‘Pippa,’ he said carefully. ‘Are you actually serious?’
‘Yes!’
Pippa watched as Theo read through the articles.
‘Oh my God,’ he murmured. ‘Youareserious.’
She nodded. ‘I told you! It’s all there. It lines up. Name changes, dates, locations… everything.’
Theo leaned back against the headboard, staring at nothing for a moment. His mind was clearly running through years of memories, resentments, and rivalries, all freshly reframed.
‘That’s why he’s always been out to get me. It wasn’t just ego. Or competition.’ He swallowed hard. ‘It was personal. He knew who my grandfather was, and must blame him in part for what happened.’
‘He’s convinced his grandfather was framed, and that’s mainly because the special commission was never recovered. This book…’ She handed it to him. ‘You need to read this, though I’ll warn you that the pages that matter the most have been ripped out.’
‘I’m going to be in for a long night…’ Theo rubbed his hands over his face, then through his hair, then looked back at her with a rueful half-smile. ‘Your eyes are closing.’
‘I’m completely knackered.’
Theo slumped further down in the bed, the book resting on the duvet in front of him. He stretched his arm out to her and Pippa didn’t hesitate to snuggle into him. Theo began to read, and by the time he’d finished the first page, Pippa was fast asleep.
ChapterNineteen
Pippa woke to the warmth of an arm wrapped around her back and a hand curling around her waist. The small cottage bedroom looked hazy in the early light seeping through the curtains, and she could still hear the rain battering against the windowpanes. She blinked, casting her mind back to the discovery last night. She had no idea what time Theo had finally drifted off, only that at some point she’d felt him haul her in closer, his arm looping around her waist. It was still there now, holding her against him as if this were the most natural thing in the world. And God help her, she liked it.
She’d never slept well with Rob. He snored like a tractor, stole the duvet every night, and somehow managed to occupy eighty per cent of a double bed despite being one human being. In the years they’d been together, Pippa wasn’t sure she’d had a single decent night’s sleep.
But this… this felt different.
Theo was warm and still, the quiet kind of sleeper. He didn’t try to dominate the bed, didn’t twitch or mutter or throw out a rogue elbow. He simply held her as though he’d been doing it for years. She shifted a little, and Theo’s arm instinctively tightened, pulling her closer. Pippa turned slightly so she could see him.
His hair was an unholy mess, pointing in four different directions, but annoyingly it made him look even more handsome. She’d always thought he was striking, even at university, but lying here now, tangled in sheets and morning light, he was almost unfairly gorgeous. Without thinking, she murmured, ‘I could get used to this.’
She could see it clearly now: Sebastian had known she only had eyes for Theo back then. Of course he had. Sebastian had always been perceptive, and his jealousy had been brewing even then, she realised. Her guess was that Sebastian had known exactly who Theo was from the beginning, and he’d purposely kept his cards very close to his chest.
Pippa thought of the interview with Horace, the way Sebastian had lashed out, spinning wild accusations, creating ripples in the press with that theatrical burst of outrage. It all made sense now. He’d been performing for the cameras, trying to sway public opinion, trying to rewrite a legacy he couldn’t escape.
But Pippa was now certain of one thing: if Sebastian knew anything about the secret commission, anything real, he would be shouting it from the rooftops. He would have weaponised it already. His silence was proof that he knew nothing. Just like everybody else.
Theo shifted a little. She wondered– dangerously, foolishly– what it would have been like waking up to him like this every morning. No symphonic snoring. No awkward turning away. No emotional distance masquerading as compatibility. Just warmth. This soft closeness. Theo’s arm around her like it belonged there. Then it hit her anew– that horrible realisation from last night. Sebastian discarding Clara now that she was no use to him. Clara calling Theo, desperate and shaken, apologising for cheating on him with the man who had tossed her aside the moment she was no longer useful to him.
Pippa’s heart thumped. Was Theo actually thinking of taking Clara back? Her stomach clenched at the thought. She studied him again, memorising the curve of his jaw, the strong line of his nose, the way his lips parted slightly in sleep.
Theo inhaled slowly, eyelids fluttering open. He blinked once, then twice, the corners of his mouth lifting faintly as his gaze focused on her.
‘Are you still here, Bell?’ he murmured, voice low and gravelly with sleep.
Before she could respond, he pulled her in tighter, pressing a gentle kiss to the top of her head. He exhaled softly against her hair. ‘I’m sorry we had a fight in the restaurant.’
‘You have nothing to be sorry about. It was me. I made bad choices. It’s all on me.’
He didn’t say any more; he simply held her. He didn’t move for a long moment, and though his arm stayed around her, Pippa felt something shift in him.
He exhaled, pressing his lips together briefly before speaking. ‘Clara phoned last night. She wants me back. Sebastian has already tossed her aside.’
‘On the basis of us being honest with each other, I already knew.’
Theo moved back slightly to look at her.
