“I’m so glad you feel that way,” he said. “Juliet is filing some paperwork to keep Theo from taking Teddy anywhere unsafe. It would be helpful to have a sworn statement from Teddy’s favorite aunt.”

His words sounded sweet, but something sinister twisted beneath them. Hugo Laraya’s caution echoed in my head. You’ll get caught up in his web—that was what Theo had warned his friend. I was starting to sense delicate threads of spider silk attaching themselves to me. Theodore Thraxton had told me terrible things about his son. He had taken my suspicions about Theo and amped them up a thousandfold with the information he’d given me. What if he had done exactly the same thing to Caro?

“Whatever you need,” I said blandly, turning to watch Teddy play. Caro had wanted to escape from all the Thraxtons, Adinah Gerstein had said. That included her father-in-law. I was starting to understand why.

CHAPTER 37 THEO

CHAPTER 37

THEO

My mistake had been in thinking I’d need two days to accomplish what I needed to in Berlin. In reality, I’d only needed one. But the airline wouldn’t allow me to change my ticket, which meant I had another day to kill before I could go home.

“I have a particularly strange question for you,” I said to Klaus as we left the hidden restaurant he’d lured me to. We were strolling companionably down the zigzagging alleyways.

“Go ahead.”

“You know I have scars all over my body,” I said. “Some were self-inflicted, but some have been there as long as I can remember. My father always said I was attacked by an animal in a zoo. Did he tell you this story?”

“A version of it,” Klaus said. “That you were attacked. No mention of any zoo.”

“Then what attacked me?”

“He never said.”

“You didn’t ask him?” I was startled. “Why not?”

“The reason your father and I have worked together—successfully—for so long is that neither of us asks too many questions. This was one of those cases. He was terrified that you might die. He didn’t need me saying, ‘Why did you let this happen?’”

We were at the street by that point. “Can I give you a lift?” Klaus asked.

“I’ll make my own way back.”

“Bon voyage tomorrow,” Klaus said. “Will you do me a favor?”

“How did you know I was flying . . . never mind. What is it?”

“Tell Ursula I’m sorry for being a bastard,” Klaus said. “I have done many unfortunate things, but that is the one I regret.”

“Why don’t you tell her yourself?”

“She won’t listen.” Klaus sounded sorry for himself. “Years ago, she asked me for help, and I refused. I told her she’d made her bed and she had to lie in it. It was wrong of me.”

“What help did she need?”