Well Suited (Red Lipstick Coalition #4)(78)

John ran the back of his hand across his mouth, inspecting the gore that had come off on it. “Good riddance,” he said, spitting a gob of blood on the hardwood. “Never were worth my time, anyway. Even at ten grand a month.”

Rage, red and hot. I dived for him without thinking, swinging without stopping. The crunch of bone against bone. The slick heat of his blood. Over and over again—for how long, I didn’t know.

Gravity ceased as I was pulled off him, picked up, carried away, snarling. Through the haze, I saw Ma standing stronger and harder than I’d seen her in years.

“Get out,” I heard her say. “You’ve done enough.”

And with a sneer and a limp, he did just that.

I was set on my feet, my eyes still on the door he’d walked out of. Tommy stepped into my line of sight, his face drawn and eyes dark as midnight.

His jaw clenched as he stretched to his full height. And I knew what was coming before he did it.

I took the hook in the jaw without trying to stop it, my body twisting from the force of it, the sting radiating down my neck, tightening my stomach.

With a shake of my head and a hard series of blinks, I could at least see again. I straightened up and smoothed my clothes, which were dotted with my father’s blood.

But Tommy had already turned, stalking toward the door. Amelia ran after him, her face wide with fear, calling his name. And with a hard slam of the door, he was gone, too.

The party was silent, our friends standing wide-eyed in the living room, surrounded by pink balloons and streamers. It was Rin who broke the tension by shifting to pick up a few paper plates and cups from the coffee table. Val followed suit, and then everyone was moving, hastily cleaning up.

Ma was crying.

I stepped toward her, but she took a step back.

“Six years,” she whispered. “Six years, you’ve been lying to us.”

My hand moved to touch her arm but paused, falling to my side again. “I only wanted to protect you.”

“Not like this, Teddy. Not like this.”

She turned her back on me.

“Ma, please—”

“Not now,” she pleaded. “Not right now. Please, excuse me,” she said, shuffling toward her room.

Katherine intercepted her, offered her arm, met my eyes with a nod before turning her full attention to my mother.

I looked over the worried faces of our friends, who had all paused in some effect, their expressions touched with pity and fear.

“I’m sorry,” I croaked. And I turned for the stairs to escape.

But there was nowhere to run.

I rushed into my bathroom, leaning on the counter with my hands splayed, knuckles split. My hair was a riot, my suit rumpled and speckled with blood.

I’d made a mess of everything. Every single thing I touched.

It didn’t matter what I did, didn’t matter how I tried. Didn’t matter what I wanted or what I gave in the hopes that I’d get it back.

I’d ruined it all.

“Theo?”

Her voice from behind me. Her worried face in the mirror. She moved to my side, laid her hand on my arm, shifted to move in front of me. I let the counter go and stood, looking down at her with my brows drawn in pain and regret.

Her hand on my jaw, a brush of her fingertips. “Let me help you.”

But no one could help me.

She turned for the sink, reaching for a washcloth from a stack. The sound of water running, the splat and drip as she wrung the cloth out. And then she turned to face me again.

I was too tall for her to reach easily, so in a feat of grace and physics, she hopped herself up to sit on the counter. “Come here,” she said gently.

So I did.

She reached for my waist, pulling me closer. I fit myself between her legs, my hands on her thighs, her face so close to mine. I lost myself in her eyes, but she didn’t meet mine.

Instead, she scanned my face, followed her cloth as she cleaned me off, pressing the cool compress to my aching jaw.

“You did the right thing,” she said, “even though it feels like you didn’t.”

I closed my eyes.

“They’ll see. I promise.”

“You can’t know that.”

“They’d have to be blind not to, Theo. You did the right thing,” she insisted. “You were right to try to protect them from him.”

I swallowed hard, shaking my head. “I should have been honest, Kate. I should have let them decide for themselves.”

“But you protected them for all these years. You shielded them from him. He could have ruined Tommy. I can’t imagine Tommy would have let that slide or would have paid to keep him quiet. John would have blown everything for Tommy. And, yes, Tommy and Sarah are angry and hurt. But give them time. They’ll come around. I know it.”

I bowed my head. “How do you know?”

She tilted my chin so I’d meet her eyes. “Because they love you, Theo.”

“I thought love wasn’t real.”

“Well, maybe I was wrong.”

Before I could speak, she shifted, slipping off the counter. “Leave your clothes in the kitchen, and I’ll make sure they get cleaned.”

“All right,” I answered softly. “Kate?”

She turned, her hand on the doorframe. “Yes?”