Page 81 of Secrets (The Sins Trilogy 2)
“Shit.” Harry plops into a chair. “God damn it. Sam has to be the bad guy. He’s gotta be dirty.”
“Obviously. Even if I discount what he’s done to Ivy, he’s been manipulating Mother somehow.” And Margot Blackwood is not a woman who easily bends to someone else’s will.
Harry snaps his head up. “Wait. I forgot to tell you, but she’s not the only one.”
I lean forward, desperate for any additional clue, no matter how small. “What do you mean?”
“Caleb Wentworth visited soon after her call with Sam. The one I overheard and got kicked out over.”
Caleb.The brute I saved Ivy from at a stupid party way back when. I haven’t heard that name since I left Tempérane. What I did to Jamie Thornton I should’ve done to Caleb, but didn’t. “What the hell did he want?”
“To see Mom. I don’t know about what exactly, but I heard both of them yelling, and Sam’s name was in there a few times.”
“Who brought it up?”
“Mom, I think. I don’t know for sure, though. She sounded almost hysterical. She even threw a vase.”
I stare at Harry, speechless. The only time I’ve ever seen her lash out like that is when Katherine died. “That’s…crazy.”
“I know, right?” Harry rubs his eyebrows. “Thinking back on it, she was more upset about me seeing Caleb than overhearing her talk with Sam.”
I push his drink in his direction. Finally remembering it, he gulps it down with a scowl.
I take some more whiskey. Mother’s argument with Caleb makes even less sense. If she needed to speak to somebody from his family, his mother is the most logical choice. And I don’t think the Wentworths are investing with Sam. Otherwise Jill would’ve mentioned it when she gave me her status report. If Caleb is involved with Sam’s blackmail…
I shake my head. It doesn’t make sense. That punk has nothing on Mother. And even if he did, he’s a selfish bastard. He would’ve helped himself, not Sam.
“Anyway… What do you want me to do with Ivy? We’re bound to run into each other again, and I don’t want you putting me in another headlock.”
“Just call her Iris for now,” I say, hating that I’m dragging Harry into my deception. “And you can’t let her know you know her from before.”
He holds out his glass, and I pour him an extra finger. He takes a quick swallow. “Doesn’t it bother you, though? You’re calling her by a name that isn’t even hers.”
Spoken like a kid who’s never been given a second shot.“Who cares what name she uses? I have another chance with her. That’s all that matters.”
