Who: Theo and Raegan What: A chat about Maren and other things. Where: The Wynn. When: Recently. Warnings/Rating: None.
In the past, Raegan had never shied away from confrontation. Despite her small stature and relatively unthreatening exterior, she hardly inspired fear in anyone, but she had a wild temper if pushed far enough and made up for what she lacked in strength and size with pure determination and a fierce protective streak. The problem, however, was that her stepsister’s bully wasn’t just some asshole she could chew out and blind with pepper spray to teach him a lesson. Theo was family, the only blood relative she had left (or so she thought), and he’d been nothing but good to her. Raegan prided herself on being a decent judge of character, particularly after spending half her life with a man like her father, but now she was full of doubts. She didn’t want it to come down to a choice between Theo and Maren, but if the two couldn’t come to some sort of understanding she would be trapped in a never ending struggle for balance. Hunter’s presence only complicated matters, since he was likely to side with Maren and against Theo, considering they were blood relatives and all. She was just the stepsister, apparently. It stung, that; she’d always viewed her stepsiblings as family, even if they might not feel the same way.
Part of her felt guilty for remaining at the Wynn, especially when Maren was living in an RV and Hunter was sleeping out of his car, but she didn’t want to go back to her crappy apartment. At least then she’d been supporting herself, though. Was it still taking charity if Theo was her uncle and he genuinely wanted to help her? Raegan groaned, flopping back on her bed as Ghost whined and tugged on the leg of her jeans. In comparison to her own life, Jon’s was downright simple. Well... not really, but at least there were no Lannisters around, at least not as far as he knew. Right now his main concern was reuniting with Arya, who he’d missed like crazy.
“C’mon, Ghost.” She slid off the bed and wandered into the main area, the dog padding along behind her. While she would have liked to go out and get her mind off things, she’d already asked Theo to talk, and she couldn’t just ditch him. Jon would never let her.
Theo was a little worried about why Raegan wanted to talk to him considering she very rarely was the one to initiate things between them. He didn’t take it personally; he knew how unfamiliar the situation was for him and he could only imagine what it was like for her. There was still the matter of her mother to discuss, but he truly felt like neither woman was prepared for meeting each other. Maren and her other stepsiblings were points of concern as well, and he’d tried to keep an ear out for anything Maren Westerberg might have been up to. Thinking about all of the complications made him think of Nell and whatever she’d gone through with her friend. Perhaps sometime soon they would be able to have lunch or, if at all possible, arrange a meeting through the door.
That was for another time though, particularly as he caught sight of Ghost. The dog caught his attention first because animals simply weren’t a normal thing for the Wynn, but he noticed Raegan a fraction of a second later and smiled. Any worry he might’ve been feeling was concealed behind that smile and a slight twinkle in his eye. He was dressed in a suit as usual, this one a dark blue thing that appeared heavier than it actually was. A lighter blue button down shirt was beneath it, the top two buttons undone. He’d forgone the tie this time, preferring a less formal approach for Raegan.
“Hey, sweetheart. Ghost,” he greeted, dropping his hand to rub behind Ghost’s ears. He slipped his hand back in his pocket after a moment and shifted his attention back to Raegan. “Should we find a quieter place to talk?” Despite asking, Theo was already moving, leading her to one of the lounges. They’d be able to stay undisturbed and he was fairly certain that if she had initiated the conversation, they’d need a degree of privacy.
Raegan was almost certain that dogs weren’t actually allowed in the Wynn, at least not under normal circumstances, but she’d refused to move without Ghost and having an uncle who was General Manager certainly had its perks. At least her dog was well-behaved... most of the time. He had his moments of disobedience, but usually the instances were minor, and he hadn’t actually caused any trouble in the hotel as of yet. “Hey,” she greeted, secretly relieved when Ghost merely wagged his tail quietly in greeting rather than letting out his usual series of barks whenever he spotted someone familiar.
Lately she’d been a little more aware of her appearance, since she didn’t want to walk around looking like a slob when it might reflect badly on her uncle. Oh, Raegan didn’t get dressed up or anything like that; she didn’t care that much about what other people thought. She just tried to avoid ripped denim and cropped shirts when she was in the hotel itself. Today her outfit consisted of jeans, flats, and a white sleeveless hoodie. “Sure,” she agreed, following him to the lounge. “It’s kind of... personal. I’ve been meaning to talk to you about it for a while, but I never really knew how to bring it up.” A pause. “Her up, actually.”
Ghost’s residency at the Wynn was a small price to pay to have Raegan living there on a permanent basis. He spent most of his time at the Wynn anyway, which was why he’d suggested the hotel instead of the apartment he rented and rarely used. Had things not gone so poorly with Maren, he might’ve offered the apartment to her. That option was probably never going to have the chance to get offered considering he’d lost his cool with her. He hadn’t blacklisted her at least, though he had reached out to the casinos he had good relationships with and asked for them to let him know if she showed up there. So far, things had been fairly quiet and he wasn’t exactly sure how he felt about that.
All thoughts of Maren flew out the window when Raegan mentioned ‘her’ the way she did. He winced just slightly, but he didn’t say anything until they were seated in the back corner of the lounge, where they would be undisturbed. Theo didn’t think Raegan was ready to see her mother and he knew his sister wasn’t in any state to have her daughter showing up after all those years. He sighed, resigning himself to the fact that he’d just have to explain himself. “I should have brought it up with you sooner,” he finally said, leaning back in the chair he’d taken. “I honestly wasn’t sure how to initiate the conversation, particularly since...” But he stopped, contemplating exactly how to phrase what he was trying to say. “I just didn’t want to jeopardize getting to know you. It isn’t right but...you’re one of the most important things in my life, Rae.” Theo just hoped that would be enough.
Unfortunately, despite recent events Raegan had no idea that Maren was working cons in casinos. She’d done her fair share of legally questionable things in the past, but that was out of necessity, and she wouldn’t have been too pleased to find out her stepsister was still on the wrong side of the law. It wasn’t even about the morality of it, but rather the fact that casinos didn’t take too kindly to being conned and doing what Maren did was dangerous. For now, however, she was blissfully oblivious to all of that, which meant that she really didn’t know why Theo had apparently ‘bullied’ Maren. All she had was her side of the story. Hence, the need for discussion.
She tucked her legs under her as she sat, making room for Ghost to curl up next to her. It didn’t occur to her that Theo had misunderstood the ‘her’ she was referring to, at least not immediately, since he would have had to know that Maren would talk to her eventually, and they were family even if they weren’t related by blood. Raegan nodded, thinking that this might be easier than she’d thought. “Yeah, I get it. Sometimes it’s just easier to avoid things,” she admitted. “But we’ve gotta talk about it. I wanted to get your side of the story before I started--.” She stopped abruptly, as it was only then that what Theo said had sunk in, and a thread of confusion appeared. Sure, the thing with Maren sucked, but jeopardizing getting to know her? Really? “Uh. Maybe you should go first,” she amended, gesturing with one hand.
The warning bells went off the moment she said she wanted his side of the story. The way she said it made it seem like she had the other side of it but he knew she hadn’t spoken to her mother. Theo had made it very clear that he was the only family there was for his sister and that no one claiming to be a Winters would be allowed to see her. Which meant she was talking about someone else. But who? Understanding, with a hint of relief, washed over him. “You’ve spoken to Ms. Westerberg, Maren then,” he said, pulling his leg up to rest his ankle on his opposite knee. He could talk about her step-sister.
“Yes, I can’t imagine she painted a very nice picture of me.” Theo looked at her curiously, neatly avoiding any mention of her mother. He could explain his earlier comments away just as easily. “I knew you’d left home but I wasn’t sure if you had kept in touch with her over the years and how close you were. How much do you know about her?” he asked, much calmer now and far less resigned then he had been at the beginning of the conversation, though how much of that she noticed, he wasn’t sure. Theo thought Raegan had some idea of what Maren was capable of considering he’d caught Raegan pickpocketing. It was far less harmful than cheating poorly and aiding someone else in their cheating schemes.
Clearly Raegan had missed something along the line, she just wasn’t sure what. “Yeah. Who else would I be talking about?” It was mostly a rhetorical question, since she didn’t expect Theo to actually answer, at least not beyond shrugging it off. She could always pester him about it later. Right now, she was operating on a ‘focus on one thing at a time’ mentality lest she end up being distracted. She’d put off talking about Maren for long enough.
“No, she didn’t,” she said, going for blunt honesty. There was no point in lying. “She basically made you out to be a bully, and it’s pretty clear she doesn’t like you, even though I’ve told her you’ve been nothing but good to me.” Here Raegan hesitated, since she wasn’t proud of having left Maren behind with an abusive stepfather and drug-addicted mother. Even if Hunter and her other stepbrother had left first, she should have stayed behind, should have helped her; or, at least, she should’ve taken Maren with her. “I don’t know what she’s been doing since we’ve last seen each other,” she admitted. “I know she lives in an RV, but that’s about it. We were... we were close, back when we were all living at home. Us, and her two brothers - my stepbrothers. One of them is here now. We stuck together, you know, since my dad was a jerk and their mother was usually too concerned with sticking a needle in her arm to pay attention to anything else.” She paused. “What do you know about her?”
Theo barely even graced her with a shrug of his shoulders at her question. The topic of her mother would stay buried until he felt that she was ready to face it though honestly, he didn’t think he’d ever consider her ready and part of that was because he didn’t think he was ready for her to see her mother. It was selfish of him, certainly, but he only wanted what was best for Raegan. The fact that one of her step-brothers was in Las Vegas was noted and filed away for further research later. He hadn’t bothered to track down much more than names for her step-siblings until Maren came up on his radar.
“Her mother over-dosed,” Theo informed Raegan quietly. He wasn’t sure if she knew or not, but he figured it was a decent enough place to start. “She cheated poorly at a five dollar table roughly fifteen minutes before the high-stakes roulette table was hit. My head of security was preoccupied with Ms. Westerberg when it happened, allowing the perpetrators to get away cleanly. When I went to speak with her, she presented herself with southern accent that she dropped a moment later. I’ll admit, I was angry that she chose to lie and reacted rather poorly to the situation.” That was an understatement, but the regret was sincere in his tone. “I was a casino owner first, and hardly understanding.” Theo dropped his gaze to his hands in his lap. “She’s just a child and I’m not sure what she’s involved in, but it can’t be good. I have a bad feeling about her and I don’t want you getting involved in it too.”
Raegan let out a long exhale and looked down, having forgotten her previous curiosity about whatever it was Theo had assumed she was talking about. “I know,” she admitted. Finding out that her stepmother had overdosed while Maren was there had only made the guilt worse. She didn’t care about the woman herself, as terrible as that might have been, but Maren shouldn’t have been there to see that. She should have been long gone. Her train of thought was interrupted as Theo continued, and she looked up sharply. It took a moment for full realization to set in, but when it did, she couldn’t quite believe it at first. “She was working a con? Maren?” She’d always been the one dragged along on their escapades, usually with their older stepbrother taking the lead, then Raegan, and the other two following behind. None of them were perfect, and they’d broken their fair share of laws, but it was never anything big. “Huh. I didn’t know she had it in her,” she said, shaking her head, and if there was some admiration in there, well, she kept it well hidden. What worried her was that Maren was working for someone, or numerous someones, and Raegan didn’t think she could handle getting mixed up with dangerous people.
“You had a right to be angry,” she shrugged. That much was true. She hardly expected Theo to just dismiss something like that happening in his casino. “But I think she thinks you were intentionally mean, you know, and you didn’t feel bad about it.” Obviously that wasn’t the case, or at least she didn’t think it was. Theo seemed genuine enough, didn’t he? She’d thought she could pinpoint people, adequately judge them, but then Maren had thrown her judgement off kilter. “I’m not going to get involved with whatever she’s gotten herself into. I don’t do that kind of stuff anymore.” She hesitated. “But I’m not going to cut off all ties either. She’s family, and I want to help her if I can.”
Theo had done his best to keep an eye on Maren in that he’d asked certain contacts at the various casinos on the strip to keep an eye out for her and alert him to her presence. He’d worked very hard to keep the mob out of his casino and to maintain a firm reputation as someone who made sure the consequences wouldn’t be worth the reward of stolen money. He personally vetted every single one of the members of his security team, most of them ex-military or some of the most technologically savvy people he could find. Maybe it was a bit of an overkill but for the Wynn, Theodore would do nothing less than absolutely everything he could. He’d even called in a consultant to ensure that he was doing absolutely everything he could now that Raegan and Kit were living in the Wynn.
“I can promise you, if I knew how to apologize in a way she would be receptive too, I would,” Theo insisted quietly. He could still recall her face as she gave him advice on how to talk to her. He had wanted to help her then, but it was too late. “I’m not asking you to cut ties,” he added, his voice stronger. “I would never ask you to do that.” He was quiet for a few minutes, trying to decide how best to phrase his next suggestion. “I’d like to help you help her, Rae. If there’s...reasonably at least, anything I can do, let me know?” He’d help her as much as he could because, quite frankly, he felt guilty. Maybe he could’ve helped the lot of them if he’d actually believed his sister. He hadn’t even checked. “How bad were they?” Theo asked after another moment.
Somehow, even if she didn’t know how, exactly, Theo would have to apologize. Raegan realized that Maren would be forever against him if that didn’t happen. Even if she didn’t accept it, which she might not, the effort had to count for something. “You could try,” she said with a shrug, trying to play it off like it wasn’t as big a deal to her as it really was. Sure, she and her step siblings had their arguments when they were all together, but those were different. They were just squabbles, and usually resolved within a day or so. “I know she might not forgive you, but at least then she’ll see you’re not the bully she thinks you are.” It did occur to her that the fact that she was asking Theo to apologize might affect how genuine it was, but Maren didn’t need to know that. She was, at least, relieved that he wasn’t asking her to cut ties, because that would have been a big problem, and she wasn’t necessarily certain she’d choose blood over a shared history. “I don’t know how to help her, but I’ll figure something out,” she said decisively. She had to. “I’ll let you know if there’s anything you can do. She’s just... really stubborn, Maren, and she compares everything to a book. I’m not sure she even gets the reality of what she’s doing.” Maybe it was saying too much, but it slipped out regardless, and was too worried to think about censoring herself.
Talking about her father, and even her stepmother, wasn’t something she’d done in a long time, not aside from vague references and derisive name-calling. She was quiet for a moment, busying herself by scratching behind Ghost’s ears before she looked up and sighed. “They were bad. My stepmom was always high, and my dad... he was mean when he’d drink, and he drank almost all the time. We should’ve left together,” she muttered, anger at herself and her brothers in the words.
He would try, and he indicated as much by the slight nod of his head. There had to be some way to apologize effectively, though a simple ‘I’m sorry’ wasn’t quite in Theodore’s repertoire. Nothing he did was simple or straightforward like that. He was all about grand gestures and using his accumulated wealth and network to make the statements he wanted to make. He would think over his options and go from there. The fact that Maren apparently had retreated so far into her literary world worried him because he knew first hand what something like that could do as well as the circumstances that likely made it her coping mechanism. He would have to do some digging on the parents as well, though he wouldn’t have to worry about the mother, considering she was dead already. Perhaps a visit to Raegan’s father was in order, if he wasn’t dead already.
Her anger went unnoticed in favor of clenching his fists in his lap. Yes, he would definitely be paying that man a visit. “You shouldn’t have been there in the first place,” Theo said and his anger was evident in nearly every facet, from his voice to the set of his jaw to the way he held himself. No one deserved to be treated like that and no one got to treat Raegan like that. Period. End of story. It took him a few long moments to drag his gaze from his lap up to Raegan’s face. The anger was there, simmering beneath the surface, and he knew he needed to go before he said anything about her mother. “I’ll have an account set up for you, attached to my personal account. Use it for whatever you wish.” He pushed himself up off the chair and paused to give Ghost a scratch behind his ears. “I need to get back to work. If you need anything, you know how to find me.” He leaned down to kiss her forehead, lingering a moment longer than strictly necessary, but it was an apology all its own. He’d left her there. It was his fault. That was something he would never forgive himself for.
See, Raegan was referring more to a simple, straightforward apology, and she probably should have realized that Theo would go for some sort of grand gesture. Then again, that might work better than a simple ‘sorry’ with Maren; it was hard to be sure. Maybe her concern about Maren’s obsession with literature was a little hypocritical, since she often escaped into Jon’s world as often as she could, but to her it wasn’t the same. Jon was an actual person, and it was only right to give him time to actually be himself rather than a voice in her head. Besides, at least she wasn’t off running cons for the mob or whoever the hell Maren had gotten herself involved with. She never thought she’d see the day when she was the one who was, apparently, the most law-abiding of their little clan, though she wasn’t quite sure what Hunter had gotten up to in the intervening years. As for her father, well, she had no desire to see him again. He could rot in hell for all she cared.
His anger surprised her, even though it shouldn’t have, but she had no idea how to fix it. Instead she gave a half-hearted shrug, because she had been there, and she’d survived. In the end, Raegan had come out of a bad situation a lot better off than most people. Some weren’t strong enough. Maren’s escape into the world of fiction indicated she wasn’t, but she was still in one piece too. She didn’t even bother protesting a joint account, though normally she would have argued that she could support herself financially without his help. “Alright,” she agreed, without rising from her chair, even after Theo had left. She wasn’t sure if that had gone well or not, admittedly, but at least she’d finally gotten it off her chest.