Page 105 of Gilded Fake

“Would you believe me if I said I was visiting my mom?”

I glance around. “I mean… I don’t see her.”

He laughs quietly. “She’s in long-term care in another wing of the building. Though Dad’s been talking about bringing her home now that he knows she’ll be safe there. She’ll have to have a full-time nurse, but it won’t be so bad. Maybe she’d like to sleep in her own bed again.”

“I’m sorry,” I say, swallowing past the trembling sickness in my throat.

“I’ve been seeing a lot of her the past month,” he says. “I didn’t want to visit her for so long, but after talking to your mom…”

He glances sideways at me, and my throat closes. “Why would you talk to my mom?” I croak.

“I wanted to find out what happened to your car.”

“June Bug,” I whisper, my eyes aching with unshed tears.

“Yeah,” he says with a grin, leaning back on one hand. “That’s a badass little car. I thought maybe she’d sell it to me.”

“And?”

“No offense, but your mom’s kind of a cunt.”

I let out a breathy laugh. “Yeah.”

“Made me realize my mom’s not so bad,” he says. “I don’t blame her for what she did. Sure, she doesn’t know who I am now, but maybe she will. And if she does, I don’t want her to remember that I’m the son who never visited her, and to think I didn’t care.”

“That’s really sweet, Colt.”

“Nah, it’s selfish,” he says with an easy grin. “I just don’t want to look bad.”

“My car?” I ask, swallowing past the ache.

“Your mom didn’t have it,” he says. “It went to auction.”

I nod, unable to speak.

“So, how long you in for?” Colt asks.

“A year,” I whisper.

He lets out a low whistle. “Damn. That’s a long time to wait.”

“Better than prison,” I point out.

“True.”

“Why are you really here?”

“Rehab,” he says. “Detox. Whatever you want to call it. Turns out getting sober is a lot harder than I expected.”

“I’m sorry I ran over your girlfriend,” I blurt out, swiping at a stray tear that escaped.

“When a dog goes mad, you put it down,” he says. “Somebody had to do it.”

I laugh through my tears. “You don’t hate me?”

“Why would I hate you?”

“Because she’s your girlfriend.”

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