Timidly, I pushed through the door, immediately noticing the maid on the floor with a rag and a small dust broom, sweeping up the broken glass. Dark red-brown liquid still drained down the wall, puddling on the floor. I knew because of what John said, and the scene laid out before me, the mood Mom was in, but the very second, I was in the room, she plastered on a smile and opened her arms to me.
I accepted the hug, bracing myself for any biting words, but there were none.
“Oh, Kat. I’m so glad you are feeling better. I trust it was just a stomach bug or maybe the flu. It is cold and flu season, you know.” She pulled out a chair and pointed at it, then sat in one nearby. So, I sank into the stiff-backed armchair and tried to relax as I watched the maid finish her work.
“Tita Pera let me in. I hope that’s okay.” John had been kind enough to do me this favor, so I had to repay him. Mom scowled and shook her head.
“Tita Pera is Leilani’s aunt, new here obviously. She only speaks Tagalog, and her name is about the only thing she says.” My mother squinted at Leilani as she shuffled out of the room holding the dustpan of glass shards. The woman shrugged and grinned—her usual reaction to any stressful event. I’m sure both of them would hear it later, though I knew John would smooth things over, give them the day off or a bonus or something.
“Mom, I need to talk to you.” I bit my lip, already dreading the argument, but I just wanted to explain so badly. I needed her to understand because I needed her in my life and I missed her, even if she was a horrible, greedy woman.
“Of course, dear.” Her feigned compassion as she leaned forward and placed a hand on my knee was disappointing. I wanted real compassion, to know my own mother actually loved me enough to listen to what I had to say and try to understand.
“Mom, I love him.” I blinked back tears that wanted to rise. It was so much more than love now, but I didn’t dare tell her about the baby yet.
“Who, dear?”
As she sat back in her chair, squaring her shoulders and calming her expression, I knew she was playing dumb. Only, she knew that I knew. This act was on purpose, a deliberate attempt to keep me from talking about him because she wanted to avoid it. Except, I was not going to oblige. Her foot bounced and she batted her eyelashes.
“Victor. Mom, I love him. There is something real between us. We are in love.” Even as I said the words, I didn’t know if they were true, but I didn’t dare tell her he wasn’t speaking to me. That would lead to a different conversation where I was ultimately the failure for not hooking him with my feminine wiles. “And I want to be with him. And I want you to accept that so we can still have a relationship. I need my mom in my life.”
I may as well have been speaking to a brick wall. Her plastered smile didn’t change even as she spoke.
“Thank you for the visit, Kitty. John will see you out. John!” She clapped her hands like he was her dog, ready to come when she called.
“Mom, stop ignoring me. I need you to acknowledge that I am in love with Victor. I want you both in my life.” My forceful tone got her attention. Her eyes narrowed and her nostrils flared.
“That man is not part of our lives, and he never will be.”
“Why? Because he didn’t want to stay with you? Because he was on to your game and just pushed you away? Or because he chose me, and you weren’t good enough?”
I regretted saying those things instantly. Her face contorted and her lips pursed. She rose and picked up the bottle of brandy, storming out of the room. If the door could slam, I was certain she would have slammed it. As it stood, the door swung wildly until Tita Pera waddled in and bowed to me.
“Tita Pera,” she said, humbling. She smiled and gestured for me to follow her. Frustrated, I had no choice. I rose and trailed behind her, back through the kitchen into the hallway. She was a short woman, a little portly, but genuinely kind. I could tell the moment she stopped at the small table in the hallway centered below a massive gold-framed mirror. There, a brown package tied in paper sat waiting on her. She picked it up and handed it to me.
“John Baxter,” she said, patting the package.
I smiled my most polite, “thank you” of a smile and headed for the door. She let me out and closed the door behind me, and I sat down on the stoop and pulled out the scrap of paper tied into the brown string that held the package together. John had scrawled a note.
“Katherine, I’ll work on her. John.”
If I weren’t pregnant maybe all of this wouldn’t be so hard on me. But I was pregnant, and emotional, and highly hormonal. And I wanted my family to be whole. All of it. I used my phone to summon an Uber and sat on the step crying until they pulled up out front. The small black sedan was a reprieve from the breeze, but as I looked up at the windows on the second story of the house, I saw Mom glaring down at me, and it chilled me worse than the cold day.
I didn’t know what I’d done to deserve this extreme hatred. She had left Victor in the dust 10 years ago, and she was married to a man easily two decades older than she was. So, I didn’t see why it was such an awful thing if I dated a man 14 years older.
Cradling my stomach, I leaned my head against the window and cried as the scenery went by. I was at my wit’s end. Rock bottom really sucked. All the money in the world wouldn’t fix my heartache, and Victor could keep it all. I just wanted him.
21
VICTOR
After Ivy’s attempt to encourage me, I had messaged Katherine a bit more, though I still felt withdrawn when actually conversing with her. I still, however, hadn’t told Charles or Adam about anything yet—not that I didn’t have the guts. I just wanted to have my ducks in a row and know my personal play for the future before I endured anymore heat.
The guys settled in around the table and sat down, Ivy choosing a seat at the far end of the table. Charles sat to my right and Adam to my left. We were supposed to be discussing the new client who took us on a tentative basis. They were working together now to go over all of his company contracts, to ensure they were legally binding. It was a start, but not the solid contract with the retainer we desired.
“So how did the call with Barker go?” Adam leaned across the table and handed Charles a sheet of paper, likely the numbers we’d been crunching.
“Barker is still dragging his feet. I think we need Victor to weigh in on this. If he feels like Victor is a loose cannon, we’re going to lose it.” Charles eyed me then shuffled his notes. He was on thin ice with me at the moment. Not quite a partner yet, he had no business pushing me. And given the fact that I’d been in a mood for the past 10 days, Ivy should have warned him not to bring up a sore subject.