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I hear the flutter of her breath over the line as she heaves a sigh.
“I’m sorry, dear,” she finally says. “I guess I just got so caught up in all this. I haven’t been thinking clearly. You’re right. Of course we need time to discuss this.”
“Thank you.” Relief surges as she backs down. “Let’s get together soon so we can sort this out, okay?”
“I’d love that, dear. Perhaps you can come over tonight?”
I sigh, sensing I’m not going to get out of this.
“Sure,” I say, wondering how I’ll manage to hold up the promise. Perhaps with all the attention focused on the auction, I’ll be able to sneak out unobserved. “I’ll call you in a bit to confirm the details.”
As I end the call, I find myself warring with all these unsettling emotions. I don’t like how she seems so determined to target Lev. But she’s my mother. I guess I’d also be willing to go to war to defend my own child.
Guilt swirls as I realize how close I’d come to telling her to get out of my life. I don’t like how she makes me feel. But either way, I don’t want my marriage to be over, and I must make her understand that.
Maybe her determination isn’t that surprising, considering she’d been married to my father all those years. No wonder she dreads the idea of me being locked into a loveless relationship.
Except, it’s not loveless.
Sucking in a breath, I clamber out of bed and head to the dressing room. I have to find Lev. Even though Leila has assured me that she won’t interfere with his plans this evening, I need to see him before he goes. I can’t help the feeling of anxiety that surges as I think of him in danger.
***
Lev
“Need anything else?” Ludis asks.
I sink back in my seat, staring at the report spread out in front of me. Photographs, telephone logs, and transcripts, a full history of a female Mexican national with mob connections.
I can’t deny it.
It’s fucking damning.
And Aurora’s in the center of it.
“It will do,” I mutter, wishing I didn’t sound so shattered. I raise my jaw and meet his eyes. “You did a good job,” I add. Ludis smirks. He’s not had many compliments from me lately.
“So, would you like us to deal with her?” he asks. “The cellar is always prepared.”
The thought of what he suggesting makes bile rise up my throat.
“I’ll handle it,” I say, rising so quickly my chair shoots backward. Ludis lifts an eyebrow but I ignore the question there.
“If you’re sure—?”
“Yeah, I’m sure!” I snap, feeling my fists curl.
Treacherous bitch.
The phone logs clearly show that she was in communication with her accomplice even while we were together in Miami. As I’d suspected, the call from her “aunt” had been the woman Ludis has identified as the drug mule he’s found details on.
And then she’d held me and told me how she’d always love me. And I so desperately wanted to believe it.
Holy fuck.
Whoever’s behind this, they almost had me by the balls.
As soon as this deal is done, and I find out who’s pulling the strings, I’ll handle her.
