Page 15 of Swan

“What the fuck are you screwing your nose up at my husband for?” she demanded, leaping down the stairs and overtaking Dad’s approach. Nicky and I raced their way too. Worry twisted me up, but there was a large amount of annoyance as well from Alisa’s reaction. Nicky just grinned like a fool.

“Ah, Deanna, I see and hear you’re still your charming self.”

“Mum,” Lockland snapped.

My mum laughed. “I don’t need to be charming around a money-hungry w?—”

“Babe,” Dad clipped, curling an arm around her waist. “Let’s hear what’s goin’ on before the name-callin’ starts.”

“Fine,” she bit out. She waved a hand at Alisa.

Only it wasn’t Alisa who explained; it was Lockland. “It was because of Mum we lost contact,” he told me as he walked my way and stopped at my side. “She blocked your number and email and then replaced them with slightly altered ones.”

My eyes widened as I looked at Alisa.

She scowled at me but said to her son, “I did it for your own good. You missed this backwards town too much. I knew communicating with her would drag you back here, and you’d turn out to be like the rest of them. You can do so much better than that fat cow?—”

Lockland stepped towards his mother. “Don’t you fucking dare talk about Swan like that. Get the hell out of my sight. We’ll finish this shit when I want to see your face again. Don’t count it’ll be anytime soon.”

“Son—”

“Leave,” he bellowed.

Alisa took us all in. She opened her mouth, but Mum got there first. “Whatever you want to say, don’t. Not after the shit you’ve just spewed.”

“You—”

Dad moved Mum to the side and took a step forwards. I saw the guards tense. “Fuckin’ leave,” Dad snarled.

Alisa huffed but turned and ordered, “Let’s go. Lockland, you have an interview tomorrow morning.”

“Cancel it.”

She spun back. “Lockland, you can’t do that at the last minute. Think of your reputation.”

“This is what you get when you try and control my life.”

She sneered at me. “This is your fault?—”

Lockland snorted. “There’s no one else to blame but yourself, Alisa.”

She slammed her mouth shut and winced.

When Lockland and I were close, he’d never called her Alisa. She was always Mum.

Now she knew how upset her son really was.

But I also didn’t want him to say anything he couldn’t take back, and the way his chest heaved told me he was getting more worked up.

Taking a step forwards, I reached out for his hand. When he glanced back, I said, “Inside?”

He nodded, and together we walked away from her.

CHAPTER FOUR

As soon as we were inside, Lockland dropped my hand and started pacing. He muttered things under his breath, still fuming about his mother. I stood near the bottom of the stairs and watched. When my family entered after making sure Alisa and the guards left, Lockland stopped pacing and faced them.

“I’m sorry for bringing this here,” he said, staring at Dad, who tipped his chin up at Lock.

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