Page 18 of The Billionaires' Gamble

I am hungry. And only partially for food.

“Sure. Thanks,” I call back, then I text Katherine’s team. Pacing across the foyer, I watch the screen like a hawk looking for its next meal. Three dots appear almost instantly.

Roman: she’s meeting with her mother.

My stomach drops.

Half a second later, a location pops up on the screen, and I click it. Since when is she meeting with Lucinda? Anxiety claws at my neck, and my fingers tighten around my phone.

I don’t like it.

Dragging a hand down my face, I take a deep breath and stare out the front window. Maybe I’m overreacting, but I’ve learned to trust my gut. And my gut is telling me that Lucinda is taking the power she’s been wanting her whole life and to hell with anyone who gets in her way.

Katherine

“Be serious, Katherine.”

I look up from my salad and stare across the bistro table. Annoyance crackles across my mother’s features. Somewhere in the last few months, the lines around her mouth and at the corners of her eyes have deepened. I’m sure she’ll have those smoothed out in no time, thanks to some expensive procedure.

“When have you known me to not be serious?” I ask, fighting a sigh.

She doesn’t miss a beat. “You’ve been pretty cavalier this past week, haven’t you? Disappearing from the auction. All those dreadful articles in the press. My people have been fielding phone calls aboutyourpersonal life. A life I know nothing about. What am I supposed to tell them?”

“Nothing.”

She closes her eyes, and I swear I can see her count to ten. It’s like big red elevator numbers appear over her head. Except this is my mother, and patience isn’t her strong suit. She only makes it to three before she’s glaring at me.

“I don’t want to argue, Katherine.”

“I’m not arguing.”

“Yes, you are. You’ve been combative since the night before the auction. I hardly recognize you.”

She doesn’t recognize the new me, but I do. For the first time in my life, I feel one hundred percent true to myself. Like I’m operating at a peak level that’s so in tune with not only who I am, but who I’m meant to be. It’s the first time I’ve ever been able to sit across the table from her and feel like an equal. Like I’m living for me and not existing for her.

I’m no longer a living doll doing what she directs.

I take deeper breaths now, all the way to my belly. When I wake up in the morning, I’m excited to see what the day brings. I never had that before the auction.

Before Alex and Gabe and King burst into my life, I was constantly tensed, and my body ached from the inability to relax. Honestly, I don’t know how my friends put up with me.

Then again, Shon’s probably right.

I’ve been trying to break free for years.

Now I’ve finally found something, three someones, that I want enough to shake off my mother’s expectations.

“You look disappointed,” I say, watching her closely. Her face is as familiar as my own, but it’s like I’m seeing her for the first time.

While I’ve been having the best week of my life, she’s spinning out. Whereas I feel utterly calm, she’s buzzing with exasperation.

“Of course I’m disappointed!” She glances around to see if anyone is paying attention to her outburst. Because heaven forbid we should have feelings.

No one beneath the blanket of glittering chandeliers pays her any attention. The paparazzi might be downstairs waiting to catch a glimpse of all the high rollers who dine here, but inside, it’s a low hum of business deals. Even the ladies who lunch are wheeling and dealing. Best schools, important gossip, who can’t be trusted, who’s sleeping with whom.

I almost feel bad for her.

Almost.