Page 291 of Second Sets Omnibus

“She was only going to bring you down,” she howls. “I knew girls like her.”

“You mean girls like you? That’s what you did. You sunk your claws into the first man who reeked of money so you could move us to a mansion on the greener side of town. But nothing was greener about that fucking house. You can’t sit here and tell me that you enjoyed his fists?”

Her face hardens at the talk of the abuse she endured under Nigel’s roof. “It doesn’t matter anymore. He’s in jail.”

“Again, because of you. I’m curious. Did you think all his wealth was going to come to you once they slammed the prison door shut? I bet you never imagined they’d freeze every asset and sell it, did you?”

“It wasn’t supposed to go like that,” she says through clenched teeth. “All that was supposed to be mine. I…” She rolls her lips together.

“Do tell, Gloria,” I say, spreading my arms wide. “There’s no one here but me.” And the cameras in the corner of the room. It seems my mother has a lot to confess to now that she’s caught.

Her back stiffens, and her chest puffs out. “His partner and I had it all planned out. So, we called the feds and set it up so it looked like Nigel was the one skimming money. Once Nigel was out of the picture, we were going to take over and elope. It was all supposed to be mine, but he fucking…he fucking took off too, with the rest of the money. He left me.” She sniffles again, heaving an angry breath.

“So, you both set Nigel up to go to prison and then, he fucking left you, too? That’s hysterical.” I can’t help but fucking laugh at Gloria and the shitty life decisions she’s made. Now, she’ll go to prison for theft and more fraud.

“There’s nothing funny about it! He took all the fucking money and left me homeless, hungry, and without a cent to my name! Kieran, he left me like everyone has always left me.”

Ah, there it is. Gloria has always looked for love in all the wrong places. Manipulating herself into other people’s pockets and circumstances. But the one thing she’s always been afraid of is getting left behind.

Seems like her nightmare is about to come true.

“That’s when I stepped in, huh? I offered you a cushy life here. All you had to do was sit back and let me take care of Cami. But you couldn’t do that, could you? You had to go and fucking ruin it by spending money that wasn’t yours. You stole my card. You stole my fucking money. And on top of all that, you stole my life with MY daughter.”

Gloria’s head snaps up, locking her gaze on me. “Your daughter?”

“If you had managed to do an ounce of research on the girl you were damning to a life without the boys and me, then you’d have found out that River West is Corbin West’s daughter. You know, West Records’ founder. Then, you’d have known that she received an inheritance. She’s also our band manager now. And the baby she had? That was mine. She’s four now. Well, five on Saturday.”

“What?” she hiccups, staring at me like a deer caught in the headlights.

“So, thanks for all your meddling,” I say sarcastically, tossing a hand in her direction. “But, I’m pressing charges now. You stole over fifty-K from my bank account, not to mention the additional twenty you tried to spend here. Don’t expect any visits from us while you rot in prison.” I stand straight up and waltz toward the door with a light feeling pulling my shoulders out of my ears. “Your lease is gone. Everything in your apartment is ours. You were afraid of people leaving you with nothing. Well, now you really have nothing. I won’t bail you out. No one will. Your desperate acts won’t work on anyone. Have a good life, Gloria. I hope you fucking rot.”

Parting shots fired, I slam open the door with force, nearly knocking it off the hinges, and race out of the room. Once outside the door, I look over my shoulder at the devastation I left behind. There she sits, the woman who thought she had it all, but now, she has nothing. Her vacant eyes stare straight ahead, and she hasn’t moved an inch since I walked away.

Good.

“I’m all done here, thanks,” I say, giving the officer a tight smile. “Um. Did you happen to get that interview on camera?” I ask, shutting the door behind me. “Because it sounds like Gloria had a few sleazy things up her sleeve.”

“Yes, Sir. We’ll look into it with the feds and let them know what we caught.” The officer extends his hand, and I grab onto it, shaking it with a breath of relief.

“Thanks, Officer. If you need anything else from me, here’s my number.” Quickly, I jot it down on his notepad and walk away.

I’m sure in the future there will be more I have to do. Maybe go on the stand and tell the court how awful she was. For now, I’m walking away with my head up and my anger gone.

Gloria is in the past.

“Hey, Man,” Asher says, standing up from a bench outside. My eyes fall on Lyric as she smiles at his phone, swaying to an upbeat kids’ song blasting from the speakers. “Everything good?”

“That was a shit show,” I confess, rubbing at my forehead. “She stole earrings, but yet, stole my card, too. She…” Asher clasps my shoulder, gently squeezing in support. “She admitted to fucking everything. She set up your dad to go to prison.”

“Good fucking riddance,” he mumbles, shaking his head.

“She admitted to what she did to River and… Fuck… I don’t know how to feel about this,” I whisper, swallowing hard. “She was a horrible fucking mother…”

“But she was still your mother.” Asher nods in understanding. “That’s how I felt about my dad. I hated him with every fiber of my being. He was an abusive loser. But he was still my dad and… It’s confusing.”

“It is.” I trail off, staring at Lyric, mentally making a vow to never be a bad fucking parent. I’ll make mistakes, but I’ll own up to them every time.

“We got this, man. Every step of the way. Okay? We’ll make sure Cami is ours. We won’t have to worry about her getting hurt by Gloria.”