Page 57 of Ace of Shadows
“Moira!” I unloop my arm from hers and shove her away, feigning indignation while butterflies flutter in my gut.
Does he really stare at my ass?
We wander down to the patio at the end of her garden, and I sit on the smoothly carved stone bench while filling her in on the ‘gas leak’ at my parents’ house.
“A gas leak?” Moira lifts one brow. “Wow.”
“Yeah. I have no idea how I’m going to explain it to Mom when she wakes up.”
If she wakes up.
“I’m sorry, Ivy,” Moira murmurs. “I can’t imagine the weight you’re carrying about your father, and now the house.” Her face floods with sorrow and she grips my thigh. “Is there anything I can do?”
I shake my head. “Just… answer me when I call, I guess. Talking to you has been so…” My eyes close briefly. “It’s normal. Ordinary. Didn’t know how much I was missing that.”
“I’m here for you. Always. You know that.”
Groaning, I tip my head back and gaze up at the gorgeous blue sky, spreading my arms and legs to soak up the strong rays. “On top of that, I have to find an explanation as to why my dad had a passport with a weird last name. It was the only thing I saved from the fire.”
“Wow,” Moira scoffs under her breath. “That bastard.”
My head snaps up, my gaze locked on her. “What do you mean?”
Moira smiles strongly. “Nothing, I was just thinking about Callum, that’s all.”
“No, you weren’t.”
“Yes, I was.”
“Moira…” A sudden chill steals down my bare arms. “Do you know something?”
“No.” She speaks abruptly and stands. “Come on, we should get back.”
“No, tell me!” I catch her wrist in my grip and jerk her back down. “Oh, my God, what do you know? Moira, tell me!”
Moira isn’t able to look me in the eye and her shoulders droop. “You don’t need more pain, Ivy.”
“You said it! Moira!”
“Okay, fine!” She slaps her hands down on her thighs and faces me. “Your father was having an affair.”
“What? With who?”
18
IVY
“Moira, with who?”
Moira shifts uncomfortably on the bench. “I shouldn’t have said anything.”
“But you did! So tell me what the hell you are talking about?”
“Ivy—”
“Moira!” Raising my voice has Ruslan moving out of the doorway in the distance. “Tell me!”
Moira’s mouth moves like a fish gasping for air, then her shoulders droop and she looks away. “I saw him with a woman a couple of times. A beautiful woman, which wouldn’t be a crime, but I saw them kissing. A lot. She was hotter and much younger than your mother. I’m sorry, Ivy. I did confront him about it because I was furious at how he could do something like that, but he told me I made a mistake and I was mixing stuff up. So the next time I saw them, I took a recording and shoved it in his face. He then started crying, and I didn’t know what to do! Imean, he was your dad and he was crying and I felt so fucking awkward, so I comforted him and we talked.”
