Page 57 of Between the Lines

Behind the steering wheel, Miranda shifted. “So,” she said, voice light and easy. “You gonna tell me what that was all about?”

Reluctantly, Theo pulled his eyes away from the window to find her studying him in the rearview mirror. “I closed the sale.” The Majestic was in the hands of his father, the wrecking balls on the horizon: another dull weight in his chest. “Luca wasn’t happy.”

The turn signal ticked as the car slowed toward a four-way stop. “You closed the sale?” Miranda sounded surprised. “Way to go.”

He grunted in response. “It wasn’t my idea. Jude wanted it done quickly. In retrospect, I should have made her speak to Luca first.”

“Madeher?” The car pulled smoothly away, turning left. “Can’t see how that’s your job, boss. And, anyway, surely Luca wasn’t surprised. It’s not like Jude’s in any position to keep running the place.”

“No.” He sighed, closed his eyes and opened them quickly as Luca’s angry face flashed through his mind. “But if she’d spoken to him, at least he wouldn’t blame me for...manipulating her, or whatever it is he thinks I’ve done.”

Miranda huffed softly. “Didyou manipulate her?”

“Of course not, but that’s not the point. Luca thinks I went behind his back. He thinks I betrayed him, and I...” A stab of distress, voice cracking painfully. “I guess I did, in a way. That’s a big deal for Luca.”

Her eyes flashed to his in the mirror, a sweep of black lashes. “Sounds like you got to know him pretty well.”

“I thought I had.” He shifted, miserable under her gaze, and looked away. “I’m not so sure now. Sometimes I’m not sure I know anyone.”

Miranda sighed, fingers tapping on the steering wheel. Then she reached forward to turn the radio on, sifting through a couple of channels until she settled on something bland and poppy. Theo let the noise sink like a blanket over his mind, smothering his thoughts. He closed his eyes again, allowed the motion of the car to lull him into a tense doze. He hadn’t slept much last night, which wasn’t helping the clarity of his thoughts.

“Okay,” Miranda said, startling him awake. “Tell me it’s none of my business if you like, but were you...?” Another flash of her eyes in the mirror. “Were you and Luca Moretti involved or something?”

Or something.Flushing, he looked out the blurry window. His own reflection stared dimly back, the glass misting up as his clothes started to dry. “It was a mistake,” he said, the words echoing flatly in his chest. He wasn’t certain he believed it, no matter what Luca thought, because not getting involved would have meant never dancing together at Finn Callaghan’s wedding, never walking alone on the beach, never spending those astonishing nights together—never having those precious moments of soul-deep connection Theo had thought impossible. No, despite how much it hurt now, he couldn’t regret the time they’d spent together.

“So it’s over, then?” Miranda sounded doubtful.

He gave a gruff laugh. “As you saw.”

“Hey, people fight. People make up.”

“That’s not—It was just a summer fling, Miranda. It was never going anywhere.” He sighed. “Professionally speaking, it should never have evenstarted. I guess Luca was right about that.”

Miranda sniffed in clear disapproval. “That’s what he thinks?”

“It’s what he said.”

“Doesn’t mean it’s what he thinks, though, does it?”

Theo shrugged. “Well, he was pretty angry—and angry people tend to tell you the truth.”

Miranda didn’t reply immediately, her fingernails tapping on the steering wheel. He wondered if she was irritated, but couldn’t see her face well enough to tell. “Okay,” she said after a moment, “why do you say angry people tell you the truth?”

He glanced up, surprised by her skeptical tone. “Well, you know, most of the time people are too polite to say what they really think, aren’t they? But when they’re angry, out comes the truth. Warts and all.”

“That’s—” Miranda shifted in her seat. “Theo, that’s not true. I mean, sometimes it is, I guess. But people are always saying shit they don’t mean when they’re angry. ‘Spoken in anger’ is literally a thing.”

He shook his head, because this was a truth he understood well, one he’d experienced many times. “People might say things theyregretwhen they’re angry, but that’s the point. Their filters are off and they say the things they’d never normally say out loud.”

Things like how you’re an entitled arsehole and being with you was a mistake.

“But it doesn’t make them true,” Miranda protested. “Let me tell you, from someone who’s been known to lose her shit a time or two, what you say when you’re mad isnotthe truth. Sometimes it’s the opposite of the truth. Sometimes people say nasty shit just to strike back, especially when they’re hurt.”

“Luca wasn’t hurt, not like you mean.” Not like Theo was hurting, a deep fleshy wound in his chest. “He was angry about the sale—”

“Yeah, not buying that,” Miranda said. “Unless he’s stupid, or a dick, he had to know Jude was going to sell. She’s had a heart attack, for the love of fuck. He can’t have been shocked she sold.” A pause while she changed lanes. “And that was a pretty intense fight for a guy who thought your whole relationship was a mistake.” She met his eyes in the mirror again. “What I’m saying is, he clearly has feelings for you. Strong ones.”

“Angry ones.”

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