“Cut the shit,” I said, my voice slowly rising in volume. I have no tolerance for her games right now. “You and I both know how things went down that night and why. You need to knock off the fucking guilt trips. She’s your goddamn daughter.”
Her mask lifts at my admonishment and suddenly, the Christine I remember is standing before me in all her fucked up glory. “I saw the way she looked at you. Like she was storing your image away in her brain so she could get off to thoughts of you. You weremine,”she shrieks.
“Were you seriously jealous of aseventeenyear old girl just looking at me? Do you hear how psychotic you sound?”
She closes the space between us and places her gaunt hand on my chest. “Why are you really here, Ryker? Surely, not to talk about my slut of a daughter.”
Every ounce of blood in my veins seethes at her words and the insinuation I’m actually here forher. Knocking her hand away, I step back, adding as much distance between us as I possibly can.
I have to tread lightly here.
If I say too much, she’ll know exactly why I’m defending her daughter and the last thing I want is to add more fuel to the fire.
“Arabella works for me.”Not a lie. “She showed up to work one day in tears after being with you and when I questioned her, she told me you still blame her for our breakup. She ended up leaving early. Why I’m here doesn’t even matter anymore. When we were together, I cared about your kids. I still do, but I can’t have you fucking with my staff like this. Need you to lay the fuck off of her. No more. It’s done.”
Her brows pull together in confusion, but she doesn’t respond to my demand. It’s strange, because silence was never in her vocabulary. She always had more words than necessary for every situation. Eventually, she gives me a slight nod.
“No one’s forcing her to spend time with me, Ryker. I’m her mother and that’s a bond that supersedes every other.” Is she fucking serious? If she thinks I’m going to fall for her bullshit, she has another thing coming.
Then something catches my eye in the corner of the room and pieces start coming together. Unfortunately, she catches my eyes and shifts to stand in front of me.
“What’s all that in the corner, Christine?” I don’t need her to tell me, but I am curious which route she’s about to take.
“I don’t know what you mean, Ryker.” Ok, she’s playing dumb.
“Are you telling me, you don’t know there’s a neck brace adorning the corner of your living room floor? Now that I think about it, you never used to curl your hair, unless you were going somewhere. Whereareyou going?” The neck brace is on the floor, discarded like trash, while her nice coat and high heels are waiting for her neatly on the couch. She’s definitely going somewhere.
She scoffs. “Ryker, how dare you.”
“Don’t even think about trying to convince me you’re not going out to do god knows what, when you have your daughter convinced you aren’t allowed to drive due to all yourmedicalissues.” I pause, giving her a moment to challenge me, but she doesn’t. “Looks like your neck is feeling better, conveniently.”
A hint of fear washes over her face for the briefest of moments. She doesn’t usually show any, but maybe I’ve cracked her armor.
“It was just a temporary neck thing,” she stiffens. “Not wearing it anymore, means nothing.”
She’s full of shit and she knows it. “You and I both know better, Christine. I’ll give you one chance to tell her the truth, or I will. And if I get wind of any more issues, I’ll see to it that you never see your daughter again.”
53
Arabella
Ryker walked back into the club hours ago. He went straight to his office, and has been there ever since. We have an hour left until close and all I want to do is go to him and make sure he’s alright. But I don’t. He clearly needs space and I want to respect that. Except… What if he wants me to go up there?
My uncertainty is interrupted by a flash of hot pink across the room.Wrinley?
Setting my tray down, I push my way through the crowd. “Wrin? What are you doing here?”
“Hey Ari,” she shouts over the music, while attacking me with a tight hug. “I’m a legit member now. No more guest pass for this bitch.”
“How did you afford this? I happen to know that Gravity memberships are both exclusiveandnot in your budget.” What is going on with her lately? We text almost every day, and I’ve been a little occupied, but I should know this stuff. “And why is this the first time I’m hearing about it?”
Before I can interrogate her further, I see him out of the corner of my eye. The anxiety I’d been feeling is gone the moment he touches me. He’s Xanax, in human form.
“Oh, hey CP,” Wrinley says with an exaggerated eye waggle.
Ryker stares at her for a moment and I can’t tell if he’s amused or irritated.
“CP?”
