Jail time does not suit her.
“Thank God, you’re finally here,” she says, sniffling and wiping at the corners of her eyes.
Surprisingly, the sight of her tears doesn’t move me anymore.
“Are you here to help me?” she asks.
Taking a seat in front of the glass partition, I snort, sarcasm dripping from my tone when I say, “Hey, I’m doing just dandy. Healing fine after your men beat me half to death. Nice to see you, too.”
She glares at me, her tone turning sharp. “Seriously? I’ve been in this fucking hellhole for three months and you want me to make small talk?”
I whistle, low and quiet. “Straight to the point, huh? Not going to bullshit me a little first?”
She leans forward, her eyes narrowing. “Look, I’m sorry I got you involved in my mess. I thought they might push you around a little bit, but I didn’t expect them to take it that far.”
“But you sent them to me knowing they would hurt me?” I ask, a sort of detached coldness in my tone.
Whatever she hears in my voice has her flinching back. “What else was I supposed to do? If not you, then it would have been me.”
“You know,” I say with a thoughtful hum, “I think that might be the first time you’ve ever been honest with me.” Although the words hurt, spearing through me in a way that makes me breathless, I remind myself that Alek is waiting just outside these walls. That he’s going to pull me into his arms and whisper sweet nothings in my ear after this. And after today, I never have to speak to this woman again.
I’m not sure what she sees when she looks at me, but her face pales. “Luke, son, don’t be like this,” she pleads. “Just get me out of here, and we can go somewhere else. Anywhere you want. We’ll start over and I’ll be good this time—”
“Don’t call me son ever again,” I growl.
She might have birthed me, but she’s not a mother.
Her mouth gapes open, and she’s silent for a solid five seconds as she stares at me. “So, this is it? You’re going to give up on me like everyone else?”
A disbelieving sort of chuckle is pulled from my throat as I shake my head. I keep my mouth clamped shut, not willing to tell her the truth: that some part of me will always hold on to a tiny thread of hope. A small, minuscule part of me will always wish for a miracle. That this will be her final rock bottom, the wake-up call she needs to get her life in order. To get sober. To actually give a damn about her sons.
But I don’t tell her that because, honestly, it doesn’t matter anymore. Maybe one day she’ll wake up and regret her actions, but the possibility of us ever having any sort of connection was lost the moment she sent those men to assault me. I’ll always wish her the best, maybe I’ll even cheer her on from afar if she ever chooses to get sober,but I won’t be here to share that milestone with her. After Alek confessed that he offered to pay for her rehab and she turned him down, it made the decision that much easier to make.
“I’m done being your enabler,” I say instead. “I just came to say goodbye.”
I jump back when her palms smack against the glass, my heart rate kicking up.
“Inmate! Settle down, or I’m taking you back to your cell!” a nearby guard yells, their voice stern.
Evelyn leans back in her chair with a cold, cruel laugh. “If you leave here without helping me, then I don’t ever want to see you again,” she hisses.
I shrug. “I have no plans to come back anyway, but I do have a few questions before I go.”
“And why should I answer them?”
“Because we both know you’ll want one last opportunity to take a jab at me.”
She smirks, her lack of rebuttal telling. “Ask your questions.”
I take a deep breath. “Did you ever actually want to reconcile our relationship and get to know me, or was that bullshit to keep me around so you could use me? And I want to know why you never wanted Jax to know you were alive.”
She studies me for a long moment, the coy expression on her face reminding me of a cat playing with its prey. “Your father was the soft-hearted one who wanted children, not me. I never wanted to be some boring little homemaker. Actually, I hated being a mother. I only had Jax because your father begged me. But you…” She pauses to chuckle. “You were an accident. One day, you wouldn’t stop crying, so I sent your father down to the hospital cafeteria. Sent him on a fool’s errand for something I knew they didn’t have, but I didn’t expect him toreturn so quickly. I wasn’t fast enough, because when he came back, he caught me trying to smother you under my pillow.”
When the room starts to spin around me, I clutch the side of my chair for support. She tried to… She wanted me dead?
“Why?” I whisper.
“Because you were a fussy baby who wouldn’t shut the hell up,” she snaps.
