Page 30 of Shattered Reign

Easton: Is everything alright?

“Is that Tristan?”

I looked up at my mom and gave her a small smile. “It’s not. I wasn’t with Tristan at all.”

Confusion covered her face. “I... I don’t understand.”

“Tristan covered for me. I wasn’t anywhere near him over the last week or so. I was alone, and then Easton joined me.”

My mother’s brows shot up and she said, “Easton?”

“He’s been absolutely wonderful. He found out where I was and immediately flew to be with me. I loved spending time with him. Hell, I love him.”

“I didn’t know any of that.”

She slowly nodded and I could see understanding on her face. There was a long stretch of silence where all my mother could do was look at her feet. I wondered if she was going to say something else.

She took a deep breath and rolled her shoulders back. Remnants of the politician’s wife were starting to resurface, and I wondered if that, too, was just a mask she decided to hide behind. Then she said, “Why don’t you invite him in?”

I raised an eyebrow at her, but she gestured to my phone. I quickly typed up a message.

Me: It’s something. My mom asked that you come in.

As I was putting my phone away, Mom said, “I’m so sorry for my part in creating this fake engagement and trying to run your life. We shouldn’t have taken things as far as we did, and we should have found a way out of any mess ourselves. One of the promises I made to myself when your father ran for mayor was we wouldn’t do anything that would jeopardize yours or Nash’s happiness, and we failed.”

I wanted to believe every word she said, but I was still skeptical. It all sounded good, but I didn’t trust that she’d done a one-eighty within the last couple of minutes. But there was a small glimmer of hope.

When there was a knock on the door, both my mother and I walked to the hallway. I briefly looked back at my father’s closed office door before I turned to my mother, who was about to open the front door.

My mother opened the door, and we found Easton standing there with his hands at his sides. He had a determined look on his face, but when his eyes reached mine, he smiled.

“Hi,” he said as he stepped through the doorway.

My mom opened her arms and when Easton stepped into them, I heard her whisper, “Thank you.”

Easton pulled away and gave me a confused look and asked, “You’re welcome, but I’m not sure what for?”

“For being there with my daughter when she needed someone the most.” She turned to Easton and said, “How about we have a small dinner party tomorrow? Just us, your father, and we can invite Nash and Raven as well. Maybe, we can smooth things over with… everyone.”

I raised an eyebrow at her. “Is that okay with you given what just happened?”

I watched as the mask shifted back onto my mother’s face. She was back to being the politician’s wife. “Yes. Everything will be fine.”

I wasn’t sure if that was a good idea, but I did want to give her a chance. “If Easton’s schedule is clear, I think we can make it.”

“There’s nothing pressing on it.”

My mom clapped her hands together and said, “Excellent. I’ll take care of everything, and we should be ready to go by seven.”

I didn’t know what tomorrow’s dinner would bring, but I suspected it would be anything but normal.

18

BIANCA

Iplayed with the necklace Easton had given me as a way to calm my nerves. To say I wasn’t nervous about tonight would be a lie.

It was the evening after I’d gone to my mother’s house and sort of cleared the air. But that didn’t mean I wasn’t worried about being in my father’s presence again.

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