Page 409 of Savage Bosses

"You do. Anyway, sweetie. Um..."

"I hate it when you say, um. It's usually followed by something I won't like. Just say it, mom."

"I know you haven't been reading your social media messages..."

"I wanted to delete the accounts. But you insisted that I keep them."

"To monitor the messages that come through. And you've gotten lots of messages over the years."

"Please tell me you haven't responded to them, ma."

"I haven't. Not really. I wanted to respond to a few Bryce left three years ago. The bastard had the nerve to send you a death threat..."

"Ma!"

"Sorry. I'm sorry. It's just that... well, last week, you got a message from one of your co-workers from that restaurant you worked at. Southern Heat. Someone named Julia."

Julia!A pang of anxiety shot through Tatianna as memories of her former co-worker at Southern Heat in Biloxi, Mississippi, flooded her thoughts. They hadn't spoken in years, so why now? Tati's heart began to race.

She felt a panic attack coming on. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and counted to ten before releasing it slowly. She did it twice more, ignoring her mother, who was calling her name.

"Tati, say something," her mother insisted, sounding worried.

Tati exhaled again, then opened her eyes.

"Tati, are you okay?"

"Yes, ma'am."

Her mother sighed heavily. "Girl, why didn't you say something? You almost had me on a plane to France. What is wrong with you?"

"Nothing. I was just shocked to hear that name."

"Was she a friend or a foe? Because I will hunt her down..."

"She was a friend, ma."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. What... what did her message say?"

"She sent a few. She said she needed to talk to you and that it was important. And that it was about the past incident. What incident is she talking about?"

"I don't know, ma. Is that all it said?"

"Hold on. Let me look at them again. I can send them to you if you want."

"No," she rushed to say. "You don't have to send them. Reading them to me is fine."

"Oh, she said it's all her fault. What does that mean?"

"I don't know, mom. I'll have to contact her to find out. Did she leave any contact info?"

"Yes. She left her number. I don't want you to call her from your cell unless you call her on the app you use to talk to your dad. The last time you called him, he complained about you being in Russia because that's where his tracking device said you were located."

"I can't believe he keeps wanting me to call him every quarter so that he can try to find out where I am for the Cattaneos."

"I don't think he's doing it for them anymore. Bryce has given up on looking for you."

---