Page 120 of Open To Negotiation

“When are you guys going out?” I asked as I sat in one of the chairs.

“Theo is meeting us in about forty-five minutes.”

“Any suggestions on where I should go shopping?” I hadn’t been to New York before and I was feeling scrambled.

“The car is waiting for you downstairs. Noah called ahead to Bloomingdale’s, they have dresses pulled. You can pick one. Here.” He held up a black card between us. I looked down at it then back to him.

“I’m not taking his card.” I crossed my arms over my chest.

“It’s not his, it’s mine.”

I rolled my eyes. “I’m not taking yours either.”

We stood there for a moment, glaring at each other before he put the card back in his wallet. “Doesn’t matter, the store already has my card on file.” I glared at him but the hard set of his jaw meant I likely didn’t have a chance of going somewhere else for a dress without pissing him off. Plus, I just didn’t have the energy.

“Can you let me know if something happens and he comes anywhere near here?” I hated that I felt like I was hiding. But now that I was here, I was seriously second guessing my choice.

“He’ll want to see you, Q,” Asher grunted. “He’ll be grateful that you’re here.” Asher didn’t wait for a reply. He simply nodded and walked out of the room.

I pulled out my phone and before calling my mom opened the group text, the one they removed Theo from and added me back to both times I tried to remove myself. I’d muted the chat so I didn’t notice how many missed messages there were. I didn’t bother reading through them.

Me

I’m back… don’t exhaust me with messages (@Noah)

I need to be eased back in gently.

I pulled up my mom’s number and dialed, ignoring the ping of texts that came through.

“Hey sweetie. All ready for the movers?” Her voice sounded chipper through the phone even though I know it was after midnight in Italy.

“I’m not coming,” I said quickly.

“What?!” Her voice raised a few octaves.

“Theo’s dad died, I just landed in New York. I’m going to stay for the service tomorrow then fly home. I’m not sure when I’ll get to you, I’m delayed by a few days at least.” I expected her to pipe up but the silence was loud on the other end of the phone. “Mom?” I asked to make sure she was still there and we hadn’t gotten disconnected.

“Are you okay?” I closed my eyes at her question.

“Yeah.” Even though I felt sick with the swirling emotions in my gut.

“I think you did the right thing.”

I raised my eyebrows in shock. “You do?” I hadn’t told her everything, but she knew enough to be pissed at Theo on my behalf.

“Yes, hun. I might not have met him, but I can tell that you care about him and the other people he brought into your life. It doesn’t matter what happened because regardless of his relationship with his father, he just lost him.

“It will probably bring up some stuff with his mom.” I’d told my mom a brief highlight of what happened to Theo, it didn’t feel right to tell her the specifics. “He shared that with you, sweetheart, and even if he walked out, he trusted you enough to tell you that. I think he’ll be glad you’re there.” I still felt unsure, but it was too late to turn back. I was here now.

“Guess I have to go buy a dress.”

I looked in the full-length mirror in the bathroom and pushed half of my hair behind my ear.

Shopping had been pretty painless yesterday. I’d shown up and was ushered into a dressing room with five dresses waiting. I chose the second one I tried on. It was packed up and handed to me in a garment bag. I was able to sneak downstairs to buy some heels and a little black purse without anyone stopping me.

It felt odd to get this dressed up so early, but it was almost a two-hour drive to the Kane estate in Northampton. From the texts last night I learned that Theo’s stepmom had planned an elaborate celebration of life at the house, followed by a short service.

The great Warren Kane didn’t want anyone to have to stand around a depressing cemetery, so they would do the service in the yard, with the man already buried in a large plot, Theo didn’t tell them where.