“Tell me you stayed in the cab.”
“I would love to, but I’m afraid my curiosity got the better of me.”
“You walked around Peckham by yourself?”
“Never mind that.” Claire waved him off. “That thug was waiting for Tori, Oliver. It wasn’t random, but you knew that. Right? You were following her because you knew she was in danger.”
Her words nearly knocked Oliver over. He’d known no such thing.
“What do you mean he was waiting for Tori?” He’d seen the man creep up behind her. “She said she’d intended to visit a friend and got lost. She went down the wrong street and ended up in an alley where a predator awaited some unsuspecting prey.”
Claire reared back. “You didn’t notice that man followed her from Westminster on to the bus and then off when they reached Peckham?”
He hadn’t noticed anything but Tori. He’d been utterly fixated on her until the big man with the knife had crept after her in the alley. “How did he get between us?”
“He seemed to know the area. Somehow, he beat you there.” She shook her head. “If you weren’t trying to protect Tori, then why were you following her, Oliver?”
He didn’t have a reply and tried to answer his sister’s question with a shrug.
She pursed her lips in displeasure. “I was shocked by what you did to that man. When did you learn to fight like that?”
“Like what?” An animal?
Oliver stood and turned away from her. He’d never wanted any of them to see that side of him. Every day he had to fight harder to control it.
“You nearly killed him. Even when he was down, you kept beating him until the police came.”
“Are you the one who called them?” He’d been lost in blood rage, beating the man senseless for even having the notion to hurt Tori. Somewhere deep down he’d known the bloke was done, but he’d kept at it.
Oliver suspected he’d kill someone one of these days. Then he would get what he deserved.
“Yes. I’ll admit you truly frightened me for a minute. I needed to think about what I saw. I called the police because I didn’t want you to do something we’d all regret. I also noticed you didn’t stay around.”
He’d fled when he heard the sirens. He’d felt the blood pumping in his veins and he’d run. For a brief moment, he’d felt alive again. “I should frighten you. To answer your questions, I followed Tori because I’m a pervert and can’t seem to help myself. I kept hitting him because I was in a blind rage. I get them every now and then, ever since…”
“Yasmin nearly killed you. Ever since you found out what she’d done to you.”
“To this whole family.”
“Oliver, don’t distance. You’re fooling yourself if you think this rage is for the rest of us. It’s for you. She betrayed you on every level. And stop saying you didn’t love her.”
At least he could be honest in that. He turned back to Claire, settling his palms on the desk. “I might have thought I was in love, but it was a young man’s infatuation with an exotic woman who was very good in bed. It wasn’t love.”
“That’s the bitterness talking.”
“No, it’s experience. I know what it really feels like to be in love, and what I felt for Yasmin is nothing compared to what I feel now. This is a million times worse.”
“You’re in love with Tori.” His sister’s eyes went wide. “Oh, what a mess.”
Oliver felt his jaw tighten. “I won’t act on it. She’s marrying someone else. You must know that I, of all people, would never come between a man and his woman.”
He knew what it felt like to be the cuckold in that scenario. All too often, he looked into the faces of his former friends and wondered which of them had been his wife’s lovers.
Claire bit her bottom lip. “I know you won’t…but perhaps you should. She can’t be terribly mad for the man—or he for her. She hasn’t seen him in six months. Six months, Oliver, and neither has visited the other once. Her sister is both the queen of an entire country and mother to two boys—enormous responsibilities—and yet Piper has already visited Tori twice. I’ve been thinking about this fiancé of hers. We should look into him.”
His sister sometimes enjoyed sticking her nose where it didn’t belong. “Absolutely not. You’ll leave the situation alone. Tori’s contract ends in a few months, and she’s already said that she intends to return home. And that will be the end of it.”
“It won’t be. Can’t you see that? You’ve suffered this malaise for the past two years, Oliver. You can’t stay this way. How many other fights have you been involved in? Can’t you see you have a death wish, and she might be the only one who can save you? Do you think I haven’t noticed the way you look at her? I followed you because I was praying I would find out you’re sleeping with her, even with all the trouble that would cause between you, Rory, and Callum.”