Page 77 of Beauty and the Boss Man

I should have known my father would still be making trouble for me. I don’t know that he’ll ever stop. I hope that he spends the rest of his life rotting in his 10x10 cell.

Pulling out my phone, I know I should make a phone call. It’s not one I want to make, but I know I should.

Even though I know I’ll probably hate myself, I press the button and wait for it to ring.

It only takes two rings for the voice on the other end to answer with a chipper, “Hello?”

“Hi, Mom,” I say, exhaling a deep breath.

“Who is this?”

I scoff. “Mom, it’s Romy. Your only child. Who else calls you Mom?”

I guess maybe her super young boyfriends might.

Gross.

“I just didn’t recognize you, dear—considering it’s been years since I’ve heard from my daughter.”

Shots fired.

“Glad to know your snarky wit is still on point, Mom.”

“Where do you think you got yours from, dear? Now, are you okay? Did someone die?” She asks, still with the sass.

“No, no one died. Just calling to see if you heard about Dad.”

She pauses a moment. “What about your father?”

I explain to her everything that has gone on and say, “I just wanted to give you a heads up in case they come asking you questions too.”

She sighs. “That man is such a piece of shit. I can’t believe he did this to us.”

Us?

I fight the urge to tell her that I think she’s just as much of a piece of shit. I’ve never known the actual level of her involvement in my father’s schemes, but I refuse to believe she was blind to it all. She’s too smart for that.

Plus, my father might have been the one who made the money, but my mother typically handled the finances. And by ‘handled,’ I mean ‘spent.’

I tune back into her rambling about how being with my father was the worst mistake of her life. Good to know since I was a product of their time together.

My parents were always wrong for each other. I don’t have one memory of them being loving or caring to one another. They always were at war with each other—even if they tried to hide it. I’m honestly surprised they even got along long enough to conceive me.

The truth is that my mom wanted a sugar daddy, and my dad wanted a trophy wife. They each got what they wanted, yet they were still miserable.

I listen to her for a couple more minutes before making an excuse to get off the phone. Then, I vow that I won’t make the same mistake of calling her again for a while.

My mind begins to wonder what my life would have been like if my parents loved each other? Would we have taken family vacations? Would we get together every Christmas for our lovely traditions? Would I look forward to conversations with them?

I don’t know, but it’s pointless to look back and play out worthless fantasies. Rehashing the past does nothing for your future. The only thing I can do now is to make sure I don’t make the same mistakes in my own life.

I want to find someone I’m crazy about. Someone who is my best friend along with my partner. Someone who I have a real connection with.

A tiny voice in my head is saying that I already found that person in Aiden.

A pain hits me in the chest at just the thought of Aiden. I’ve been so worried about this whole debacle with the FBI and my father that I haven't had room in my brain for Aiden too.

But now that most of that worry is gone, my hunky boss is right back at the forefront of my thoughts. I don’t know why. I mean, we had a great week together. That was it. We both agreed that it would be no strings attached.

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