My mother saystoolike she and Paige are the same.
“No. He lives here because he loves it. And he loves Paige. Now why areyouhere?”
She flicks her eyes back to me, then across the yard. As I follow her stare, I realize it’s landed on Leo. Every one of my protective instincts flares to life.
“Leave him alone.” I step forward, wishing I had Dash’s height, wanting to loom over her. “He’s having a good time, and he doesn’t need you to guilt him into leaving with you.”
Her mouth twists, and she blinks as if I blew dust in her eyes.
“I had two hundred thousand,” she says.
The statement rocks me back on my heels. I never kept precise track of my parents’ income, but I know they don’t have money like that.
“Dollars? How’d you get that much? Even if you pawned everything Dad ever gave you, that still wouldn’t come close.”
Her lips tighten, and she stares behind me. I glance back to see Paige talking animatedly to a bewildered Leo as Dash stands just behind his wife, arms wrapped lovingly around her waist.
“My mother did not forget me.”
The statement has me whirling to meet her eyes. Shockingly enough, there’s a shine to them.
“I received a letter. A check.”
Of course.
“You’re rich now? Great.” I can’t keep the bitterness from my voice.
Vivian probably handed the money over to my father before the envelope hit the table.
“No. I came to tell you to keep your money. Leo’s debt is paid.”
“What?” I shake my head to clear away the fog of confusion.
She couldn’t have just said what I thought she did.
“Your uncle is in some trouble with the law. He trusted the wrong person, and now they’re watching his every move. Apparently, someone in the organization was collecting info on the cars. Like they were going to move against him.”
I keep my face blank, even as a triumphant smirk threatens to curl my lips. What’s wild is how easy the revenge was. All I did was print off the pictures of the VINs I’d taken, stick them in an envelope with a note readingDon’t trust Nicky, and then anonymously mail them to my uncle’s home. Mike’s paranoia took care of the rest.
It’s on the tip of my tongue to ask what happened to the rat my father had brought with him to kidnap me, but I keepthe question to myself. No point in hinting at the truth. Nicky partnered with the wrong Lamont. He never should’ve broken into my home and bludgeoned me. He landed squarely on my revenge list that day.
Oblivious to my hand in the events, my mother keeps talking. “With the way your father treated you … well, Mike doesn’t know who to trust.” She examines her perfectly manicured nails. “Money is power, and he needed money fast, not over the next year, like you’d planned. He accepted my payment in place of yours and agreed to cut Leo out of the business.” She smooths her hands down the front of her dress. “It’s a mother’s duty to protect her children.”
When have you ever?the question hisses from a still-bleeding part of my heart, but I keep my mouth closed.
Instead, I let my eyes catch on Charlie as he trots out onto the deck with a pile of wrapped gifts in his arms.
And I think about what he would want me to say.
Damn it. I hate the high road.
“You could get out too. You’ve never been a part of the business. You could leave.”
My mother smiles, but the expression seems to hurt her face. “No. I couldn’t leave your father. Our love is not the fading kind.”
That I believe. Though I’ve often doubted if either of my parents held any affection for their children, I’ve always known they loved each other. Maybe the emotion is a darker one, twisted because both are selfish. But it’s there.
Still.
