“He’s lying, Tobias. We asked him to stop her from—well—you know.”
“Did I set a price?” Maddox asked mildly.“Did you pay me? Has Stella ever set foot in my office?”
I stabbed one of the green beans. It wasn’t very green.
More… greenish-grey.
“I think you’ll find the answer is no,” Maddox continued smoothly.“And I didn’t break any law or code of conduct.”
“She is a child.”
“At twenty-three?” Maddox chuckled.
“Grace—” my father began.
But my mother cut him off.
“Don’t, Tobias. You know the trouble she caused. I thought he could cure her.”
A dull headache began to throb behind my eyes.
I dropped my fork.
“Mother,” I said calmly,“I am shacking up with Maddox and loving it. This isn’t a short-term relationship. Why, we were just discussing our children earlier.”
I smiled politely.
“Children?” my mother screamed, pushing back from the table.
“Grace—”
“I will not be a grandmother!” she wailed, beginning to cry.
“Not with this cooking, you won’t,” Maddox added lazily, tossing fuel straight onto the fire.
I forced the growing lump in my throat back down.
Yes, I’d screwed up plenty in my life.
But with her it was never about me.
It was always about her.
How I embarrassed her.
What her friends would think.
How it might damage my father’s reputation.
She had buried me under guilt and shame for years.
“I don’t want her anywhere near me or my family,” I said quietly to Maddox.“Sorry, Dad.”
He would always take her side.
“Thank you for the sub-par dinner, Mrs Byron. Your party catering was far superior,” Maddox drawled as he stood and offered me his hand.
“I’ll report you,” my mother spat.
