Victoria exchanged a glance with Julianna and then both turned back to her and shook their heads helplessly before Victoria said, “Mother got a call from Scotty saying one of his men found you and he was bringing you home. Then she sent us out with Father. She said she wanted to talk to you.”
“Dad took us out to lunch and shopping,” Julianna put in. “And then Mother called Dad. When he got off the phone, he said you and Mother were meeting us at the airport. We were flying to Italy to stay with Raffael for a belated birthday celebration for you, and it was probably better not to bring up your disappearing act as it would just upset Mother. So that’s what happened. We flew to Italy, visited Raffael, and celebrated your birthday.”
“Your disappearing was never brought up again,” Victoria finished.
“Not even to Elspeth?” Sam asked with surprise. “I mean, I understand your not bringing it up around your mother, but why did you never say anything to Elspeth about it? Weren’t you curious about where she’d been or what she’d done?”
“Yes,” Victoria admitted. “But Mother kept Elspeth pretty close after that, at least for the next couple of months.”
“She watched her like a hawk,” Julianna put in. “I mean, she rarely left her side. She wouldn’t even let her go to work.”
“What?” Elspeth asked with shock. She didn’t remember any of this either. “I didn’t go to work? For how long?”
“At least two months. Right?” Julianna asked Victoria.
“Yeah,” the twin agreed. “The first day back from Italy she insisted on driving you in to work, but came back a little later with you still in tow and said you had been given a short sabbatical. She’d arranged it with the head of your department.”
“Then she kept you by her side that whole two months,” Julianna continued. “By the time she eased up . . .” She shrugged. “Life had moved on.”
“And so had we,” Victoria said with a frown and then glanced at her twin and pointed out, “That’s about when Mother insisted we move back to York. Isn’t it?”
“Yeah.” Julianna nodded slowly, and then said, “By the end of the two months we’d moved back to the family estate there and Mother had arranged a new position for you at the University of York.”
“She arranged my position there?” Elspeth asked with shock. She had some vague recollection of doing that herself. The very vagueness of the memory told her it wasn’t true.
“I’m sorry, Elspeth,” Julianna said quietly. “Really. If we’d known you’d met your life mate, and what Mother was doing, we would have said something. Truly. I know I can be a PITA, but I would have told you about that.”
“I know,” Elspeth said on a sigh, and reached out to catch Julianna’s hand and squeeze it affectionately.
“Me too,” Victoria assured her and then added with anger, “I can’t believe she would take that from you. I mean, it’s one thing to make us miserable with her overprotective and controlling ways, but to get between you and your life mate? That’s just not on.”
“Wait, wait, wait. How could she make you forget like that?” Alex asked with a frown. “Wouldn’t that take a three-on-one mind wipe? I mean, Jean Claude had to arrange a three-on-one to erase Julius from Marguerite’s mind.”
“Jean Claude wanted to erase something like twenty years from Marguerite’s mind, though,” Elspeth pointed out solemnly. “He wanted to erase her meeting and loving her true life mate, having his child, and . . . basically he had to erase a whole life from Marguerite—every memory from every one of the days in those twenty years so that nothing would spark a return of them. He couldn’t do that without performing a three-on-one,” she explained. “But for me, Mother merely had to remove one twenty-four-hour-long first date.”
“And then move you out of London to make sure nothing sparked those memories and brought them back to you,” Sam said quietly. “I gather that’s why she moved you to York?”
“And made sure we celebrated my birthday in foreign countries,” Elspeth added grimly. “It ensured we didn’t accidentally go anywhere Wyatt and I had gone, and that nothing around me would be likely to remind me of whatever Wyatt and I did on my birthday and bring those memories back.”
“Wow,” Alex breathed. “That’s . . .”
“Evil?” Sam suggested when her sister seemed at a loss as to what to say.
“I’d like to say no,” Alex said apologetically to Elspeth. “But frankly, I can’t think of another description that would fit. I mean, she got between you and your life mate. What if she had done that to Cale and me?” she asked with horror. “What kind of person does that? What kind of mother does that?”
“An evil one,” Sam muttered with disgust.
“Yes,” Elspeth agreed with regret. She’d always given her mother excuses for her behavior, but now—Turning, she raised the carafe she still held. “Victoria, will you make the coffee for me? I need to have a word with Mother.”
“Of course,” Victoria took the carafe and carried it to the sink at once.
“I’ll help,” Julianna added, moving to collect the coffee out of the cupboard.
“Thank you,” Elspeth said solemnly and moved to the bags they’d set on the counter when they’d entered. Opening the first bag, she began sifting through the contents until she found the pocketknife she’d bought.
“What are you going to do?” Alex asked, her eyes narrowing on the knife as Elspeth flicked it open.
“Just going to have a little talk with my mother,” Elspeth assured her, slipping the open knife into her jacket pocket. “I’ll be right back.”
“Ellie, talk, don’t kill,” Alex called out worriedly as Elspeth left the kitchen.
Elspeth moved at a quick clip, not slowing until she reached the closed door of the guest room. Pausing then, she slipped the knife out of her pocket, peered at it silently and considered her options. Pain had helped her resist her mother taking control of her that first night. Hopefully pain would help her resist her control again now, because G.G. was right—she needed to confront her mother. She’d gone way too far intervening between her and Wyatt. Way too far.
Mouth compressing, Elspeth tightened her grip on the knife, took a deep breath, and then quickly plunged it into her upper leg and promptly cursed a blue streak.
Cripes, that hurt! Like big-time hurt! Like a what-the-hell-had-she-been-thinking-doing-that-to-herself kind of pain.
“What the hell have you done?”
Elspeth glanced around sharply, her eyes widening when she found Wyatt at her side.
“What were you thinking?” he asked, bending to peer at the knife sticking out of her leg. “Good God, woman, I’m here to protect you from some mad stalker trying to kill you. I didn’t realize I’d have to protect you from yourself too.” Straightening, he scowled at her. “Are you a self-abuser? One of those people who cut themselves and—”
“No,” she interrupted quickly, glancing anxiously toward the guest bedroom door. Grabbing his arm, she started to drag him away up the hall, but gasped in a sharp breath as pain shot through her leg with the first step. Cursing under her breath, she stopped and clung to his arm briefly as she waited for the pain to subside.
“Are you all right?” he asked with a frown.
“No,” she said at once. Elspeth took a deep breath, held it briefly and then let it out as she reached down to yank the knife back out of her leg . . . and damned if it didn’t hurt more than putting it in had. Another string of curses followed, and then she paused and took deep breaths again.
“Better?” Wyatt asked sympathetically when she finally reopened her eyes.
Elspeth nodded and said a little shakily, “Yes, thank you.”
“Good,” he said solemnly, and then snapped, “Now, would you care to tell me why the hell you stabbed yourself?”
Elspeth opened her mouth, and then snapped it closed with surprise when he suddenly knelt beside her and clasped her thigh in his hands so he could examine her wound.