37. Elias
Elias turned slowly, but he already knew who it was. Catherine. And she wasn’t alone. Trailing her were a reporter and a guy with a camera.
Oh, hell no.
‘This is a private function,’ Elias growled through gritted teeth. ‘And you were not invited. Please leave.’
Catherine pouted. ‘I’m not even allowed to celebrate my grandchild? You didn’t even send a thank you card for the hamper I sent. The least I could do was come in person to congratulate you.’
‘Actually, no,’ Levi said, stepping up beside Elias. ‘I believe there is a restraining order stating that fact that you are not allowed anywhere near here.’
Catherine turned to the reporter, dabbing her eyes for the camera. ‘See how I’m treated by my own family?’
People seriously wouldn’t buy this, would they?
Elias hadn’t watched the InFocus interview. Valentina had blocked them being able to mention his or Levi’s names and had organised a restraining order so Catherine couldn’t ambush them, but apparently Catherine didn’t think it applied to her, or she was above it or… Elias didn’t even know what the hell was going through her head.
‘Hello? Yes, I’d like to report a violation of a restraining order,’ Theo was saying into his phone.
Catherine whipped her head back and glared at him, but Theo ignored her.
‘I can’t believe you’re doing this to me,’ she hissed. ‘I’m your mother.’
Elias was so angry and embarrassed and ashamed that he couldn’t even look at Kate. He couldn’t look at Kate’s mother, Hugo, or any of the other party guests.
‘And I can’t believe our mother would pull such a cheap stunt. I thought you had more class than that, Catherine,’ Levi said.
Catherine huffed. ‘I wouldn’t expect you to understand. Not after you betrayed your own family.’
‘At least I did what was right, not like you. How many laws did you break? How about Jonah? How many did he break? How many people did he hurt? But you don’t care about any of that, do you? As long as people know you were wronged. Explain to me just how you can think anyone would be on your side after the countless lives you helped ruin?’
Elias wanted to be the one saying all that, but he couldn’t get the words to work. Levi was standing up to their mother, bodily putting himself between her and Elias, and as much as Elias was grateful, it was also another stab in the heart for him. This was his home. This was his and Kate’s baby shower. He should be the one standing up to his mother and putting her in her place. He should be the one protecting Kate, not Levi.
‘Who… are you?’ April stepped into Catherine’s line of sight.
Catherine smiled her corporate smile and held out her hand. ‘Catherine Beckingsale. Elias’ mother. And you are Kate’s mother. So lovely to meet you.’
April looked at Catherine’s hand and then at Elias and then at Kate. She clutched her pearls and took a step back. ‘This is your mother?’
Catherine visibly reeled at April’s tone. Even though Elias knew it was meant as a slight against him, he couldn’t help but relish Catherine’s reaction. His mother was not used to being dismissed, especially by someone she deemed in a lower financial class.
‘I think it’s time you left,’ Hugo said, stepping in front of both Elias and Kate and even shouldering Levi out of the way. ‘I believe it has already been stated you weren’t invited.’
Elias wanted to point out that Hugo hadn’t been invited either, but his mouth still refused to work.
Was this a trauma response?
Or was he just chicken shit?
They all heard the sirens.
Catherine sniffed. ‘I can tell when I’m not wanted.’ She turned around and walked out with her head held high. The camera panned the gathering before following her out. When the door closed, there was silence before the murmuring began.
Fucking Catherine.
Of course his mother had to go and ruin his life just when he’d managed to get it on track. Of course his bloody narcissistic mother had to blow up the best thing he’d ever had. Of course she had to go and ruin his new family before it even had a chance to solidify.
Everyone around him was doing something. Alexis and Levi were on their phones. Theo was speaking to the cop who’d knocked on the door. Hugo was comforting Kate, and April was shooting daggers at him.
Elias couldn’t move. His feet were glued to the floor. He didn’t know when the shaking started; he just suddenly felt the tremors in his hands.
He needed air.
He couldn’t breathe.
He clawed at his neck.
Was this a dream? It felt like a dream. The kind of dream where he was naked and trying to run away, but he couldn’t move. This had to be a dream. There was no way this could be his real life, right? He was going to wake up at any moment, and Kate would be sleeping peacefully beside him, and none of this would have ever happened.
‘Your mother is a piece of work,’ April said, getting in his face. ‘Now I see why I had a bad feeling about you. You’re a Beckingsale.’
‘Mum,’ Kate said, pushing past Hugo to get to him.
‘What? I can’t believe you’re going to have this man’s baby, let alone make him part of your family. Can’t you see how toxic they are?’
‘Mum!’
Elias couldn’t argue. His family was toxic. How Levi had managed to escape unscathed, he would never understand. But the rest of them? Yeah, he didn’t want them anywhere near his baby either. But would he actually be able to keep them away? And if this went to air, if people put it together that Kate was dating a Beckingsale—that Kate was having a Beckingsale’s baby—it could torpedo her career.
‘I think you should leave,’ Hugo said.
‘What?’ Kate got between him and Hugo. ‘You have no right to say that. You are the one who should leave. You were not invited.’
‘Your mother invited me.’
Of course April would invite him. He was the ideal man for Kate, wasn’t he? Rich without the complications of a criminal family. Hugo’s mother wasn’t turning up on Kate’s doorstep making a scene. Hugo’s mother wasn’t airing all the family’s dirty laundry on television just for a quick buck.
Oh yeah.
Catherine was definitely getting paid. She wouldn’t have done it if they hadn’t enticed her with financial reward.
Elias looked at Kate, and he looked at Hugo, and he looked at April. He wasn’t like them. He wasn’t even like Levi and Alexis, or Theo and Sarah. He was, and always would be an outcast.
He couldn’t stand it anymore. He couldn’t deal with the accusing eyes and the whispering. He couldn’t deal with the look of disgust from Kate’s mother or the smirk of superiority from Hugo. He had to get out.
He pushed past Hugo, not even stopping when Kate called his name. He shrugged off the hands that grabbed him and strode across the room and out the door, down the front steps. People ran after him, calling his name, but he ignored them. He didn’t know where he was going to go… he just knew he had to get out… had to get away. He climbed into his truck and knew it wasn’t what he needed. He needed his bike, but it was at his house. He gunned the truck and peeled away from the curb, pointing the hood in the direction of his house.
He barely registered the drive; his actions were on autopilot. He parked the truck in the garage and pulled the dust cover off his bike. The feel of the engine beneath him and the wind in his face as he rode away finally allowed him to breathe.
He rode with no direction. No destination. Away. All he wanted was to get away. Away from the expectations and judgements of people. Why was it always so hard? Why did he have to continually prove himself time and time again? Even Kate had made him jump through hoops and bend over backwards before she could accept him. Now his own mother wanted him to put on a dog and pony show so she could get back into society’s good graces. When was someone going to just accept him for who he was and where he was? Was he such a horrible person?
Maybe he was.
Maybe the apple didn’t fall far from the tree.
Maybe he was just as toxic as his mother and eldest brother were.
It certainly felt that way. Nobody ever trusted him. Nobody was ever on his side. He was always going out of his way to be the person someone else wanted him to be. Levi wanted him to be like him. Kate wanted him to be like Hugo. April wanted him to be Hugo. Catherine wanted him to be Jonah, and his father, Rupert? Elias didn’t think Rupert even knew he existed.
Now he had a baby on the way, and what would the baby expect of him? Could he even live up to the expectations of his child? He couldn’t satisfy anyone else in his life, so why would the kid be any different?
Everyone wanted Elias to be someone other than Elias. Even Justin wanted him to be different. Elias was sick of it. He was just so damned sick and tired of everything.
He took the corner too fast.
He wasn’t concentrating.
He wasn’t being responsible.
Elias was being Elias, and the next thing he knew, he was sliding along the road… and pain was shooting up his leg.