Gingerly, Jewell reached out to take her mother’s hand. At first, her mother remained stiff under her touch. Then she gradually turned hers to hold her loosely. It wasn’t much, but it was a start.
“Mom, let me tell you about this woman I know, which I hate to admit it, but she did help me,” Jewell admitted wryly. “Her name is Mag …”
Jewell sat in the lobby, seeing her father come in through the door. She stood up, making sure he saw her. Lifting her chin up, she faced down her father as he strode briskly toward her.
“Go away. Neither your mother nor I want you here. If you try to see your mother, I’ll call security and have you removed.”
“Shut up.”
Her father’s jaw dropped. She had never talked to him disrespectfully, despite many of the arguments they had shared.
“For once, you’re going to listen to me. And if you don’t, make no mistake, I won’t be the one security will be removing.”
Her father closed his mouth, giving her a death glare.
Jewell didn’t give a fuck. She had ceased caring about her father long before.
“I talked to Mom, and while you might not care, she’s willing to die to get away from being married to you for another second. I, on the other hand, do care.” Jewell reached into her pocket and removed a check, giving it to him. “There’s enough money that you can live anywhere you want, do anything you want to do … without Mom. You’ve nearly sucked all the life out of her. What’s left, I’ll take care of. And I can guarantee I’ll do a better job than you have done.”
Her father snatched the check out of her hand, starting to make the motion of ripping it apart.
“I wouldn’t,” Jewell cautioned him. “I won’t write another one.”
“Good. I don’t want—”
“In the morning, Mom will be calling the insurance company to change the beneficiary, so if you’re waiting for that payoff, you’ll be waiting in vain. Not only won’t you be the beneficiary, but Mom won’t be dying anytime soon. I’m going to donate my kidney. Regardless of what you want, the surgery is going to happen. So will her moving to Treepoint, where I live. I’m going to buy a house for her to live in so I can see her anytime I want.”
“We’ll see about that.” Her father’s face had turned an ugly shade of red. Jewell couldn’t believe this was the man whom she had once hero-worshiped.
“Yes, we will. You see, Dylan … you have constantly underestimated me. You think I’m weak like Mom. You couldn’t be more wrong. I take after you. Despite me having to admit that disgusts me, it’s true.” Jewell nodded at the check he was still holding. “Call Shenia. You don’t have to sneak around anymore. Take her on a vacation.”
“How do you know about—”
“You’ve never given me enough credit,” Jewell told him snidely. “Why do you think I refused to work for you? I couldn’t stomach watching you cheat on Mom anymore. I have to give Shenia credit, though; she lasted longer than your other whores,” Jewell said distastefully.
Her father clenched his hand into a fist. “That’s a joke coming from you. How many men have you played whore for? Twenty? Thirty? You don’t think I know about The Last Riders? How many times have you spread your legs for them?”
“More times than I can count,” Jewell admitted. “And I don’t regret a single time I was with them. They didn’t have a dime to their name, and yet they made sure I would never want for anything, regardless of whether I let them touch me or not. Even if I left the club, I knew I could call them and they would have my back in a second, without wanting anything in return. The difference between them and you is that I have free will to do anything I want to do, while you expect me to submit to your every command, and when I wouldn’t, you pretended I never existed.”
“Are you going to leave on your own or—”
“I’m not leaving.” Jewell stubbornly refused to back down. “Before you make an ass of yourself, I suggest you go upstairs and talk to Mom.”
“I don’t care what she wants—”
“Isn’t that the truth?” Jewell mock laughed. “Don’t make me—”
“Or what?” Her father didn’t let her finish her sentence. “Did you bring those lowlifes with you to threaten me?”
“No, I don’t need a man to come save the day. I can do that all by myself.” Jewell put her hand in her pocket, rolling her eyes when she saw him go pale. Taking out her cell phone, she showed him the number she had pulled up. “Don’t worry; it’s not a gun. You’re not worth me spending time in jail. On the other hand, I don’t think Shenia’s husband will have the same hesitation. Next time you have an affair, you should really be more careful about finding out more about their husbands. Her husband has had several felony arrests for assaults. One is permanently paralyzed on his left side.” Jewell tsked him as if she was scolding a child. “In my vast experience of men, you’re more of a lover than a fighter. Am I right?”