“We missed you too, Mom. Sorry about Pop,” Axel says. Our mother is the only person other than Rosie that he’s never a grumpy fuck to.
She pats his cheek affectionately. “Thank you. I just wish you boys got to see him one last time before he passed.”
We spend the day reliving old memories, enjoying the time we’ve missed together.
“So, how is my beautiful granddaughter doing?” my mother asks as she sets a plate of homemade spaghetti in front of me and takes a seat next to me at the dining room table.
“She's doing good,” I say, not wanting to bring up anything upsetting at the supper table.
“Who is she staying with while you're here? Her mother?” my Aunt Linda, Neo’s mom, says, giving me a stink face at the thought of the ratchet woman.
“Actually, she is no longer in our lives,” Neo says, and I narrow my eyes at him. He just smirks and shrugs. “It’s true.”
“She just gave you full custody? After years of extorting money out of you?” my Aunt Rachel, Dean's mother, asks.
“Nope,” Neo says. “She’s dead.” He just tosses out that little nugget of information like it's nothing.
“What!” my mother asks me, her eyes wide. “Since when?”
“A few months now,” Neo answers for me.
“How?” Linda asks.
“Queenie,” Neo says with a proud grin.
“Wait... Why does that name sound familiar?” Rachel asks.
“Because she rules Kingston Heights,” Dean mutters into his third glass of bourbon.
All three women's eyes go wide as everything clicks.
“I mean, I know Briana was a witch, but I thought Queenie only killed men. What did Briana do that would make her feel the need to kill her?” my mother asks, and my eyes darken.
“She doesn't just kill men for no reason, Madison,” Linda says to my mother. “She kills those vile wastes of space that have no right to even exist in the first place.” The venom in Linda's voice makes me wonder if this is where Neo got some of his crazy from.
“But again, why Briana?” my mom repeats.
I say nothing, avoiding her eyes, and the table goes quiet. “Cassius, what did that woman do? Did she hurt my grandbaby?” she gasps.
“Look, it's done and over with. She’s dead. Rosie is safe. Nothing bad will ever happen to Rosie again. Harlow will see to it.”
The look on my mother’s face makes me want to pull her into my arms and hug her. She doesn't say anything more, just wipes a tear from her eye and pats my hand that's resting on the table.
“Harlow?” Rachel asks. “Wait... Harlow? As in the girl you were all head over heels for as teenagers?”
“What do you mean? She was Cassius's girlfriend,” my mom says.
The three of them bicker about Harlow and who she was to each of us. Neo watches with a grin, waiting for one of them to catch on.
“What the hell does Harlow have to do with what Queenie did?” Linda asks.
“Because Harlow is Queenie,” Neo smirks.
“What?!” they all shriek at the same time.
I’m gonna fucking kill that fucker. Harlow is gonna decapitate us when she finds out we’re just giving her identity away.
“Yup.” He puffs out his chest.