“Sí. And I’d like a relationship with them. Perhaps with their mothers, too. Considering they’re family.”
A string of Spanish expletives spew from Mamá’s mouth, and if Ares wasn’t accidentally providing cover for Athena, she’d have—without a shadow of a doubt—the mark of Mamá’s handprint across her face.
“That’s enough, Hen,” I hedge, softening my tone so she doesn’t see me as a threat and launch across the room at me.
She shakes her head, and tears in her eyes glisten under the overhead light. She wears her anger like a mask. It’s only on a rare occasion we get a glimpse of what’s behind it. When I take a step toward her, she holds up her hand, shaking her head.
“You willnotmeet those...perras, are we clear?” Mamá levels each of us with a glare that could melt ice. She pushes Ares back, looking him dead in the eye. “Are we clear?”
“What about the kids? They’re our siblings, Mamá.”
Her nostrils flare in time with the flexing of her jaw, making her cheeks move as well. “I can’t make that decision for you.”
Her words say one thing, but the way she’s grinding them out, the way she’s holding her body, and the way her voice carries that unspoken threat we all learned as children... her message is clear. She doesn’t want us anywhere near our father’s extra-curricular activities.
But from the determined look on my sister’s face, I’m not sure she’s getting the message.
CHAPTER45
Edith
(TWO WEEKS LATER)
Ding dong, the cast is gone.
It has been for a while, but it’s still taking time to adjust. It’s getting a little easier to remember a time when my leg wasn’t wrapped up in a protective layer. It’s as though every month post-accident covers an entire year of my life prior.
I’m starting to forget what the marley felt like under my feet as I danced, or the curve of the barre in my palm, the pain in my feet from turn after turn, and the cramping in my hips and calves.
Ugh. Cramping calves from an endless series of relevés are the devil.
I still haven’t heard from anyone in my class. It doesn’t sting quite so badly as it did a few months ago, but it sucks.
My mother on the other hand...
“Is that her texting again?” Apollo enters our bedroom from the bathroom, a towel wrapped low around his waist. “She seems... enthusiastic?” He flashes me a smile as he towel dries his hair, but all the blood has rushed to my va-jay-jay and any hope of packing for my trip to Australia has gone out the window.
As though he’s reading my mind, he points at the opened, oversized case on the bed. “Pack first. I can’t fuck you on top of that damned thing.” After a beat of shaking droplets from his hair like an oversized German shepherd, he jerks his chin at me. “Your mom?”
Nodding, I sigh. “She finally paid attention to all of the medical bills her secretary was getting. Once she’d come up for air from husband number two and before she found number three. The wedding is next week, and we’re invited, by the way.” I can’t help but roll my eyes. I don’t know what was wrong with Dad, but it seems something was wrong with Bernard, too.
“She’s getting remarried? Isn’t she still with the boat guy?”
“Don’t try to keep up,príncipe de las tinieblas.It’s not worth the effort.”
“Did you tell her about Australia?”
I take a tentative step toward my closet. Part of me expects my ankle not to bear weight, that I’ll crumple like a Slinky going down stairs. “She knows I’m going, offered to pay, transferred a ludicrous sum of money into my account, offered the use of her name—though it was unclear which one she thought would get traction in Australia...”
“Did she ask how you’re doing?”
A lump appears in my throat at my boyfriend’s ability to drive a stake straight through the heart of the matter. I shake my head. “You know money equates to affection for my mom.” I don’t know why I’m defending her.
He steps up behind me as I toss a few shirts into the open case in front of us, threading his arms around my middle and placing his face on the back of my shoulder. “I’m sorry. I know you’ve always wanted more from her. You deserve more. It’s okay to be sad that she’s a selfish bitch.”
I chuckle at his candor. We’ve never held back in our friendship, and if anything, we’ve gotten even more frank with each other since we crossed over into forever territory.
His cock is waking up against my ass so I wiggle but he steps back. “No packing, no peen. That’s the rule.”
