The impact of seeing the woman I swore I’d never see again slams into me like a wrecking ball. Somehow I’m transported back to the cabin, tied up and helpless. She croons how much she loves me, then pours the “water” into my mouth, pinching my nose and forcing me to drink. She smiles like she’s just won the Best Mom Award. I clench my clammy hands and glare at the woman, wishing I could strangle her so she will never appear before me again.
I hate it that Harvey’s picture didn’t do her justice. She’s still beautiful, confident and immaculately packaged to hide the rotunderneath. Her eyes—those fucking blue eyes that look just like mine—bore into Lareina, and I want to gouge them out so she can never gaze at anyone ever again.
“Don’t forget, Lareina—blood is thicker than water. And it’smyblood that flows in Ares’s veins. Your tenuous little link to him can be broken anytime, but the bond between my son and I is forever.” The words sound reptilian. Everything inside me tenses with loathing and denial. I don’t give a shit about the blood bond she loves so much. She’s not my mother—she’s a monster.
But does Lareina see it that way? My exes often asked why my “mom” was Asian, then wondered about my birth mom and if I missed her. Some of them even suggested I should spend some time with her because I might regret it later in a misguided attempt to get me to open up and share what was on my mind. Harvey said Zoe is Lareina’s godmother. My wife might have some affection for her and might believe she and I should forget the unpleasant past and get along.
I start to step forward to pull Lareina out of the restaurant. I have no desire to hear her response. And I realize I’m scared that she might agree with my mother. I don’t want to see her differently because despite what I’ve been telling myself about her being strange or keeping me off balance, I like being with her.
But she’s quicker.
“But Ares introduced Akiko to me as my mother-in-law. And neither he nor Prescott said a word about you. I guess blood isn’t so thick in your family after all.”
It takes a moment to process Lareina’s buttery words. The tight knot in my gut eases as warm feelings surround my heart. Relief and peace—the likes of which I’ve never experienced—seem to envelop me in a bath of contentment. Although I’venever said a word to Lareina about Zoe, it’s like she knows what’s on my mind and trusts that my judgment is correct.
It feels nothing less than life affirming. And I want to hold her and tell her how much I adore and cherish her.
But first…
“What the hell are you doing here with my wife?” I grind out as I step forward.
The cool mask cracks, revealing surprise and longing underneath. I don’t buy any of it. My mother is a master manipulator who could give a lesson or two to Aunt Jeremiah.
“Ares.My son.” She smiles. “I was just saying hello.”
I place a protective hand on my wife’s shoulder. “Don’t you understand I don’t want to see you?”
“But I miss you! And I’m yourmother! I’m entitled—”
“The only thing you’re entitled to is a long jail sentence.”
She juts out her chin, full of provocation and stubbornness. “You can’t keep me away forever. Your brothers are thirty now.”
“What are you going to do? Grab me again and drag me to the woods?”
“That was a long time ago! Nothing’s happened since!”
“Only because the family managed to keep you away. I don’t trust you. My last memory of you is your pinching my nose so you could force me to drink that drugged water. You left me to die.”
“I didn’t, I swear! I went back!”
I snort. She could tell me the ocean’s salty, and I wouldn’t believe her.
“Are you still looking for the girl who supposedly saved you?” she demands. “She never existed! Why can’t you accept that? It wasmewho saved you! You just got confused from the drugs and the trauma.”
Her sheer shamelessness is simply astonishing. She stares up at me with all the sincerity she can muster. “No,” I say. “You’re not her. You’ll never be her.”
“She was blonde. Like I was back then.”
Lareina gives her a strange look.
“She almost died to protect you, didn’t she? To spare your life?” Mom insists.
“Then why didn’t you say something before now?” My tone is ruthless, a lawyer cross-examining a witness he knows is committing perjury.
“Your father kept me away from you. He never gave me a chance.”
“Mmm-hmm.”
