Page 78 of Thiago
Thiago’s temper flared. “Why don’t you get the law involved?”
She shook her head. “It’s embarrassing. I’m hoping he’ll leave on his own.”
“People like him don’t leave on their own. He’ll be there until the bank comes and tosses them out. I wish you had told me or Bruno or Ignacio before the situation got to this point.”
“How could I tell you?” she wailed. “I had lost everything, and after you boys had warned me about Marco. I was humiliated and couldn’t face you, knowing you had been right all along.”
“Is that why you came to Atlanta?”
“I came to see Bruno and the baby. I wanted to meet my daughter-in-law.”
“Mother…”
Valentina’s shoulders slumped. “I also hoped your father might…”
Thiago sighed. “You and Father have been divorced since I was a child.”
She shrugged. “He used to have a soft spot for me, once upon a time, but when I tried to arrange a meeting with him, he made up excuses for why he couldn’t meet me. Then he showed up at Bruno’s with Rose! Are they back together?”
Thiago wasn’t sure how to answer the question. He and his siblings had their suspicions, but their parents had not stated they had reconciled. “They’ve maintained a good relationship since the divorce.”
“Unlike me and your father,” Valentina said glumly.
Thiago held his tongue about who he believed was at fault. “What happened at Bruno’s? What really happened?”
Valentina hesitated at first, then told him everything, including how she'd left the hotel where she had been staying because her credit cards were maxed out. At the end, she stared down at her hands and said, “I had hoped to stay with Bruno and Larissa. My bags are in the rental car outside.”
“Mother…”
She lifted her gaze, eyes shimmering with tears. The same penetrating, dark eyes everyone said he had inherited. “Don’t be mad at me too,” she whispered.
Thiago pushed up from the chair and sat beside her. Looping an arm around her shoulders, he pulled her into his side and took on the role of comforter. “You’re certain that Marco is at the house now?”
She nodded, sniffing. “He was when I left.”
“All right, you’re going to stay here for the night. I can’t have my mother sleeping in her rental car. Then tomorrow, we’re going to the bank, and I’m going to transfer some money into an account—a separate account Marco does not have access to.”
Valentina pulled away. “No, I don’t want any of my sons to?—”
“Would you prefer to ask Father for the money?”
Her lips turned downward into a frown.
“The option of my help isn’t open for debate. I won’t allow you to go without.Wewon’t allow you to go without. I’m going to tell Ignacio and Bruno everything.”
She nodded, shamefaced.
“Stay here tomorrow. Relax. I’ll go into work and wrap up a few things, then I’m going to cancel all my appointments for the rest of the week because you and I are going to Colombia. I will make sure Marco moves out.”
“You’re a busy man with so much to do here with the company…” She seemed genuinely distressed.
“The company will be fine,” Thiago assured her. “I want you to be okay, and we need to get this man out of your house and out of your life, once and for all.”
Her lower lip trembled. “Thank you.” She paused. “I’ve never liked Rose, and I didn’t know why. She was always polite to me, and she took good care of you boys. But when she walked in tonight with Benicio, I understood why I never cared for her. She reminded me of everything I had lost. I was watching someoneelse have my life. She was the mother to my children, and she was living the life I should’ve been living with your father.”
“She is a good woman. She has been a good second mother to us and loves us like her own.”
“I love you too. You know that, don’t you?” Valentina placed a hand against his cheek.
