Page 89 of Keeping Kaitlyn

If you think for one second that I’m going to let a disgusting little slut like you get her hooks into my son, again, you have another thing coming.

I reach for the door but before I can get my hand on it, it flies open and Kait practically plows into me.

“Shit.” Reaching out, I grip my hands around her shoulders to steady her before she can stumble back. “Kait, what?—”

“Nothing.” Looking up at me, she shakes her head, face pale except for the angry red welt slashed across her cheek. “I’m fine. If you don’t mind?—”

I mind.

Whatever she’s about to say, I fucking mind.

“Did she hit you?” When all she does is stare up at me instead of answering, I tighten my grip on her shoulders and fight off the urge to shake her. “Did my mother hit you?”

Kait nods her head, something that looks like shame crawling across her face to tie my stomach in knots. “Yes.”

Forcing myself to relax my grip, I lean into her to press my lips against her forehead. Pulling away from her, I do my best togive her a reassuring smile. “Go with Silver. She’ll take care of you.”

My smile must not be very reassuring before Kait’s eyes widen and she shakes her head again. “Went, don’t?—”

“Go with Silver,” I tell her again before handing her off to my sister who has her tucked under her wing and hustled further down the hall toward her office in a matter of seconds. As soon as they’re gone, I take a deep breath and open the bathroom door to find my mother, not a hair out of place, calmly freshening her lipstick in the mirror above the sink.

“What did you do?”

When she hears me, Astrid flicks a quick glance in my direction before looking back at her own reflection in the mirror. “Don’t be dramatic, Wentworth,” she tells me with an exasperated eye roll. “Whatever that woman told you?—”

“She didn’t tell me anything.” Leaning against the door, I jam my hands into my pants pockets for safe keeping. “She didn’t have to. The welt on her cheek did all the talking for her.”

“Well…” Looking down, she pays careful attention to re-capping her lipstick before dropping it back into her purse. “She deserved it.”

“No she didn’t.”

My tone jerks her gaze up to meet mine in the mirror. “You didn’t hear what she said?—"

“I don’t care what she said.” I give her a shrug. “But that’s not what I’m talking about.”

Giving me a weary sigh, my mother snaps her evening bag closed and tucks it under her arm before turning to look at me directly. “Then whatareyou talking about?”

“You saidagain,” I tell her quietly, letting her know I heard exactly what she said to Kait. “You aren’t going to let Kait get her hooks into meagain.”

When I say it, her color slips but her gaze doesn’t waver. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“The fuck you don’t,” I growl at her. “What did you do, mother?”

Squaring her shoulders with a sigh, Astrid meets my anger, head on. “What was necessary to stop you from making the same mistake I did when I married your father,” she tells me without an ounce of contrition. “She was a stranger, Wentworth. You barely knew her and you didn’t even have the common sense to make her sign a pre-nump before you were stupid enough to marry her.”

“Who told you?” It could’ve been anybody. Anyone who might’ve seen me in the hotel while I was there with Kait. But I know it wasn’tanybody. I know who told her before she even says it.

“The girl’s father. He found the contact information for The Hawthorne’s lead counsel on the NDA you made him sign. He contacted the attorney. The attorney contacted me.” Coming toward me, she waves her hand in my direction like I’m suddenly a nuisance. “What’s done is done. I’ve had enough of this nonsense and I’m hungry,” she says, trying to reach past me to pull the door open. Instead of letting her, I take her by the arm and dump her into a nearby chair. As soon as her ass hits the cushion, her mouth pops open on an indignant huff. “How dare you. Who do you?—”

“We both knowexactlywho I am,” I growl at her and have the satisfaction of watching her mouth snap shut like it’s on a spring-loaded hinge. “I’m the guy who signs your maintenance checks…” Hunkering down in front of her, I shake my head. “As such, I feel the need to remind you that grandfather made no allowances for you in his will. He left you nothing.” Cutting her a nasty smile, I give her a shrug. “Why would he? You were given a half a billion-dollar trust fund when you turned twenty-five.Never in a million years could he have imagined that you’d blow through it by the time you were fifty.”

When I remind her of how old she really is, her eyes narrow slightly. “Is this the part where you threaten your mother, Wentworth?”

“No.” Shaking my head again, I feel the corner of my mouth curl in a humorless smirk. “This is the part where I tell you that if you ever touch or speak to Kait with anything less than complete and utter deference, ever again, I’ll cut you off and I’ll sell every liquid asset in my name at your disposal. No more checks. No more yacht. No more Lear. No more Bentley. No more penthouse suites. It’ll all disappear and you’ll be dead to me.”

Glaring at me, Astrid does her best to look indignant but she can’t fool me. She’s scared. “You’d disown your own mother over some?—”

Leaning into the space between us, I look my mother in the eye. “You ever come at her again, I won’t even hesitate.” Standing slowly, I brush a hand down the front of my suit jacket before I straighten my cuffs. “Enjoy your evening,” I tell her before walking away from her without a backward glance.

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