She turned at the door to look at me one more time, and I saw through the mask she had been wearing. I saw just how sick she was. Her time was nearly up, and she had used most of her energy to test me to ensure her grandson had people who loved him to be there for him once she was finally gone. “Don’t tell him I was here. It will make things so much easier.”
“Mrs. Mathias!” But she was already walking away again, and I was too stunned to follow after her.
Chapter 24
Cash
Seeing Amara’s name on my phone, I grabbed it off the arm of my couch. “Hey, Dreamer. I was thinking Thai for dinner. Are you and the baby up for that?”
The charged hesitation on her end had me sitting up straighter on the couch. I didn’t know what was wrong, but in my gut, I knew she was hurting. Then she sobbed brokenly, and I jerked to my feet, already heading for the door. A replay of finding her in the coffee shop the day her dad died crashed through my head, and all I wanted to do was get to her. Now. “Cash, y-your grandmother was just here.”
Anger began to boil in me as I punched the call button for the elevators. Fucking Gigi. She couldn’t get me to answer her calls or texts, so she went to my weak spot. Figures. I should have seen it coming. “What? Baby, I’m sorry. I’ll deal with her. She won’t bother you again, I promise.”
“No!” she cried, cutting me off. “Cash, you have to talk to her. Find her and talk to her.”
“What? Why? If she’s upset you, I don’t want anything to do with her.” I punched the button for the garage, glad the elevator was empty as I made the ride down to my car. My damn family was always trying to ruin everything good in my life, it seemed. Not for the first time, it was thrown in my face that I was better off without them in my life.
“Because she loves you, and I think you two should talk. Please.”
“Amara,” I warned, but yet again, she cut me off.
“For me. Do it for me, babe. Just find her.”
Clenching my jaw, I unlocked my car and got in. Fuck. She knew exactly what to say to get me to shut up and do what she wanted. There wasn’t anything I wouldn’t do for her. “Okay, fine. I’ll call you after I’ve seen her.”
“Thank you,” she whispered. “And, Cash?”
“Dreamer?”
“I love you,” she breathed before hanging up.
Gritting my teeth, I turned the car in the direction of the hotel where I figured my grandmother was most likely to be staying. She was a creature of habit and comfort, so there were only a few that I knew she would step foot in. Turning my car over to the valet, I jogged inside and with surprisingly little effort charmed the receptionist into telling me which room Gigi was staying in. Minutes later, I stepped off onto her floor and pounded on her door.
I could hear footsteps on the other side, but there was a pause before the door opened. There wasn’t a single flicker of surprise on her face when she met my gaze. The oxygen tubes in her nose fluttered as she inhaled deeply then stepped back. “I told her not to tell you,” she muttered in a petulant voice as I walked into the room.
“That’s the funny thing about loving someone. You tell them things that have the potential to hurt them.” She flinched at my words and shut the door. “What the fuck are you doing here, Gigi?”
Her eyes frosted over at my language, but she didn’t call me out on it as she normally would have. Which should have told me then and there that something was wrong. “I needed to make sure your Amara was strong enough to love you and deserving enough of your love in return.”
My brows lifted. “And?” But I already knew the answers. No one deserved my love more than Amara. No one could ever love me like she did. She was my heart, my soul, and I wasn’t going to let anyone touch that. Least of all Gigi.
“And I can die in peace knowing you have someone who will have your back through thick and thin.” She gave me a grim smile. “I’m glad you found her, Cash. I hope the two of you will be happy.”
“The three of us,” I corrected her. “We’re having a daughter.”
She folded her hands in front of her. “I saw the ultrasound photo. Congratulations.” Then she cut straight to the chase, becoming the same old lady I remembered through every step of my younger years. “When will you be marrying Amara? My great-grandchild needs the Mathias name.”
“That’s not happening.”
The frost in her eyes got colder. “You’re not planning on marrying this girl? What the hell, boy? I thought you loved her.”
“I do love her, and I have every intention of marrying her. But any kids we have won’t have the Mathias last name. It will be Graves.”
“And when do you expect that to happen?” she demanded, looking put out, but not arguing for once.
“Soon,” I assured her. “That is, if she’s still willing to be with me after having you barge into her life and treat her like shit.”
“I see she’s been telling stories,” Doris Mathias grumbled.