Chapter 13 : The Ultimate Showdown

**Luke POV I hadn't noticed my parents and sister were following until their limo had pulled onto the street that led to the development. "What the h*ll are you doing here?" I snapped as they all climbed out of the limo. I crossed my arms and glared at them. "We're staying with you, silly. Did you expect us to stay at the hotel, like a bunch of strangers?" my mom asked, walking up to me and patting my hand. "We wanted to see this little 'vanity project' of yours," my father added. "You know, brother, when someone takes on a project of this size, people might think you're compensating for something," Fiona said, cackling and tossing her hair back. I rolled my eyes. "Right. If you want to insult my work, you can do that over the phone." "It isn't an insult, son. We are very proud of you," my dad said. "Then why are you here, checking up on me?" I raised an eyebrow at him. My dad chuckled playfully and shrugged off my question. "Come on, let's see this masterpiece," my mom said, heading to the front door. I really didn't want them here. It was bad enough my parents had followed me, but they'd brought Fiona, too. It was late. I didn't want to entertain, and I really just wanted to find Cat and see why she was so upset. The GPS tracker had told me Leon brought her back here. She was probably in the guest house. I wondered if it was too late to drop by for a visit. "No, no! You can't do this to me!" someone cried out. All of us turned our attention to two security guards dragging a man down the walkway from the guest house. Leon was standing next to Cat. She was still in her dress and holding onto her arm strangely. She looked pale and shaken. Fear shot through me as I imagined the worst. Had someone hurt her? Hurrying over, I saw blood oozing out from under Cat's hand. Now that I was closer, I could see that her cheeks were stained with tears. "Cat, who is that? Did he hurt you?" I asked, grabbing her arm. She winced and hissed. "It is just a cut." I looked around her and saw the shattered window in the guest house. "What happened?" I asked, nodding to the window. There was glass all over the ground and walkway. Looking down, I noticed Cat was in bare feet, standing in the glass. I grabbed her elbow and guided her over the glass and out of harm's way. She'd already been injured on her arm. "I… it's…" she shrugged as her eyes got glassy again. "Okay, don't tell me. Just come inside. I'll take care of your arm." I put my arm around her and started walking toward the house. Cat Shook her head, but she didn't resist as I guided her along. "I'm not the bad guy, Cat. I'm not!" the man shouted again, still struggling against the security guards. He looked deranged, whoever the hell he wast. His face was puffy and red, eyes wild. My first thought was perhaps he was a drug addicted who had broken into my guest house or a burglar. As I guided Cat inside, I noticed that my parents and sister had made their way up the path, curious as to what was happening, no doubt. Fiona was staring at the handcuffed man. Her face was blank, but her eyes were a mixture of fury and confusion. She knew this guy too? There was only one person I knew of that had Cat and Fiona in common… everything was suddenly clear. I tried to get Cat to walk with me to the house. She stopped and whipped her head toward Fiona. "Tell them the truth, or I will." "What?" Fiona asked, giving my parents an innocent look. My parents stared at Fiona, then at Cat. I could see them trying to work out the cryptic message in Cat's words. I figured she was referring to Fiona sleeping with someone that was engaged. It wasn't Fiona's finest moment, and my parents were pretty uptight about proper behavior. Especially for a young lady. "What does she mean, Fiona?" my mother asked. "Nothing, nothing," Fioan said, shaking her hands back and forth. "Cat, what's going on?" I asked, loosening my arm around her. I looked into her eyes. She was glaring so fiercely at my sister and didn't even look at me. I looked at the guards still trying to haul their prisoner away. "Let him go. He's a part of this, and I want to know what the hell is going on," I demanded. The guards complied immediately. The man, whatever the hell his name was, stumbled a little but stopped yelling and pleading. He didn't try to run off, either. His eyes shifted between Fiona and Cat. Whatever had gone down tonight, it was far from over. "Cat, come inside. We'll all go inside and talk about this," I urged. Gently, I coaxed her toward the house. She felt light and frail as I guided her, like a sharp wind would blow her away. When we got closer to my parents, she turned to them. "Your daughter is pregnant. That man is the father." She nodded toward the guy. I assumed he was her ex-fiance, based on what little I knew about her and the guy that cheated on her with my sister. My parents froze, going rigid. They stared at Fiona, standing like statues on my walkway. Scoffing, I looked at the ex-fiance and then at my sister. Well, that was unexpected. My heart sank. I realized Cat must have found out tonight at the party. That's why she'd left in such a rush. "Oh, no!" my mother wailed suddenly, breaking from her stupor. "This can't be true!" my father argued. "It is just unacceptable!" Ignoring them, I pulled Cat into my house. She resisted but I wasn't letting her go until I heard the truth about what was going on. My parents entered behind us and sat in the living room. I could hear them whispering softly to each other. They threw around words like "shame" and "wedding." I couldn't have cared less about tradition and social expectations. My parents were big on it, though. Fiona getting pregnant before she was married… that was a big "no, no" in this family. Cat stood next to me, still holding her hand over the cut on her arm. Her eyes were blank, distant. She was an empty shell of herself. I got a first aid kit from under the sink. "Let me see," I said, tapping her hand. With a reluctant sigh, she pulled her hand away. Wetting a paper towel, I started to wash the blood away. Other than asking her if she was okay, I didn't know what else to say. I still only had half the story about what was going on, and Cat was too shut down to respond to my questions. As I cleaned blood from her arm, I noticed that the cut was still bleeding pretty badly. "I've got to stop the bleeding before I can bandage you up," I told her. She shrugged. Using gauze pads from the first aid kit, I packed them on her arm and applied pressure. A shudder went through her. Good, she was still feeling pain, at least. She wasn't completely disassociated. "I'm sorry," she murmured. Her head was bowed, eyes on the floor. "Sorry for what?" I asked, creasing my brow. Blood came through the gauze, so I added another layer before putting more pressure on. The cut was a lot deeper than she let on. She'd probably need stitches. I wondered if her paleness was from shock or blood loss. "Causing so much trouble, again," she whispered. Her voice was flat, emotionless. "I think my sister is the troublemaker," I said, chuckling lightly. Cat sighed. "I should resign, right? Leave the job and let you get back to a normal, drama-free life?" Scoffing, I added more gauze to the cut. The bleeding had slowed down a lot but not quite enough. I found it amusing that she thought my life was "drama-free" without her. "This is exciting," I said in a light teasing voice. Cat didn't respond. I'd hoped to lighten the mood, but she was still completely shut down. "I'll leave tomorrow, get out of your hair," she mumbled. "Cat…" "NO! This is completely unacceptable!" my father roared. Cat started and looked around wildly, like she'd just woken up. "Calm down, dear. We don't know Fiona's side yet. I want her to tell us what happened," my mother said. We could hear them clearly now. "I don't care what her side is! If she is pregnant, I'm going to kill that son of a b*tch! He violated my daughter!" my dad yelled, his voice echoing through my house. Rolling my eyes, I started taping the gauze in place on Cat's arm. The bleeding had stopped, but she would still need stitches. "Y-you're overreacting," my mother said. I stayed in the kitchen with Cat. It wasn't my argument to get involved in. My parents' voices carried far and wide, but I didn't hear Fiona or what's his ass. Were they still outside? "He's a mongrel! Low breeding!" my dad cried. "You really believe some random woman who is claiming your daughter is pregnant out of wedlock?" my mom asked. "Don't listen to them, they are in shock," I said, patting the bandage on Cat's arm. Again, she shrugged indifferently. "Please, honey, let's wait for Fiona. She'll set this all straight. It is probably some big misunderstanding," my mother pleaded with my father. "I swear, if he sets foot in this house, I'm going to kill him! I don't care what his story is or what Fiona has to say!" A loud pounding followed my dad's declaration. He'd probably slammed his fist down on the coffee table. Cat winced and turned away from me. "Do you need anything? Water? Something to eat?" I asked. "I should go pack," she whispered. I put a hand on her shoulder, and she didn't pull away. "You're not leaving," I insisted. "I shouldn't even be waiting for him! I'll go out in the yard right now and strangle that b*stard!" my dad shouted. The windows shook as he screamed and pounded his fist on things. I rolled my eyes. Victoria thought I was dramatic. "Fiona! Fiona, get in here right now and explain yourself. I don't want to see that violator's ugly mug!" my dad shouted. He was so loud I was sure that Fiona could hear him from outside. "You'll scare her away. I don't want her being afraid to talk to us," my mother wailed. I imagined that she was grabbing my father's arm, holding him back from running to the front door and dragging Fiona inside. And Cat thought the drama was because of her…