LAKE
“Are you okay?” I glanced down at Maverick working on her tan beside the pool.
She looked pretty satisfied and comfortable in her yellow two-piece swimsuit and sunglasses, which shielded her eyes from the blazing sun.
“Why do you keep asking me that?” She slightly lifted her chin.
“Did you put enough sunscreen on?” I wanted to see her eyes but was disappointed that she kept her sunglasses on.
“Don’t worry. I need more Vitamin D.” She strolled her gaze at me.
“My Vitamin D isn’t enough for you?”
When she saw me smirking, she slightly tipped her head down, glaring. “Not everything is about your dick, Lake. Going somewhere?”
“Yeah. I’ll be back in a couple of hours.”
“A date?”
“Yes, Maverick. I have a date. You might as well put Airtag on me.”
“Can you buy butter pecan ice cream for me?”
“Of course. Anything else?”
“Bring your cock back untouched.”
I laughed, making her frown. “My cock is exclusively yours, baby.” I bent down to cup her face and kissed her on the lips. “I promise you, no other woman can touch what’s yours.”
“How about men?”
“I’m not into men. You know that.” I kissed her again and her tummy. “You two take care. I’ll be back in a few hours. I love you both.”
Owen was already waiting, with the car door opened and shut after me. “She just arrived at the Bates.”
“Let’s go. Make sure she won’t leave before we arrive.”
“What are you going to do?” He looked at me behind the wheel.
“I have a plan.”
I asked Linden two days ago what Maverick’s mother’s background is. She had no mental illness. She just didn’t care about her family unless she was undiagnosed with Narcissistic personality disorder because that was what she looked like to me.
We arrived at the Bates. Owen knocked on the door first.
“Mr. Owen, what are you doing here?” Augustine was the one to open the door.
I got out of the car and sashayed towards the house. “Hey, Nana.”
“What are you doing here, Lake?”
“Are you okay?”
“How did you know?” She stared at me. “Did you put the camera in my house?”
“No, Nana. Just outside your door. May I come in?”
“Of course.” She opened the door wide and stepped aside.
I looked in the living room, but Florence wasn’t there. I followed Augustine to the kitchen, and she first saw me.
Florence looked young enough to be a grandmother soon, but I could see now where Maverick got her cheekbones. That was all. My wife had more character traits from Augustine than her own mother.
“Good Morning, Florence.”
“Good morning.” She had a cup of tea before her and quickly straightened her posture, seeming to gather her confidence.
“Take a seat, Lake,” Nana said as she prepared another cup of tea and placed it before me.
“Did you call him Mom?”
“No. She didn’t, but I placed security cameras outside her house, and they’re connected to Osmium security service.”
“I see.”
I lifted the cup and sipped it. “How long are you going to be in New York?”
“You can’t kick me out of this city. I was born here.”
“No one is kicking you out. I want you to stay away from my wife.”
“Or what?” she glared at me.
Maverick got her eyes from her mother, but hers were expressive and warm, unlike this woman before me, who seemed to have no empathy or just knew how to mask it.
“You don’t want to know.”
“You can’t scare me or threaten me.”
“No.” I crossed my legs. “But Gaetano and Terzo can.”
Her eyes instantly widened. Her face paled. “You don’t know them.”
“You’re wrong. My father offered you money for information, and you gave it immediately without too much persuasion. Terzo knows it. Your only leverage now is me. I can tell them not to touch you if you lay down the right card.”
She looked at Augustine, who didn’t seem to care. “Mom?”
“You abandoned your child, Florence. You put her in danger when you shared that information for money. Didn’t her father warn you not to talk to anyone about him? You just never learned, Florence. He ordered you to remove the pregnancy while you could because he knew you were not capable of caring for a child, and the child’s life would always be in mortal danger, and you broke his words instead. You seemed unable to grasp the dangerous game you were playing here, and you went there to show your face to your daughter. Now you will pay the price, and I’m sorry, honey, but I can’t help you anymore.”
“That girl ruined my life,” she spat out, her chin trembling.
I shook my head in dismay. How was it that Maverick ruined her life?
“She did not ruin your life. You ruined your own life by sleeping with the most dangerous man,” Augustine spat her anger out.
I felt her anger towards her daughter was decades long, and she just had time to let it out of her chest.
“You were only eighteen,” she added. “I had high hopes for you, but you disappointed your father. You were reckless and stupid and slept with a married man. You didn’t even know what care and love meant, and after you were gone for months, you came to me five months pregnant. Don’t blame your miserable life and poor choices on the poor, innocent child. She’s been through enough and all of that because you caused her so much pain.”
“What do you want from my wife, Florence?”
She lifted her chin. “I just wanted to meet her.”
“Why now? Why not before when she didn’t have a mother at her first school recital? On her first time having a period? I’m your last to get out of here without being dragged into a van. Terzo is still in town, Florence.”
She blinked the fear off, but her body language said otherwise.
“You want money? I’ll give you ten thousand dollars. You leave town and never come back.” I watched her eyes literally light up. Jesus Christ, this woman was pathetic and shameless. I was thankful that Maverick and Augustine were never like her.
“Don’t give her a penny. She can find a job, and her boyfriend can take care of her. Isn’t that the reason why you left your child with me?”
She shifted uncomfortably.
“OB?” I gestured my fingers.
Owen came with envelopes-one for the cash and the other for the agreement.
“This is an agreement that you won’t ever come to see your daughter, or I will sue you for stalking and harassment.”
“What if I don’t want to sign but leave?”
“I don’t trust you to keep your end of the bargain.” I pushed the paper before her. “Read it and sign it.” I grabbed Owen’s pen and put it on top of the paper.
She hesitantly looked at her mother, maybe asking for an opinion or another chance. I didn’t give a shit. She was never a good mother in the first place, and my son would grow up far from her influence.
“Don’t look at me. You did this to yourself,” Augustine said.
She swallowed hard. “I want to see Maverick first before I sign.”
“You won’t get a chance to see her again. You almost hurt her and already hurt her feelings, Florence.”
“Then promise me you tell her that I’m sorry.”
I stared at her, studying her for a few seconds to see if she was genuine or full of shit. “You have my word.”
“Okay.” She grabbed the paper and pen and wrote her signature on every page. Then she stood up. “I’m so sorry, Mom, for being a disappointment.” She launched herself and hugged her mother tight. Then she grabbed her bag on the table and left the kitchen.
“Florence!” I dashed towards the door, following her. “Florence, stop!”
She stopped before she reached the sidewalk. “What do you want?”
I faced her. “Why did you come here?”
“I honestly don’t know.” There were unshed tears in her eyes. “I wouldn’t be a good mother. I know that. I wasn’t a good daughter or a good student in the first place. I could not send my child for adoption, and Mom loved her. I could not break her heart. So I left my child with her because I knew she would treat her like hers. Seeing her grow into a wonderful woman, even if I failed her a million times, I feel great fulfillment because I knew she was better off without me, and I was right. She’s turned out to be a strong, independent woman. She deserves everything she has right now. I want you to promise me one thing, Lake.”
I felt like the situation just shifted. I didn’t know if I felt pity or if I somehow understood her situation.
“What is it?”
“Love her unconditionally. Take care of her and give her what I failed to give. The attention and love that she deserves.” Tears finally rolled down her cheeks.
“You have my word.”
“Thank you.” She wiped them away before she walked away.
“Take the money, Florence.”
“I don’t want it.”