She sniffled, swiping at my coat. “Your suit. Look at what I’ve done to your suit.”
“I don’t give a damn about the suit.”
She tried to smile, but it broke into a sob. “You told me it would be worse, but I didn’t know. I mean, I knew, but I didn’t realize. And sitting there, across from her …” Her breath hitched. “Here, in this place with no one to see her act like an animal, I don’t even recognize her. I walked into that room and saw her mother, and that’s perhaps more terrifying than anything.”
“Don’t worry,” I said without expecting her to stop. “We’re going to start over, and I’m going to request Evelyn not be present. I’ll do what I can.”
“I know you will. You always do.”
I deposited her into Kash’s arms, sharing a look that promised we’d talk about it all later. “Get Mom out of here. I’ll meet you outside,” I lied.
They nodded as Tess took Mom’s free hand and started to say something about Evelyn and a crowbar and the tightness of her asshole, but I didn’t wait for the punch line.
I turned on my heel, stalking down the hallway, looking for Maisie.
The impulse overwhelmed me, commandeering every thought. The moment she’d stood up for my mother only to be pinned by hers, something in me had come unleashed, a prowling beast that would rather see the world shredded to ribbons than witness her pain. And I didn’t even consider tethering that feeling down.
I was a reasonable man. But not when it came to her.
A plan clicked together in a neat little row in my mind. I would find her. I would pull her aside, separate her from her mother so I could make sure she was all right. So I could be sure she was safe.
It was the best I could do right here and now.
And it was nowhere near enough.
I found her alone in a sitting area, face in her hands and body curled into her palms. Her shoulders bounced in even intervals.
She was crying, I realized.
The beast in me roared.
“Maisie …” It was a rasp, rough and pleading.
She shot up in her seat, blinking and swiping at her face when she saw me. “Oh! Oh, I-I … I’m … God, I’m s-so s-s-sorry, Marcus.” The words dissolved, and she pressed her hand to her lips as if to stop them from spilling out.
With little more than a step, I was at her feet, taking her hand. “Please. Please don’t cry. It’s all right.”
“It’s not. Nothing is all right.” She seemed to remember herself, straightening up. Her eyes darted around the perimeter, and she jerked her hand back. “Oh God. My mother.” She moved to stand, and I did the same. “I don’t want to make it any worse for you or your family, and if she sees me with you …”
“I don’t give a goddamn what she sees,” I growled.
“Don’t say that,” she begged, her eyes deep with sadness. “I couldn’t bear to be another reason for her to hurt you. Please, for me, Marcus. You have to go.” She nudged my arm. “Hurry, before she finds you.”
A thousand rounds of no sounded in my mind, and against every instinct, I stepped back. “Meet me tomorrow.”
She blinked. “Wh-what?”
“Tomorrow. Eight in the morning at the coffee shop.”
Her brows quirked. “But why?”
“Because I want to talk to you, and I can’t do that here.”
Footsteps approached with Evelyn’s voice floating above them. Maisie panicked, a rabbit in a snare.
“Please, Maisie.”
She shook her head to clear it, her eyes snapping to mine. “Y-yes. Yes, of course.”
I breathed, my lungs stretching in relief. “Good. I’ll—”
“Margaret?” Evelyn wielded her name like a knife. “Excuse me, Mr. Bennet,” she spat, reaching for Maisie’s arm.
But Maisie’s face twisted in anger, and she tore herself free. “Let me go.”
Evelyn paused, laying a cold look on her before turning her attention to me. “That was quite a show. Better than I could have imagined. Such a shame you’ll have to pay for another deposition.”
Something in her tone struck me first with curiosity and then understanding. Because Evelyn Bower had baited my mother knowing exactly what would happen.
“You did this,” I breathed. “You did this on purpose.”
Her smile was all the confirmation I needed. “Be careful making hasty accusations. We’ve seen how well those work out for your kind—just ask your mother.” She shifted her gaze to the nothingness in front of her and walked away. “Come, Margaret.”
Maisie’s gaze bounced from me to her mother to me in indecision. But I gave her a nod, and with a sigh, she followed her mother toward the elevator.
I watched with blind desperation as she walked away, my heart stopping when she looked back.
And I rattled my cage with fury and frustration that she could never be mine.
9
The Why Of It
MAISIE
“What in the hell were you doing talking to Marcus Bennet?”
I sank into the back seat of the Mercedes, miserable and wretched. “Nothing,” I lied. “You interrupted before he could say what he wanted.”
She watched me. I kept my eyes trained out the window without seeing anything but red and black.
“You are not to speak to him. Not under any circumstance or for any reason. And if you ever address me that way again, I will take back every single thing I promised you.”
“I have no doubt.”
She stared a hole in my face, fuming. “I cannot believe your nerve.”
“That makes two of us.”
“Oh, please, Margaret,” she spat. “Nothing that took place should come as a surprise. If you haven’t deduced that we are going to strip Rosemary Bennet down to the studs, you haven’t been paying attention.” With a shift, she turned to face forward, folding her arms. “Your father has always coddled you. You’re soft. Weak. Perhaps I’ve made a mistake in counting on you.”
“I’ve been telling you that since I was in grade school. You never listen to me.”
“Margaret.”
Slowly, my face swiveled in her direction. She seethed from the seat beside me.
“That is enough.” Her tone was deadly and sharp, the kind of tone that only a stupendous surplus of arrogance could relay. “I’m sorry that you’re so tender and feeble that you couldn’t see the slightest pressure applied to Rosemary Bennet, of all people. Pull yourself together. Another outburst like that, and your little project is on hold until you earn it back.”
Instantly, my cheeks flushed. “I am not a child.”
“Then stop acting like one. I expected very little from you to start, but your tantrum was beyond the pale. I’d still love to know why you’re so incensed by the lawsuit.”
“I’ll tell you if you tell me why you hate them so much.”
She scowled but said nothing. I shifted my gaze back to the window.
“I didn’t think so,” I said flatly. “You probably shouldn’t bring me to another of those meetings.”