She bowed her head and let out a sigh. It was the first time I'd seen her vulnerable.
"It's, uh…" Her voice trailed off. I couldn't help noticing her hands were shaking. It didn't escape Nate's notice either.
"You can confide in us, Caroline," Nate assured her. "It won't go any further."
"The person I've been seeing"— She paused to take a breath—"The woman is Diana de Luca."
Nate gasped in shock. I scowled, irritated by his reaction. "What does it matter if my mother is seeing a woman?"
"It doesn't." Nate sent me a scolding glance as if I should have known he wouldn't care about that. "It's who the woman is."
I was lost. The name meant nothing to me. I waited for someone to fill me in.
"Diana de Luca is the wife of the very dangerous, notoriously possessive head of the mafia in L.A."
My eyes widened. That was the last thing I expected. "How did you meet this woman?"
"At a fundraiser," my mother replied. "Your father refused to accompany me, and her husband was away on business. We talked over dinner, and one thing led to another."
I shook my head in disbelief. "And Garrett found out about this?"
"He has photographs of us together."
Something about this didn't make sense to me. "You said he'd been blackmailing you for two years, but he's been pursuing me for at least three, with your encouragement I might add."
My mother breathed in deeply. "Yes, I'm not proud of it, but at first, I championed Garrett because I thought he was the sort of man you should be with."
"Unbelievable." I got up and crossed to the window. "So what happens now?"
"Garrett knows Nate has someone looking into him. He says if you expose him, he'll send the photos to Damon de Luca."
"So you want us to drop our investigation?" Nate asked. "Because that's not happening. We've uncovered several serious accusations against him that he needs to answer for."
"Yes." My mother clasped her hands on her lap. "I suspected there would be."
"We can't let his crimes go unanswered." The thought that Garrett might get away with all the terrible things he'd done to women didn't sit well with me.
"And I don't want you to." My mother got up and came to join me at the window. "Garrett Kane is a stain on society, and you need to bring him down."
I swallowed hard. "But what will happen to you?"
"I've spoken to Diana. She's confident Damon won't hurt her or me. He won't want his men finding out about us. Apparently it will diminish his status if they think he can't satisfy his wife." She rolled her eyes. "Some mafia bullshit about manliness."
I almost laughed, stunned at hearing my mother swear for the first time. This whole thing had caught me off guard, and I had no idea what to do with it.
"So we can press ahead with our plans for Kane?" Nate checked.
My mother turned to him, her mouth set in a tight, determined line. "Yes. Make sure he suffers."
"We will," Nate assured her. "And we'll do everything we can to bury whatever evidence he has of your affair."
"Thank you." She leaned in to kiss my cheek. "You look happy, Juliet. Don't let anything get in the way of that."
She turned to Nate. "Take care of my daughter." She crossed the room and patted his cheek with something close to affection. "I'll see myself out."
When she left, Nate held his arms out, and I walked into them. He hugged me tight.
"Everything will be all right," he assured me. "I won't let anything happen to your mom."
