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Frustration suffused Justina’s features, but she gritted out, “That I would never speak to her again, and I’d run away from her the first chance I got if she took me with you.”
And with vengeful vampires after them, Justina would’ve gotten killed. Cat would never risk her mum’s life that way, as Justina well knew. Cat already blamed herself for her grandparents’ deaths at the hands of vampires.
“Did Don threaten to kill me unless she left with him?”
Justina’s mouth clamped shut, but the word “Yes” snuck out.
“Of course she thought love meant throwing herself into a meat grinder,” Bones said. “That’s whatyoutaught her!”
Grunts came from Justina. It was all she could get out since he hadn’t asked her a question. He didn’t care. Her denials were worthless when they both knew it was true.
Now, for the hardest question. “Does she still love me?”
Justina sucked in a breath and held it. Bones watched, his brows going up as the seconds ticked by and she still didn’t breathe. Was she trying to pass out rather than reply?
“Answer. Me,” he bit out.
“I don’t know,” Justina said with a burst of pent-up air. “For a long time, she did, but now that she has a boyfriend, I think she finally might be over you!”
Pain made him briefly close his eyes.A boyfriend.
When he hadn’t smelled another man in her bedroom, he’d hoped she was still single. Apparently not, and the boyfriend must be human from how vindictively pleased Justina looked.
“One last question. Do you love your daughter?”
Justina looked away. “When I realized she had Max’s evil, I didn’t want to, but I couldn’t…I couldn’tnotlove her.”
“You should tell your daughter you love her,” Bones said. “She hasn’t heard that nearly enough from you.”
Justina looked away again, but he saw her bite her lower lip as if she were trying to stop it from trembling.
Bones gave her a moment. Then, he said, “Look at me.”
With a scowl, she did.
He leaned forward, turning up the power in his gaze. “You will never threaten your daughter with doing anything to harm yourself again, and if she ever runs from Don, you will never reveal her location to him. In fact, if Don forces Catherine to run away again,youwill ring me and tell me where she is.”
Bones handed her a piece of paper with his number on it. Justina nodded even though more anger bloomed from her scent.
Yes, forcing you to do this is unfair, he thought coldly.Just like you forcing Cat to choose Don over me because she thought you’d get yourself killed was unfair.
Take every cheap shot and every low blow against an opponent, he’d taught Cat. This was his low blow.
“You’ll also forget I was here as soon as I leave,” Bones said, taking the page back. “You’ll only remember what I told you as subconscious directives, should those situations arise. If they don’t, when you see me again, it will be as if you haven’t seen me in years. Understood?”
Another nod followed by another whiff of anger. “I suppose you’ll also make me stop hating you.”
Bones laughed. “Hate away; I don’t care. None of this was about you treatingmebetter. It was about you treating your daughter better.”
Justina said nothing. He hadn’t asked her a question, so she couldn’t reply, but her gaze told him to fuck off.
He would, after one last thing. “Oh, and I meant it about the purple dress. That beige frock is hideous.”
With that, he left.
9
Randy smiled with relief when Bones entered the parlor adjacent to the country club’s main stateroom.
