Page 30 of Thiago (Family Ties #6)

Chapter Thirty

S omeone was pounding on the bedroom door, disturbing Thiago from a fitful night of rest.

“Who is that?” India asked, her voice thick with sleep.

“I don’t know,” he grumbled, rolling away from her soft body to squint at the door in the darkness. “Yes?”

His housekeeper’s muffled voice came from the hall. “Mr. Santana, your mother is downstairs in the foyer.”

“Your mother?” Hugging the linens against her chest, India pushed onto one elbow.

“Remember I told you she was coming to see Bruno’s baby and help Marissa? She flew in a few days ago, but I don’t know why she is here at this time of night.”

When Bruno had told him their mother was on the way, Thiago had wished him good luck and said he’d say a prayer for him and his wife’s sanity.

Marissa delivered a healthy baby boy in the wee hours of Sunday morning.

Thiago had already seen photos of his nephew, fast asleep against his brother’s chest, with a shockingly full head of hair.

He planned to see his nephew in person in a few days but wanted Bruno and Marissa to get settled first before he went to the house.

Picking up his phone from the bedside table, he saw the time was ten after one in the morning. Groaning inwardly, he fell back against the pillows and stared up at the ceiling. His mother’s presence at this hour could not be good.

“Take her to the den and tell her I will be right there,” he called out to his housekeeper.

“Yes, sir.”

Reluctantly, Thiago rolled out of bed, and India sat up to watch him get dressed in the dark.

“Something must be very wrong for her to be here at this time of night,” she guessed.

“My mother is dramatic, and trouble follows her wherever she goes. The question is, did she cause the problem, or did someone else? One can never tell with her,” he added dryly.

He went into the closet and pulled a robe over his pajama bottoms. “Go back to sleep. I will deal with my mother.”

India lay back against the pillows, but he could feel her eyes on him as he walked to the door.

He went downstairs and entered the den to find his mother pacing the floor. He was mildly annoyed to have her show up so unexpectedly, but when she turned to face him, the irritation drained from his body. Her eyes were bloodshot red. She had clearly been crying.

“Hello, Thiago. I’m sorry to disturb you so late.” The quiver in her voice confirmed her emotional state.

He walked over and placed a concerned hand on her arm. “What’s wrong? You look like you’ve been crying.”

“I have.” She took a shaky breath.

Though he was concerned, Thiago knew very well that his mother was a talented actress.

She didn’t get as many job offers as she used to when she was younger, but he remembered how well she portrayed every role she accepted.

For Valentina Arango, the world was a stage, and as a child, he had seen her histrionics contribute to the death of her marriage to his father.

Valentina sat down, dabbing her eyes with a crumpled tissue.

“Can I get you something to drink?” Thiago asked.

She shook her head, crossing one leg over the other and resting her folded hands on her knee.

“I’ve had a terrible night. I went to see Bruno to help him and Larissa with the baby.”

“Marissa,” Thiago corrected.

“Yes, right, Marissa. Rose and Benicio showed up. Rose kicked me out, and Bruno and Benicio let her.”

Thiago sat down across from his mother, confident he had only heard part of the story. “What really happened?”

“You think I’m lying?”

“Mother, it’s after one o’clock in the morning, and you came here for a reason. What’s going on?”

He saw a flicker of vulnerability, a signal all was not well beyond what had happened at Bruno’s house.

Valentina dropped her gaze. “I’m broke.” She spoke in such a low voice, he barely heard her.

Thiago straightened in the chair, the unexpected confession taking him aback. “What do you mean?”

“Broke. As in, I have no money—hardly any money left. Because of Marco.”

Marco Reyes was Valentina’s lover, a man thirty years younger.

“How did you lose all your money because of Marco?”

Tears welled in her eyes. “It started small, with trips and expensive gifts. Then he asked me for money to invest in various businesses. We were a couple, so how could I refuse him?” Her voice wavered, and she wiped a tear from the corner of her eye.

“Your father gave me a lump sum payment after we divorced, which I invested in legitimate businesses. I had done very well for myself, if I do say so. Coupled with the occasional acting part, I was comfortable. At my age, directors are not calling like they used to, so I was careful with my expenditures—until Marco. He took the money I gave him for those so-called businesses and spent it on himself and his friends. He made a fool out of me. He made me feel young and alive and pretty again. I know it’s ridiculous, but it’s the truth. I’m an old fool, Thiago.”

Her vanity had been her downfall. He had never seen his mother so raw and honest. “You are beautiful,” he insisted.

She waved a hand at him dismissively. “You’re only saying that because you’re my son.”

“I’m saying it because it’s the truth. You’re also smart because you managed to maintain a comfortable lifestyle all these years despite no longer having regular work. You should be proud. That’s impressive, Mother. Marco is a charlatan, and he took advantage of you.”

He and his brothers had been worried about this very situation. They had never trusted her lover, but she’d been dismissive of their concerns, expressing anger when they suggested he had ulterior motives.

Thiago took a good look at his mother. Really looked at her and truly saw her. She looked frail and helpless, and his heart went out to her.

“Where is Marco now?” he asked.

“In the house I’m about to lose. He and his friends have taken it over. I couldn’t stay there. I’ve been staying with family because he refuses to leave.”

Thiago’s temper flared. “Why don’t you get the law involved?”

She shook her head. “It’s embarrassing. I’m hoping he’ll leave on his own.”

“People like him don’t leave on their own. He’ll be there until the bank comes and tosses them out. I wish you had told me or Bruno or Ignacio before the situation got to this point.”

“How could I tell you?” she wailed. “I had lost everything, and after you boys had warned me about Marco. I was humiliated and couldn’t face you, knowing you had been right all along.”

“Is that why you came to Atlanta?”

“I came to see Bruno and the baby. I wanted to meet my daughter-in-law.”

“ Mother …”

Valentina’s shoulders slumped. “I also hoped your father might…”

Thiago sighed. “You and Father have been divorced since I was a child.”

She shrugged. “He used to have a soft spot for me, once upon a time, but when I tried to arrange a meeting with him, he made up excuses for why he couldn’t meet me. Then he showed up at Bruno’s with Rose! Are they back together?”

Thiago wasn’t sure how to answer the question. He and his siblings had their suspicions, but their parents had not stated they had reconciled. “They’ve maintained a good relationship since the divorce.”

“Unlike me and your father,” Valentina said glumly.

Thiago held his tongue about who he believed was at fault. “What happened at Bruno’s? What really happened?”

Valentina hesitated at first, then told him everything, including how she'd left the hotel where she had been staying because her credit cards were maxed out. At the end, she stared down at her hands and said, “I had hoped to stay with Bruno and Larissa. My bags are in the rental car outside.”

“Mother…”

She lifted her gaze, eyes shimmering with tears. The same penetrating, dark eyes everyone said he had inherited. “Don’t be mad at me too,” she whispered.

Thiago pushed up from the chair and sat beside her. Looping an arm around her shoulders, he pulled her into his side and took on the role of comforter. “You’re certain that Marco is at the house now?”

She nodded, sniffing. “He was when I left.”

“All right, you’re going to stay here for the night. I can’t have my mother sleeping in her rental car. Then tomorrow, we’re going to the bank, and I’m going to transfer some money into an account—a separate account Marco does not have access to.”

Valentina pulled away. “No, I don’t want any of my sons to?—”

“Would you prefer to ask Father for the money?”

Her lips turned downward into a frown.

“The option of my help isn’t open for debate. I won’t allow you to go without. We won’t allow you to go without. I’m going to tell Ignacio and Bruno everything.”

She nodded, shamefaced.

“Stay here tomorrow. Relax. I’ll go into work and wrap up a few things, then I’m going to cancel all my appointments for the rest of the week because you and I are going to Colombia. I will make sure Marco moves out.”

“You’re a busy man with so much to do here with the company…” She seemed genuinely distressed.

“The company will be fine,” Thiago assured her. “I want you to be okay, and we need to get this man out of your house and out of your life, once and for all.”

Her lower lip trembled. “Thank you.” She paused.

“I’ve never liked Rose, and I didn’t know why.

She was always polite to me, and she took good care of you boys.

But when she walked in tonight with Benicio, I understood why I never cared for her.

She reminded me of everything I had lost. I was watching someone else have my life.

She was the mother to my children, and she was living the life I should’ve been living with your father. ”

“She is a good woman. She has been a good second mother to us and loves us like her own.”

“I love you too. You know that, don’t you?” Valentina placed a hand against his cheek.

“Yes, I know.” In your own way , he added silently. Not everyone was meant to be a mother. Valentina had done the best she could.

Thiago decided to call his brothers in the morning and give them an update about their mother. In the meantime, he had his housekeeper prepare a guest room for her for the night while he brought in her bags.

Once she was settled in the room, he returned to the master bedroom. As soon as he entered, India turned over to face him.

“What’s going on? Is she okay?” she asked.

He placed his robe on the chair and climbed into bed. Pulling India into his arms, he answered, “No, but she will be.”

Because of their newfound intimacy and the trust between them, he told her about the situation with his mother and what he planned to do.

“How long will you be gone?” she asked.

“As long as it takes to get rid of that piece of shit,” he said grimly.