Months later and I was back at Hill residence, facing the very woman I’d threatened before stealing her daughter away.
Gone was the carefully composed Mayor Hill. Her posture was sagged like a wilted English rose and her face bore a fine threading of wrinkles. Her blond bob wasn’t coiffed to perfection. Her pantsuit was unpressed. And her face was devoid of any makeup as she sat in her office chair.
The last few months hadn’t been kind to her and I almost felt bad.
Losing Darla had impacted her immensely, but she was too stubborn to admit it.
“Is the whiskey to your liking?”
“It is.” I took a sip just to prove it. “Thank you.”
Diane Hill faked bravado she did not feel. “Let’s cut to the chase, Zeno. Tell me why you’re here.”
“Can’t a man come visit his mother-in-law?”
“You haven’t acted like a son-in-law prior to this. Excuse me if I’m on the fence about your visit, considering the last one didn’t go very well.”
That was putting it mildly.
“Fair enough.” I downed the whiskey and placed the glass on her desk. “I’m here to extend a truce.”
She scoffed. “That’s why you’re here?”
“I did say so, did I not?” I crossed my right ankle over my left knee and reclined in my chair. “I want to apologize for blazing in here all those months ago and threatening you with that file. It was wrong of me and I was heated after all the accusations thrown my way.”
Accusations I deserved, considering I did murder the son of a bitch. But you know, semantics.
Diane’s eyebrows rose to her hairline. “Well, this is a surprise.”
“I’m full of surprises.”
Now that Geoffrey Smith was dead and St. Victoria caught fire, the pictures and taunts stopped coming in. Antoine Toussaint was still nowhere to be found and none of my associates had seen him in Montardor or France. Meaning he was hiding well and practically untraceable since he used a new burner phone every time he’d messaged me.
Nobody was fooled, though.
Pierrot was plotting his next move and this time, I would be prepared.
Having Diane Hill and the MPD on my side indefinitely was crucial in case shit went south. I wanted my family protected at all costs.
There was also the fact that I got no satisfaction fighting with this old witch. My mother-in-law was a pain in the ass, but she was relatively harmless. I wanted us to be on good terms, especially because I wasn’t ever letting go of her daughter.
“Why are you really doing this?” Diane whispered.
That tough façade of hers cracked like an egg and her vulnerability oozed out, enhancing my guilt. Fucking hell, I was about to make the elderly cry and add another sin to my pile.
“Whether we like it or not, you are family and I never hurt my family,” I said. “You may not want to associate yourself with us, but we De la Croixes aren’t as horrible as you think. I’ve been married to Darla for four months and have treated her with nothing short of respect. She’s adjusted to living with us and she even likes it. You too are more than welcome to drop by for a visit. My parents would love to have you for dinner.”
Diane stared at me like I was a different species.
I gritted my teeth. “I know we have a bad history and I’m hoping we can change that moving forward.”
“Forgive me if I find you hard to believe,” Diane said with testiness. “Your olive branch feels insincere after everything you’ve put me and my girls through.”
I glanced at the hourglass sitting on her desk. “I know and I regret it. You are in your right to not trust a word I say, but I need you to believe this: your daughter means more to me than I can ever put into words, Diane. Harming you is harming my wife and I would never do anything to intentionally hurt her.”
She remained silent, juggling the weight of my apology.
“Rest assured that all the contents inside that file will never be made public. I have no desire to destroy you or your daughters, Diane. I never did. I simply wanted to stop you from turning me into the public enemy.”