60. She Defied the Mistress #2
I thought over each of her accusations, and tapping my finger to the beat, I said, “Not. Not. Not.” I shot her a flat look. “Will that be all?”
“No, that will not be all. When will you just give up this pathetic charade and realize Toby is mine?”
“I’ll have to respectfully disagree with you there.
See these rings?” I held up my hand and wriggled my fingers so the sapphires and diamonds glinted under the café lights.
“Engagement. Wedding. Oh.” My other hand wriggled in her face to show off the slim gold band with the tiny gold heart. “First kiss.”
Kayleigh’s entire face fell. “He…he gave you a ring…to celebrate your first kiss?”
I smiled. “Toby’s kind of adorable like that. Now, what’s this about fake messages?” I scooped another bite from my pancakes, only glancing for a second at my phone. Three dots flashed under Wayne’s name.
Wayne
The cavalry’s on its way.
Kayleigh hid her complete devastation about the ring by squaring her shoulders and hiking up a defiant chin. “The messages you’ve been sending.”
“To…?”
“Toby.”
“The last message I sent to Toby was a picture of our son.” I held up my phone. “Want to see—”
She smacked my phone out of her face. “I don’t want to see a picture of your ugly baby!” Her nose scrunched.
Shrugging, I put my phone down. “Most people think he’s pretty cute.” I turned to Marnie, who watched the spectacle with a smirk of amusement dancing on her lips. “Mar, do you think Noah’s cute?”
“That little chonk is simply adorabubble,” she replied.
Kayleigh’s eyes narrowed on my best friend. “As if anyone cares about your opinion.” She shrunk in her chair when fancy Italian loafers padded closer, and Romeo’s shadow loomed over the table. “Relax, Old Money,” she said to him before flashing a fake smile of apology. “We’re all friends here.”
“Honey.” Marnie laughed. “Take another look around. You have zero friends here. So, get to your point before there’s a fight between me and my handsome friend here about who gets to throw you out of this café on your bony ass.”
Kayleigh’s gaze flicked to me. I said nothing, staring at her expressionless as I sipped my coffee. Silence drove some people crazy. Liam had taught me that.
She wasn’t rattled for long. She smiled at me sweetly. “We both know you’re the one sending fake threats to Toby to frame me,” she said. “The police have cornered me twice. The other day, they charged up to me out of nowhere to give me my supposed last warning . I was live streaming at spin class!”
Marnie covered her mouth in horror. “Not at spin class!” The sharpness of Kayleigh’s glare didn’t faze her. Marnie laughed.
“Kayleigh,” I said. “I have no reason to send made-up threats to my husband. Fake messages and posts are your domain, sweetie.”
“Well, I didn’t send them!”
My eyebrows knitted with fake concern. “Are you sure? Maybe you hit your head at spin class?” I reached over the table and patted her hand.
She snatched her scrawny claw away, narrowing her eyes. “You’re such a cold bitch. Sarah was so right about you. Gutter. Trash. No wonder Toby was so desperate for me to save him—”
“Kayleigh, for God’s sake, just give this up.” The strain in my voice made it clear my patience was already thin. “I have no interest in playing high school mean girls with you, okay? I’m older than you, smarter than you, and way more skilled at being, what was it again? Oh yeah, a cold bitch.”
“At least we agree on the bitch part,” she snipped.
My expression remained blank. She truly was a child.
“Whatever happened between you and my husband is over. He wants nothing to do with you. You’re the one humiliating yourself pretending that this is some competition when, sweetie, you were never even a contender.
So, listen up.” I grabbed my fork and dragged my plate closer.
“You’ve got about one minute to walk your little butt out of here and out of my family’s life with some dignity.
After that…” I lifted a shoulder and, unbothered, scooped my fork into the pancakes.
“After that… what ?”
“Those guys want to have a chat with you.” I pointed a forkful of pancakes across the café.
Kayleigh twisted on the chair, her face collapsing when she saw Wayne standing in the doorway speaking to the hostess out front. Two uniformed officers loomed behind him.
“This isn’t a joke, Kayleigh,” I said. “You’re all out of warnings. They’re going to arrest you this time.”
Kayleigh shot out of the seat. She slung her bag over her shoulder, and her heels skittered across the floor in frantic clicks as she tottered for the back exit.
“Too bad you’re not live streaming!” Marnie cackled.
The cops muscled their way through the crowd.
“A chase on foot, too!” Wayne weaved in after them, dodging tables and stumbling tourists. He shot me a wild grin over his shoulder as he tore past. “This is—the best fucking day—” he wheezed, clutching a stitch in his side. “But man—my wife was right. I’ve gotta lay off the steaks…”
Every set of eyes in the café was glued to the commotion on the sidewalk outside except mine.
With a quiet smile, I raised my coffee and savored another sip.