Chapter 16
Belle
Piper’s face is bright red from exertion as she darts from one tree to the next, her dark, sweat-damp hair sticking to her heart-shaped face. She’s giggling as she quickly switches direction, avoiding Tandy as she gives chase.
“I don’t like children, but she’s a little firecracker,” Katarina says.
She’s walking next to me in designer jeans, heels, and a leather jacket that must be making her uncomfortably hot.
Barrett and Ray trail behind us. My husband’s jet touched down just ten minutes after I’d arrived home.
Katarina made a good show of being excited to see me again, and I painted on a smile as I greeted my husband.
I don’t think any of us are fooled by the masks we wear. It’s going to be a long weekend.
I had hoped our guests would spend time settling in their rooms, but Katarina insisted on a tour of the grounds before dinner. At least walking makes the awkwardness of our conversations less noticeable than if we’d been sitting in the drawing room.
There’s been no time to process what happened at the coffee shop.
I don’t think I actually believed Ash was setting a trap to get his hands on Piper, but I’d been clinging to some hope that he was wrong about Barrett’s mystery guest. My husband’s yet to explain himself, and I can’t wait for his excuses.
“I’m lucky to have Tandy to help,” I reply. “I’ve persuaded her to stay overnight to look after Piper, but she works at her mom’s coffee shop on Saturdays, so I apologize now if I won’t be around much tomorrow.”
“I don’t blame you for wanting to enjoy every moment with your daughter.
They grow up so fast,” Katarina says, accepting my excuse without challenge.
We’re not here to make friends. If my husband is to be believed, and that’s suddenly become a big if, Katarina’s only here to check out the blushing bride.
“We can manage without Tandy,” Barrett says, and for one foolish moment, I think he’s offering to help. “I’m sure the rest of the staff can handle a five-year-old for a day.”
“Mommy!” Piper yells, bolting out of the woods and heading straight into my arms. “Don’t let Tandy get me!”
I swing her up and onto my hip. I don’t think I’ll be able to carry her for much longer at the rate she’s growing, but while I can, I hold her close.
Tandy stops a safe distance away, half bent as she catches her breath. Even a nineteen-year-old can’t keep up with Piper’s energy. “I was never going to catch her,” she pants.
I haven’t had a chance to tell my friend how it went with Quinn, but anyone who’d been in the coffee shop this afternoon could fill her in. Even if no one overheard what I’d said to Ash, they would have picked up on the charged atmosphere.
“You have such a pretty face,” the Bratva princess croons. Piper scowls at the compliment, but it doesn’t put Katarina off. “And those eyes are beguiling. What an unusual color. Not quite brown, and not quite green.”
“They’re hazel,” Barrett says. “Mine are too.”
It could be assumed that it’s simply coincidence that his eyes are a similar shade to his step-daughter’s, but it’s not.
Barrett and Ash inherited their eye color from their mother, and Ash passed those genes onto Piper.
Suddenly, Katarina’s scrutiny of my daughter feels invasive, and Ash’s warning plays on my mind.
“My first husband had hazel eyes too,” I lie.
“Well, you’re going to be a heartbreaker, that’s for sure,” Katarina tells Piper. “I could just bite those rosy cheeks.”
Piper pulls back an inch in my arms, stretching the distance between them. “I’m not allowed to bite no more.” Her gaze flicks briefly to Barrett.
Katarina looks over her shoulder and laughs. “She bit you?”
“We didn’t know each other very well back then,” Barrett replies. “But we’re friends now, aren’t we, Piper?”
My daughter positions herself so only I can see her face when she raises her eyebrows.
“Yes, they are,” I force myself to say.
But I’m not sure if I want to be friends with Barrett. Acting as his wife had been awkward enough, but after what Quinn told me, I can see how every conversation with Barrett has been a dance between truth and lies, and I can’t keep up. I don’t want to keep up.
“Come on, Piper,” Tandy calls over. “Your turn to chase me.”
I set Piper down, and watch her dart back into the trees. Ahead, there’s a slither of asphalt where the driveway curves around the woods, and after a few minutes, we find ourselves at the main entrance.
There’s a guardhouse next to the gates, and the two men on duty nod to us. They wear uniforms and carry handguns, but they pale in comparison with the entourage Katarina brought with her. I can see why Ash insisted on sending his own team as backup should I need it.
Do I need it? I still don’t know, but Katarina’s presence makes me grateful Jake and his men are nearby.
“I hope your bodyguards don’t mind staying at the guesthouse,” I say to Katarina as she approaches the main gates. “I’m just not comfortable having heavily armed men in the house with Piper around.”
“Understandable,” she answers with a shrug as she peers through the bars to the road beyond. “But aren’t you more disturbed by them?”
I don’t need to look to know she’s staring at the SUV parked just beyond the entrance on the public highway. The vehicle is either the one that’s been stationed there all day, or else the one that trailed me home from town.
“We’ve had to get used to the Griffins’ intimidation tactics,” Barrett says.
“So I see,” Katarina replies, taping the wrought iron bars on the gates with her sharp claws. She turns to one of our security guards. “How long have they been there?”
“They’re always there,” he says. “Day and night.”
“Since when?”
He looks to his colleague and they both shrug. “Two or three weeks?”
“Interesting,” Katarina says. She reaches through the bars and waggles her fingers, waving to the occupants of the SUV. “Very interesting.”
“Should I ask why?” Barrett asks when Katarina saunters back to us.
I’m fairly certain he shouldn’t, but I’m curious too.
She looks Barrett up and down, and seems to find him wanting. “It’s obvious why Ash would want to intimidate you. You do have one of those faces people just love to punch.”
“You sound like my brothers,” Barrett says, then looks to me for sympathy when he adds, “They picked on me ruthlessly that one summer we spent together when we were kids.”
I wait for that feeling to rise up, the one that made me want to help Barrett because no one else would. The one that made me feel anger on his behalf because he was a good man. Except good men don’t facilitate the abuse of women on their own property. Good men rise up and fight.
“It is odd though,” Katarina says, slowly getting to the point she wants to make.
“Why would the Griffins’ men hang around here when you spend your working week in New York?
” Her gaze flicks to me. “For men who claim to help women escape persecution, it doesn’t make sense that they’d want to intimidate a mother and child. ”
“Who can explain what goes on in their minds?” says Barrett, coming over to put an arm around my waist. “But if the day comes that you have some influence over Ash, perhaps you could get him to call off his dogs. I hear you two are getting on especially well.”
Katarina arches an eyebrow. “Ray,” she barks, looking to the man who’s said very little since getting off the plane. “I must be losing my mind. Didn’t I have this exact same conversation with Barrett on the jet?”
A frustrated sigh carries on the soft breeze. “Sorry, I wasn’t following your discussion. I was catching up on work.”
“And I thought you were Barrett’s eyes and ears.”
“We did talk about it, Katarina,” Barrett says, his cheeks reddening. “I’m just making polite conversation. And I’m sure my wife would like to hear more.” He offers me a simpering smile. “She’ll be the first to admit that she’s been a little jealous knowing you and I were almost a thing.”
The hell I have.
She gives me her best look of sympathy. “I’m sorry if I took you by surprise the other day. But I would have thought it was even more awkward meeting Maddie Griffin. She’s the one who actually made it up the aisle with Barrett.” She winks at him. “I hear there was a video. I’d love to see it.”
Ray coughs.
“They were all destroyed,” Barrett says.
The bite in his tone is surprising given how sycophantic he’s been towards Katarina. It makes me want to see that video too. I look over to Ray and he holds my gaze. I must speak to him privately before he leaves.
Barrett applies pressure to my back and we continue our walk.
I quicken my pace, leaving him behind as I catch up with Piper and Tandy, who have found a new adventure climbing logs in a clearing.
My attempt to escape fails when Katarina falls into step by my side again, linking her arm through mine.
“You have nothing to fear,” she says in a tone that says the exact opposite. “You’re the one with the ring on your finger.” She grabs my left hand without warning, then feigns surprise. “But, oh, you’re not wearing your engagement ring. Has it become too heavy a burden already, Belle?”
My irritation flares. This is all a game to her.
“You’ve found me out,” I say, refusing to cower.
“After discovering the diamond was meant for you, I couldn’t keep it.
I’m sure Barrett would be happy to return it to your uncle.
Or maybe you’d like to take it for when you find a husband of your own. ”
Katarina’s eyes sparkle. “That could be sooner than you think,” she tells me in a hushed whisper that anyone could still hear. “Barrett’s right. I am getting on very well with a certain Griffin. Tell me, Belle. What do you think of Ash as a potential suitor?”
Emotion clogs my throat and I can’t breathe. I hear Ash’s voice in my ear. Swallow, sweetheart.
I do as I’m told.