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“I see. And why would she expect you to do something like that? Are you still involved with her?”
“Not at all, ma’am.” I coughed. “I mean, Aileen. We’ve been broken up for a long time. She’s just someone who loves drama.” I eyed Aileen. I had a feeling she could relate.
“What was your response?” she asked coldly.
“I told her to have a nice life.”
She crossed her arms against her chest. “If you are having a relationship with my daughter, I expect you to cut all ties with former girlfriends. Do you understand, Roberto?”
“Of course I understand. But you need to understand that I am not on your payroll and that Roberto Palmieri doesn’t take orders from anyone.”
Her eyebrow creeped up as far as it could go, a tiny fraction, but enough to register surprise. “Did you just refer to yourself in the third person?”
I puffed out my chest. “Yes. I tend to do that when I’m angry.”
She leaned closer. “Do you know what I tend to do when I’m angry?”
“No, ma’am.” I was going to call this bitch ma’am for the rest of my life.
“I ruin people’s lives, relationships, and reputations.” She lifted the edges of her plump, chemically enhanced lips with what looked like great effort until they formed a gruesome smile. “Do not mess with my family. You’ll pay for it dearly.”
“Don’t you think you’re overreacting a little bit?” We’d gone from dramedy to just plain old scary pretty quickly.
“My daughter hasn’t brought a man home since she was in high school. I’ve been waiting for her to meet someone. It’s been years. Do not disappoint her, or me.” She took a step back. “By the way, I’m not saying I approve of you. I’m merely saying that if you mess with my daughter, you’re going to be sorry.”
“Got it…ma’am.” I stormed back to the house before I started referring to myself in the third person again or worse, went off on Aileen Delaney.
She’d had my phone tapped? She was threatening me?
I remembered wondering why everyone seemed so scared of Mrs. Delaney and if Maddy’s parents could really be as bad as she’d made them sound.
The answer was yes. The answer was worse than yes.
I glimpsed Madison in the hall. “Hey!” she called. “How was your day?”
“It was…good.” I forced myself to smile. “What about you?”
“Same.”
I could tell just by looking at her that she didn’t mean it.
“Do you want to talk about it?” I asked.
She wrinkled her nose. “Hell to the no. You?”
“Nope.”
“Do you want to sneak a drink before the wedding?” she asked. “It has to be super quick because then I’m back to bridesmaid purgatory.”
“Hell to the yes.” I grinned. “If that’s even an expression.”
“It is now.” She giggled. “I have wine in my room. Want to come in?”
Before I could stop myself, I nodded. She looked so pretty in her white cotton dress, her hair flowing over her shoulders.
Her mother was crazy.
My ex-girlfriend was crazy.
