“No,” she snaps.
I lean in closer, savoring her anger and frustration. She’s losing this game, and she knows it. “Tell me, what are you trying to accomplish with all this?”
She turns up her little nose. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“Don’t lie. The shopping spree. The dress.” I make a vague wave. “Is this the kind of thing that worked on your parents?”
When she doesn’t answer, I know I guessed right. “Your father is a weak man. When you acted out, he had to hide you away from the world. I don’t need to hide anything, Cleo. I can simply bend the world to my will.”
Her cheeks redden. “You’re way too full of yourself.”
“I’m only stating facts.” I take a sip of champagne. “If you tell me what you want, maybe I’ll give it to you.”
Her gaze narrows. “A divorce.”
“Anything that’s in the realm of possibility?”
“Can’t you just send me to live somewhere away from you?”
“What for?”
“So that I can be happy.”
“Why would that make you happy?”
“Because I can never be happy here with you. I’m your prisoner. I don’t have any freedom, and I don’t do well in captivity.”
“I don’t see how this is any different than what you had when you lived back home.”
Her gaze sparks. “Do you think I liked my life at home?” Anguish slips into her tone. “Do you know how often I wished I was born to a different mother? One that didn’t try to fit me into a mold that I resented with every fiber of my being?”
I know a thing or two about being forced to fit into a mold by a parent, but unlike Cleo, I allowed myself to be poured right into it. There was no other choice for me. Not if I wanted my mother to survive.
I give her a pointed once-over. “It doesn’t seem like she succeeded.”
“No,” she says sullenly. “But I never got what I wanted either. So we both lost.”
“You are my wife, and you belong with me. There’s nothing you can do that will make me send you away, so I suggest you stop wasting your time trying.”
Something crumples inside her eyes. Hope?
Without thinking, I reach for her knee under the table and place my hand on it. Then I realize what I’m doing. I’m trying to comfort her. I can’t remember the last time I comforted anyone.
A prickle of unease spreads over my skin.
No, this makes sense. This might be the quickest way past her defenses, and that’s why I’m doing it. She lets me keep it there for a few seconds before she jerks her leg to the side.
I hold back a sigh. So fucking stubborn. “All right. If you could do anything, what would you do?”
She brushes her hair over her shoulder and levels me with a penetrating gaze. “Before I married you, I wanted to go to college.”
Sending her to college is out of the question. She’d be a target if she went, and I have no desire to send her somewhere where other men can ogle her.
“What for?”
“To study business. I wanted to be a music manager.”
“Music manager?”
“Yes. The people who manage the careers of singers and bands.”
“Why that?”
“Because I wanted to help make sure artists don’t get taken advantage of. Haven’t you heard what happened to Britney Spears?”
“I don’t make a point of staying up to date on gossip.”
She looks offended. “It’s not gossip. She’s one of the biggest stars in the world, and for years, her family took advantage of her and controlled her life. If it could happen to her, it could happen to anyone. My friends and I used to go to marches in support of her, trying to bring attention to the situation.”
“Your parents allowed you to do that?”
“Yes, after they got sick of my whining. But I would have gone anyway. Britney needed our help.”
My lips twitch. Maybe she saw parallels between the pop star’s situation and her own.
God, she really is a bit strange. And she’s got that youthful idealism. Sometimes I forget how young she is. I was never idealistic, not even at her age. My father showed me the ugliness of the world before I reached puberty. But I like her passion. Maybe there’s a way to channel it somewhere more productive.
“I have someone you can help.”
“Who?”
“One of my cousins. Her name is Loretta. She owns a custom clothing store, and it’s not doing well. I can’t keep bailing her out forever. She’ll have to close down if she can’t turn it around. She’s not a celebrity or a musician, but she could use some help.”