Page 109 of Take My Kiss
“What did you do?” she asks.
“She caught me with a guy in my room durin’ anintimatemoment, and when she forbade me from seein’ him again, I told her my plan to come out on social media. She slapped me across the face and said she’d never let me embarrass Dad.”
Amelia scoffs. “’Cause Heaven forbid the Mayor of Covington have a gay son. Considerin’ Mom got her panties in a twist when I told her I was pregnant out of wedlock, I can’t say I’m shocked at how she reacted. She blamed me for your death, then used it to guilt-trip me into givin’ her my kidney.”
“You did what?” His eyes widen into saucers.
“Yep, at eighteen. She was in the early stages of kidney failure and demanded I check to see if I was a match. Unfortunately, I was. Then she kicked me out two years later, but I’m glad she did before Sam was born or who knows what she would’ve made me do. I’d rather be homeless than live under her roof, especially now knowin’ what she did.”
“I wish I’d known all that. I would’ve found a way to come sooner, consequences be damned.” He reaches across the island and squeezes her hand. “I prayed all the time that you were safe and happy.”
“Wait…back up,” I interrupt their moment, trying to catch up. “Your dad was the mayor?”
This is news to me. I assumed her parents were from high society based on some of the stories she told me, but I hadn’t realized it was in politics.
“Yep, and it was durin’ his first term, so Mom was adamant that if I publicly came out, Dad would lose the next election. And if that happened, she’d lose her status in the community, and she’d never allow that. And since ‘I died’ durin’ a re-electionyear, he got the sympathy votes and won by even more than he did the first time.”
“So, you weren’t even in an accident that night?” Amelia confirms.
“Nope, she paid the old sheriff off to fake the paperwork and a few others to turn a blind eye.”
“Oh my God, that’s why you had a closed casket!” Amelia shrieks. “Mom said it was ’cause you were unrecognizable due to your injuries and no one needed that visual to be our last memory.”
“Aww, how thoughtful of her,” he deadpans sarcastically. “Some days I wish I hadn’t pushed her and been so determined to piss her off the way I did, but I was tired of livin’ a lie and hidin’ who I loved. I wanted to go on dates with my boyfriend and do normal relationship things. When I told her I was gonna come out, she flipped.”
“Mom would’ve found a reason to boot you out eventually.” Amelia sighs. “I think she liked the idea of being a mother but hated actually being one.”
“Speakin’ of…” I drawl, grabbing their attention. “Can we go back to you needin’ to protect Amelia from your mother? What does she want from her?”
“She doesn’t want you to get your trust fund when Dad kicks the bucket. She wants to keep it for herself and will give you a sob story on how she needs it to pay his medical bills. There’s a clause that says if it hasn’t been transferred to you before he dies, then you get it once he does. She hired a PI to find you so she can manipulate you into signin’ it over to her. And if you won’t, she’ll find a way to force you.”
“And how do you know this?” I ask.
“’Cause the PI she hired to find you is my husband.”
chapter twenty-five
Amelia
My brain can’t comprehendeverything that’s happened in the past thirty minutes or what actually took place the night I thought my brother died.
I didn’t even know he was gay. But that doesn’t change anything for me. I would’ve loved him all the same and am glad he found someone to love him. He deserves that more than anything.
“You’d have the upper hand now that you know the truth ’bout me and could use it to your advantage, but knowin’ you have kids, she’ll use them as bait.”
“Whaddya mean?” I ask, panicked at the thought.
“She’ll do more than threaten ’em when it comes to gettin’ you to do what she wants. And if you won’t, her money and status can buy anyone she wants to do her dirty work.”
Well that’s fucking unsettling.
“And if you threaten to expose her for what she did, she’ll find a way to silence you. It’s why I took so long to return, but once Troy started talkin’ ’bout one of his clients, and what she wanted him to do, I snooped and realized it was Mom. That’s how I saw the photos of Sam and learned y’all had been nocontact for years. Troy was already investigatin’ you when I found out. It’s why I came to Sugarland Creek. I had to make sure you and the kids stayed away from her.”
“That’s why she called me outta the blue last week.” I shake my head because my gut knew there was much more to her wanting me to come home. “So…what’re my options here? I sign it over to her and don’t get the money or she finds a potentially lethal way to get me to sign by threatenin’ my kids. Is that what you’re tellin’ me?”
“You could sign and walk away without a fight or…” He arches a mischievous brow. “Find a way out of it by blackmailin’ or threatenin’ her worse. And if you wanna go that route, I’d be more than willin’ to help. Troy, too.”
“I don’t even know what that would?—“
