"I wasn't quite expecting the Carrington mansion to be quite so ..."
She stops, lost for words and I give her exactly what she's looking for. "Intimidating?"
"Yeah," she agrees with a soft chuckle. "Charles was lovely. Nicer than I had expected and very handsome too."
I roll my eyes. "Shame his personality didn't rub off on his son."
"Yeah," mom sighs. "I caught that. Are you alright? Colton didn't seem to take a liking to you. I wasn't fond of the way he was watching you."
"It'll be fine," I assure her. "I can handle guys like Colton Carrington. He doesn't scare me."
Mom's hand falls to my shoulder and she forces me to turn and face her. "Are you sure? I can have a quiet word with Charles if you'd prefer. After all, you have to live with the guy now. I can't have you getting in trouble or stressing about what he might do. You have school work to think about."
"Mom, seriously. It's fine. I can handle myself. Dudes who think their dicks are huge just need a woman to help remind them of their place in the world. Speaking of school, were you ever planning on telling me that I was enrolled in some prissy private school?"
Mom shakes her head, letting out a heavy sigh before giving me a caring smile. "I worry about you sometimes."
“Seriously? That’s all I’m going to get? Why is Charles paying for me to go to school? At least, I’m assuming he’s paying for it because there’s no way we could afford it.”
She groans and I can see from the look in her eyes I’m not about to get a response, though I can’t tell if it’s because she doesn’t want to explain the answer or because she doesn’t know it. “Can we talk about this later?” she questions. “I need to get back down there. Just tell me if I need to be doing something about Colton?”
"No," I say with a frustrated huff, giving in. I’ve got all day to find answers and if she won’t explain it to me, then I'll have to figure it out on my own. "I might be 5'2 but my attitude is 6'1."
"I know," she groans. "That's the issue."
I laugh and step away from the window only to have mom come with me. "Are you going to be alright if I go back down and meet with Maryne?"
"Of course," I tell her, knowing how eager she is to start training for her first day tomorrow morning. "I was going to check in with Nic and look around a little."
She sighs and I know exactly what's coming. “I really wish you'd take a little space from Dominic. It's not a healthy relationship."
"Not this again, Mom," I groan, watching her make her way across my new room and stop by the door. "Nic is my best friend."
"I know this … I just think it'd be good for you to find some new friends who don't have gang affiliations. You know that boy is going to end up taking over for that troubled father of his. It's only a matter of time."
I let out a sigh. She’s right but it’s not going to be the same. "Nic's not like Kian. He's never hurt me."
"Yeah, that's what I thought until you caught him with that Saunders girl."
"Mom ..."
“Look," she cuts me off. "What's it going to hurt to talk to a few girls at school tomorrow and try to make some friends? I know Nic has a good heart despite his downfalls, but whether you like it or not, he's heading down a bad path … a troubled path that I don't want you getting involved with. That goes for all those boys of yours and besides, they’re too old for you. You could do with some friends your own age."
Realizing she isn’t going to back down here, I let out a sigh and nod. “Fine. I’ll try and make some friends but you know I don’t mesh well with girls. They’re too bitchy. And for the record, Nic is only twenty-one, it’s not like he’s that much older than me.”
She gives me a scathing look and reaches for the handle. “Four years is a lot at seventeen,” she tells me. “But try with the girls.”
With that, she’s gone.
I stand awkwardly in my room for a few drawn-out moments, not sure what the hell I’m supposed to be doing. What does a poor girl in