“Correct,” Katarina replies. “I had no part in the kidnap, that was all my uncle’s doing. He’s determined that I marry before I turn twenty-one and he’ll go to any lengths to ensure it happens.”
“And that’s why Rory got hurt too?”
“No,” says Katarina. She pulls an ‘oops’ face. “That was me. I can get pissy as well.”
She gives me time to recover from the shock and I swallow more vodka before she continues.
“Finding out that you weren’t the recent fling I thought you were was upsetting. And when I’m upset, bad things can happen.” She shrugs, like it’s no big deal. “In hindsight, the situation should have been handled differently. I hadn’t appreciated how deeply Duke’s feelings ran, especially for you.” All playfulness, however inappropriate, vanishes from her expression when she adds, “It’s not often I get scared, but Duke scared me yesterday.”
“You thought he’d shoot you?”
“No, Grace. I thought he’d shoot himself.”
I blink a couple of times. I understand the words that have just been spoken, but I can’t make them make sense. I don’t want to… “No, he wouldn’t,” I say because surely I know Duke better than Katarina. He’d been depressed after the accident, but he’d got past that. She must be mistaken. “Why would you even think that?”
“Putting a gun to his head was a big fucking clue.”
“Yesterday lunchtime? He was going to… He was…”
I’d spoken to Duke later in the afternoon. I’d hung up on him then planned my date with Olly. Duke had practically locked down a major hotel so he could talk to me and I’d walked away. I’d done all of that within hours of him threatening to kill himself.
“It wasn’t performative,” Katarina continues, quashing any hope that she’d misunderstood his intentions. “According to Duke’s rationale, I couldn’t marry a corpse so the wedding would be null and void. Fitz would be freed and his family would be safe.”
“He told me he’d had atryingday. Oh, my god. If I’d known…”
“Then you have spoken,” Katarina deduces. “Good.”
I reach for my empty coffee cup, then switch to grab my water. The glass knocks against my teeth. “No, not good,” I’m forced to confess. “We met and he wanted to talk, but I told him to go to hell, not knowing he was already there.”
I must surely be in shock because I’ve forgotten who I’m talking to. And I’m still in shock because I keep talking.
“Duke told me he loved me. And… Damn it!” I hiss. “He said he’d thought he’d never get the chance to say it. I didn’t know… I could never have imagined… He was talking about almost killing himself to save his family.”
Katarina rests her elbows on the table as she leans forward and softly adds, “And to save you.”
The stabbing pain through my cruel heart is unbearable, but completely deserved. “But who saves Duke?”
“We do,” she says, resting her chin on her upturned palm. “We need to take care of the big durak.”Idiot. There’s a hint of affection in her tone.
“How?” My eyes bounce between hers. I could almost believe I was tucked away with a friend as we put the world to rights. “Why are you here, Katarina?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” she says, straightening up. “To see if I could tolerate you, Grace Hamel.” A crease forms between her brows. “Why do you keep your married name?”
I shrug. It’s an easier question to tackle. “I’ll admit I grimace every time someone uses it, but it’s the name people associate with my work. I’m trying to build my portfolio, and it would have been too messy having to explain why my citations appear under a different name.”
“So, it’s not because you had designs on becoming a Moncrief as soon as you got here?”
My jaw drops. I can’t believe I’m offended by the woman who was blasé about killing me, and arranged poor Rory’s accident. “You think I’m a gold digger? Is that what this whole interview is about?”
Katarina sniffs. “Partly. Now do you see how you might have skewed the answers if I’d told you from the start?”
In spite of everything, I find myself smiling. I’m also on the verge of tears. “You wanted to make sure I’m good enough for Duke. You really do like him.”
“Tolerate,” she corrects.
“Whatever,” I say with a waft of my hand. “And for your information, I didn’t know Duke was a Moncrief when I moved here. But I did want to find him. We’dwatched this film. Serendipity? It’s a Romcom. The main characters meet, fall in love but decide to leave it to chance to meet again.” Those damn tears clog my throat and it hurts when I swallow. “Duke and I decided to do the same. I helped fate along by moving to Chicago, not realizing that Duke was ten steps ahead of me.”
My vision might be blurred, but I swear Katarina’s eyes shimmer too. “Until I set you both twenty steps back.”
