Page 73 of Just a Beta (Betas in Waiting)
Carlos’s eyes widened in fury.All eight of them.He said, “Please excuse us.I...didn’t know.”
“She knew about grandmother’s trust; she didn’t know how much it was, so she also suggested the power of attorney that kept me bound for years.So, she’s really good at webs.Have a nice chat.”
Duran watched them go.“What do you think is going to happen?”
“I think she’s going to end up on an island with minimal cell reception, if she’s lucky.I don’t know how she will spin it to Mateo, but she always does.”She shrugged.
To her astonishment, Carlos came back in, kissed her temple, and said, “She’s been taken home to pack.We have other homes around the world.May I rejoin dinner?”
Samsor nodded.“Please.”
“I have also asked Mateo only to come over.There are enough shadows in this family.Time to clear out the cobwebs.”
Emhara nodded.The deltas nodded together.They were all for harmony, and Em knew it because Echel and Samsor had gotten her the details that she had been missing.It explained why her birth mother had disappeared.She was probably on that low-cell-service island.
When Mateo came over, the dinner conversation was intense but necessary.He knew a lot of it and told his father about the abuse.Carlos paused and nodded.“Emhara gifted your mother with the markings that she had given to a child.”
Emhara forked up a carrot.“I can make them all different colours if you want.I am all about the artistry.”
Carlos paused and thought about it.
Mateo said, “Chartreuse and purple.She hates that combination.”
“Done.I want to make sure it is hard to cover.”
Duran said, “I am glad you have a sense of vengeance.”
“It isn’t vengeance; it is justice.Not even complete justice.If I could have shrunk her down to forty-five pounds to be struck by someone at one-thirty, that would be true justice.The colour is as close as I can get.She will have to explain it, and I don’t think she can.”
Conversation eventually turned to the portraits, and Em grabbed Mateo and hauled him to the ersatz studio.She flicked the lights on, and he gasped.“I hadn’t expected the colours.”
The tones were rich.The portrait highlighted each family member, the throne of cats that supported Persephone, and the babies in their different colours denoting their fathers, held in their fathers’ arms.
“Can I take a picture?”
“Sure.I will seal it in a day or two, and then you can have it while I work on the oils.”
Mateo beamed and hugged her.“I am sorry for my mother.”
“I’m not.If she weren’t the way she was, Carlos would not have been lonely enough to make me.”She looked up at him.“I like being alive.”
He chuckled and nodded.“I am glad you are in the world as well.The world is better for it.”
She hugged him back, and he took shots of the portrait and sent them to his family.
She grinned.“And now...dessert!”
They walked back to the others and had dessert.It was an odd end to the dinner party but very much enjoyed.
After her family was gone for the night, her guys looked at the images in progress and then spent the evening kissing each one of her small scars and helping her blur the memory of pain.
The pain was her past, and pleasure was her future.She smiled in the puppy pile of limbs that night and closed her eyes to enjoy the slight ache in her body.
Echel whispered from behind her.“Go to sleep.Tomorrow is Sunday.We get to spend as much time in bed as you will let us.”
She whispered, “It’s after midnight.Technically, Sunday has started.”
He stroked a hand over her and pulled her tight against him.“The morning is soon enough.”
