Page 91 of Lies He Told Me (Bratva Crime Syndicate 1)

Mom used to always take me to the Botanical Garden to look at the flowers. “One day,” she’d say. “One day, we’ll have a place so filled with plants that we’ll have our own botanical garden.”

Looks like she finally got her wish.

I go over to Mom’s door. Apartment seventeen on floor seventeen must be lucky somehow, right? I knock.

The door swings open, I smell her usual marmalade scent, and more tears trail the other ones out of the corners of my eyes.

Just … wow.

Here it is, her own botanical garden, a place so filled with plants that that’s the only name fitting for it. Hanging spider plants, cactuses, mini cedars, succulents galore. I even spy a freaking bonsai tree.

“Mom,” I say to the woman standing there, the one with the rosy cheeks and blue eyes that couldn’t possibly hers, because they look way too clear and refreshed. The woman who looks ten years younger—twenty, thirty even. The woman I’ve never seen before in my life—not like this.

“I know,” she says. She’s crying, too.

I stumble into the room, into her arms, my gaze still roving around and around. There’s even more plants—begonias, orchids, poppies. “Mom!”

“I know!”

As we separate, her face goes a bit rueful. “It’s a lot, I know. But the greenhouse on Bercham had this buy ten, get ten free deal, and I went a bit wild.”

“A bit!” I say in amazement, still looking around. We laugh.

Besides the plants, there’s space and lots of it. A whole entry room, and, further on, a flat-screen HD TV about the size of our old bathroom. Light spilling everywhere, air, and Mom, my mom …

“You look great,” I babble.

“All thanks to you,” she says, and then the smile breaks. “Joy, did you really …”

“Yes,” I say quickly. “You have to meet him, Mom. He’s amazing.”

“I did,” she says simply.

I spin around, and suddenly it all makes sense.

That’s how Mom bought it, in the end.

Gavril came himself.

“Don’t worry; he explained everything,” she says carefully. “I know how you are about celebrations and your wedding was on the same day that my doctor’s appointment was, so that was fine, too. I’m just glad you’re back in my life, honey. And I want you to know, as soon as I get back on my feet, I’m going to pay you back.”

“Mom, stop. You don’t have to do that.”

“But I want to.”

“After all you’ve done for me …”

“After all I’ve done.” Shaking her head, Mom makes a dismal sound. “Keeping you around that filth Damon. Who I shouldn’t have spent more than five seconds with.”

“What did it, in the end?” I ask quietly.

I’m still not sure whether to bring up Damon’s attempted assault. Looks like my mom’s grappling with enough guilt as it is. Plus, we’re just reuniting now. I don’t want anything to ruin it.

“When your fiancé showed up, Damon tried yelling about some scam. But then I saw a picture of you together. And then Gavril described being with you and … well, I knew. I saw the way he looked when he talked about you. However fantastical what he was saying was, I knew. This man loved my girl. I was looking at the real thing.”

She’s silent, giving my thoughts time to get giddy. God, even leaving the house can’t get me away from Gavril. Not fully.

“Anyway, I don’t blame you for not coming. It was awful. When Gavril told me about the new apartment, new doctor, Damon lost it. He tried roaring that we didn’t need any help. Told Gavril he could bug off with his fancy suit. Ugh, it was awful.”

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