Page 51 of Mine To Possess

He hasn’t come out and said it, but I think he’s secretly worried that whoever started the fire will come after me next as a way to get to him. Maybe I should be a little more worried about that happening, but the truth is, I’m not. Of course, the idea of someone coming after me or someone coming after Viktor is truly frightening if I sit down and think about it, but I’m not doing that.

I’m floating around on the sweet cloud of love and romance, and I dig the idea that he cares enough about me to think that someone could use me against him. And I love to see the lengths he will go to keep me safe and stop that from happening. It tells me he feels for me like I feel for him.

That this is real.

I turn my focus back to my wardrobe, debating what to wear. I’m not planning on going anywhere, but I’ve got a good few hours before I have to start work. Viktor has made it clear that I don’t need to work for him anymore, that I can just study, but I haven’t started my course yet and I also don’t like the idea of being a kept woman.

It would make me feel too much like I was taking advantage of him, and I would feel like I was dependent on him. He won’t hear of me paying for anything, but at least I have the knowledge that I have my own money and the independence that gives me. After the way things turned out with my mom, I don’t want to be financially dependent on anyone ever again. Not even someone as sweet as Viktor who I know would never throw it back in my face the way my mom allowed Dan to do.

I settle on wearing a pair of denim shorts and a yellow tank top. I might go and sit outside by the pool for a bit and read my book. I have to do something to occupy myself, otherwise, I’ll just end up starting work earlier than I’m scheduled to do, and Viktor has caught me doing that once before. He sat me down and explained to me that if I kept doing that, he would have to let the maids go. I was horrified to think I could cost my friends their jobs. In the end, he laughed and told me he was joking, but he also reminded me that he pays the maids, so it was bad practice to buy a dog and bark yourself.

I don’t see the big deal myself. I’m just here rattling around this big house waiting for him to come home and I figured I might as well make myself useful, but I’ll respect his wishes. It’s the least I can do when he has respected mine and not made a big fuss about me wanting to keep working. I have noticed that I’m only ever scheduled to work on his estate now though which makes me think I was right about my theory that Viktor is worried about my safety.

I’m sure he won’t have to worry much longer. He’ll find the bastard who torched the restaurant, and he’ll deal with him. He won’t talk to me about that much though. All I’ve managed to get out of him is he suspects it’s a man called Igor. An old enemy. He showed me a photo, but I think he only did so I’ll be on my guard if I happen to see him around anywhere. Not that that’s likely at the minute. I’m practically on house arrest. Other than that one little snippet of information he shared with me, he just tells me it’s all under control and I don’t need to worry about it.

I finish getting dressed, grab my book, a historical romance novel that I’m getting into much more than I care to admit, and go downstairs. First, I go to the kitchen and pour myself a coffee, then I head out for the balcony. I open the gate and move down towards the pool. Viktor has said he will teach me to swim, but until then I give the water a wide berth, choosing one of the loungers on the grass further away from the pool than the ones that line it. Almost drowning has given me a newfound respect for water.

I take a sip of my coffee and open my book. Lady Katherine, the heroine, is just about to kiss her prince for the first time when I hear the buzzing sound of the intercom. Great. Just as things were getting interesting.

I debate ignoring the buzzer, but it could be a delivery and I know the maids are at the back of the house, and it will take them far longer to get to the door than me. Viktor probably won’t be impressed if I answer the door to a stranger, but it’s not like I won’t be able to see who it is on the screen before I open the door. Plus, they’ve already been vetted by the security staff manning the gates anyway.

I get up and hurry back towards the house. At the front door I check the screen to see who is there. My heart slams harder in my chest when I see my mom standing on the doorstep. As I stand staring at the screen, hardly believing my eyes, she reaches up and presses the buzzer again.

What the hell is she even doing here? How does she even know where I am?

For a second an evil little voice in my head tells me not to open the door. She chose Dan over me after he had tried to rape me. But my heart cries out for her. She is still my mom, and despite her faults when it comes to men, we’ve some good, happy times when she was between boyfriends, and she worked her ass off to keep me when I was a kid. For her to have tracked me down and turned up here, something must be wrong. At the very least, I should hear her out.

I tell myself I’m just curious as to why she’s here as I take a step closer to the door, but the truth is, there’s a part of me, the part of me that’s still the little girl my mom used to tuck into bed at night and read a story to, that wants her to have seen the error of her ways. That part of me wants her to apologize to me, to say she’s seen Dan for the pervert he is and tell me she loves me more than she ever loved him.

I pull open the door and my mother smiles too brightly at me.

I don’t return her smile because I already know from her false smile, she is going to disappoint me. “What are you doing here, Mom?”

“Is that any way to greet your mother, Amelia?” she answers cheerfully.

“I’m just a little surprised to see you here, that's all,” I say.

“We need to talk. Can I come in?”

I nod. “What did you tell security at the gates?”

“I told them I was your mom, of course.” She sighs and rolls her eyes. “I had to show them ID. This guy you’re dating seems like a pretty big deal. Now can I come in or not?”

If I don’t let her in now, she’s only going to keep coming back if she’s set her mind on us having whatever conversation she plans on having with me. And this would be much more awkward and uncomfortable if Viktor was here.

I step back and pull the door open wider, letting my mom step past me. She stops in the hallway and looks around, letting out a low whistle. “You sure fell on your feet with this one. Maybe you should teach me how to pick a good one,” she says with a nervous laugh.

“Do you want some coffee?” I ask, ignoring her insinuation that I’m only here for the lifestyle Viktor is offering me. That’s the least attractive thing to me about Viktor. I’m not my mom, and I never will be.

She nods and I lead her through to the kitchen. I pour her some coffee and pour myself a fresh one. My coffee outside must be cold by now. I gesture to the table and we sit down.

“So, what brings you here, Mom?”

“What? I need a reason to come and see you? Can’t a mom pop in to see her daughter without it being a federal case these days?”

“Well, I’m sure in normal families it can work that way, but let’s be honest, we’re far from normal, and after the way we left things, I wasn’t exactly expecting regular coffee mornings with you.”

“Fair point,” Mom concedes. She sips her coffee, but she’s still not telling me why she’s here or what she wants.

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