49. Wentworth
FORTY-NINE
Wentworth
EVEN THOUGH I’D LIKE NOTHING MORE THAN TO CHASE after her, I let Kait go. Telling myself she needs time to process her father’s impending death without me getting in her face,
I force myself to sit back in my seat before looking up at my father. “Hello, Dad.”
Smile faltering slightly at my tone, he bobs his head. “She seems lovely,” he says, indicating the space Kait just vacated while ignoring the fact that we were obviously arguing before he interrupted.
Lovely doesn’t even begin to describe Kait but instead of saying it, I just nod. “She is.”
Bolstered by my answer, my father’s smile strengthens. “Have you known her long.”
“Awhile,” I say, doing my best to evade the question. “She’s a nurse. She works at Patrick Gilroy’s veteran center.” When I mention him, my father’s face lights up. Probably because Conner’s cousin is the son my father wishes he had. I’m used to it so it shouldn’t annoy me.
But it does.
“He and Cari were here for dinner last week,” he tells me, still smiling. “He?—”
“I don’t want to talk about Patrick Gilroy, Dad” I tell him, with an angry head shake. “And I don’t want to talk about my dinner date.”
His smile winks out like I just slapped him in the face. “I’m trying here, Went.”
“Trying to what ?” I glare at him, suddenly more angry than annoyed. Coming here was a mistake. “Trying to be my father? I hate to break it to you, but I don’t need one. I never needed one.”
Jaw set at an angle almost as tight and unyielding as mine, my father nods his head. “When are you going to forgive me for what happened between you and your mother?”
“You think I’m angry at you for the shit that happened between you and Astrid?” I laugh out loud. Can’t help it because it’s that fucking funny. “As far as I’m concerned the two of you deserve every- fucking -thing you did to each other.”
“Then what?” He sounds genuinely confused. “If this isn’t about your mother, then why?—”
“It’s about her .” Jabbing a finger at the door Kait just escaped through, it takes every ounce of self-control I possess to stop myself from lunging out of my seat to throw him through it. “I’ve been in love with her since the moment we met but I can’t tell her that because every time I try, I become convinced that saying it out loud will make me into a selfish, fickle prick who doesn’t really love anyone but himself.”
For a second, neither of us say anything. Standing there, staring at me, face slack and pale, my father finally shakes his head. “Went?—”
Before he can say whatever it is he’s about to say, the dining room doors fly open. I look up, expecting to see Kait standing in the doorway but it isn’t Kait. It’s Silver.
“Your mother followed your date into the bathroom,” she tells me in a quiet rush, wide gaze bouncing between me and our father, making it obvious that she heard everything I said. “She forced the attendant out?—”
I’m out of my seat and pushing my way past them both before she can finish. Weaving my way through the crowded dining room, I’m well aware that everyone has stopped eating to watch my progress. I’m a six and a half foot tall, tattooed giant in a custom Armani suit. People are gonna stare.
Ignoring all of them, I cross the room. Vaguely aware that Silver is practically jogging along behind me, I head for the hallway that houses the bathrooms. Stopping in front of the closed door, I can hear my mother screeching?—
If you think for one second that I’m going to let a disgusting little slut like you get her hooks into my son, again, you have another thing coming.
I reach for the door but before I can get my hand on it, it flies open and Kait practically plows into me.
“Shit.” Reaching out, I grip my hands around her shoulders to steady her before she can stumble back. “Kait, what?—”
“Nothing.” Looking up at me, she shakes her head, face pale except for the angry red welt slashed across her cheek. “I’m fine. If you don’t mind?—”
I mind.
Whatever she’s about to say, I fucking mind.
“Did she hit you?” When all she does is stare up at me instead of answering, I tighten my grip on her shoulders and fight off the urge to shake her. “ Did my mother hit you ?”
Kait nods her head, something that looks like shame crawling across her face to tie my stomach in knots. “Yes.”
Forcing myself to relax my grip, I lean into her to press my lips against her forehead. Pulling away from her, I do my best to give her a reassuring smile. “Go with Silver. She’ll take care of you.”
My smile must not be very reassuring before Kait’s eyes widen and she shakes her head again. “Went, don’t?—”
“Go with Silver,” I tell her again before handing her off to my sister who has her tucked under her wing and hustled further down the hall toward her office in a matter of seconds. As soon as they’re gone, I take a deep breath and open the bathroom door to find my mother, not a hair out of place, calmly freshening her lipstick in the mirror above the sink.
“What did you do?”
When she hears me, Astrid flicks a quick glance in my direction before looking back at her own reflection in the mirror. “Don’t be dramatic, Wentworth,” she tells me with an exasperated eye roll. “Whatever that woman told you?—”
“She didn’t tell me anything.” Leaning against the door, I jam my hands into my pants pockets for safe keeping. “She didn’t have to. The welt on her cheek did all the talking for her.”
“Well…” Looking down, she pays careful attention to re-capping her lipstick before dropping it back into her purse. “She deserved it.”
“No she didn’t.”
My tone jerks her gaze up to meet mine in the mirror. “You didn’t hear what she said?—"
“I don’t care what she said.” I give her a shrug. “But that’s not what I’m talking about.”
Giving me a weary sigh, my mother snaps her evening bag closed and tucks it under her arm before turning to look at me directly. “Then what are you talking about?”
“You said again ,” I tell her quietly, letting her know I heard exactly what she said to Kait. “You aren’t going to let Kait get her hooks into me again .”
When I say it, her color slips but her gaze doesn’t waver. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“The fuck you don’t,” I growl at her. “ What did you do, mother?”
Squaring her shoulders with a sigh, Astrid meets my anger, head on. “What was necessary to stop you from making the same mistake I did when I married your father,” she tells me without an ounce of contrition. “She was a stranger, Wentworth. You barely knew her and you didn’t even have the common sense to make her sign a pre-nump before you were stupid enough to marry her.”
“Who told you?” It could’ve been anybody. Anyone who might’ve seen me in the hotel while I was there with Kait. But I know it wasn’t anybody . I know who told her before she even says it.
“The girl’s father. He found the contact information for The Hawthorne’s lead counsel on the NDA you made him sign. He contacted the attorney. The attorney contacted me.” Coming toward me, she waves her hand in my direction like I’m suddenly a nuisance. “What’s done is done. I’ve had enough of this nonsense and I’m hungry,” she says, trying to reach past me to pull the door open. Instead of letting her, I take her by the arm and dump her into a nearby chair. As soon as her ass hits the cushion, her mouth pops open on an indignant huff. “How dare you. Who do you?—”
“We both know exactly who I am,” I growl at her and have the satisfaction of watching her mouth snap shut like it’s on a spring-loaded hinge. “I’m the guy who signs your maintenance checks…” Hunkering down in front of her, I shake my head. “As such, I feel the need to remind you that grandfather made no allowances for you in his will. He left you nothing.” Cutting her a nasty smile, I give her a shrug. “Why would he? You were given a half a billion-dollar trust fund when you turned twenty-five. Never in a million years could he have imagined that you’d blow through it by the time you were fifty.”
When I remind her of how old she really is, her eyes narrow slightly. “Is this the part where you threaten your mother, Wentworth?”
“No.” Shaking my head again, I feel the corner of my mouth curl in a humorless smirk. “This is the part where I tell you that if you ever touch or speak to Kait with anything less than complete and utter deference, ever again, I’ll cut you off and I’ll sell every liquid asset in my name at your disposal. No more checks. No more yacht. No more Lear. No more Bentley. No more penthouse suites. It’ll all disappear and you’ll be dead to me.”
Glaring at me, Astrid does her best to look indignant but she can’t fool me. She’s scared. “You’d disown your own mother over some?—”
Leaning into the space between us, I look my mother in the eye. “You ever come at her again, I won’t even hesitate.” Standing slowly, I brush a hand down the front of my suit jacket before I straighten my cuffs. “Enjoy your evening,” I tell her before walking away from her without a backward glance.