Intercepting Love (Second Chances #5)(73)
“Do you honestly believe that?” he asked, furrowing his brows.
Lifting my hand to his face, I smiled up at him. “With all of my heart,” I declared.
After my layover in Dallas, Texas, I had arrived in California around nine o’clock in the morning with no sleep and the worst headache imaginable. The first thing that came to mind was taking a pain pill, but I didn’t have any … I didn’t want them. I was ready to get this shit over and get back home to Kate, where I belonged.
No one knew I was going to California and I planned it that way. Once I retrieved my bag—even though I knew I wasn’t going to need any clothes in the first place—I went outside and procured one of the cabs that waited along the sidewalk.
“Where to?” the driver asked.
I gave him the address and we were off. My heart pounded and my adrenaline was through the roof the entire car ride to my destination. I only prayed that she was at her house so I could get everything off of my chest and get the f*ck out. After this, I was probably never going to go back to California again.
When the cab driver stopped at the edge of the driveway, I handed him a wad of bills and said, “If you stay right here and wait on me, I’ll give you double that amount when I get back.”
The driver’s eyes went wide and his mouth shot open. “Are … are you serious?” he asked incredulously. “I’ll wait for five hours for that. Trust me, I’ll be right here. Take your time.”
Yeah, I knew he would want to stay. “Thank you,” I replied, getting out of the car.
Making sure to grab my bag, I bolted straight to the door. As soon as I got close enough, I banged on it. I’d been to that house many times before and had plenty of memories in it … most of them involving the cold-hearted woman who answered the door, her eyes wide with surprise. She was dressed in her usual attire of expensive dress pants and blouse, her face covered in two inches of makeup. She may have been in her late fifties, but the woman could easily pass for someone in her thirties.
“Cooper, what are you doing here?” she gasped. “Shouldn’t you be in North Carolina?”
“Yeah, well, I came all this way to talk to you … Mother.”
Not waiting for her to invite me in, I pushed the door open and thundered past her into the house. “Why on earth would you come all this way just to talk to me?” she asked, chuckling nervously.
As I glared at the woman who tried to ruin my life, I couldn’t believe it took this long to figure out what her problem was. She never loved me, she only loved herself, her money, and the power she held over everyone around her. When I was a child, all I did was strive for her approval, but in reality, she didn’t approve of anything. No wonder I was f*cked up.
Turning on my heel, I stalked off to the kitchen while my mother followed. “You want to know why I’m here? Take a look at this,” I growled, grabbing the magazine from my bag and slamming it down in front of her. “Do you want to tell me why in the hell you gave these f*cking leeches the information for this article? For someone who’s so concerned about my career, you definitely didn’t give a shit when you gave this up.”
Nonchalantly, my mother rolled her eyes and fetched a glass out of one of the kitchen cabinets. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. Anyone could have given that information to the press.” She turned her back on me and filled her glass with water.
“Oh, that’s not what I heard. From what Kevin Layton says you were pretty enthusiastic about giving out all of my dirty little secrets. The same thing goes for that psychotic bitch you teamed up with, Marianne Easton.”
Dropping her glass in the sink, my mother jerked her body around to face me, muscles tense and eyes on fire. “Yeah, that’s right,” I stormed angrily, “I know all about it. Did you also know that Marianne had been following me and Kate around, and left warning messages on my car? Not to mention, she happened to slash my tires as well. Now tell me, does that sound like a sane individual to you?”
“She’s hurting for her son,” my mother spat. “Right now, I know how she feels because you’re heading down the wrong path fast.”
“What? You’re not making any sense. How am I heading down the wrong path? I’m on a wonderful team that’s won every single game this season, I’ve stopped doing drugs thanks to Kate, and I’ve finally settled down. What more do you want from me?” I shouted.
“I want you to stay away from that girl,” she exclaimed. “Marianne told me that her son killed himself, but she thinks Kate had something to do with it. I’m only looking out for you.”
I scoffed, “Really? Her son was dying of cancer, Mother. I watched a video of him saying good-bye to Kate and how he was in too much pain to keep living. Kate actually made him happy and gave him several more months of living. Marianne should be thanking her. She used you to get what she wanted, and you happily threw me under the bus.”
“I told you I was looking out for you. It was the only way for you to see Kate for who she was.”
“Since when do you care about my well being, huh? And did you not hear what I said just a few seconds ago. Kate is the reason why I don’t take pills anymore. She’s the one who never left my side when I went through withdrawals.”
My mother shook her head with a smug expression on her face. “You want to talk about someone who never leaves your side? Let me get my phone and show you exactly how Kate stays by your side.”