Page 85 of Misrule
“Let’s not get into this again,” Knox started calmly. “We’ve put all of these differences behind us. You and Dad accepted Roxanne—”
“As your girlfriend,” she screeched. “Not as your future wife! Girlfriends are expendable. Wives aren’t as easy to get rid of. She’s classless, clueless, and cash-hungry.”
“That’s enough!” Knox barked. Roxanne didn’t fit any of those labels. That his mother returned to her original feelings annoyed him. “You’re snobbish, elitist and judgmental, so you’re even.”
His mother gasped. “Youasked me to be on her stupid committee.”
“And you agreed! You even wanted it moved to the estate. Something you begged me to do.”
“To have control,” she snarled with vicious spite. “She doesn’t deserve the honor of having you in her life. What woman has acommitteeof friends to plan her wedding, rather than a wedding planner? A job well-paid is a job well-done. Your marriage should be of singular focus. What is she doing? Sharing the ceremony and allowing her already-married daughter to renew her vows! She’s clueless about what it means to be a Harrington.”
Knox winced at hearing his mother voice the attitude he’d taken in the beginning. No wonder Roxanne had been so furious. Having them thrown back at him shamed and insulted him.
“Bailey had every right to be included in the double ceremony, Mother. As long as I’m happy with Roxanne’s vision of being a Harrington you have nothing to say about it,” he stormed. “She’s going to bemywife, not yours.”
“The twain shall never meet, Knox,” his mother said briskly. “You are wealthy and cultured. She isn’t. Before she breaks your heart, she’s going to humiliate you. Charlotte—”
Charlotte Redding. His mother’s statement from moments before about Charlotte being at the meeting sunk into Knox. “What was Charlotte doing there?” he asked, tuning out whatever else she’d said. No way would Roxanne want her there.
“Kendall Donovan invited her.”
He heard the smile in her voice.
“I knew this was going to be a trial, so I made sure to use my personal drawing room. I wanted to show the clear line between us by sitting on one side in my Bergere chair and havingthemsit amongst each other.”
Knox’s mouth fell open.Fuuuuccckkkk. “Mother, tell me you didn’t really do that?” He hated his begging tone, but if his mother…More than likely, Roxanne was livid.
“I most certainly did. How else could I make my disapproval clear? I congratulated that horrible woman on your engagement and she had the unmitigated gall to call me outanduse the f-word again. I’m completely within my rights not to have called her right after the engagement.”
“Mother, listen to me. Whether you like it or not, Roxannewillbe my wife. I love her and she loves me. You either accept her or lose me.” He thought of Outlaw. “Case closed.”
“Knox, you didn’t even do the engagement in the proper manner. You should’ve had an engagement party and invited our friends and family. Society columnists. Your second engagement should’ve been a showstopping moment amongst the elite of the elite. And, if that makes me an elitist, so be it. I’m proud of it. You once were, too. You even did the politically correct thing and followed Cameron into a career. You never needed to do that. You’re a wealthy man. Something you enjoyed lording over others.”
Except Cam. The errant thought flitted through Knox’s mind as he came to a conclusion about himself. “I’ve changed. I’ve grown,” he amended.
“Because of Roxanne.”
He wouldn’t deny his mother’s putrid statement. “Because of Roxanne,” he echoed with finality. “I’m a grown man. Capable of making my own damn decisions and judging for myself who I want to spend the rest of my life with.”
“Ha!” his mother snorted. “Do you hear yourself? You don’t even like her friends. You gave them a chance. You were considerate enough to apologize. Yet, they didn’t deserve it.”
He supposed he’d always be a cop at heart. His apology had come back to haunt him during a situation with Cam’s then-friend-now-wife. Jordan had been Megan’s OB first, then Roxanne’s friend, and then Cam’s everything. A former relationship had put her life on the line. When all the bad guys were captured, Knox wanted them taken into custody. Outlaw’s opinion that they needed to be executed on the spot had prevailed. Knox had realized once a criminal, always a criminal. The bikers would never place the same value on life that he did. “They can be hard to swallow.”
“Exactly! You think about them the way I do about Roxanne. You’vetoldme so many times before. She’s just like them. How can you expect me to believe you want her, when you can’t stand to have her friends around you? In spite of your feelings towards them, you suffer through vulgar family get-togethers every week for her. The least she can do is respect my house!”
Knox sighed. “I’m sorry if I gave you the wrong impression, but Roxanne’s friends aremyfriends,” he lied. “If you insult them, you insult me. Now, you owe my fiancé an apology.”
“What?No, absolutely not. Thankfully, Kendall suggested I plan the rehearsal dinner. Roxanne, however, is in charge of the wedding plans with her ridiculous committee. I shudder to think how that’ll turn out.”
“It will turn out beautiful,” Knox snapped. “Roxanne has excellent taste. Besides, it’sherwedding. If she wants to decorate in purple, green, and gold, and have a second line, that’s up to her.”
Silence, then: “What’s a second line?”
Something his mother would never participate in. He couldn’t see her following a band, thefirst line, and being part of the crowd of participants collectively known as the second line. “Never mind. I should’ve just taken her away to Vegas like she wanted. I wouldn’t have to have such bullshit going on all around me.”
A knock sounded on his door. Knox silently thanked whatever providence had sent an interruption to his mother’s nonsense. “Someone’s at the door. I have to go.”
“Don’t be angry,” she ordered. “You know this marriage won’t last. Why else would you ask her to sign a pre-nup?”
