking guys inside. Shite.
“You need to grab your bags and get out of here.”
“Now? Okay, but…” She blew out a breath. “My bags are still at yours. I was always going to come back.” Then she paused. “I’ve got another call coming in. Dominic. I’ll be right back.”
I moved the phone from my ear, cursing inwardly.
“I can go talk to the reporters,” Scarlet announced.
“I’ll happily tell them how Hanswick played my sister.
He’s such a douche canoe. Do you know, he used to bring that politician to company dinners until she became famous and their affair was outed?
Dad was furious when he found out. The guy is shameless. ”
“That’s one word for him. We better get back inside.” I wanted to talk to the reporters, too, but something was off, and I didn’t like it. “Do ye have a taxi app on your phone?” She nodded, brandishing the device. “Order the nearest cab for as fast as it can get to the next road away.”
Scarlet blinked at my instruction but hustled, opening the door to the mansion’s entrance hall as she typed. We stepped into the cool and dark interior. “Five minutes until our getaway car gets here.”
“Dominic, no. How dare you.” Mathilda’s voice sounded from inside the building, echoing down the stairwell.
I jogged down the hall and spied my woman descending the marble steps. She clutched the rail and glared as she ended the call.
My heart swelled, and I strode the final few metres then held my ground until she’d descended to the fourth step. She watched me the whole way, and her bottom lip moved, though no more words came out.
Oh Christ, I adored her.
With relief flooding me, I plucked her from the step and wrapped her in a bear hug that felt like home.
“Aw!” Scarlet crooned from behind.
“You said you love me,” Mathilda whispered to my chest before she raised her gaze to meet mine. A rough desperation filled her eyes. “What are you even doing here, and why did you say that?”
“Because it’s a fact. Ye ken it’s true. Mathilda, I messed up, and I beg you to forgive me. I chased you down because I’m a stubborn fucker and I didnae want to let you go. But now I look at you, it’s right there in your eyes. You still want me, aye?”
In my embrace, Mathilda trembled, her fingers gripping me like I might disappear at any second. I never would. I was hers for good. “For this sort of conversation, we should be back in that log cabin with the fire and romantic music.”
“Gross,” her sister whined from where she leaned against the wall, and I chuckled.
“We can do all that later. Right now, we need to get out of here before that fuckhead Dominic shows up. Come back to the castle with me. Bring your girl, and we’ll work out what to do next.”
Mathilda nodded, and Scarlet shrieked. “I’m going with you? Yeah! That’s so much better than my plan.”
“Which was?” Mathilda hugged me harder and then cast a baleful look at her sister.
“Joining the circus? I don’t know, I didn’t exactly think this through.” Scarlet raised a shoulder and beamed.
Mathilda held out an arm, and her sister darted over and almost fell into her embrace.
With a squeeze, Mathilda released us both, though she kept my hand clamped in hers. She took a deep breath. “You said photographers are already here?”
“Aye, two of them outside, and two more just arrived. We might want to avoid them.”
While waiting for my flight, I’d read the articles on Mathilda. Most were about the politician and her husband and family. Dominic’s name came second, and Mathilda was barely mentioned. So why they’d pursued her here was a mystery.
“Dominic plans to make a scene. Reporters are pursuing his girlfriend, and he’s desperate to lead them away by making this all about us. It’s almost sad because he really loves this woman.”
“What kind of scene?” I didn’t share her sympathy.
Outside, shouting began, reverberating down the hall. “Mathilda!” the voice called. “Mathilda! Don’t do this. It’s all lies. I love you.”
“What the hell? Is that him?” I barked.
“Mathilda!” the man continued. “Come out! Come back to me. Mathilda!”
For fuck’s sake.
“Such an asshole,” she whispered, gazing down the hall to the front door.
My temper flared afresh, heat flooding my veins. “He’s saying he loves you?” No, no, no. No way was that making the news. I loved her. It would be nice to have one part of my relationship not muddied by that guy claiming it first.
“Mathilda, tell me what to do.” I balled my hands into fists. “I came here to be calm and supportive, but the old me really wants to overstep the mark in a major way.”
“I almost want you to,” she said, her eyes wide in her ashen face. “He can’t get away with this anymore. My mother is up in that apartment. If she comes down, they’ll try to film her. She’s too delicate for the drama.”
“Tell me how to be,” I ground out.
“Scarlet, wait here. Callum, come with me. We’re going to set the record straight.”