Chapter 34: The Unfriendly Visit
Theo made his way straight home. He didn’t bother stopping at the hospital first, since that was where he’d just come from and Uthed was still there. He wanted to check on Estea and Sesan, and after the day he’d had, he needed a little rest.
Although sharing a roof with Estea was a questionable idea for a man who wanted rest.
After a long drive, the yellow taxi with its sharp-edged front and sexy back pulled up outside Theo’s building. He made a quick phone transfer, thanked the driver, and stepped out onto the pavement.
He jogged up the stairs, stopping first at his own place to shower and change. The hot water took the ache out of his shoulders, though not out of his head. Then he headed up to the rooftop in a tracksuit, top and bottom, the zip of the jacket hanging loose at his chest. His black hair lay wet and rough across his forehead, still dripping at the ends, and he pushed it back with one hand as he walked.
Then he walked inside to find Sesan eating. She paused with a mouthful of rice and looked toward the door, cheeks round. Estea sat beside her, eyes closed, a thick blanket drawn over her legs.
As Theo entered, she opened her eyes.
"Oh? Best Husband, have you been cheating on us?"
Theo rolled his eyes.
"You wouldn’t be able to satisfy me anyway, so what choice do I have?"
’Let’s go band for band since you want to keep being like this?’
Estea’s gaze hardened.
"Aren’t you being a bit too lapsed? Who taught you to speak that way to your elders?"
Theo gave her a menacing grin.
"I thought you liked it disrespectful."
"You vile prick."
Theo glanced at Sesan, who had gone back to digging into her food. She paused, looked at him while he looked at her, and smiled. Then she coldly dismissed the smile and returned to stuffing rice into her mouth, chewing without hurry.
Theo sighed and crossed to the fridge. He pulled out a package of meat and carried it toward the kitchen. Then a loud sound began to beat outside, heavy and rhythmic, thudding against the walls until the windows buzzed in their frames.
It was like a hurricane tormenting the still air of the rooftop. Estea frowned. Sesan stopped eating. Theo dropped the meat on the counter and ran outside, pulling the door shut behind him.
When he stepped out, he could hardly believe what he was seeing.
Above the rooftop hung a helicopter, its blades beating violently against the air. The downdraft flattened the potted plants along the ledge, dragged at his loose jacket, and flung grit across the concrete so that he had to turn his face aside. The noise pressed against his ears, so loud he felt it in his teeth. Theo raised a forearm against the flying grit and squinted up into the wash of wind. A rope ladder unrolled from the belly of the machine, swinging as it fell, and a lady in an expensive gown and fur cloak came down it one careful rung at a time, her hem snapping around her ankles and the fur cloak flaring out behind her like a dark banner before it settled against her shoulders.
She landed, and her heels clicked once on the concrete as she found her footing. Then she slid on a pair of black, butterfly-patterned shades, gently dusted off her bag, and walked toward Theo with an elegant, unhurried stride, as though the storm overhead had nothing to do with her.
The helicopter still hovered above them, its vicious noise swallowing every other sound, dust sifting down from the rotor wash.
The lady stopped in front of him, her scarlet brows arching up at him. She pointed at the door, signaling him to open it. Theo stayed where he was, refusing. So she had to shout over the rotor.
"Goodness! I’m her stepmother! I’m not here to harm her. We can’t talk out here, you know!!!"
Theo glanced up at the helicopter. The word stepmother didn’t make him flinch. He already knew this family had had a hand in what happened to Estea.
But still, he wanted to hear what she had to say. So he opened the door and let her in, planting himself squarely between the lady and his two wives. The door swung shut behind them, cutting the rotor’s roar down to a muffled thud through the walls. In the sudden quiet the apartment felt smaller, the four of them crowded close together.
When Estea’s gaze found the woman, it went cold. Her eyes were usually cold, but this was a different kind of cold, colder than any look she had ever turned on someone she meant to kill. Beneath the blanket her fingers had curled tight against her palms, and she had gone very still.
Had Estea not been powerless just then, the sheer lethality in her stare might have killed the woman where she stood.
"You are rotten to the very end. Is that how you greet your mother, Essy?"
"Call yourself my mother one more time, and I will burn you where you sit."
The woman laughed.
"Burn me? It seems you’ve forgotten that you can no longer transform. You’re lesser than an ordinary human right now. Tsk tsk, so pitiful."
She turned her gaze to Theo.
"Is this him? The poor boy you dumped all your burden on?"
Theo held her gaze, his face blank, boring into her eyes.
"I am the boy who married her, yes, the one who decided to care for her when all of her family abandoned her. You’d be surprised. I find Estea a very beautiful, warm and caring lady. In fact, you may not have realized that betraying her might have been a blessing. Because she’s truly happy right now. Right, darling?"
Estea scoffed at Theo.
"There’s no need to make this needle understand the extent of my new relationship. I don’t want them ruining that for me too."
For some reason, all the puff went out of the lady’s smile until it dried up entirely, her painted lips pressing into a thin line.
Theo slid his hands into his pockets and looked at her fully.
"What are you here for, mother-in-law. You wouldn’t happen to be interested in having dinner with us, would you?"