Page 90 of Tomorrow Belongs to Us
“Goaway, goaway, goaway!” she yells, going into a full-blown tantrum. She has a temper on her, but I haven't witnessed anything like this since she was a toddler.
Mila, the housekeeper, rushes into the room, but Vivian dismisses her with a wave of her hand. I back away because me being near only makes the situation worse. I can’t calm my daughter down.
She hates me.
“There, there.” Vivian strokes Cassie's hair. “Mommy still loves you, baby. Mommy willalwayslove you.”
My ex-wife has always been a conniving shrew. My eyes fall to my daughter again, my insides splinter like broken glass. Vivian did this on purpose. She knows exactly how to hurt me.
“Can I have a word?” I hiss, and leave the room. There's nothing I can do. Me being around Cassie right now is only going to make things worse. I'll explain it to her soon, because she will calm down at some point, but I have to be prepared for my daughter to despise me. It’s so obvious that Vivian has poisoned her against me.
She pads softly in bare feet into the hallway. Her thin, flimsy, silky night shirt leaving nothing to the imagination. Even this was staged. She tries every trick in the book. I stare into her cold-as-ice eyes. “You told her.”
“I—”
I point my finger at her. “We agreed that I would tell her when she came to stay with me one weekend.”
Vivian folds her arms and leans against the wall. “You’re angry.”
“Yes, I’m fucking angry. You turning my daughter against me.”
“She needed to hear the truth.”
“But we agreed I would tell her when she came to my place.”
Her gaze slips down my body and she sniffs. “You smell of butter and garlic.”
Oh. Fuck. This hawk-eyed eagle can see and smell everything. I open my mouth to say something when she says it for me.
“Did you have a date? Did we disturb you?”
I can’t lie. Even if I tried, she would know. This high priestess has always had the uncanny ability to sense things that others can’t, maybe because she’s fucked around so often she recognizes these things easily. Sniffs them out like a bloodhound.
“And what if I did?” I’m a free man now, and I can date, and it’s okay. But I don’t want her on my trail. She’s dangerous.
“Is it that same one as the last time?”
I try not to swallow, even though I badly want to. I can’t give Vivian any indication of my panic. More than anything, I need to keep Megan out of this mess.
“It’s not like you,” Vivian muses, admiring her painted nails, pretending this is a minor piece of information. Her eyes and ears and all her senses are fully engaged, searching for more data to confirm her suspicions. “This one must mean a lot to you. Is she a student?”
I despise her insinuation that there have been others. “Nothing ever happened in college.” Maybe she’s heard the rumors. “I’m not you, Vivian. I have never been involved with anyone. I’ve been faithful when I should have walked away from this years ago.”
“But it’s different this time.” She rubs her lips together, contemplating. “It is her, isn’t it? The woman we caught you with?”
I try not to think about that time with Megan. But Vivian takes my silence as proof of something. “It must be … serious,” she says, her expression as hard as steel.
I’ve tried to stay calm, but she’s tested my patience. “You are free to fuck the pool boys and gardeners and all the home help all day long.”
Her hand lashes forward to slap me, but I grab her by the wrist. “Careful, Vivian. Your talons are showing.” I glance over to my daughter. I still have to be nice to this woman. Because of Cassie she will be in my life forever.
Chapter 35
MEGAN
Lance makes me happy, and then he makes me realize how this isn’t going to be easy for us, all in the same breath.
He is a remnant of my past, but he’s suddenly in my future and I have a false sense of hope. He did a sweet thing for me by turning up at my place, not knowing what sort of a mood I'd be in, and making me dinner.
