Page 84 of He's the One

His mother hmphed. “You have to play the game, Theo. Nice will do.”

“Will it?”Shit!Theo hadn’t meant to say that out loud. But it wasn’t a game. It was his life. “I don’t think it will. I don’t want to marry Charlotte.”

“Make your own happiness,” his father said quietly.

Theo stared at his father with a piece of toast halfway to his mouth. He wanted to respond to that, tell him that he was trying to, but what was the point?Go for something safe.“I see Darnley’s working on a winter ball.”

“It will be an ideal time to announce your engagement,” said his mother.

To Col?The idea made Theo’s lips curve, but he didn’t let them move to a full smile in case his mother noticed and got the wrong idea. Then he registered she actually thought she could manipulate him into this relationship. Was this the moment he made his stand?

But his father pushed to his feet, nodded to the pair of them and left the room.

“The fairy thing was never going to happen,” his mother said. “But Darnley put forward an alternative. We have time to make it happen this year. Give Darnley a hand.”

Theo put his napkin on the table and walked out.

He went back to his room to get his watch. He tucked it into his suit pocket and went to the office. By the time he knocked on the door, his stomach was jittering. What if Dastardly had noticed something amiss after he and Col had been through the files?Don’t give yourself away! But more importantly don’t land Col in trouble.

“Come in.”

It annoyed Theo that he had to knock. The office was as much his as Dastardly’s but not long after the guy had started at the hall, Theo had walked in without knocking and it had been clear that was unacceptable. So Theo had told Darnley that he had to knock too, in case he was in there. Theo didn’t add—looking at porn—though he wished he’d had the nerve.

“Morning.” Theo went over to his desk. Nowhere near the window. Dick Dastardly had the best desk, the best chair, the best view. “Oh.” Theo stopped as he was going past Dastardly’s desk. “I tried to put my watch in the safe last night but I couldn’t open it.”

Dastardly pushed to his feet, and blocking Theo’s view, turned the dial and stood back to reveal an open safe. “Works for me. Put your watch in.”

Theo moved past and quickly closed the safe and twisted the dial. “Let me try again. Maybe I had the number wrong. I asked Father this morning and he confirmed it was 7-9-3-0.” Theo had a horrible sinking feeling that the safe was going to open, but it didn’t.Phew.He turned to look at Dastardly.Explain that, Dickhead!

“Ah yes. I remember. I changed it. I was going to send a memo to you and your father. The new code is 8-6-0-7.”

Theo saved it into his phone. “Okay. Thanks.”

As he stepped towards his desk, Dastardly asked, “Aren’t you going to put your watch in?”

Theo made himself laugh. “Oh yes.” The safe opened with the new combination and he laid his watch on the left side. He only got a quick glance at what was in there, but there was no fat envelope, just a pile of papers and the petty cash box.

Once Dastardly had settled back to whatever he was doing, Theo went over to the filing cabinet, took out the catering folder and began to sort out the contents.

“What are you doing?” Dastardly snapped.

“Putting everything in order. It will make it easier for the auditors.”

The guy actually blanched.

“What auditors?”

Theo flapped his hands. “You know… The people who look at the books.”

“Accountants. Don’t you understand the difference?”

“It was a slip of the tongue. Accountants keep financial records and auditors look for fraud.” That wasn’t quite right but Theo couldn’t help himself.

“Auditors check the accuracy of the records and that laws are being complied with.”

“As I said. They look for fraud.” Theo didn’t take his eyes off Dastardly, but this time the guy didn’t even blink.

“You don’t need to sort out the receipts. Why don’t you go and help in the garden for a couple of days. I’m out tomorrow. On Thursday I’ll show you how we go about collecting debts.”

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