Pulling up, all looked calm, but she knew her mother. Sophia recognized the woman as a viper in swans’ clothing. Elegant and beautiful on the outside, venomous and malicious on the inside.
Slowly exiting the car, she followed behind Lennox as he pulled the front door open. And that’s when they heard it.
“You’re so cute, I bet you know how to show a girl a good time.” If she were hitting on the guys, that meant they hadn’t given her what she wanted. Which meant next stage was pure rage.
“Rebecca!” Nox snapped. His repulsion for the woman couldn’t be masked.
“Lennox,” she hissed. Clearly angry with the man.
“You need to leave,” he told her while Sophia hid off to the side.
“My daughter needs to come home,” she bit back.
“Why?” Sophia spoke before thinking it through. When her mother’s cold gaze swung to her, she fought every instinct she could to not shrink away.
“Because,” the older woman walked closer to her, forcing Soph to back up in an effort to create distance between them, “you belong at home.” Lennox had grabbed Rebecca’s arm before she reached Sophia.
“You don’t even like me, why would I come home?”
“You belong to me.” Her words were low and venomous, reminding her of the viper she’d always compared the woman to.
“I don’t…” she struggled to defend herself. “I don’t belong to anyone.”
Looking into her mother’s eyes, the crazy light in them had her worried. The sounds she began making as she fought to get out of Lennox’s hold made her cringe. They were inhuman. Malevolent almost.
“I raised you; I brought you into this world. I can damn well take you out, you stupid girl!” She was sure the woman’s screams and accusations could be heard across the state.
“Why?” She shouted back, tired of being the whipping girl in her mother’s tirades. “You hate me so much, why keep me? Why not have given me away or killed me all those times we were alone?” Saying the words annihilated a part of her soul. “You keep calling me stupid. All my life it’s been, Stupid Sophia! Stupid, stupid, stupid!” Breath left Sophia’s body in erratic spurts as she fought back for the first time in her life. “Well, fuck you! You’re the stupid one! You can’t see a good thing right in front of your face. You can’t get past your own vanity to see anything but greed.” Walking closer, Sophia leaned into the woman, so they were nearly nose to nose. “Get out and don’t ever come back.” Her words were whispered but no less impactful than when she was shouting.
Ears ringing as her temper faded, she barely noticed Asher and Mac escorting the woman out the front doors. Lennox’s arms wrapped around her, and the tension left her body in a rush.
“I think I need to sit down,” she muttered into his chest.
Picking her up, he took her to his office and sat her on the couch. When she started hyperventilating, he forced her head between her legs. Rubbing soothing circles on her back, he encouraged with, “Slow breaths, Soph.”
“Joey!” She cringed at his call.
“Yeah, boss?” Was it her, or was everyone yelling?
“Stop yelling,” she cried as tears rolled down her face.
Am I having a panic attack? she idly wondered.
“No one’s yelling, baby.” Nox mumbled in her ear, laying a light kiss on her cheek.
“Crap,” she muttered.
She still had a hard time believing she stood up to her mother. The woman had been a menacing force her entire life. She’d never been able to fight back against the insults. She’d taken it, rolled over and played dead her whole life.
Standing up for herself was…freeing.
Exhilarating.
Cathartic.
Terrifying.
What if that woman was behind the threats against her? What if she upped her game and came after Sophia with more than threats?