“Stay with me,” I said to her, remembering the task at hand.
“I’m not going anywhere.” She slipped her hand into mine, lacing our fingers together. I was unclear on where we stood but content enough to have her by my side in that moment. Walking into the building, I signed the forms for visitation before we made our way to Mom’s room.
What would I say or do once I saw her? Mom. My mother. This was the woman who had given birth to me and I had always respected her, but this piece of information had changed things. I felt like I didn’t know who she was. I certainly no longer knew who I was. That wasn’t quite true. I was the bastard Moretti child.
“Do you want me to go in first?” Mia asked, and I realized we had stopped in front of the door to Mom’s room. My heart hammered in my chest as I gave her a nod. Mia raised her hand and knocked softly on the door before Mom called out. She entered the room and I trailed behind her, hands still clasped tight.
“Mia?” Mom sounded shocked. She was sat in a chair by the window, puzzle book in her lap and pencil wavering in her grip.
“Hello, Maria.”
“Luc!” She sat up a straighter and beamed at us both. Then Mom registered Mia’s form and gasped. “Oh, my goodness! Mia, is that? Luc?”
Mia nodded her head. “I’m around seven months now.”
Seven months. Seven months of being absent and two to prove my worth and settle into the idea of becoming a parent. Mom’s eyes filled with tears and she put a hand to her chest. “Oh, darling girl! I’m going to have a grandbaby. Luc, your father would have been so proud.”
The statement caused the miniscule control I had on my temper to snap. “Which one, Mom? Charlie or Xavier?”
I watched as the color drained from her face and her attention shifted to Mia. The joyous mood in the room had been wiped away with one statement. “You told him. You stupid girl!”
“Don’t you dare,” I hissed in return. “Mia didn’t say a word; Dante told me. But how dare you expect her to keep this from me? How dare you pull her into your dirty little secret?”
“Dante? Lucas, listen to me.” She was clamoring for a way to clear her name now that she’d been caught out.
“Even after she left! Even after you knew what happened to Hector, you said nothing! You of all people know what Xavier’s capable of!”
“It’sbecauseI knew what he was capable of that I kept it a secret. Listen to me.”
“So you can feed me more lies?”
“He never would have let me live if I told anyone you were his.” The puzzle book had slipped from her lap, landing on the floor with a dull thud and slapping shut. “It would have broken Charlie.”
I narrowed my eyes, feeling a vein in my neck throb. “You don’t deserve to say his name.”
“Luc.” Mia’s voice was soft but rang clear as a bell to me.
I glanced at her before turning back to my mother. “Charlie loved you until the day he died, and you lied to him. You cheated on him with his best friend. He took a fucking bullet for Xavier, Mom. He’s the reason my Dad is dead! He’s the reason my Dad and Mia’s Dad won’t get to meet their grandson.”
Mom’s eyes became glassy but I couldn’t find it in me to give her a shred of sympathy. “I made a terrible mistake, but I can’t regret what happened because it gave me you. I regret how I handled it. I should have been honest.”
“But you weren’t,” I pointed out. “So, not only did Dad suffer, but Mia and Hector. All to protect your lies.”
“I wanted to protect you!”
“You think you protected me?”
“You think you’d be alive if it was out?” Mom asked me, hardening again. My parents had divorced when I was young and memories of Mom surrounded her marriage with Andrew, raising Stefan and a few clipped exchanges with Dad. Watching her now, in the midst of her illness, justifying her decisions with the same amount of fire that I fought against her with, I understood how she’d survived her life with Dad. “You should be thanking me. I tried my best to pull you away from that life, but you wouldn’t leave Charlie’s side. You’ll see. You’ll both understand when you’re parents. You’ll do whatever it takes to protect them.”
“Don’t you dare discuss our son. You have no right.”
“I have every right when you both took mine away from me!”
Mia looked as if she’d been slapped across the face. Stefan’s death had been a result of his misguided actions. Mom had granted us forgiveness, but forgiveness didn’t mean that you forgot.
“You have no right to sit on your high horse and look down at me, Lucas. You know as well as I do just how this life works. You do whatever you can to survive. You might not like it. You might hate me, but I did what was best and look at you now, thriving and about to start your own family.” My vision clouded with dark spots and the blood thundered so viciously in my ears than I thought the drums might burst. Mom continued, “I suggest you do us all a favor and let this lie. There’s nothing we can do about this. There’s no need to cause any more upset bringing it up.”
“Xavier’s not going to let this go,” Mia told her sharply, taking a step forward. “It’s not going to just go away, Maria. He’s threatened to kill me as soon as I’ve given birth because I know.”
