Chapter 55
CHAPTER 55
CALEB
I spot Kat and head over to her.
“Have you seen April?”
“She’s gone.”
It’s Elijah who steps up and gives me the news.
“What do you mean, she’s gone?”
“She left. About an hour ago.”
I stop. My brother knows more than I do and the confused look both Kat and I are giving him.
“Why would April leave?”
I look at my brother and see the guilt pass over his face. I step up to him, chest to chest. To outsiders, it may look funny as he has four inches on me, but I’m riled now, as my memory goes back to last year and the way he treated Leah.
“What did you do?” I hiss at him.
Kat places a hand on my arm, sensing I’m about to go nuclear.
“Nothing,” he says.
I shove him in the chest. The surprise of the move, making him step back, more than my physical strength. My brother can bench press some ridiculous amount and is built like a tank.
“I’ll ask again, what did you do?” I seethe.
April wouldn’t just leave, not after everything went so well today. Something must have happened. If my brother has said something to her.
“She left with Jaxson,” he says, and my heart stutters. Left with Jaxson?
“It’s not like that,” he adds, his monotone, minimal explanation beginning to wind me up.
“Elijah.” It’s Kat whose tone ushers our brother a warning.
Elijah steps back and looks me in the eye.
“Jaxson was leaving. He and Kat had words. April saw him as he was getting into his car and asked for a lift.”
“And you know this how?”
I know it’s a stupid question. Of course he knows. My bloody brother knows everything. That’s the line of business he’s in. Information is, after all, power.
I step back and take a deep breath, exhaling as I run a hand over my face.
“Let’s start this again,” I say, “Elijah, why has April left?” I relax my jaw so the words don’t come out through gritted teeth.
Elijah holds the door open next to us and motions for Kat and me to step inside. I know from the look on his face, what he’s about to tell me is not going to be good.
“I’ll kill him,” I spit, when Elijah fills me in on the conversation he came across in the hallway. “I’ve always thought he was a sleazy bastard. Not sure why our parents ever had anything to do with him.”
Then again, I think back. Dad always made sure Kat and Harper were with us and nowhere near Crawley, when he and his downtrodden ex-wife visited. I think Mum felt sorry for Mrs Crawley. I just always remember feeling a sense of unease in my stomach when he was around.
“You don’t need to worry about that. I have it covered,” Elijah says, and I can almost feel sorry for Crawley. Almost.
I turn to my brother. “Thank you. Thank you for looking out for her. I hate to think what would have happened.”
“When I saw April leave and Crawley follow.” He doesn’t need to add anymore.
“Thank you,” I say again, watching as Elijah tilts his head to acknowledge my words. “And I’m sorry I assumed the worst.”
Elijah shrugs. “Not undeserved. Not after last year,” he states.
“What I don’t get is why she then left.” Although I ‘do’ know. She’s always questioned our relationship, felt I’m out of her league. Laughing that she was punching above her weight in more ways than one. She has it wrong, though. I’m the one punching above my weight. She might not have my bank balance, but her heart and generosity towards those around her. Her innate ability to bring people together. That is priceless.
“I tried to stop her, but she’d made up her mind. I even told her you knew about her past, and didn’t care, but that didn’t stop her,” he admits.
I freeze. The bottom dropping out of my stomach at his words.
“You. Told. Her. About. The. Dossier?” I say slowly.
Elijah shrugs, not realising the bombshell he’s dropped in the centre of my relationship. “Secrets are never good. Take it from someone who knows.”
“But…” I glare at my brother. “That wasn’t your information to share. ”
“Maybe not, but I’m the reason you had it. She also needed to know that hasn’t stopped you from falling in love with her. Because you have, haven’t you?” he says, his matter-of-fact tone conflicting with the topic.
“I have, but what’s that got to do with anything?”
“She felt you couldn’t be with her because of her past. All those people who had seen her. People of our social standing. Men like Crawley.”
It’s true. The gentlemen who frequented the club April had danced at were wealthy. They had to be to cover the exorbitant membership fees. The club only hires the most beautiful and talented individuals. It shows that even then, April was a talent that people noticed.
Clubs like these were always associated with rumours regarding additional services. When Elijah uncovered April’s link, he investigated her further. Not that I asked him to. She was young, just nineteen when she started. Fresh out of the conservatoire. Elijah’s investigator had uncovered nothing to suggest April sold herself alongside her dancing. Add-ons had not been part of her act. If they had. Would I feel differently? I’d be a hypocrite if I did. I’ve slept with more women for a lot less. Reading her dossier and knowing the desperate state she was in, alone and abandoned by the system. The fact she hadn’t taken the easy option.
“Caleb, you need to go after her. If she means anything to you. You need to tell her, it’s okay. It doesn’t change the way you feel about her.” It’s Kat who breaks through my daze.
“Damn,” I say, running a frustrated hand through my hair, as I drop into a chair, my head in my hands. “Any ideas how I convince her she’s wrong?” I ask my sister.
The sofa sinks next to me. “Sorry, I’m not the best person to offer advice, especially of the romantic kind. My romance has been one fuck up after another.” I hear the mirth in her voice, which surprises me. I know her relationship has ended, but she and Zack have been together for years.
I look up at Elijah, who holds up his hands and grimaces. “Definitely not the person to ask.”
I look at him and realise my brother has been to hell and back this past year. All in the public eye. Before that, he’d been in a private hell.
Before I can say anything, he holds up a hand to stop me. “If you’re mad about her, I’m with Kat. You need to talk to her. It will not be easy. She erected walls around her. Those will not be easy to breach.”
I know what he’s saying is true. I searched for an elusive drawbridge during the early part of our relationship, only to find it triple fortified. We’d made progress, but that asshole. Why the hell hadn’t I let her know I knew about her past? I know why. I was hoping, always hoping, she’d trust me enough to tell me herself. Now it’s too late. It’s out in the open, and I’m going to have to coax the horse back into the stable, as it’s way too late to close the gate.
The door opens and we both look up. Mother walks in and stares at the three of us before directing her attention to me.
“You need to go after her,” she tells me. “Freddy will drive you.”
“I can drive myself,” I tell her. I certainly have enough cars in the garage, and I haven’t been drinking.
“No. Freddy will drive you. And before you argue. Security have already removed all the keys from your key safe.”
I stare at my mother, but she simply shrugs.
“I’ve seen you drive. April needs you in one piece.”
I know there is little point in arguing. It will only hold me up. I make my way to the door but stop. Turning to my mother .
“How?” I say, wondering how she seems to have more information than I do.
She quirks a brow, before stepping closer. “This is my house. My guest of honour has left.” She crosses her arms over her chest, her jaw locked. We know that stubborn look well. “I take it, Elijah, you will deal with the person responsible?”
What the… How does Mother know?
“Of course, Mother,” my brother replies, trying to suppress his smirk.
“As for you,” she says, turning her attention to me. “You need to tell April we don’t care. And anyone who does will go through me and the rest of your siblings, capiche?”
I tilt my head. My mother only spits out my grandparents’ native Italian when she means business. For the rest of us, our olive skin is the only sign of our European heritage.
“Of course, Mother,” I grin, copying my brother’s words.
“I’m glad you understand me,” she says.
I make my way towards her, only to have her pull me down and into a hug. She’s a lot stronger than her tiny frame lets on.
“Get your girl,” she says, patting me on the cheek.
I kiss her on the cheek and shoot a final glance at my brother and sister. They tip their chins in an almost identical fashion, letting me know they’ve got mine and April’s back. I love my family.
I make my way out of the door, my mother’s voice following me. “Now, you two?—”
I hear no more as Freddy steps in front of me.
“This way. I’ve brought the car around.”