“I’m good. What are you really doing here, Emmanuel?”
“I’m not discussing business with you, Ma.” I pivot to face her again. “You know that’s not how this works.”
“Okay then, why are you avoiding me?” she presses.
I shrug. “I’m not. I’ve just been busy.”
“You are never too busy for your mother,” she says, lowering herself down on one of the sofas.
I don’t bother arguing with her. She will just keep talking in circles. “How’ve you been?”
I haven’t seen her much. Not since my father’s death and the release of the confinement that he kept her in. She’s been making the most of her newfound freedom. Traveling and doing fuck knows what else.
When I get a notification on my phone from my bank, it takes everything in me not to react.She didn’t… Yes, she did.
Evie fucking transferred the entire twenty-five million dollars back to me. How the hell did she manage to get that done so fast?
“Give me a sec,” I tell my mother, putting my phone to my ear and walking out of the living room as I wait for the call to connect to my banker.
“Mr. Lopez, what can I do for you?” Grant asks.
“I need fifty million transferred into Evie Carter’s account immediately. If she returns it again, I want you to double the sum and resend it back,” I instruct. “As many times as it takes.”
“Ah. Sure. Okay, I can do that,” Grant says. “You want me to call you or just make the transactions?”
“Just make the transactions,” I tell him before cutting the call. When I walk back into the living room, I find my mother exactly where I left her. “Can we do this another time? I really do have other things I need to do.”
“You know, I heard a rumor that you had a girl hanging around,” she says, rising to her feet. “I would hope that you’re not pushing me out of your house for a woman, Emmanuel.”
“Where’d you hear that?”
“Around.” She shrugs. “Is it true?”
Before I can answer, I hear Evie’s shriek coming down the stairs. “Seriously, E, this is insane even for you!”
My mother’s eyes widen and she’s immediately heading towards the foyer, where all the commotion is coming from.
“Where are you?” Evie yells out.
“Right here,” I tell her.
Evie spins towards me. Her mouth opens and then closes when she notices I’m not alone. “Oh, I thought… I didn’t know you had visitors. Sorry.” She glances between me and my mother.
“This is my mother,” I explain, taking a few short steps towards Evie.
“Oh, hi. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Her features all fall into place as she gives that well-practiced, polite smile she has down pat.
“You’re supposed to be dead,” my mother says, her face pale.
My head snaps towards her. “What did you say?” I ask her in Spanish.
“She was supposed to die,” my mother replies in English.
“What?” Evie looks to me.
I keep my expression neutral as I turn to face her. I do not need her to know just how unhinged I feel right now. “Evie, can you go wait for me upstairs? I’m going to see my mother out.”
The sound of a gun cocking has me peering over a shoulder to find my mother aiming a barrel at my girlfriend. Without a second thought, I have my own pistol trained on my mother.
