Page 290 of Second Sets Omnibus

“Take me? No! Kieran, tell them, sweet boy. I didn’t know those earrings were in there! I’m being framed!” she cries out, wrestling with her handcuffs again, trying to scurry away from the situation like the bug she is.

“Absolutely, Sir.” Angie spins on her heel and closes the door, leaving Gloria and me alone.

The air shifts as my anger rises, snuffing out the warmth of the room. Cold shivers run down my spine as my fingers curl again at my sides.

“I swear,” she breathes with big, pleading eyes filled with tears.

“You swear what? That you didn’t take my credit card? That you didn’t spend thousands of dollars of my money? Or that you didn’t steal those earrings. Tell me which one; I’m dying to find out.” I raise a brow, pacing in front of her as she hunches her shoulders, looking as small as possible in my presence.

I’m not buying her sweet little mouse act. She’s the fucking snake in the grass. And the orchestrator of my damn demise. Everything Gloria does is for herself. No one else matters in her eyes. We’re all pawns in her little game of chess.

Well, not anymore.

Gloria sniffles, rubbing at her nose the best she can. “You gave it to me.”

“Enlighten me, Gloria. When did I give you my card?” I cock my head when her bleary eyes meet mine, filling with more moisture.

She’s not sad because she thinks she hurt me. There are only tears present because she is upset I found out.

Gloria scoffs, shaking her head in disbelief. “You gave it to me, don’t you remember?” Fucking gaslighting bitch.

“Nope,” I say with as much indifference as I can.

I learned a long time ago not to give into my emotions around her narcissistic ass.

She rolls her eyes. “Get them to drop the charges. You and I both know you can just pay for those earrings yourself. I didn’t take that card. You gave it to me before you disappeared off the face of the earth. It hurt.” More tears fall down her cheeks as she looks away, twisting her expression into anguish. “It hurt that you left and didn’t even tell me about it. Did you go on another vacation? I could have come, too. You know?”

“Vacation?” I scoff, staring up at the ceiling. After a few big breaths, I look at her pathetic self again.

“Yeah. So, let’s just go, Kieran. You know I don’t belong in prison.”

“See, that’s where you’re wrong,” I say, placing my hands on the table she’s attached to. “It is where you belong. I’m tired of bailing your grown ass out of situations you shouldn’t have been in the first place.”

She blinks several times, turning a beautiful shade of red. “Kieran Knight, you drop these charges against me and pay for those earrings, or I’ll… I’ll?—”

“You’ll what? Move away? With what money? And with what freedom? After this, Gloria, I’m going to walk out of this room and forget your existence.”

“You’ll never see Cami again,” she hisses in a rage, pulling at her handcuffs again.

“I think you have that backward. As we speak, Asher and I are gaining custody of Cami. So, it’s you who will never see your kids again.”

“You can’t fucking do this, Kieran!” she cries out, slamming her fists into the table. “I’m your mother!”

“My mother? Were you my mother when you brought strange men to our apartment and kicked me out without shoes on? Were you my mother when you got married and let some man put his hands on me? Leaving bruises and broken ribs? Were you my mother when you fucking offered Asher money toleave the love of my fucking life behind? Which instance were you my goddamn mother?” I heave every word, spitting my rage at the woman throwing a fucking temper tantrum in front of me. My lip curls back when she throws her head back, manically laughing in my face.

“Oh, please.” She levels me with a thunderous look, losing all the theatrics from before. “If I hadn’t done all those things, then you wouldn’t be here. Life is fucking hard, Kieran, and it’s even harder when someone leaves you with an ungrateful brat. I did you so many favors in life, including not informing you of River and the bastard child.”

Don’t hit your fucking mother. Don’t fucking throw her into the river down the way and go to jail for murder.

“Bastard child?” I ask with a calm I don’t feel. It’s nothing but storms and fucking violence brewing inside me.

Gloria scoffs. “It wasn’t yours anyway. She was fucking around with that damn Van Drake boy. Probably for the better. He seemed happy to help her raise the baby.” My fucking blood boils to a dangerous rate at the sound of his name.

“So, that’s why you did it then when you offered Ash the money? And forged restraining orders. So, River couldn’t ruin the gravy train of money coming your way?”

“Those restraining orders were nothing. Judge Drake and I concocted that plan, and then he sent Van away so she couldn’t poison anyone else with her lies. I also let Asher know about the videos Van had stashed on his phone,” she says, rolling her eyes again. “It was easy to put the pieces together and rid you all of the vermin she was. Nothing but a slutty Central girl looking for an easy paycheck.”

“That’s rich coming from you,” I say with a little chuckle. “Is that the whole reason behind it? Because you saw yourself in River and wanted to get her away from me?”