Page 40 of Mercy (The Sins Trilogy 3)
Chapter Fifteen
Ivy
By the time Tony picks me up at the foundation, my head feels like it’s going to split in half. Other than the two bags of M&M’s, I haven’t had anything all day.
Not the smartest way to go. But Margot’s hateful words kept coming back to me like boomerangs every time I tried to push them out of my mind. And they kept zapping my appetite.
Bobbi opens the door to the Cullinan, and I step in, wishing I’d taken some aspirin after the three o’clock meeting.
Tony’s holding a bouquet of tiger lilies, but he drops them the second he sees me. “You look pale. Something happen?”
“Just an unpleasant meeting.” I want to stop at that, then realize I’m shutting him out of something he has every right to know. That visit with Margot was no ordinary lunch. “Your mother came by. She offered to pay for our wedding.”
He stares at me, his mouth slightly open.
“Yeah, that was my face too.” If it was under other circumstances, I’d laugh at his expression. He’s almost never speechless or befuddled.
“What did you say?” he asks tautly.
“No, of course.” His reaction is a little surprising. Shouldn’t he know me better? “I’d never agree without talking to you first, but…” I press my lips together. “You don’t mind, do you?”
Relief leaves his shoulders sagging a bit. “No. It’s good that you did.”
“She said it’s the bride who’s supposed to pay, but since there’s no way I can afford the kind of wedding you and I ought to have, she’d cover it. But it just felt weird. She isn’t my mom.”
I don’t bother to add that I didn’t get any sense of maternal warmth from her. He isn’t obtuse, so he probably already knows. Besides, she is his mother, and he probably still has some feelings for her.
“No, and you don’t have to pay for anything.” He curses under his breath. “Don’t listen to her. The wedding’s going to go on the way you want, and no expense is too much. God damn it, I didn’t make all this money so you could pay.” He’s bristling with outrage.
I put a hand on his shoulder and rest my forehead there. “I know. Trust me, I know.”
“Did she do anything else to upset you? Is that why you’re so pale?”
She did say other horrible things, like all the stuff about Katherine. I want to talk about it, but not right now, not when my head is killing me. It’s the kind of topic I should discuss when I’m pain-free and able to think clearly.
“Couldn’t eat afterward,” I say.
He scowls. “It doesn’t matter how somebody upsets you, even if it’s my mother. You need to take better care of yourself.”
“You mean like a certain someone who lost so much weight?” I place a gentle palm on his cheek, so he knows I’m not upset.
He kisses my fingertips. “You’re the exception to every rule I have.”
I look into his tender eyes. Margot was angry that he didn’t cry. So what? Tears aren’t going to prove—or disprove—that there’s decent, honorable core inside him.
“Is Chinese good for you?” he asks.
“If I get an extra spring roll and an egg drop soup.”
He orders on his phone. “Should be there when we get home.”
I reach for the bouquet and bury my face in the fragrant blossoms. They cheer me up immensely. Tony knows exactly what I need to brighten my day without my having to say a word.
“By the way, do you mind if I call Yuna and see if we can meet tonight or tomorrow? I owe her a face-to-face talk,” I say.
“Of course. I’m surprised she hasn’t called you by now.”
“Same here. I thought she’d reach out over the weekend after I sent her texts and left voice messages…but she never did.” I purse my lips. “Maybe I was too mean. I really went to some lengths to avoid talking to her.”
