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“And you’ve had a nice time?”
“I have.”
“That’s good. I see you and my daughter got tattoos.”
Right. Luna had mentioned that her mother had noticed them.
“Yes. It was something we did spontaneously. It’s a good thing I talked her out of that huge skull tattoo she wanted down her arm.”
She didn’t find that funny. “I don’t want you to be a bad influence on her.”
“Maria, it’s a small tattoo. I don’t have her hooked on crystal meth.”
“It starts off small.”
Nope. I wasn’t doing this with her today. “Let her live her life. Stop meddling. She’s twenty-four years old, and she’s lived on her own since her uni days. She is capable of taking care of herself, and she’s permitted to have some fun.”
“And I’m sure you’re aware of what happens next year?”
“She turns into a pumpkin?”
The air around us turned ice cold. I was pushing Maria’s buttons, and it wasn’t a good idea.
“No, Devin. Next year she turns twenty-five.”
“Okay.”
“And that’s when she inherits the rest of the money her father left her. And I’ll expect you to sign a prenup if you want to marry her.”
I choked on my tea. “Now you’re really getting ahead of yourself.”
“Maybe, maybe not.”
I shook my head. “I have plenty of money, Maria. I’m not after hers. Are you really worried about that?”
“I’m just protecting my daughter.”
She had a funny way of showing it, treating her daughter like a child the way she did. “What are you so scared of?”
Maria’s eyes, the same as Luna’s, stared at me. I thought she’d slap my face if she were closer.
“I don’t want her to end up like me. Loving a man who dies young, leaving her alone, possibly with small children, and trying to put her life back together. I couldn’t bear to see her go through what I did. Is that something you can understand?”
“So you’ll isolate her from life instead? I’m not sure that’s the right approach either. Look, she could dump me and marry the next man she sees. And he could get hit by a car, and boom, he’s dead. Life happens. Let her life happen.”
Maria smoothed out her dress and nodded. “It’s just that your life happens to have more risks. Just be careful because I’ll always be there to protect my daughter. From anything—including you.”
As she got up to leave, I was hit with a chill. What if the person who’d hired a PI to find out about me wasn’t Carlton. What if it was Luna’s mother?
I grabbed my phone again and sent another text.
Check into Maria Morelli.
ChapterTwenty-Four
Luna
In Austria, Rafe summoned me to his hotel room. As I made my way from the hotel where Devin and I were staying, to Rafe’s, I mentally prepared myself. I already had a good idea why I was being called. I entered my brother’s room and found him on the phone while Carlos watched tapes from the race in France. There was a gloomy expression on his face, which pretty much set the mood. I sat down next to him and watched the tapes. I’d arrived a few days early like Rafe had asked. There was business to attend to, and plans needed to be made before the race in Manta.
