Page 80 of Tender Offer
“I own a hotel brand, ma’am.”
My mother’s stare could bend metal. Her mask is in place, but I catch the intrigue. “England and Italy,” she repeats. “What else is in ya?”
A dimple appears at the edge of his smile. “My grandmother is Black Sicilian,” Preston says in complete adoration for the woman who influenced his life. “My mother was too.”
“Was?”
“She died after childbirth,” he clarifies.
Mama’s frown softens. She stares at Preston, her eyes misting at the thought of a child losing their parent on their birthday. We never navigated that form of grief together. But his birthday is a few months away, and I plan to be there for him however he needs.
My hand twines with his, and he sets them on his thigh.
“I’m very sorry,cher,” she says.
“Thank you, ma’am.” His tone dulls but remains steady.
Mama shifts her attention to me. “How long this been going on, Maddie? Jewel got me on the video to see my daughter smeared in cake and fornication.”
“Mama.”
“Nah, child. Don’t ‘mama’ me. Let me find out you got a whole man under our noses this entire time.” She takes in Preston, who looks ready for a photo shoot with his semi-tamed hair and dreamy eyes. “Her daddy is off messing with a boat, so I’ll ask on his behalf. What are your intentions with my child?”
“Mama,” I plead.
“Hush. You’re thirty-eight now, but you’re still my baby.”
“If I’m fortunate, Madison will be my wife,” Preston says like he’s telling her the weather. “I love and have loved her in the fifteen years that separated us.”
Her crown of coiled black hair swivels in my direction. My sigh is silent, to ward off a virtual pop in the mouth. “Madison Désirée Monroe!” my mama snaps. “I could’ve had more grandbabies by now? Whatcha waiting for?”
I cut my eyes at Preston, who’s grinning from ear to ear at his new accomplice. “Mama, we have to go. I love you.”
“Love you too,cher. I expect you home this summer. Bring my son.”
Preston waves. “Goodbye, Mrs. Monroe.”
“Call me mama,baybee,” she all but coos at the man who was licking icing out of my ass twenty minutes ago. Then she hangs up.
“I think she likes me,” he says.
“She likes the idea of her almost forty-year-old daughter married and pregnant.” I roll my eyes as he shifts closer to kiss my cheek. “Think you have a new friend?”
He grins. “I hope.”
“Good luck getting through that one.” I nod to Jewel, who’s glowering at her tablet with a rage that grew from a simmerto a boil in a matter of minutes. “Jewel eats the rich for sport. Especially billionaires.”
“This you?” She flips the screen to reveal an article about Preston’s net worth. The proof is in Times New Roman, not that he can hide his wealth in this age of information and internet detectives. Thirty seconds is all it took for the switch to flip and Preston to calculate the drop from the living room window.
“Um.” He clears his throat.
“It wasn’t a question,” Jewel declares. “Come on, and bring your wallet.”
I pat his leg and leave him in the lion’s den known as my niece’s lair.
“You too, auntie!” she calls from the front door. “We’re going to Brooklyn.”
Chapter 40
