Their Virgin Mistress (Masters of Ménage #7)(104)

"I'm hiding out. I don't want any part in what's happening with those lawyers." 

"Callum thinks you're mad at him."

She sighed. "I'm not. I just don't want to incite a riot. I heard she insisted on being here."

Claire nodded shortly. "She refused to sign the papers if she didn't get to talk to Callum one last time."

Thea had become the bane of Tori's existence. She'd gone on every talk show possible, chatting endlessly about how Tori had stolen the father of her unborn child. She'd even blamed the fact that she hadn't gained any weight on the stress of being apart from her lover.

She believed Callum. They all did. Cal had never loved Thea. She even believed Talib's report that the woman wasn't pregnant at all, so the idea of paying her for bad behavior rankled.

And she knew the news vans with their reporters were still camped outside the gates. They would still be there two weeks from now, waiting for her to tell the world whether there would be a royal wedding or a split.

"I don't think Thea should have had a choice." Tori hated the fact that the woman was in her house. She stopped. In the Thurston-Hughes's house. It didn't matter that she'd started to love this place. That still didn't make it hers. She'd even gotten used to the staff smiling at her and giggling at times. At first, that had been disconcerting. They knew she had sex with three men. She'd gotten the evil eye from some of the older staff members, but she'd overheard them talking in the kitchens. They didn't dislike her for her morals. They simply couldn't understand why she needed thirty days to decide to marry the brothers. According to them, any woman who needed that much time to decide didn't have the sense to become their mistress.

They were simply protective of the masters.

"Have you told them that?" Claire asked, sitting down beside her.

"It's not my place." She wasn't certain she had a place.

"All right, then. I'll deal with it myself." She stood abruptly and straightened out her skirt.

"Deal with what?"

Claire didn't turn. "This is woman's work. My brothers need someone to guide them. As it obviously won't be you, I'll see to this nasty Thea business. I'll take care of them, as I have ever since my mother died. Apparently, I'll continue to take care of them once you're gone."

Tori wasn't sure what had gotten under Claire's skin. "I haven't said I'm leaving at all. I simply don't know that I have any business dealing with the problem."

"What do you think a relationship is? You know I like you, Tori, but I've come to believe you're cold. You pretend to be this super-sweet woman who cares about everyone."

"I do care." This conversation was running dangerously close to the one she'd had with Piper. Only she suspected Claire would be less understanding.

"Only if it doesn't cross some boundary in your head. You care … but not too much. You're going to leave them in the end, so you should know I'll do everything I possibly can to find the right woman for them."

Tori should have been happy that Claire was giving her blessing to leave if that was her choice. It should have pleased Tori to know that Claire would take responsibility for these men.

But Claire was their sister, not their wife, and her words prodded a sore spot Tori hadn't even known existed. It was her place to deal with Thea because Callum obviously hadn't done enough to let the woman know she wasn't wanted. When it came to matters of the heart, there were some things only another woman could explain.

Tori saw plainly that Claire meant to take her rightful place.



       
         
       
        

Claire stared at her for a long moment as though hoping Tori would do something. Instead, Tori felt glued to the chair. She was at a crossroads, and the idea of deciding the rest of her life within a handful of days was daunting. It was all happening way too fast. She wasn't ready. She might never be ready.

"All right, then," Claire said with a sigh. "I wish you wouldn't stay the rest of the time. They think you'll choose them. Obviously, you won't. You'll use them until the time comes. Then you'll crush their hearts when you walk off to your safe little world."

Every word seemed like a kick in the gut. "The world isn't safe. I should know that better than anyone."

Tears glistened in Claire's eyes. "I lost my parents, too. I also lost the man I loved. I never talked about it with my brothers. I met him at university. I dated him for over a year. He was killed walking home one night. Some idiot tried to rob him. He didn't have any money. My parents would have been horrified, which was why I didn't talk about him. Now I wish I had. I regret that they never knew him. That's the hardest part. I have no one to talk to about him because no one knew him."