I jumped back from the ferocity in her scream. There was a rage there that I thought she had lost it so long ago, but I was wrong. I wondered if she'd kept hidden from James? Had it been there the whole time?

I swallowed a breath. My shoulders lifted up and rolled back. I knew what I would face in the next room, and then I stepped forward. I was ready for it.

Logan laughed before he ended it with a snort. "Are you f**king with me? No wonder she ran away from you."

"Logan!"

Analise screamed again before something shattered once more.

Logan cheered, "Do it again! Do it again, Psycho Woman!"

"Logan, shut up!"

"Oh, come on, dad. Look at her. She's crazy—"

I stepped around the corner, with Mason right behind me. The amusement fled from Logan as he took in the sight of us, or me. I couldn't have looked normal as my heart was pounding. My gut was telling me to run away from her. But I didn't. Mason brushed his hand against mine as he stepped around to shield me.

James swallowed when he looked up, but I couldn't take my eyes from my mother.

Analise was in her bathrobe with her hair done up. She looked like they had gone to a formal event the night before and she had gone to bed with her hair and make-up still done up. But there were black splotches on her face from where her mascara bled and her eyes were wild. Some of her hair stuck up, and she never calmed the strands. A plate was in her hand, but she lowered it as she raked me over with her eyes. They were cold, so cold. A chill went down my back.

This was the mother I feared from so long ago. She was back.

"You," she seethed.

I scrambled back a step before I realized what I was doing, but it was too late. Triumph flared in her depths. She still had that power over me, and her chest swelled up. As I watched her, I could see the power swelter inside of her. She thrived on it, but then Logan jumped to his feet. He had been sitting on a chair in the back. He cursed now.

She sucked in her breath and turned. I knew she was ready to blast him.

"And you want to know why we took off?" Mason's icy tone stopped everything. He gestured towards his dad and then swept a hand towards Analise. "Look at her. She's off her rails, dad. I don't want Sam near her."

Analise's eyes widened. Her hand clenched around the plate again.

I was frozen in place. Mason's hand reached behind him, and he pulled me close so I was pressed against his back. Then I closed my eyes. I was supposed to be the one fighting. I knew it had to be me, but I rested my forehead against his back. She had taken all the strength from me that I had accumulated over the last five months. She sucked me dry, and I was left trembling like I had when I was eleven years old.

"Samantha," she said in a sharp tone. "Look at me."

I trembled.

Mason laughed at her. "Fuck that."

"Screw you." This time it was Logan. His voice rose, as did his anger. "Who are you to talk to her like that?"

Analise sucked in her breath. "She is my daughter. I am her mother. That's who I am."

"Then act like it," Mason's tone was savage. He had stiffened to stone before me. "I don't know who raised you, but my mom and dad would never talk to me like that."

"Maybe they should've," she proclaimed.

My eyes clasped tighter, but I could see her in my mind. I knew her chin was in the air, her eyes were brazen, and she was open to a fight. My mother was a beautiful woman with dark black hair that was straight and sleek. She had a slim build and when she was dressed in form-fitting dresses, she looked elegant. A classic sophisticated look clung to her and made her seem angelic to men. I always knew when she wanted something because she would put on her soft-pink dress and cozy up to David with an endearing smile. She would use caresses over dinner to get what she wanted, and it always worked. He folded every time and from what I had witnessed, James Kade wasn't any different. She could've beaten me up and she would only need a trembling lip, a few tears, and remorseful eyes to pull him back in.

Analise might've been crazy, but she had power over the opposite sex. She used it as a weapon.

"Analise!" James scolded her this time.

I sucked in my breath. My hands were now fisted into the back of Mason's shirt.

"What—James?"

Gone was the rage. Her voice softened. She had stepped wrong. I started the countdown in my head. 3…

"You can't say things like that, not about my own children."

2…

Logan snickered.

1…

"Oh, honey," her voice melted. "I didn't mean it like that. I'm so sorry. I am. It's just—I've been worried about my baby. He took her away from me, and I'm losing her, James. I can't lose my daughter."

Cue the sniffles.

She whimpered, "I just love her so much, James. You can understand that, can't you?"

"Oh my god." Logan's disgust was evident.

"Logan," his dad barked, but he had already softened. "It might be best if you leave the room. All of you."

"Are you kidding me?" Mason gutted out. His hands rose in the air, in fists. "She's working you, dad. You're falling for this?"

James sucked in his breath. Then he delivered with cold disdain, "Your mother called today. She would like for you and Logan to spend your break with her at the Malibu Estate. I think it would be best for everyone to leave as soon as possible."