I swallow, emotion making my chest tight. “Did you like meeting your daddy, hmm?Thatwas a trip, huh? I didn’t see that coming. You would’ve been proud of mommy, you perfect little angel. Everyone in that place was too scared to bid against him, but not me.”
Once he’s settled, I go into the living room and put my feet up, calling Mom. I’ve always been close with my mother, able to talk to her about anything. In high school, when my friends were complaining about their parents, I always counted myself lucky, blessed even, to not be able to relate to them.
“Hey, sorry for calling so late,” I say.
“Don’t be silly,” she replies.
“How was your anniversary date?”
“Wonderful. Just… sublime. Your father is sleeping it off, but I’m still too wired. How was the auction?”
“Interesting,” I murmur.
“I know that tone,” she says warmly. “Something happened.”
“A lot happened. I’m not sure you’ll believe it.”
“Try me.”
So I do. I start by seeing Rafael in the auction hall, then move on to outbidding him, then I tell her how he held Theo in the backroom. “Theo stopped crying straight away, Mom. I tried to play it off like it was no big deal.”
“But it meant a lot to you.”
I sigh. “Yeah.”
“You don’t have to sound guilty about it. He’s Theo’s father. Ofcourseit meant a lot.”
“Why do I sense abutcoming?”
“Well, you said he gave you a fake name. And he fed you some line about thinking you weredead? And who even is he, Ava? What does he do for work? Is he a full-time art dealer, or is that some sideline?”
I swallow, wondering if I should mention the mob rumors. But this is complicated enough without adding that onto the pile. If I tell her that, she might tell me to run as far away from him as I can possibly get…
And maybe that’s what Ishouldwant, but I’m not sure it is.
“I don’t know,” I murmur.
“You need answers,” Mom says. “And even with answers, it’s not like you have any obligation to let him into yours or Theo’s life. Frankly, I’m not even sure what he thinks he’s talking about. He thought you weredead? How would he get that information? Why would he believe it?”
Mom’s getting herself worked up, her voice rising, tone growing bitter.
For an insane second, I almost jump in and start defending him… the man who gave me a fake name, the man who screwed me then disappeared.
Maybe it’s my fault for being such a deep sleeper…
“It reeks of an older man who thinks he can feed you any silly lie and expect you to swallow it. No, no,no, Ava, you need to be careful here.”
“I know you’re right,” I murmur.
“Ava—”
“I said I know,” I cut in. “Seriously. I’m not going to do anything silly.”
“One of the most beautiful things about you is your optimism. It always has been. But that can be a negative too, if you let it.”
“I know, Mom.”
After a pause, she says, “Wait a second, why was Theo even at the auction?”
