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But Mama wanted to live.
And I appreciated that people wanted to be around her. Having all the new folks in our lives over for supper made her happy.
There were a bunch of women around the table and in the kitchen cooking dinner, not a man in sight except Sam at her feet and . . . Gabriel?
Fuck me to hell.
My feet refused to move when I saw him sitting next to my mother.
“Mr. Drew,” he said as though he’d been waiting for me all day. All eyes went to me. “Come sit by me. We’re coloring.”
“Um, sure,” I returned uncertainly.
My mother’s eyes met mine and then she looked at Gabriel. Lines creased her forehead. She glanced from me to Gabriel, then back to me. I felt like there was a big sign over my head, announcing that Gabriel was my son, but I kept moving, taking the empty seat next to him.
I’d managed to avoid being in the same room with him in front of my family for all this time. Hell, I’d scared Holly so bad I’d take him away that she never brought him around Carter Energy, which was why I hadn’t seen him myself until recently. Even though I hadn’t believed he was mine, I hadn’t wanted to face that either.
“Here. You can do the policeman.” He slid a coloring book and a pile of crayons toward me. I picked up the blue one, and my mother dropped hers. Gabriel resumed without noticing the weird feeling in the room, and that was when I saw what my mother had.
He was left-handed.Like me.
I ignored the others in the room, looking at Sonya, needing her to calm me the way she always did when Gabriel was around. But when our gazes clashed, there was no support. I nearly broke the crayon in half.
No. She couldn’t have . . .
She was mad about the jewelry. I knew she’d let it go too easily. My tigress didn’t let anything slide, especially when it came to me.
But this was too far, even for her. She cared about Mama. That was undeniable . . . or maybe Sonya was just that good at pretending.
Punishing me? That I understood. Doing this to my mother?
No.
That was too far. A line she wouldn’t cross.
Yet her eyes were triumphant, her mouth twisted into a sneer.
She’d done this.
She’d known if my mother ever saw Gabriel and me side by side, she’d put it together. She’d done it to get back at me.
Mulaney stared at me with contempt, but there was no surprise on her features. Vivian and Muriella froze in the kitchen, taking in the scene. Holly looked as uncomfortable as I felt. A choked sound came from my mother. Gabriel and I both dropped our crayons and got out of our chairs, he on one side and me on another.
“Are you all right, Mrs. Carter?” he asked.
Mama was near tears, the tip of her nose red, her mouth screwing up like it did when she was trying not to cry. “I’m fine,” she assured him with a weak smile, cupping his cheek, lingering.
“Hey, Firecracker? What’s this I heard about making cookies?” Mulaney asked.
“We should get started on that,” Muriella added. “Some of the ingredients we need are at my apartment. We can bake them there.” She turned off the stove burner and covered the pot with a lid. There would be no shielding the boy if they stayed here.
“What about our pictures?” Gabriel asked, clutching my mother’s hand.
“We’ll finish them after you bake your cookies, sweet pea,” Mama said.
Gabriel looked hesitant, struggling with whether to stay or go. “Mrs. Carter?”
We all held our breath.
