Dry air creeps into my throat. All perception terminates. An image of my parents chasing after me deafens my daughter’s cheerful giggles. Damn, this was why I never brought them up in the past. If my memories were a sequence of cardboard boxes, all of theirs should’ve gone to the crematory.
Unaware, Leith hooks an arm around a wiggling Mia. He grips my cheek with the other hand and kisses my puckered lips.
“My ace,” he calls me as our daughter postures vomiting induced by our actions.
“Kissing, yuck!” she exclaims.
“Chocolate all over your hair and mouth, Mia, yuck!” I groan, following them to her en suite bathroom.
“Play Disney music now!” Mia orders the smart system.
“Lower,” I call out. “Kid, just because it’s computerized doesn’t give you the right to exercise such a bossy tone.”
“Aw, Mommy!”
Wagging a finger, I reprimand, “Don’t make it a habit. Got that?”
Leith places our daughter into the center of her huge bathtub, then glances down at the smeared chocolate on his shirt. Tufts of dark blond hair stick straight up on the top of his head as he removes his shirt.
“Hen, I’m gonna go sweet talk Mrs. Mable about getting my car out the lot.” Before he leaves, my husband says, “Scrub the tiny hag—”
“Leith, I just asked our daughter to change her tone. You’re using words that—”
“That about sums it up.” He grabs my face, grazing his lips across mine. “Get bonny for me. And then I’ll take the two of ye to dinner.”
He’s out the door, and Mia returns to her giggling while climbing over the empty ledge. Chocolate smears along the white porcelain. Determined to clean it later, I turn the knobs until warm water is pooling into the tub.
“Oh, Mia. Why’re you laughing?” I cock an eyebrow, tossing the pineapple loofah into the tub as it fills with water.
“Daddy’s funny.”
“Mhmm, if you were aware of the meaning of ‘hag,’ you wouldn’t—”
“Means witch. I’m a witch.” She starts toward me, arms raised, chocolate-covered fingers stretched out like a zombie. Cackling, I help her out of her clothes and into the tub.
Despite my past, I wouldn’t change my present. Every kiss, every hug, even the arguments with Leith that my brain blows out of proportion, I’d keep them all. Because that just means my husband will fight with andforme.
Chapter 28
Leith
“So,ye’re saying my Audi R8 is no longer . . .” At the sound of Chevelle and Mia’s laughter floating near, I quicken my steps onto the balcony. I roar into the phone, “It’s an R8, worth almost two-hundredfeckin’thousand dollars! Where. Is. My. Car?”
“Sir, if you’re going to cuss—”
“Nae, I’m gonna sue.”But I’d prefer wrapping my fingers aroundyerfeckin’ throat and squeezing the life outtaye!
“Sue, my ass. The car was picked up about twenty minutes ago by someone from Infinity Corp. The man had a written document claiming the vehicle was company property. Take your matters up with them.”
The call goes dead. The blood in my veins is hotter than a fat wench’s titsafter a night of baddiddy-rides. I remember the day I took the car off the lot. Chevelle jokingly asked if I still loved her the same.Nobody but me paid for that ride.
Seething, I grip the dark blonde hair from the crown of my head. “What the bloodyfeck!?”
Alright, this is another tactic of thened, another show of hisbawsize! Silently, I calculate my next move. He’s operating under the guise that I’m totally in the dark. Although I haven’t searched for the yacht photo, I’m confident Jiang’s associate is the right lad. Initially, I’d wanted to hold that bit of knowledge for the next time thearseholetricked me into a mission.
But as I’ve said, we’re talking Hen Two, my Audi. I dinnafeckin’play with my rides. Striding through the house, I step into my office and go straight to the computer. I link my iPhone to my laptop to upload the screenshot I took of the refrigerator picture. In less than a minute, the mystery that’s plagued me for months has been solved.
Douglas Yates and I have one thing in common. We attended MIT, the same alma mater. Like manyeejitsof the time, he was expelled for racial statements made on Twitter. After which, Phelps, who had previously acknowledged Yates in public, must’ve become a silent partner with him. It seems Yates is a wee, disgruntledfecker.