Page 113 of Scorned Beauty
“She’s a lovely woman, but I don’t want you to make a mistake.”
My jaw clenched. “And I’m not going to welcome your interference.”
“I’m not interfering,” she gasped. “I’m your mother.”
“And you’re done.” I put my hand at the small of her back and nudged her toward the foyer. “I suggest you leave before we both say something we’ll regret.”
Her eyes softened. Aunt Ava once told me my mother had a good heart, but she was just too pampered by the people around her.
At the door, she turned pleading eyes to me again, “Dominic?—”
I cut her off. “Do you remember how Cesar’s boys are with their obsession?”
She scoffed, “That’s a myth to explain their recklessness.”
She was talking about Renz, of course, as if that was her barometer of how the De Lucci obsession myth only led to bad decisions. But Renz and Liz were ridiculously happy in their bubble.
“I think I have it,” I said just as my mother’s mouth curved into a sneer I loathed seeing on her face. It revealed her petty personality that I detested. “Except my Moretti side also preordained me to fuck up first.”
“Why is your Moretti side always the problem?” my mother asked. “We have been a respected Sicilian family, and that is why the Zahkarov dynasty has always picked us as first choice. I just feel bad we keep turning them down.”
“Are you afraid of losing status?” I asked my mother bluntly. “Does it even matter? You’re happy with Pop. Maybe you should hang around a less snobby crowd and turn your attention to family. I mean, there’s Luca. He’s happy with Natalya. And Elias is your nephew.”
“Oh, now you put grandkids in Mamma’s brain,” Lucy groaned from the kitchen.
And just like that, Ma’s face softened. She cupped my jaw and squeezed. “I love you very much,caro,and I trust you’ll know what to do. What’s right for this family.” She kissed my cheek,and even if I couldn’t see her, I could feel Lucy roll her eyes, but I was glad she kept her mouth shut because I needed Ma to get gone.
I closed the door behind her but was only relieved when I heard the elevator.
When I turned around, Lucy’s head was bent over her soup, but she was shaking her head.
“What?” I snapped.
She glanced up. “You know that’s Mamma being passive-aggressive, right?”
“Trust me, I know. I’ve handled her enough times to know. And what’s the deal with you being loving one moment and antagonistic the next? Don’t play with Ma’s feelings that way, Luce.”
“Who’s the grown-up?”
“She’s fragile, you know that.”
“She’s manipulative is what she is.” And I was about to snarl at her when she added, “But…I’m learning because, hey, I’m twenty-six and more mature, right?”
“You still want to do things to get her blood pressure up. You know she has that condition.”
“I know! I’m trying, all right? I just get so pissed when she turns that privileged nose at people. Her health doesn’t give her a pass to do that.”
I walked toward her. “You know, she’d be more agreeable to your point of view if you didn’t antagonize her at each turn.”
She laughed, lifting her bowl and finishing her soup. “Your strategy, I presume.”
“Yeah, you won’t make a good lawyer.”
“Hey…”
“Is the coast clear?” a voice spoke from the stairs. Sloane must have been eavesdropping. Not that I blamed her. My mother was a lot to take for people not used to her. She wasstanding midway down the flight of steps that led to the second level of the penthouse. She was wearing cute blue pajamas that set off her mass of red hair. I could see the green of her eyes. My chest tightened. I wanted to come home to this. And this penthouse wouldn’t be my home until Sloane made it hers.
I met her at the bottom of the stairs. “I’m sorry my mother ambushed us.”
