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“See you there,” I snapped into the cell phone and hung up.
I looked back up the hall to the room where Molly was. I could storm in, grab her, lock the door, and fuck her against the wall in the private bathroom. Maybe that would assuage the wild, reckless feeling in my chest.
Or I could let her visit with her mother.
I blew out a hard breath and turned toward my original destination.
I knocked gently on the door before opening it. The room smelled like lavender, cut grass, and some other underlying scent from my childhood.
I stepped inside and shut the door before crossing the room to the woman who sat at the window. I lowered my head to press a kiss on her head. “Hello, Mom.”
35
MOLLY
“And then what happened?” I asked, hanging on Gladys’s every word.
Gladys dunked another cookie in her tea, relishing her retelling of the last few weeks. “Well, then, these men in black swept into Grateful Dawn. Everyone was on edge because of that accident when an officer was shot in the leg a few weeks ago.”
I turned my face so she wouldn’t see my reaction. “I heard about that. They never caught the guy?”
“It was the damnedest thing. The footage for the entire day was missing, like someone went into the server and deleted it. It was organized, that’s for sure. I heard the nice officer is fine and enjoying some recovery time at home. The next day, or maybe the day after, your Kirill came to talk about Mara.”
“He’s not mine,” I muttered.
Gladys rolled her eyes. “Sure he isn’t, honey. Have you seen the way he looks at you? That man is yours, pure and simple. Anyway, he comes in with his crew and takes care of business. I wanted to introduce myself and ask after you. He decided Mara should have as much continuity in her care as possible and asked me to work for him here. I can tell you, Lori, the added income has been a blessing.”
I gripped her hand and squeezed it gently. “I’m glad. And I’m happy knowing you’re here for Mom.” Tears pricked my eyes again. In the last week, I’d been more tearful than ever before, but my tears weren’t desperate or sad this time.
“Yes indeed, Mara and Fiona are both under my very best care—” Gladys said. Her eyes widened, and she fell silent.
“Let me guess. You weren’t supposed to talk about Fiona. Fiona Lewis, right? Tell me, or I’ll ask Kirill,” I warned her.
“You terrible girl,” Gladys muttered and then nodded. “Yes, it's Fiona Lewis. Kirill’s mother.”
“How long has she been here?”
“Oh, forever. At least six years.”
“What’s wrong with her?”
“Oh, honey, what’s wrong with any of us? Life wore her out, I guess. She’s lucky she has a son with the resources to afford such excellent care.”
“But what exactly?” I pressed. “Don’t make me ask him.”
“Lori! That’s not nice! No one wants to talk about their mother being sick enough to try and – end things.”
Cold crept through me. Fiona had tried to take her own life? It didn’t take a genius to connect the dots. It was when Kirill entered his father’s brutal bratva, the one she had tried to keep him from. Another layer of guilt lay across my shoulders.
“Anyway, that was then. Now she has cancer, stage three lung,” Gladys said sadly.
“Don’t worry. I won’t say anything,” I reassured her when she looked close to tears. I patted her hand. “I was just curious. I used to know her. I won’t say anything.”
Gladys let out a long breath and relaxed.
“I do have one more question.”
Gladys narrowed her eyes at me.“Go on.”
