“Fucking hell,” I can hear Kade mutter.
I groan and roll onto my back, knowing instinctively I haven’t gotten anywhere near enough sleep. Fortunately, today is rest day and I don’t actually have to leave my bed, except to text Bob and let him know I’ll see him later.
I close my eyes, intent on ignoring whoever is banging on the door and going back to sleep, when I hear the voice of the last person I want to see, ever, but especially now, yell my name. “Montana, open this motherfucking door.”
Hearing Veronika yell at me through the door has me sitting up in bed and clutching the sheet to my chest, unable to move.
“What is she doing here?” I whisper to no one in particular.
I don’t realize the panic I feel is clear in my voice until Kade is in front of me, cupping my face, trying to reassure. “Nothing is going to happen to you. I promise, she can’t hurt you anymore.”
As I look into his eyes his strength seeps into me, calming me down, and giving me courage to get out of bed and face another one of my mother’s dramatic spectacles.
I get out of bed trying to find my clothes, and all the while Veronika is banging on the door, probably waking up every person on the floor without care. I slide on my panties, but, looking at my riding attire, I decide to make a statement. I’m done letting her be the one to dictate my life, either by forcing me to do something I don’t want, or through her manipulations.
I walk to Kade’s suitcase and grab one of the shirts he hasn’t unpacked yet and throw it on, not bothering with a bra, or running a brush through my hair.
“Mon…” Kade tries to stop me as I go to open the door, but I shake off his hand, done with her bullshit.
I throw open the door. I don’t know what I expected to find, but it wasn’t the distraught looking woman in front of me with anguish on her face.
I’m confused at her appearance, and before I can ask her what she’s doing here she’s throwing her arms around me in a theatrical show of sorrow. I’m stiff as a board, not knowing her angle. The one thing I know is she’s trying to manipulate someone. I doubt it’s me, which only leaves Kade.
“Oh, Montana, baby,” she wails into my ears. For a moment, I’m shocked speechless, before I untangle her arms from around me. I take a step back while Kade closes the door, a look of confusion and apprehension on his face.
I study her. She’s hitting all the right buttons to make her show believable. But just like all the people who kill their spouses on Dateline, she oversells it. Her shoulders are just a little too stooped, her crying a little too dramatic. But the one thing that seals it is the fact that she’s crying without tears. I’ve seen too many crime shows to know that’s the telltale sign of someone faking it.
“Stop the theatrics, Veronika,” I demand, my voice harsh and cold. Until yesterday, I still clung to the idea of her, of having a mother who loves me. I clung to the hope that maybe one day she’d change, that she’d realize what she was losing out on being the way she is, despite telling myself I wasn’t. That all changed when Amber told me my own mother paid her ten thousand dollars to deliberately shatter my heart into a million pieces.
Only a cold and calculating bitch would do that, and I don’t want anyone like that in my life. I finally know, regardless of what will happen in the future, I don’t need her. I have a family in Dakota and Bob, and Kade. And hopefully my dad and Lizzie, if they give me another chance.
She looks at me, and I can tell the wheels in her head are turning, trying to figure out the best way to manipulate me. She must realize I’m way past all of that because her demeanor suddenly changes to the one I’m used to—ice-cold and unrelenting.
“Looks like the little bitch got herself laid and grew a backbone.” I don’t even flinch at her words anymore, but this is the first time Kade is treated firsthand to the nastiness that is my mother’s true self.
“Watch your mouth, Veronika. Talk to her like that one more time and you’ll find yourself out on your ass faster than you can blink with all that Botox in your face.”
I press my lips together to keep the laugh from bursting free. My body relaxes knowing that he’ll have my back. For the first time, I’m not standing alone against my mother. I’m not trying to shield the people closest to me from the ugly part of my life. Instead, I realize having him at my back gives me the strength to stand up for myself.
“Why are you here?” I cross my arms across my chest and watch her look me up and down in dismay.
“Go put on decent clothes—”
“No,” I deny whatever else she was about to request. “You came banging on our hotel room uninvited, rousing us from sleep. I have no intention to get dressed since I plan to go back to bed whenever this, whatever this is, is over.”
I watch her wrinkle her nose in disgust before she looks at Kade and appreciation enters her eyes. That’s when the anger I’ve suppressed for twenty-four years finally boils over. “Fucking hell, stop ogling my damn boyfriend and get to the point or get the fuck out.”
Her cold eyes snap to mine, and I know if Kade wasn’t standing behind me, his protective presence filling the room, she’d have slapped me for the disrespect.
