Page 24 of The Next Chapters

Riley had to agree that Mäkinen-Beckett or Beckett-Mäkinen would be the makings of a nightmare for any child.

She’d pushed for Mäkinen to be their daughter’s middle name, though, always holding a deep affection for Gianna’s name.

“All of that was terrible enough. But now, today, I truly see her throwing her life away for…” she eyed Riley with open disdain. “This. Enough is enough. Eventually, she will be in ruins, with no one to turn to.” She drew in a deep breath, aiming a glare at Riley. “When will she be home? I suppose, if it’s soon, I can move around my schedule.”

Riley didn’t know what it was exactly. Maybe it was because this was the only time she’d ever been with Giulia one-on-one – she’d never before had an opportunity to speak her honest mind.

Maybe it was because this was the first time she’d seen Gianna’s mother since they’d gotten together – Riley had always hated seeing Gianna upset, but after their relationship progressed, Riley felt all of Gianna’s feelings as if they were her own.

Maybe it was because Riley was now a parent, and she couldn’t imagine treating her daughter the way Giulia treated Gianna. Maybe it was because Giulia was Anya’s grandmother, and the thought of Giulia ever getting close enough to Anya to make her feel any of the pain she caused Gianna made Riley feel like she was prepared to commit homicide.

Most likely, it was a combination of all of those things.

And she found she could stop herself from saying, “I’m not telling you when Gianna’s going to be home, Giulia because you don’t deserve to even lay eyes on your daughter. And believe me, I say that with the loosest definition of that word.”

In Riley’s opinion, neither of Gianna’s parents should have the right to refer to themselves as her mom or dad. Not when they’d never done any of the work to raise her.

Giulia snapped back as if Riley had physically slapped her, her eyes narrowing to angry slits. “You have no right to speak to me that way–”

“Actually, I have every right. Because between the two of us, I actually love Gianna. I’m the one who celebrates all of her birthdays, holds her when she’s upset and cares about her triumphs and failures.” Riley gripped the doorknob tightly, keeping herself grounded – mostly keeping herself from shouting because Anya was still sleeping.

“Gianna is my best friend, my wife, and the mother of my child.” Riley couldn’t even tell which one of those things was the most important. Gianna was truly… everything to her. “I have spent over a decade watching you flit around, hurting her at every turn. I have no idea how you and Antero produced someone with such a big heart, but I’m so sick of seeing you bruise it constantly. Gianna is who she is despite you.”

Fucking hell, it felt good to unleash these words.

“If it were up to me, you wouldn’t be allowed to even have Gianna’s fucking phone number anymore. You wouldn’t be allowed to lay eyes on her, even from fifty feet away. You wouldn’t be able to follow her on social media.”

The reality was that if Riley had the power to put Gianna in a protective bubble, she absolutely would.

She took a deep breath, closing her eyes with it as she tried to cool the seething anger flowing through her. “Seeing as how it’s not up to me, though, I’ll simply tell you this: I won’t ever let you into our home unless Gianna expressly tells me to. And I won’t give you her schedule unless she informs me that she wants you to have it. Since that hasn’t happened today, all I can say to you is what I’ve already said: Gianna isn’t home, and you need to go.”

Without waiting for a response, she shut and locked the door.

By the time Gianna arrived home nearly two hours later, Riley had enough time to calm down. And in that time, also had enough time to feel slightly stressed.

Not about anything she’d said or how she’d said it, but sheerly about the fact that… well, Gianna had never said those things to her mother, though she’d had plenty of opportunities to. Though Riley truly didn’t believe Giulia’s neglect of Gianna could be worse, she’d worked herself up into a little bit of a stressful state, wondering – was she wrong? Could it be worse?

In Riley’s opinion, Giulia truly cutting ties with Gianna rather than continuing to reach out occasionally to remind Gianna that she was still around, even if she wasn’t around, would be a good thing.

She just hoped Gianna agreed.

She heard Gianna enter their house as she sat in the kitchen, bouncing Anya on her lap. Holding her child, Riley had discovered, was the best way to alleviate stress.

“Hello, my two perfect loves,” Gianna greeted as she came swooping in. She first ducked down to press a kiss to Anya’s chubby cheek before she cupped Riley’s jaw and tilted her head to press a sweet, brief kiss to her lips.

As always, Riley easily moved with the motion, humming softly against her wife’s mouth.

She watched as Gianna plunked her large designer purse down on the counter, stomach still twisting with nerves. If Gianna knew what had happened, she didn’t look mad.

Still…

Riley cleared her throat, leaning down to put Anya in her bouncer. “I need to tell you about something that happened today.”

Gianna turned to face her, silken blonde strands tossed over her shoulder as she aimed a look at Riley. “You know what I love about you? I was home for less than a minute, and a full confession was about to pop right out.”

Riley flushed, even as she furrowed her eyebrows. “So, you already know?”

“Do I know… that you told my mother off in a major kind of way this afternoon? Told her that she is a terrible person and an even worse parent and that you wanted to get a restraining order against her?” Gianna propped her hand on her hip, staring expectantly at Riley.

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