We’re told to talk but once again, I come up empty. There’s nothing I want to say to him beyondWhy are you done with me so soon?
“This is boring,” I say instead, and Theo glares atme.
“Again, Rebecca? We’re being filmed.”
Misery has made me argumentative. Well,moreargumentative. “You know I’m right. This is an experience any family could put together on their own. There’s nothing about Paris that’s difficult. They’ve got Uber, it’s easily navigable, everyone speaks English. Vietnam or the Arctic Circle…that’sdifficult. That’s worth paying someone to do the planning for you.”
“I’m not saying you’re wrong,” he mutters under his breath. “But as the entire reason we are here is to sell the company toviewers, perhaps there are better times to criticize us than when we’re on film?”
Was it intentional, the way he made a point of reminding me the show is why we’re here?
Our conversation remains so strained that eventually Lars decides to focus on gathering B-roll instead until the godforsaken ride is over and we can finally climb off the boat.
LJ is still filming us, but I’ve had it with this entire trip. I’m unclipping my battery pack, though no one’s said I can, just as Caden’s arm lands around my shoulders again. He’s just trying to get under Theo’s skin, probably as payback for what happened outside the catacombs, but given the mood Theo is in, it could very well work. The real question iswhyit would work. Theo has made it pretty fucking clear he isn’t interested in me going forward, so why does he care so much if someone elseis?
“You’re about to be a single woman in Paris,” Caden says. “What’s that expression? ‘When the cat’s away, the mice will play’?”
Theo steps forward and wraps his hand around Caden’s neck, pushing him backward into the grassy riverbank. “Touch her again, motherfucker, and I’ll make sure you regret it.”
I expect Caden to do what he’s done in the past—to slink away, to turn it into a joke. Instead, he leans in, whispering something only Theo can hear and…suddenly Theo is lunging forward, grabbing Caden by the shirt, landing a punch straight to his jaw.
Caden falls backward, the picnickers behind him barely managing to scatter out of his way before he hits the grass, and Theo is on top of him while Lars and a guy from the boat rush to pull him off.
“Theo, stop!” I cry, but he doesn’t seem to hear me. He’s got one hand grabbing Caden’s collar, the other fisted and swinging toward his face.
I jump in front of the camera. “Stop filming!”
LJ shakes his head, moving around me to get the shot.
It takes me a long second to understand why: Lars and Paula anticipated this fight, perhaps evenhopedit would happen. Of course they fucking did. They saw how Theo reacted earlier and were praying they’d strike gold twice. What could make better TV than the jealous husband attacking a member of the crew?
Except Theo’s the head of our company, the company we’re hoping tosave,and positioning him as a short-tempered, jealous husband is not the look we want. Caden’s now bleeding and screaming that he’s going to sue, and it’s all on film.
The guys pull Theo off him, but Theo’s expression remains mutinous, his chest heaving as if he’s a prizefighter preparing to go back into the ring. I cross to where Lars and the guy from the boat are still holding on to him. Theo’s nostrils flare as he glances at me and looks away.
I can’t tell if he’s disgusted with me or himself.
“You can’t use that footage,” I tell Lars. “It’s in the contract that you can’t use anything that casts the company in a negative light.”
Lars gives a disgruntled laugh. “As negative as you both being too hungover to do your job? I doubt it.”
“Get him out of here,” Paula says to a guy from the boat, nodding Caden’s way before she turns to me and Theo. “Theo, we’ll see you in Norway. Bex, we’ll be in your room in the morning to do the interview.”
I call an Uber with shaking hands, and Theo’s jaw remains locked, as if he’s not sure he’s done enough damage.
“Are you okay?” I ask, glancing at his scraped knuckles as we climb into the car. “What did he say to you?”
His fist clenches. “It doesn’t matter.”
Shocker.The guy reveals nothing about himself. Of course he’s not going to explain why Caden got under his skin.
The remainder of the ride is silent. The lobby is crowded, but I’ve stopped looking for Kylie and Jasper. I half wonder if Katrina made up seeing Kylie, though I’m not sure why she’d bother.
We walk onto the packed elevator, where Theo pulls me in front of him. I’ve never been more aware of the difference in our sizes than I am at this moment.
We stood like this last night too. Him behind me, his hands cupping my breasts, sliding between my legs, torturing me until I begged him to push insideme.
Which he didn’t.
