A sigh escaped from deep in my chest. I took a deep breath before continuing. “Gabe is going to be fine, Mom. He’s a big boy, and he can handle the repercussions of his actions.”
She scoffed — I could see her in my mind, throwing her hands up in the air with indignation. “He was not fine whenhe called me, Kiera. The poor boy wascrying, worried sick that something happened to you.”
I rolled my eyes. “If Gabe was worried about me, he wouldn’t have laid hands on me at the bar. He wouldn’t?—”
“How is he supposed to apologize if you won’t even tell him where you are?”
“He doesn’t need to know where I am — and he doesn’t need to apologize either. We’re done.”
The words felt great coming out of my mouth. But my mother could sour anything with a simple click of her tongue. “Oh Kiera, don’t be ridiculous. You’re lucky that someone like Gabe even wants to be with you. You certainly don’t try hard enough to warrant all this fuss.”
“Frankly, mother, neither does he. Gabe isn’t the angel you think he is. He treats me like utter shit.”
“Sometimes, getting treated like shit is worth it for the stability. Did you ever consider that, Kiera?”
It always came back to this with her. She would happily turn the other cheek if the hand that slapped her was wearing a Rolex. I don’t know why I expected her to feel differently — to think I deserved better.
Silence only buzzed over the line for a second before the anxiety started bubbling from Maura’s lips again. “Just tell me where you are. I won’t tell him.”
Liar.
I pursed my lips. “I’m staying with a friend.”
“Which friend?”
“You don’t know her.”
A part of me was worried — I was locked up in this strange old mansion with three complete strangers, and not a soul knew where I was. They could do anything to me — kill me, make me disappear. Anything.
And given Dom’s clear hatred for me, it wouldn’t be a total shock if she wanted me dead.
But it was also freeing, for once, to escape the constant surveillance. And these “strangers” had made me feel safer in thirty-six hours than I’d ever felt with my mother or Gabe.
“Fine, Kiera. Sue me for caring. But don’t come crying to me when you blow this. I tried to warn you.”
My teeth clenched as I swallowed down a bitchy comment. She just wanted to bait me back into the argument, but I wasn’t having it. “Is there anything else?”
“Well yes, there is.” She cleared her throat on the other end of the line. “We still need to set a date for a girl’s catch-up.”
I groaned, not bothering to hide my irritation anymore. “Why can’t we just catch up now?”
Another tongue click. “Because, Kiera. I want to talk to you about some things in person. Is that so bad? A mother wanting to spend time with her daughter?”
I raised an eyebrow. “And this has nothing to do with the new guy you’re seeing?”
A pause. “I just think it’s better if we talk about him in person. He’s really great, Kiera. I think you’ll like him, if you can have an open-mind?—”
Not happening.“I have to go, mom.”
“But—”
“Sorry, I’ll talk to you soon.” I hung up the call before she could get a word in edgewise.
She always had a new guy hanging around, and he was always just a different version of the same man — rude, entitled, and dripping in designer.
If she wanted to waste away her life jockeying for some rich dude’s table scraps, it was her prerogative. But I would never understand why she insisted on me meeting all of them.
Tossing the phone across the bed, I flopped back on the mattress and took a deep breath in. My heart was racing — something my mother was great at inducing in me — but I didn’t need to let her derail the rest of my day.
