you have a particular day in mind?”
“What about next Saturday?”
“That works for me. Let’s exchange numbers.” English handed Landry her phone so he could text her his. When he handed it back, she hit reply. “All good now. If anything comes up between now and then, I’ll text. And thank you.” He nodded.
I hated to end this, but it was time to push forward with the rest of the visit. “Are you ready to get snake-bitten?”
“When you put it like that…” She shuddered and let out a jittery laugh.
“I’ll protect you.”
“Do you want us to go?” Landry asked.
“It’s fine. They can’t do anything to either of us. Remember, I hold the financial reins here.”
I escorted English back down the long stairway and told George to have my mother meet me in my father’s old office, and not the drawing room, her usual choice. “Bring us some water too, please.” We went into the room and I pulled another chair behind the imposing desk for English. I moved the two seats so they were side-by-side, and then we sat and waited. And waited. And waited.
George delivered the water, but still no Mother. I called George back in and told him to relay a message. “If she wants to retain her financial status, tell her to be in this office in five minutes.”
“Yes, sir.”
I checked the time and five minutes later, on the nose, she strolled in, yawning, wearing a satin robe with feathered slippers. For fuck’s sake, the least she could’ve done was get dressed. But then I leaned back and perused her. This wasn’t the person I normally saw. This woman was flushed and dazed. Though I hated to say it, she appeared freshly fucked.
“Hello, Tristian. And who is this? Your newest conquest?”
“Hardly. This is my wife, English Baines. And what about you? You’re sporting a new look this morning.”
“Your wife?” She tried to look down her nose at English as she stood in front of us, but wearing that robe and with her hair a mess, she looked like a haggard old woman.
“Do you need a hearing aid in your old age?” Maybe that wasn’t very nice, but it was hardly mean compared to what I had endured from her over the years. English nudged my thigh under the desk.
“I am not old, Tristian. I’m barely fifty.” Barely fifty, my ass. She’d passed that age more than a decade ago.
“I hate to say it, but this morning you look like you’ve been rode hard and put up wet, Mother.”
She sucked in a breath. “How dare you!”
“I dare just fine. Maybe if you would get dressed instead of prancing in here in that”—I slashed a hand in the air—“getup, I wouldn’t be tempted to speak to you in such a manner. As it is, you have made a stellar first impression on my wife.”
Her plump lips that had been artificially inflated with some unknown substance pressed together. Or tried to anyway.
“Careful, Mother. You don’t want those lips to burst. If you press them together any harder, we might have a medical emergency on our hands.”
Her skin paled as she stumbled back at my insult.
“Tristian!”
I glanced at English and couldn’t tell if she was angry or getting ready to laugh. Her lips were also pressed together, but since hers were real, I wasn’t worried. “Sorry, love. My words were a bit harsh.”
“No apology for me?” Mother asked.
“No. By the way, who is your lover?”
A hand flew to her throat as it flushed. “My lover? That is none of your concern.”
“It most certainly is, considering you’re entertaining him in my house.”
She stammered something unintelligible and then recovered. “Let’s get this over with. You came to gloat over your farce of a marriage, so get it over with and get out.”
“I hate to burst your bubble, but it is not a farce. And I didn’t come to gloat. I came to introduce you to English. She’ll be a frequent visitor from now on. If you can’t treat her or her daughter kindly, then you’ll have to find another place to live. Am I clear?”
“Very. May I leave?”
“Not until you tell me who your latest conquest is.”
She exhaled. “Tristian, open your eyes. It’s who it’s always been.”
“If it’s that damn attorney, then he better not ever show his face in here again.”
“And what if he does?”
“You’ll be finding another place to live. You may leave now.”
She did and I seethed. I stood and the chair went flying behind me.
“Tristian, calm down,” English said.
“Sorry, but