“It made me feel sick to say it.”
I released her, and she took a step back from me.
“I had to do that, Audrey. I had to take control of the situation. My mother’s been running things for too long. We’re going to have both my mother and yours on a short leash after this. And we’re the walkers, babe. They’re the dogs.”
“I hope they don’t turn around and bite us,” Audrey said. “Those are some big fangs.”
I didn’t hold her hand until the plane had taken off. I didn’t want anyone to see us. Audrey was quiet, pretending to listen carefully while the flight attendant went through the safety presentation, inspecting her nails afterward and generally ignoring me.
“Can you please forgive me?” I asked. “I didn’t think we’d get out of there, intact, any other way.”
“I can forgive you. I already did,” she said under her breath. “But if you ever compare me to my mother again, you can say goodbye to this.” She motioned to her lower body.
“No,” I said. “I am not ever saying goodbye to that.”
She smiled at me a little, and I could tell it was reluctant. “You were just so mean,” she said.
“I know. It was ugly.”
“Do you think she believed it?” Audrey asked.
“I think so. I think my mother believes that the apple really doesn’t fall far from the tree. She thinks that underneath it all, I’m just like her. Ruthless. Only interested in myself. And she’s right,” I said, throwing my arm around her. “Except that she hadn’t counted on you. Now I’m ruthless, and I’m only interested in you. And I don’t think my mother believes I’m capable of that.”
“Of having a relationship?” Audrey asked.
“Of loving someone more than I love myself,” I said. “Even though she’s a parent, I don’t think she knows what that means.”
“Your mother and my mother deserve each other,” Audrey said. “They should be prison roommates.”
“I might work on arranging that,” I said.
I’d never been so relieved to be back in Boston. Audrey must have felt it, too; she relaxed next to me as soon as we landed. Kai was waiting for us at Logan. He smiled at me and, as per my previous instructions, averted his eyes from Audrey.
“Kai, it’s good to see you,” I said as we slid into the back of the SUV.
“You too, sir, ma’am. Did you enjoy your trip?”
“We did. We mixed business and pleasure. It was productive,” I said. “Did you miss us?”
“Of course,” Kai said. “You two are my favorite clients. Especially you, Mr. Preston. No offense, Miss Reynolds—but you know how he is about you.” He cracked a smile, and Audrey had a laugh at my expense.
“Ha ha. That’s nice, Kai,” I said, leaning back and pulling Audrey to me. “I’m not a favorite with a lot of people right now. It’s nice to know I’m still capable of being liked. But you can let Audrey be your favorite—you can even smile at her from now on. Everyone likes her better than me, anyway. For good reason.”
“What’s that?” she asked.
“You’re not a total prick,” I said and grinned at her.
Audrey
“I still like you,” I whispered to James. “Barely.”
“Gee, thanks,” he said, kissing me on top of my head. “Do you need to go to your apartment? To get anything?”
“I’m going to have to. And I need to go to New Horizons, and also call Elena. There’s a lot I need to take care of. But I think I’d like some coffee first.” I blew out a shaky breath. “I have to go see my mother, too. To make sure she understands the financial incentive/blackmail package we’re offering her.”
“It’s a day of reckoning,” James said, looking at his watch. “My parents are flying back tomorrow afternoon. Everything needs to be in place before that.”
I looked at him, still not completely understanding what he had planned. “What do we need to do?”
“I’ll call Danielle’s parents, to see what they’ve done in terms of contacting the police. I’ll probably have to follow up and give the detectives a statement. They’ll want to speak with you, too. You’ll have to tell them how my mother threatened you and exactly what she said with respect to Danielle. And then we’ll go from there. I need to speak with my brother, to tell him what’s happening. This is going to be very hard for him. And I have no idea if my father was involved or not.”