I squeeze her hand a little tighter, guilt lashing at my insides that I can’t argue with her.
“I’ve made a lot of mistakes, Emmie. Mistakes that I don’t deserve forgiveness for. The things you’ve seen, the things I’ve put on you, none of them are—”
“It’s done, Mum. There’s nothing you can do to change any of that now.”
“No, I guess you’re right,” she says sadly.
“But I do need to know everything about how we ended up here.” I don’t bring up my sham marriage—not yet, anyway. I want to know if Theo really is telling the truth about her not being involved. And if she is, I want to hear it from her.
“Things got bad. Really bad, Em. More than you could see. So I did the only thing I could.”
Dropping my head into my hands, I guess the answer. “You went to Damien Cirillo.”
“I didn’t have a choice, baby.”
My spine stiffens, my face hardening as my frustration and anger at this whole bullshit situation consumes me. “There’s always a choice, Mum. Always.”
“I needed money. I needed to keep a roof over your head. I—”
“Didn’t have to start dealing for fucking Damien, Mum,” I spit. “That was the last thing you needed to do.”
“I couldn’t see any other way.”
Pushing to my feet, my chair clatters to the floor behind me. “Well, how could you?” I shout. “You’d have been too drunk or high to even see out of the fucking room.”
Before I’ve even finished, the door to the hospital room flies open, crashing back against the wall, and in a heartbeat, Theo is there, his eyes wide as he stares at me clearly teetering on the edge of my sanity.
“Em, are you okay?” he asks, his voice low, his eyes locked on me.
“Oh, just fucking great.” I throw my hands up in frustration.
Turning my attention back to Mum, I narrow my eyes at her. “Why were you locked up in Damien’s prison, Mum?” I seethe.
Her eyes flick between me and Theo, who’s moved to stand behind me almost protectively—something I’m trying really hard not to acknowledge or accept.
“Y-you need to stay away from him, baby. He’s—”
“No offense, Cora,” Theo says, beating me to it. “But while you’re keeping this many secrets from your daughter, putting her in danger, I don’t think your demands hold any weight.
“Emmie is smart. Smarter than you. She can make her own decisions about who she spends time with.”
I just about manage to restrain my reaction to that comment, seeing as the fucking prick is treating me like a fucking prisoner just like Mum was—only I’ve been lucky enough to have a much more luxurious cell.
All the biting remarks that threaten to blurt from my mouth instantly vanish when he ducks down and presses his lips to the side of my neck.
A violent wave of desire washes through me, and my eyes flutter closed for a beat.
“Emmie, can’t you see what he’s doing?” Mum snaps, although her exhaustion means there’s not much bite to it.
I stare at her, holding my head high.
“Oh yeah, I can see exactly what he’s doing. Theo and I might not agree on some things, but what he just said was true.” I don’t clarify, and from the way her face drops, I don’t think she needs me to either. “I think we should probably leave you to get some rest.”
“Em, please—”
“I’ll be back, Mum. I suggest you get your answers ready, because I want to know everything.”
“Baby, please,” she begs. “Please don’t leave with him. He’ll hurt you.”