“I may have waited until she left and followed her,” she says, like it’s no big deal.
“You’re unbelievable. Great job leveling up your mother of the year award.”
“Shut the fuck up, Ryker,” she shouts. We’ll have an entirely different situation on our hands if she doesn’t calm down. “I saw you leaving the club… together. Once I followed you home, it wasn’t hard to convince the doorman to let me up, seeing that my daughter is up here and so desperately needs her mother. Now where is she?”
“Mom?” My back straightens when I hear her sleepy voice.Fuck.“What are you doing here?”
“I could ask you the same thing,daughter. After Ryker came to see me, I suspected there might be more going on than he was telling me. I’d say you both just confirmed my suspicions.” Her voice becomes more shrill with every word as she pushes her way through the half open door.
“Christine. I’m going to need you to calm down. You will not speak to your daughter with anything but respect in my home.”
The look she shoots me is full of daggers.
“Respect? You really want to talk to me about respect?” Her eyes dart between me and Arabella as I move to stand between them. Every instinct I have is telling me to protect my girl at all costs. If we aren’t careful here, thiswillget worse. “Arabella, Ifucking knewyou were sleeping with him! Have you been in his bed this entire time, you little hussy?”
“Christine!” I shout. “That’s enough. I’m not a fucking pedophile. So no, nothing happened back when you and I were together. There weren’t even any inappropriate thoughts, not that we owe you any sort of explanation.”
My words hit me like a freight train, when I realize it’s only been a few months since we’ve reconnected. We didn’t lay out a specific timeframe, but we did agree to a few months. I’ve been so swept up in all of this, I’ve been living my life like I can keep her.
Like it’s inevitable.
Like this wasn’t a temporary arrangement.
I’ve never stopped to ask her if she even wants me.
“That may be true, but I always knew she wanted you. I saw the way she looked at you, even back then.” Her face screws up into an expression I don’t recognize, until I see them. She’s trying to force tears out. Fucking seriously? She doesn’t know when to quit. “Arabella, I never wanted to believe you would actually do this to me. You keep saying you love me. If this is how you show you love someone, I failed you as a mother.”
“Mom, please. No,” Arabella begs as she sidesteps past me to get to her mother. “I do love you. You didn’t fail me, I promise.”
Looking at Arabella, I silently will her to stand her ground.Don’t let her railroad you. You’re stronger than this.
Turning to me, she asks, “You went to see my Mom? What for?”
“Go ahead, Ryker. Tell her,” Christine jabs but doesn’t wait for me to answer. “Nevermind, I’ll tell her. He came to threaten your dear old mother. Seems to think he has a right to get into our family business.”
“Is that true?” she asks with a hint of concern in her voice. Shit. Her mother’s manipulation is starting to work its magic. I’m going to lose her. Unless–
“It’s true. She’s been hurting what’s mine. I’m just sorry it took me this long to do it.”
Her brows pinch together as she regards me silently. “All this time, you’ve talked about the importance of trust. Did you not trust me enough to handle this on my own?”
“Of course I did, but there are things you don’t know.” I turn to face her mother. “Tell her. Now. Or I will.”
I watch her face closely as she stares back at me, clearly trying to decide how to play this. What she doesn’t know is that Axel and I have been digging into her finances, and found she’s takenoutfiveadditional loans over the past four years, in Arabella’s name, using her social security number. It also looks like she’s been gambling away most of the funds, aside from a few large purchases, and barely maintaining her daily expenses.
The medical shit is an entirely more fucked up, if that’s possible, issue. Axel was able to find large payments to more than one physician, and after deep diving in places I’m not sure I care to know he was looking, found out she’s been paying them off to lie about hercondition.
“There’s nothing to tell,” she challenges, maintaining eye contact. “Arabella, he’s trying to control you.”
We’re locked in a battle of wills as I hold her gaze. She’s used to people backing down, but I’m stronger than that. I refuse to give up, for my girl. “Ask her about the money, Arabella. And the doctors.”
“Tell Ryker how much you and I love each other and there are no secrets between us, Arabella.”
This is going to sting, but I need to push harder. Give up more information, because Christine is not going to budge. “Tell her about the other loans you took out in her name and the doctors you bribed to corroborate your fucked up plan to manipulate your daughter’s every move.”
“You’re lying. She knows I’d never do such things.”
We’re at a standstill, eyes locked. In my periphery, I can see Arabella shift her eyes between me and her mother. An invisible string pulling her in two different directions.
