He blinked a few times, but I knew this wasn’t the first time he was hearing this. Colin had pitched Raquel, and since Avery hadn’t asked who he was when I’d called him over, I was assuming Colin had already laid at least some of the groundwork with Avery too.
After thinking it over for a beat, he stepped forward and held out his hand. “Thank you.”
The sincerity in his voice caught me off guard, but I took his hand and shook with him, feeling a wide grin spread on my lips. “You were protecting your family. Never apologize for that.”
As I let go of his hand, my phone rang in my pocket and I pulled it out immediately, groaning when I saw Alex’s name on my screen. “Would you look at that? The chickens are officially coming home to roost.”
Colin winced. “Good luck with that. You’re going to need it.”
“Yeah, I know.” I spun away from them and walked a few feet before I took the call, mentally trying to prepare myself for the lashing I was about to receive. “Before you say anything, I can explain.”
“I know you’re in Arizona,” he said, his voice cold and hard. “Were you going to tell me?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
I swiped my tongue across my lips, striding to the edge of the parking lot and looking out at the desert under the silvery light of the moon hanging in the sky. “As soon as I knew what to say.”
“You have a guest here.” He blew out a harsh breath. “Adeline and Zach will take care of her for you until you get here, but get here, Theo. You and I have a lot to talk about.”
CHAPTER 44
RAQUEL
At Zach’s house, I sat cross-legged on the hardwood floor, building a blanket fort with Adeline’s girls while doing my best to remain calm. It wasn’t easy, though. Their fort was nothing like I remembered building with Avery, spanning the entirety of the massive living room with more and more blankets being delivered by the housekeeping team every so often.
A housekeepingteam. How ridiculous is that?
Then again, it’d become clear to me over the last twenty-four hours that Theo was really,reallyrich. Despite how nice everyone had been to me so far—and they seriously had been—they were a whole different breed.
The house was insane and the cars that kept coming and going were a testament to the fact that this family was in a class all of its own. They drove Rolls Royces, and Maybachs, and Aston Martins, tossing the keys down on the side table whenever they walked in like they thought of those vehicles as no more than ordinary run-arounds.
Food was ordered from restaurants I’d read about in magazines while I’d been looking for inspiration for my kitchen at home, and all the wives seemed to be on a first-name basis with whoever answered the phones at those restaurants.
While I hadn’t seen any of Theo’s brothers again, I’d been in Chicago for a full day now, the collective Westwood wives taking it upon themselves to entertain me. They were all incredibly gracious and friendly, but none of them had known about me until recently.
To be more specific, none of them had known about me until Theo had texted Adeline to pick me up from the airport. Even so, they’d welcomed me in with open arms, not a single one commenting about my clothes, my job, or the fact that I stuck out around here like a sore thumb.
“Raquel,” Lu snapped, her eyes wide and exasperated when I blinked myself out of my thoughts. “Did you hear me? I asked what we’re going to do about the snack station.”
I almost laughed, but she was gravely serious. Apparently, a snack stationinsidethe blanket fort was a requirement if you lived in a house like this. “To be honest, my brother and I just used to grab a bag of chips and some marshmallows for ours.”
“A bag of chips and some marshmallows,” she repeated somberly, but then lit up and shot to her feet with the speed of a tiny bullet. “I think we’ve got all that.”
“Uh-uh,” Adeline called from where she was sitting on one of the last remaining armchairs that hadn’t been draped in some kind of linen. “You can have your snacksafterdinner, but not before, and Raquel is right. Chips and marshmallows are enough.”
Jennifer had been arranging a legion of stuffed animals in the fort, but she looked up at me and smiled. “I didn’t know you liked marshmallows. I like them too.”
“They’re the best,” I said authoritatively, prompting Lu to launch into a lecture about the pros and cons of other sweets when compared to marshmallows.
I tried to listen, but eventually, my gaze drifted to one of the wall-sized windows overlooking the grounds. Everything about Theo’s world felt massive. Enormous. Overwhelming.
It made me feel so damn small that I was seriously starting to wonder if I’d made a mistake, coming here.Maybe I should just go home.
Theo was clearly in trouble with his oldest brother. I hadn’t seen Alex since Jesse had spilled the beans about the secret mission Theo had launched himself into. The man had simply vanished into the depths of the house with his brothers, looking like he was preparing for war.
When I heard the front door opening, I barely even registered it at first. People were constantly coming and going in this house, children thundering through hallways and the dog, Bear, wandering around.
