2. Chapter Two #3
Yui sucked on her bottom lip. “Samantha has indicated to me that she is not interested in discovering the identity of her birth parents.”
What? Yukiko and I shared a surprised look. I hadn’t even gotten that far in my thoughts—I was still trying to process the double-whammy I’d been hit with this morning. Of course, though, my babygirl would already be thinking all this through.
“I told her to speak with you about it before making a firm decision,” Yui said, looking at me.
“Right now is not the time for her to lock herself into a course of action—Dawn’s betrayal is an open wound.
She’s still reeling from the fear she felt when it seemed possible she and her baby could have a terrible disease. ”
I nodded slowly. “Yeah. We’ll speak to her about it.”
Samantha didn’t want to know? I could… well, I could kind of understand that. After all, we had just told her that Avery was the only last name she needed. That she had our family now, and we’d be there for her no matter what.
Still. Was it courage to make a decision like that? Or was my babygirl just trying to protect herself from the possibility of future hurt?
I’ll talk to her, I promised myself.
Yui nodded. “You and I should probably have a session soon as well,” she said. “I know all of this must have been very hard on you, Jack.”
My princess’s hand came down on my shoulder. “Jack’s a strong man,” she said, sharing a look with her mother. “A good man. The best.”
Just as I started to notice the growing tension between the two of them, my phone rang. Mona’s name stared up at me from the screen.
“I just got off the phone with Tallulah,” she said as soon as I answered the phone. No preamble. “Brunch has been rescheduled to dinner tomorrow.”
I let out a sigh of relief. “How’d she take it?”
“Well. Miss Harrington was very understanding about your family emergency.”
My brows rose. “She was?”
A laugh from Mona. “I told her Mr. Avery’s family comes before his business. She said—and I quote: ‘Good. He’s probably worth meeting, then.’
I couldn’t help but chuckle a bit at that. “Marcie will be glad for the reprieve,” I said. “How’s Caroline?”
“I’m learning all sorts of things,” Mona said. “In fact, I think a conversation between you and Miss Willoughby might be in order in the very near future.”
Hmm? Mona sounded different. Most of the anger was gone from her voice, replaced with something that sounded almost like… amusement? What the hell?
“From the tone of your voice, I’m assuming Caroline’s story checked out?”
“I’ve been cross-checking the details while Tasha talks to her,” Mona said. “Your cop girlfriend is even better than I am at interrogations. Not that she’s had to strain herself. Caroline is almost comically eager to prove her good intentions.”
Yukiko was standing close enough to me to hear everything Mona was saying. “She really gave the money back?” my princess asked.
“Yes, as unbelievable as it sounds,” Mona replied. “I have been trying very hard to prove she’s lying about that and can’t.” She paused. “Also, we might be able to find out who hired her.”
That perked both Kiki and I right up. “Yeah?”
“Miss Willoughby’s a thorough woman, but I have significantly more resources at my disposal.
” I could almost feel Mona’s smile through the phone.
“I’m confident we can succeed where she failed.
I very much want to know who cares enough about the future of this family to hire a woman to quote-unquote ‘protect the Averys’.
” She paused. “At first, I suspected a Ramsey was involved.”
That sent my brows skyward. “Daniel would’ve told me.”
“He would,” Mona agreed, “but Vanessa might not. And there’s that much-vaunted rumor about Daniel’s money going places it ought not to be that’s got Victoria’s panties so wet…”
I laughed at the thought of those two things being connected. I should’ve known by now not to do things like that.
“It’s worth looking into,” Mona said. When she spoke next, her tone was a hell of a lot warmer. “Is it true about Samantha’s mother?”
So she’d heard everything. “Not certain yet, but it’s not looking good,” I said, sighing. “I can’t believe that girl’s had to go through so much this week.”
“Go and be with her,” Mona said. “Harrington will wait until tomorrow. And I’ve got your traitor under lock and key.”
The ironic lilt she gave to the word traitor made me realize she didn’t really mean it. “I assume you’ll be rallying the troops later?”
“You assume correctly. Full family meeting later to discuss the revelations. Takeout this time, though—we can’t buy out a restaurant every week.”
Yes we can, I thought. But I didn’t say it.
“I’ll see you soon, then,” I promised Mona. “Keep me posted.”
“Will do.”
“And don’t think I’ve forgotten about us.”
This time, the smile I heard over the phone was anything but shark-like. “I haven’t forgotten, either. It was profoundly strange sleeping in Mrs. Avery’s bed knowing what was probably going on a stone’s throw away from me the whole time.”
I smiled at that. “Talk to you soon.”
“Likewise.”
I hung up.
Then I put my arm around Yukiko and went upstairs to comfort my wives.