“You know why Mateo keeps her around, don’t you?”
“So I know my place?”
Bella nods curtly. “You’re smart.”
We sit at the table just as Jade rolls in the cart.
“I took the liberty of steeping a fertility tea,” she says, pouring me a cup.
Forcing a smile, I tell her, “Thank you.”
“How is that going?” Bella asks.
My mouth gapes open, because the question feels so invasive. Is she asking how often Mateo and I have sex? Or if I’m taking fertility medication?
Unfortunately, Jade has no qualms about answering for me.
“Her pregnancy tests have all come up negative, which isn’t shocking because despite the daily injections she gets, she fails to inspire Mateo.”
Bella cocks her head to the side. “Fails to inspire?”
“Your son can have any woman he wants. It is any wonder that he can hardly muster the drive to visit her,” Jade says as she sets up the three-tiered serving stand.
Offended, I rush out, “He can have any woman he wants, yet he chose me.”
“Because of limited time, pressure, and distinct qualifiers,” Jade says as she steps back from the table. “He can hardly bring himself to visit her bedchamber, and has so far only visited her twice, the first being her wedding night.”
Embarrassed, I look down at my lap, furious that she would humiliate me like this in front of my mother-in-law.
“Is this true?” Bella asks.
I swallow a thick lump in my throat. “As you know, your son is very busy?—”
Bella’s expression sours. “Not so busy that he should be so careless with his inheritance.”
Oh, great…
A smirk curls on Jade’s treacherous lips, and for one brief moment, I consider slapping it off. But the last thing I want is to look unstable in front of Mateos’ mother.
Rich, affluent people don’t resort to violence to resolve conflict, as words cut deeper than any blade.
Glaring at Jade, I say, “If I were you, I’d stop being so concerned with my bed.”
She chuckles sardonically. “And if I were you, I’d be very concerned with who’s in mine.”
In one motion, she grabs the cloth napkins in front of me and Bella, pulls them from the table, and places them onto our laps as they would do in high-end restaurants. “Enjoy.”
Competing with Jade was obviously a mistake, but there’s no rewinding the conversation. Not that Jade told Bella anything I didn’t already suspect.
Why wouldn’t Mateo take Jade too? She’s beautiful, and probably far more experienced than I am.
But all is not lost in the battle, as I still have the upper hand in the situation, because this isn’t about love or romance. It’s about making a baby. Something Mateo chose not to do with her.
But if that’s true, why am I suddenly so jealous?
We eat in silence, because all the oxygen seems to have been sucked from the room, and when we’ve finally finished our meal and all that’s left is me and Mateo’s mother, she speaks again, her words far more pointed this time around.
“What are you doing to seduce my son?”
