Page 39 of Payback

My mouth dropped open. Most fathers would object to their sons having sex with girls under their roof, not the motivations behind the act.

Aunt Idette placed her hands on her hips. “He thinks he can earn back his inheritance by fornicating with his beard.”

Anger surged up from my gut and rushed to my cheeks. “Excuse me?”

Her malevolent gaze snapped to me. “What did he offer you for this stunt? Another new coat?”

“You’re deluded,” I snapped.

“Aaaah!” Aunt Idette clapped her hands together. “I understand.”

“Tell me,” said Mr. Bourneville, “because I don’t know what is happening to my son.”

“Stockholm Syndrome,” she said.

My eyes bulged. “What?”

Aunt Idette paced the hallway like she was the female Sherlock Holmes about to announce a great feat of deductive reasoning. She rubbed her chin and said, “This little fool fell for Henry during the fake kidnapping. Why else would she still be by his side after he blamed the whole spectacle on her? Now, she is under the delusion that she can replace Blake, Henry’s true love.”

“This is ridiculous.” I turned to Henry, urging him to put the bitter woman in her place, but he remained silent, his eyes locked on those of his father.

Aunt Idette raised her chin. “Tell me I’m wrong!”

“You’ve twisted everything to ridiculous conclusions.” I tried to make eye contact with Henry’s dad, but he continued glaring at his son. “Henry had a drunken fumble with another boy, and now you think he’ll never give you an heir and needs to be disinherited. When he finally sleeps with a girl, you think he’s doing it to get his inheritance back.”

Mr. Bourneville turned to me, his brows furrowed. “What is she talking about?”

I shot Henry a look and flashed my eyes. Now was the time to say something in his own defense.

He folded his arms across his broad chest and thrust his chin up. His lips were clamped so tight, they appeared thin and pale.

“Typical,” Aunt Idette waved her hands in the air. “The boy gets his friends to do his talking. This one is just another Blake!”

I bared my teeth and whirled on Mr. Bourneville. “You’re all too deluded to see that this old witch has a vested interest in keeping you apart. Who stands to benefit if Henry falls from grace? She does… along with her son, Jonas!”

Mrs. Bourneville stood at the end of the hallway, breathing hard. From the way she nodded, it seemed like she agreed with everything I had said.

I yanked on Henry’s arm, silently urging him to speak, but he stared at a spot on the wall.

“Henry, take Miss Hobson and leave,” snarled Mr. Bourneville.

Shoulders sagging, I exhaled a disappointed sigh but hitched them up again and straightened my posture. What had happened to Henry? At one point during my argument with Aunt Idette, Mr. Bourneville had seemed interested in hearing his side.

My gaze flickered to the end of the hallway to Mrs. Bourneville, who gave me a watery smile and mouthed, ‘thank you.’

The smile I gave Mrs. Bourneville was apologetic. Perhaps by squaring up to Aunt Idette and raising my voice, I had taken away Henry’s chance to fight back. That time when Coates and the other rugby boys had occupied the head table, he had been ready to defend his friends and had even lashed out at Coates for holding Blake in a wrist lock. Maybe I needed to stand back and let Henry build up whatever emotional reserves he required to make a stand against Mr. Bourneville.

After hugging Henry’s mom goodbye, we walked through the maze of hallways in silence. Cameras were everywhere, and I had no doubt Aunt Idette would be at the control room, scraping up things to use against Henry.

Guilt weighed my heart, and regret weighed my steps. This wasn’t the first time I had contributed to Henry’s estrangement from his family, but I hoped it would be the last.

As soon as we reached the underground parking lot and climbed into the limo, I settled next to Henry and held his hand. “Why didn’t you stand up to your father?”

He leaned forward and stared into his lap. “You don’t know what he’s like.”

“A bully?”

“It’s always the same with him. I’m not good enough. Not strong enough. Not as impressive as Jonas.”