Page 109 of Imogen

“I think it has more to do with conflict at work. We’re a tight knit group, and if we break up, he’s going to take his daughter’s side and it could cause tension at work. I’m not sure it will be about me personally. Or I would like to think it won’t be.”

She clucks her tongue again. One thing about my mum is that she doesn’t have time for bullshit. Life is meant to be lived and mistakes are meant to be made. “Are you happy?”

“Yes.”

“Is Imogen?”

“As far as I know, yes.”

“Then be happy,mio figlio. Everything else will fall into place. And our Imogen will make a wonderful wife.”

I chuckle. “Mum, we aren’t there yet.”

She smiles wide. “Yet. You said yet. So there is hope.”

I lean down and kiss her cheek. “You are a sneaky woman,Mamma.”

“It’s why your dad married me,” she admits, then lowers her half empty glass to the table. “Which reminds me, I need to be with your father to see the New Year in.”

My chest constricts. It still breaks my heart that she goes there every year. We all used to go with her, but I think as we grew, we understood it wasn’t about us being there together, but about her holding on to the man she loves.

Mum, even before Dad passed away, always said she would outlive him. It’s in her genes apparently. She just didn’t expect to lose him so young. So she goes every year because he’s still the love of her life and the person she wants to see the New Year in with. Sometimes we tag along, sometimes we don’t to give her alone time. She tells him everything he has missed, tells him what she has planned for the year, then reminds him she is one year closer to joining him.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to come?”

She glances over at Imogen. “No,mio figlio. You now have someone to celebrate with, and believe me, son, you want to celebrate them all for as long as you can. How you spend your New Year dictates how you spend the rest of the year. And my son, I want happiness and love for you more than anything. I have a lot to discuss with your father so I’d best be going.”

I help her to her feet and kiss her cheek once more. “Happy New Year,Mamma. I hope the new year will bring you the same.”

She gives me a sad smile. “I have had the love of my life. He gave me beautiful children. All I can wish for now is their happiness.”

“You never know,Mamma; you might find someone new to give your heart to.”

She taps my cheek. “Only one man will ever have my heart. Now a lover I could get on board with.”

I can feel the blood drain from my face. “Yeah, maybe stay single.”

She chuckles. “I’ll say goodbye to your sisters and I will see you all for dinner tomorrow.”

I nod and retake my seat as I try to find Imogen in the crowd. Something catches my eye in the corner of the room, and I lean forward to see if what I’m seeing is real. Reid drops down in the chair next to me. “What are you staring at?”

“What is Hope doing?”

He squints in the direction I’m looking. Hope is smuggling something under the table. “She’s a Carter. She could be planting a bomb,” he announces.

Maddox and Mark drop down in the empty chairs next to me. “What are we looking at?”

“Hope,” Reid replies without expanding further.

“Why the fuck are you looking at my cousin?” Maddox growls.

“And your sister,” Reid states, jerking his chin to where Madison has joined her.

I glance at the time, wondering when I can steal Imogen away. The countdown is going to start in ten minutes and I want to start the new year with her in my arms.

“If you wanted to be killed, you only had to ask. I would have done it without the provoking,” Maddox growls.

Before it kicks off, I intervene. “Your sister and Hope are smuggling something under the table.”

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