Page 166 of Unspoken Lies

“I know,” I whisper. “I missed it too.” I spent so much time locked in my head, alone with my fears, living a fractured life.

She doesn’t bat an eye as she holds my hands tightly.

“Why do I feel as if I’m the last piece of all of this?” Mom asks. I knew she’d be working through things as she hugged me. So damn smart.

“That’s because you are,” Emil says, hugging her from behind. “We wanted to make sure everything was in order first. Theo was able to confirm that all of his changes held this morning. Rachelle is herself again.”

“Who was she before?” Mom asks.

“Rachel Thompson,” Jared snarls. “I fucking hate that name. It’s not her.”

“That was the point,” Lili teases him as he glares at her.

Oh yeah, just one big happy family.

“That’s smart to keep it similar to her name,” Mom says. “Tell me how all this happened?”

“I’m going to give you the edited version,” I warn as Calvin begins to bring food. “Preferably over tacos.”

“I love tacos,” Mom says, wiping her eyes.

Grinning, I hug her again.

“Are we staying in Santa Barbara?” she asks, hugging me back.

“We are,” Emil says. “I have an appointment with a realtor to start looking for a house with you on Monday.”

“Well, life is never boring,” she muses, making me smile.

“Never,mi amor.Though, I promise to be a bit less exciting after this,” he murmurs.

Nacio smirks as I step back with a sigh, and he pulls out a pack of tissues for me. Theo hands a pack to my mom, making me look around to find all of the guys have tissues in their pockets.

I have to give it to them, they’re prepared.

Over dinner, I tell my mom as much as I can. At times, Emil will clear his throat when he thinks I skipped something important.

“Um, I kind of ended up getting committed into a mental institution,” I say, huffing out a breath.

“No,” Mom says, knowing how scared I am of those places. “Which of you assholes did that?”

“Her psychiatrist,” Emil explains, “chose to have her committed when we fired him. He’s no longer living, and my only regret is that you didn’t get to give him a piece of your mind.”

“I’m sure you made it hurt,” Mom grumbles. “It’s no wonder she doesn’t trust people.”

I continue to tell her about everything else, including how Elijah saved my life. I make sure to tell her the good parts about the guys, and I can see her slowly beginning to soften. Once I’ve gotten everything out, it’s time for cake.

My mom’s lips curve as she watches Calvin come in with it as we perch on chairs surrounding high top tables. The wind rustles the trees, but Calvin refuses to allow that to keep him from lighting candles.

“Whose birthday is it?” Mom asks under her breath to me.

“Elijah’s,” I reply. “I’m the baby of all of us.”

Nodding, she sings happy birthday with us all to celebrate his birthday and even takes a bite of cake before getting a very shrewd look in her eyes. Sharing a glance with Emil, he shrugs at me.

“Someone explain what’s going on here,” she says. “The way you talk to Rachelle, the touches, it’s pretty obvious that there’s more than friendship. No one goes through everything you all have with her and doesn’t come out the other side with feelings.”

Liliana doesn’t even blush, smiling brightly at my mom. “I’m dating Rachelle and Ignacio, and restrain myself every day from killing the other idiots,” she says.