Page 70 of Malicious Intentions

“I’m so sorry for your loss, Evan.”

I look down at her, my face stoic. My emotions are shoved down so deep inside me that I’m apathetic and detached. “It’s fine, Lexi.” My gaze moves back to my mom’s casket. “I’m fine.”

Her face is skeptical, but she doesn’t call me out. Her tone is gentle and low, a whisper on the breeze. “Can you tell me what happened to her?”

My chin lowers to my chest. The rage begins to build as the abandonment creeps in. “She left me.”

It feels like my chest walls are caving in.

Lexi watches me intently, barely blinking as she tries to process how to handle me. “She left you? Like ran out on you or….”

My head snaps up before swiveling to her. “She killed herself.”

Lexi’s mouth drops open. “Oh, God. I’m sorry.” She shakes her head, her eyes filling with tears. “What happened?”

I’ve never talked about my mom with another woman before. Not since I was a kid.

My father’s endless stream of ex-girlfriends tried prying the information from me, but I kept my mouth shut. That prompted trips to various therapists over the years because of my “behavioral problems and anger issues” from my mom’s “death.”

“My dad was cheating on her.” My voice is devoid of any emotion, echoing around the mausoleum.

Lexi blinks up at me in surprise.

“My mom was an innocent, church-going girl when she met my father. Her father was working for my grandfather, Alistair.” A heavy sigh escapes me. “My father saw an opportunity when my mom’s dad started embezzling money. Rather than turn him over to my grandfather, he struck a deal. If my mom married my father, he’d keep it quiet and give him a promotion.” My eyes drop to hers. “The promotion involved risky, illegal behavior that kept him under my father’s thumb.”

Lexi rolls her eyes. “The Whitmore men have quite the history of making people do stuff for their own gain.”

A smile blooms across my lips. “We take what we want. I call that ambition.”

“I have a lot of other names for it, none of which are ambition.”

I crush her tighter against me, chuckling before I inhale her honeysuckle scent deep into my lungs. “You’re good at making me laugh, bellissima,” I mutter against the silky strands of her hair. It’s amazing how I went from apathetic to feeling things I shouldn’t.

“I’m glad. If I can only make you have morals.” The scent of alcohol is still on her breath when she exhales, growing serious. “Can you tell me more about her?”

The smile vanishes from my face. I swallow a few times, trying to keep the misery where it belongs—so deep inside of me that I’m unaware of it. Even though I know I’m deluding myself. It festers in the darkness.

“My mom didn’t wanna marry my father. She had dreams for herself that didn’t include being a trophy wife and mother. But my father squashed them. He removed her birth control without her knowledge or consent. Then he knocked her up. He hired people to watch her constantly to ensure she didn’t get an abortion.”

“What the fuck is wrong with your father?” Her voice is full of bitterness. “No wonder you do the things you do.”

My hand latches onto her chin, yanking it to me. She gasps at the rough touch and anger in my eyes. “I’m not likehim.”

She swallows hard, eying me skeptically.

“I’m not.” With a sigh, I spin her around, pressing my front against her back. I don’t want her to see my devastated face as I allow my deepest vulnerabilities and insecurities to come to light.

My headlights shine through the open mausoleum door, illuminating her face so I see the doubt. It bothers me more than I like. “My mom wasn’t happy with her life. She did her best to pretend, but anytime she thought I wasn’t watching, the sadness on her face cut straight through me.”

Lexi squeezes my hands around her waist but remains quiet.

“The older I got, the more I noticed the tension between them. My father worked all the time and traveled a lot. My mom had some freedom to come and go, but my father kept us on a short leash.”

Lexi snorts. “Sounds familiar.”

I chuckle. “Watch it, Lexi.” I rub my cock against her ass. “I enjoy punishing you.”

She shivers, and I smile.

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