Page 146 of Fierce-Matt
“I’ve got to get back to work. I’ll talk to you later.”
She took a few deep breaths.
Matt returned. “What’s wrong? Your face is red.”
“Why didn’t you tell me you saw your ex recently?”
His head shrank back. “Because it was business. I don’t talk business with you.”
“You didn’t take the case,” she argued and crossed her arms. “That isn’t business.”
“Who told you this?”
“Your mother. She came in here praising how far we’ve come and said she knew it all along. I think she assumed you told me, but you hadn’t.”
“It has nothing to do with us,” he said. “Why are you mad?”
“Because I’ve told you so much about my life and my exes. I would have said something to you if I saw one of them. But nope, you have one coming into your office asking for help and then threatening you on top of it and can’t share it with me? What? You don’t think I’m strong enough to handle it?”
“The way you’re acting tells me no,” he said. “You’re treating me as if I cheated on you rather than coming face to face with a woman from my past that used me and was going to do it again. You’re acting like the victim.”
“Victim! You know, I was just thinking of how much you’ve changed and now I realize how wrong I am. You’re still being a jerk.”
She turned and marched out of the office before he could say another word.
40
THE REAL YOU
Matt stormed into his mother’s office. “What did you say to Anya?”
His mother put her phone down she was reading. “What?”
“She lit a blaze in my face and marched out the door. You told her Macy was here. Why?”
“I thought she knew,” his mother said. “Why wouldn’t you tell her that?”
He snarled. “Why would I? It was a work thing. I don’t tell her every person who comes into my office. I can’t do that and you know it.”
“It’s not about that,” his mother said. “I thought for sure you would have told her you saw Macy. She was the last of the women in your life that didn’t know or see the real you. You even said you had to go through women like her to know who you were. That’s important.”
He didn’t need the reminder. “That doesn’t mean that you’ve got to get involved though,” he said. “You’ve never done this before.”
“I wasn’t involved. I thought you told her. I congratulated her and told her how wonderful you two are together. You took apunch to the face for her. Why the heck wouldn’t I think you’d be honest enough to tell her what Macy did to you and how it made you feel?”
“Are you trying to make me feel guilty over this?” he asked, throwing his hands in the air.
“No. I’m sorry,” his mother said. “I really believed you said something.”
If his mother hadn’t looked on the verge of tears, he’d light right into her the way Anya did to him. But he didn’t believe she meant any harm.
“I’ll figure it out,” he said, turning on his heel and marching back to his office.
He picked his phone up to call Anya, but it went right to voicemail.
She sent him there! It didn’t even ring once fully.
He texted her, saw she read it but didn’t reply.
