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Mommy

Me either. You’re so beautiful. You look like your dad.

Ayla

Thanks. That’s what everyone says. (Blushing emoji)

Mommy

You could be a model. You have that gorgeous face and the body for it. I bet the boys in school are crazy about you.

I don’t know if I’m more sickened by this or the conversations about her knowing what Ayla’s hobbies are or them talking about baseball and how good my daughter is. That’s our thing.

I shove my eyes closed, bracing against the red wave that floods my eyelids. My pulse is out of control, and my hands are balled into fists, but I place them over my thighs. The way that woman is talking to Ayla is so familiar, so casual. Like she didn’t leave her as a baby. How dare she think she can do this. That she can waltz back in and buy pink high-tops and talk about boys like that’s going to erase all the time she wasn’t here.

Maybe it has for Ayla.

There are a lot of emojis, and I can picture my daughter’s big smile as she talks to this woman she shouldn’t trust because all she does is destroy you once she’s gotten what she wants from you.

My alarm goes off, taking me out of the text messages, and I have to look at my phone to remember that I need to check on my crew and head to Lux’s. I get up from my desk, grab my bag, and head out.

I get in my car and drive away, but I’m not going to the work site. I find myself driving to Noris’s mother’s house. That woman and I have a conversation pending. I know she brokered this behind my back.

I’m halfway there when I realize I don’t have a plan, and showing up at her house and screaming at a decorated veteran without all the facts is definitely not the way. I need the full story, and for that, I need to talk to my daughter. Ayla has the answers I need, and I need her to come clean with me. But I can’t pull her out of school for this. And I need to calm down first. I head to the site, making annotations and ordering corrections on the tilling. It’s all a blur. I text Lux to tell her I’m on my way.

And that lets me breathe a little. I can talk to her. She can help me sort this out. She knows Ayla and has been such a good influence on her.

I’m so glad she’s in my life, that I have someone to sort this out with. I’m not alone.

I need to sort some of this out before I talk to my daughter. I know she has the right to know her mother, but why did she feel the need to lie to me? That is what’s so hard for me to believe. I speed my way through the city. I need to get to Lux.

I need to talk this out, or I will burst. Why did Noris have to come back into our lives now? Ayla has been doing well as always. I’m finally in a good relationship with a good woman who loves Ayla. I’m finally in love with someone who checks all the boxes. The last thing I need is to deal with Noris, because if there’s one thing I know, it is that woman ruins everything she touches.

And she has now touched Ayla.

But like hell I will let that happen. She will not hurt my baby again. She turned her back on her, and I’m not letting her do it a second time. I will protect her from her own mother. My gaze drifts to the dashboard, and I’m going too fast.

I force myself to slow down, breathe, and focus on getting to my girlfriend’s house. Lux will help me calm down and put this into perspective.

Lux

“Are you serious? Hell no, Mimi. I am not doing it.”

I push away from my desk and pace to the other side of my studio.

“Luxxy, please calm down. This is business.” Her voice is calm, and that grates me as much as her news.

“I am not going to calm down, and I am not doing an interview with Mateo or host his dumb-ass gala. Are you crazy? Did you forget my history with him?”

“I didn’t, Luxxy. It’s just that the CEO has asked for this. He had dinner with the owner of the Emperors, and they want to generate good PR for the event, and this would be great for Big Apple and for you. They’re going to give you 300K to host.”

I want to scream.

“I don’t want the money. Give it to someone else. Get a sportswriter to do the interview. Is Lucetta busy? He loves to bury his face in Mateo’s ass.”

I look down onto my street, and I need to wrap this up. Ollie is coming soon, and I can’t imagine having this conversation with him.

“Luxxy, they don’t want Lucetta or anyone else, only you.”