“Is he your boyfriend?”

That was a real question. Now we were starting. “What?”

Her eyes narrowed. “He’s your boyfriend.”

“Mom.” I shifted on the couch, tucking my knees against my chest.

She added, ignoring me now, “You have a very hot boyfriend.”

“Mom!”

“Hot. Wealthy. Famous boyfriend.” She looked at me now. “He’s powerful.”

I began rubbing at my forehead. “Mom.”

“Not him.” She grunted, lifting a shoulder. “Well, him too. I was talking about his grandfather.”

Oh God. I really wanted to disappear now.

“Mom, please.” I was shaking my head. “Not now. Not after tonight.”

“Why not now?” She leaned forward, her arms resting on her legs, her focus totally and completely on me. “Because your half brother is in the hospital from overdosing at that fancy dirty nightclub?”

“Is that what the news is saying?”

“They’re saying a rich, entitled boy took drugs at a nightclub and is in the hospital. He’s not the big news. It’s you and your boyfriend. Your boyfriend, mostly.”

I looked down, hugging my knees tighter to me. I wanted a shield against this whole conversation. “He was poisoned.”

She was quiet a beat. Then, “They know by who?”

Crap. The answer confirmed the disdain that was dripping from her voice. I just shrugged. “They’re not sure yet.”

She snorted a laugh. “Always knew when you were lying. Can’t pull one over on your mother.”

“Really?” I shot upright, my feet straightening back to the floor, and I twisted around on the couch to face her more squarely. “You had no clue I was going. You were all excited about spending a free night in a lavish hotel.”

“You’re right.” Her voice raised. “I was.” She shifted, so her body was facing me squarely. “I thought I raised you better!”

I shot to my feet. “He knew about me.”

Those crystal-blue eyes stopped, then closed.

Her fight vanished. She seemed to shrink back into the couch.

I kept on. “You made the decision to keep me away. Not him. Not me. You. And you lied about it all my life.”

She cursed, soft and quiet, then stood up. “Let’s talk about this tomorrow.”

I blocked her from leaving. “No way.”

Then she threw at me, rearing back, “You think you know everything, but you’re wrong. All of this doesn’t have to be. You don’t have to be here. The kidnapping attempts aren’t real. It was all a hoax, an act to get you here.”

What?

There was a crazed look in her eye. Her hair was a little undone, more than normal. A vein was sticking out from her neck, pulsating at a rapid pace.

I’d made my mom lose it.

“Mom.” I had done this. I couldn’t believe I’d done this.

I reached for her, but she turned away, her shoulder jerking back, rejecting my touch.

“No.”

She folded her arms over her chest, her back to me, and bent her head down. She was settling in. When she got this way, it was useless to try to reason with her. I would have needed a sledgehammer—the drink and the tool—to make any headway.

I debated, and then decided. Screw it. I was going to try. I had to try.

I said it all to her back. “The attempt was real.” I laid it all out to her. She hadn’t been in the room with the cops. She had no clue how bad it had been. I told her about the guy who was my ally. About the supposed rape. About Boots, Rafe, Clemin. About Arcane. I told her how I had yelled for Mrs. Johnson.

I told her how scared I’d been.

I told her that I couldn’t remember the whole night, and that was the only thing I couldn’t remember.

I told her about the other attempts.

I told her everything, all the sordid details, and she seemed to shrink into herself with each word I spoke.

About my decision.

About seeing Kash in the interrogation room, then the elevator.

About leaving her that morning.

About coming to this new and huge home.

About meeting Cyclone, Seraphina, Matt. About Marie and Theresa. About seeing my father for the first time.

I told her about the first day, the second, the third. I told her how I couldn’t go on a computer.

All of it. I left nothing out, except the sex.

And I ended by saying, softly, as I moved so I knew she could feel my words on her back, “And I’m pretty sure, not completely, but fairly certain, to a one-hundred-twenty-percent sure, that I’m falling in love with that boyfriend you mentioned.” A deep breath. A painful breath. And I released the rest. “And I’m terrified because, while my father ignores me and Matt lies to me, I don’t know how Kash can hurt me, but I know that if he does, he could shatter me. Shatter, Mom.”

She turned then, big fat sobs rolling down her face.

“Oh, honey. Come here.”

And then I stepped into my mother’s arms, where I should’ve been the entire time.