Page 57 of Ravaged For You

“Alright, Mom…”

“I thought you two weren’t talking.”

This time she’s looking at Bishop. He shakes his head.

“We haven’t been, no. Not for a long time, Astrid.”

“Ah. I’ll tell her that you say hi.”

Bishop blushes. It’s incredible. “I don’t think she’ll like that,” he mumbles.

“I see.”

“You look like Axel,” Maddie remarks to Mom, turning the conversation away.

“It’s the green eyes,” she replies. “Runs in the family. Chloe has them too.”

Oh, she loves to talk about our shared eyes.

Maddie smiles. “I like how you’re such a boss,” she says. “I didn’t suspect Axel had such a splendid mother.”

My mother eats that up like sugar.

“Of course I am,” she boasts. “I’m going to butcher a bit of Shakespeare, but some women have matriarch thrust upon them. Someone’s gotta clean up the mess these boys leave in their wake. Sometimes I have to take control and meet the girlfriends my son tries to hide from me.”

Maddie giggles at that, and I roll my eyes again. This is exactly how I imagined this meeting between these two women to go, and it’s not going well. For me.

For a girl who’s shy, Maddie is really warming up to Mom. A bit too fucking much for my liking.

“You’re different from how I pictured you,” Maddie remarks.

“What do you mean?” Mom asks.

“You’re more… fun. I don’t mean that as an insult, though.”

“You think Axel’s the cool one of the family? No way. He takes it all from me. My boy might’ve grown up to be some playboy rockstar with a quiff and everything, but I remember when he was in his diapers.”

“Mom…”

But Mom ignores me.

“You’re going to have to tell me more about baby Axel,” Maddie says, winking at me. I glower back. “I’ll like to collect as many embarrassing stories as I can.”

“Oh, I shall.”

“That’s a nice necklace,” Maddie compliments, gesturing at the cross that always hangs around Mom’s neck.

“I’m a Christian,” Mom explains. She turns back to me. “Where’s my drink, Axel? I’ve already been sitting for five minutes. Where are your manners, my boy?”

I fetch Mom a glass of champagne like a dutiful son. Maddie watches me the entire time, a smirk on her lips. I sneer at her as I hand my mother the glass.

“I like you,” Maddie tells my mom before they cheer.

This is just great. Fucking perfect.

“You’ve got to tell me everything. Has Axel asked you about yourself?”

“Yes, he has.”