Chapter 47
47
Theo
“ I messed up.” I let my head drop down as my mom looks on disapprovingly. Her ankle is propped on a chair, and her knee is on ice.
“You mean with your fake marriage?” She snorts.
My head jerks up. She looks amused, not angry. “What fake marriage?”
“Don’t try to fool me. I’m your mother. I’ve been wise to your tricks since you were born, Theo Archer.” She gives me a meaningful look.
“Well, shit.” I’m sufficiently chagrined.
“Language,” she says.
“Sorry,” I say automatically. “So how did you figure it out?”
“You’re not a very good liar.”
“I am too. Cat’s the bad one.”
She makes a disbelieving sound. “Catherine is better at hiding things than you think. And I know about the inheritance clause. Who do you think helped Eloise come up with that all those years ago? She needed to prevent Gregory from getting the shares. ”
“You knew ? Wait. You were on a first-name basis with Cat’s grandmother?” I don’t know which is harder to believe.
“Of course I was. We had a mutual enemy in her son-in-law.” She sighs. “We’d hoped you and Cat would marry. She even went so far as to propose an arranged marriage.”
I stare at my mother in open-mouthed shock. “An arranged marriage,” I say faintly. “Between me and Cat.”
“Oh yes.” My mom adjusts her ice pack. “Catherine was obsessed with you. And I know you liked her.” She levels me with a look that makes me look down at the whiskey glass dangling between my fingers. “She protected you. Whenever she spent time with you, she protected you. God, her father was horrible.” She shakes her head, and I wait, my heart climbing my throat. “He hated you, but he hated her more. And he hated when you spent time together. He used to threaten to punish you or Cat, but he made it her choice. She always picked to be punished. She must have been grounded a hundred times. They made her skip meals. All to avoid him hurting you.”
A pit yawns in my stomach.
“She did?” I whisper. I had no idea. None. Another failing of mine.
“She always wanted to protect you. And you protected her. I know that’s why you left. Eloise and I knew that if you united against Gregory, he wouldn’t be able to stand against you. That’s all Eloise wanted. To see Catherine comfortable and happy. I told her the arranged marriage would infuriate Catherine. And you, for that matter.” She smiles faintly. “But you found her anyway.”
I found her. And I hurt her.
I was supposed to protect her.
“I’ve lost her already,” I say. “I’m not sure I ever really had her to begin with.”
My mom frowns. “I’m not sure that’s true. It might be fake, but I think she’s in love with you.”
Hope soars for one brief moment. “She won’t be after the conversation we just had. ”
“What did you say to her, Theo?” My mom sits up straighter, wincing as her knee shifts. “I swear, if you hurt that girl, I will—”
“I know.” I shove a hand through my hair. “I know. I thought she was making you clean.”
“And you think there’s shame in that? Is that why you live like this mansion is a college frat?” Her eyes flash.
“No, I don’t. I—”
“You’re ashamed of what I did for work. You always have been. Let me tell you. There’s no shame in a hard day’s work. I might have been a housekeeper, but I raised you well. Look how much you’ve accomplished.” Her voice trembles, and I’m up and out of my seat on the couch before I realize it. I wrap my arms around her from behind. It’s an awkward hug at this angle.
“I’m not ashamed of you. I just wanted to make you proud. And I never wanted you to work again.”
Her hand grips my arm, squeezing tight. “I know. And you have. I’m proud of you, Theo.”
She lets me go, and I sit back down, chest tight and eyes hot. “How am I going to get her back?”
“Use your wiles. You’re smart. And charming. Even all the teachers you tormented in elementary school ask me how you are. You know everything about Cat. Use it.”
“I do?”
“Of course you do. She was your best friend from age five to age eighteen, even when you fought. I know you had your differences, but you know her favorite foods, her quirks, her love of secret hideouts, her fondness for old books. I know you don’t like to think of the past, but you have all the tools you need to win her.”
“What if she hates me?”
“Then you better start by apologizing.”
I knock on Cat’s door that night. I know she’s there. I heard her moving around earlier, even though the door is thick oak .
“Go away,” she says.
“No,” I tell her. “I’m not leaving.”
A second later, she wrenches the door open. Her eyes are red and puffy, and her hair is up in a messy bun. My fault. I was supposed to protect her, and I made her cry.
“What?” she asks.
“Have dinner with me.”
“I don’t want to talk to you,” she says bluntly.
I capture a lock of her hair that’s come loose from her bun. It’s silky and soft as I rub it between my fingers. She lets me, wary and fragile, like prey about to bolt.
“You don’t have to talk,” I say with a small smile. “Please, Cat.”
“I should make you beg me,” she says quietly. “You betrayed me, Theo. You spent months making me feel like I was safe with you, and then I let my guard down, and bam , you hit me right where it hurts the most.”
The words land with lethal precision. “I’m sorry,” I say. “I was wrong. I couldn’t see past my own hurt. If you have dinner with me, I’ll explain.”
She doesn’t respond, just bites her lip. I press my thumb to it, pulling the pink flesh free of her teeth, then caressing her freckle. “Please, Cat.” She swallows, and I feel the motion in my hand. “I’ll beg you. Do you want me on my knees, princess?”
“Don’t call me that,” she whispers.
“I don’t mean it as an insult,” I say gently.
“You’re going to be annoying about this, aren’t you?”
“So annoying,” I say in a low voice. “I’m going to annoy you right back into my arms.”
“Fine,” she huffs, but she sounds marginally less irritated. “I’ll have dinner with you, but that’s it.”
I smile to myself as she precedes me down the hall. We’ll see about that.