Page 30 of Nemesis
I guess that is the consequence of seeking revenge.
Having my heart being collateral damage.
As if he’d heard my thoughts, Theo turned around and made his way to me. I schooled my features, placing my mask firmly back in its place.
Maya’s smile grew brighter as they drew closer to where I was still standing, jolting me out of my lament.
“Who’s this?” she asked, her eyes roaming over my face curiously.
Theo gave me a small smile and my heart jumped. “Maya, this is Olivia.”
“Hi,” I said shyly, giving her my hand to shake.
She ignored my hand and her little fingers reached for my cheek. “You’re so pretty.”
I blushed at her compliment, placing my hand over where she’d laid hers. “I could say the same about you.”
She giggled.
“All right, let’s head home,” Theo said, walking back to the car, and I followed behind them.
After buckling her in the car seat for kids he’d picked up earlier, he drove away and I sat there, dwelling on the new situation unfolding around me.
I didn’t know how much time passed before we reached our destination, pulling into the driveway of a one-story house. Theo barely had time to park before Maya unbuckled herself from the back seat and rushed to his side, then grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the house.
“Come on, let’s go seeMi,” she yelled in a happy voice.
His laughter boomed in the air as he followed behind her. “Slow down, Maya. I’m coming.”
She peered back, noticing I was still in the car. “Are you coming, Olivia?” she asked.
I smiled at her. “Okay.”
It was a quiet area, with family houses lining the street. As soon as we walked in, she ran to the kitchen into the arms of a woman who I assumed was the grandmother she was referring to earlier.
“Mi, Mi,look, we have a special guest,” Maya exclaimed, beaming.
Her grandmother bent down to pick her up, throwing her a loving smile before planting an affectionate kiss on top of her head.
She glanced up, her eyes now trained on me as she offered me a welcoming smile. “I can see that,tesoro.”
“Hi, it’s nice to meet you,” I greeted her shyly. I never thought I’d be this nervous meeting someone new, but I’d never met his mother before since we were in hiding when we were together.
I was meeting the love of my life’s mother as a lie. Lying to him was hard enough, but now I had to pretend to be someone else to his family as well.
“It’s nice to meet you too…” She paused, waiting for me to introduce myself.
“Olivia,” I finished for her.
“It’s nice to meet you, Olivia,” she said with a smirk.
She put Maya back down and looked over my shoulder toward Theo, switching fully into Spanish, asking him who the pretty girl he just brought home was and that it was long overdue for him to bring someone home.
He placed a hand on the small of my back, sending a shiver down my spine as he walked past me to greet his mother. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders, pulling her into a side hug and kissing her forehead.
“Mama, she’s my new client. And, she can understand you.”
“Oh.”
