Font Size:

Page 118 of The Damaged Billionaire's Obsession

My phone vibrates, and I grab my purse and quickly excuse myself. I’ve been expecting Ethan’s call all day. He’d gone to Berlin for meetings and was meant to swing by Munich this afternoon for another round of treatment from his eye specialists. I’ve been anxiously waiting for an update.

Munich is a few hours ahead of New York, and since it’s just after 5 p.m. now, he should have finished the procedure. I move to another room in the sprawling penthouse, and once out ofearshot, I fish the phone out, noting the unknown number with puzzlement. Perhaps he’s calling from the hospital?

“Hello?”

“Siobhán?” The soft voice on the other end makes my heart stop. “Siobhán, is it really ya?”

Oh, God. “Ma?” My voice breaks. “How did you find me?”

“Yer…friend, Silas.”Twiggy.

I quickly find a surface to sit on. It’s a child’s bed. I must be in the room Xavier set up for his niece, who likes to spend time in their home. “Um, how are you, Ma?” She sounds awful.

I hear sobbing, but not an actual reply. “Where are you calling from?” I ask.

“At the train station. Some kind soul let me use their phone,” she finally responds.

“What happened to yours?”

“Left it back home. I was just out for a stroll to clear me head. Oh, Siobhán!”

“You’re scaring me, Ma.” A few months ago, I would have hung up on her. Maybe even after Nan’s funeral. But in a few weeks of being with Ethan and his family, I’ve had so much love and chances to heal.

It reminds me of a puppy Maeve and I found out in the cold one day, all skin and bones. We’d hid her in a box in our garage, and even though we didn’t have a lot to feed her, with the care and attention alone, her fur became glossy and she got stronger in just a couple of weeks—until, of course, my father discovered her and made us give her up.

“Tell me what’s wrong, Ma?”

“Can y’ever forgive me?” she whispers.

“What?” My heart seems to be knocking against my chest. Oh, my. Hot, salty tears spring to my eyes. I can't do this. Not without Ethan next to me.“Um, Ma, I can’t—”

“Siobhán, please. I’m beggin', just hear me out.”

I take a steadying breath.

“It's a disgrace, Siobhán, how blind and daft I've been. I had one baby and one job: to love ya. And I couldn't even do that right. Can't imagine the horrors ye've faced. And it's on me that y’endured so much pain.”

No, Ma, you can’t begin to imagine, no.

This admission is everything I always wanted to hear. Everything that led to losing myself in a vortex of pain, drugs, and meaningless sex. And ultimately finding myself with friends who accept and respect me, a family who values me, and an all-consuming passion with Ethan.

It’s everything I wanted to hear, but it’s not nearly as satisfying as I imagined it would be.

Is it too late for us then?

“Ma, you were in as much a bind as I was. The Sect—”

“Is a load of horse crap!” My eyebrows fly up in shock. Speechless, I stare at the phone for a few seconds before putting it back to my ear. I can’t believe my mother. Swearing and also calling the Sect a choice name?

“Come again?” I can’t help but ask.

“It’s just a compilation of hot, steamin’ bollocks. It's all a fuckin’ con, made to fleece people.”

“Ma, I don’t understand.”

“The money folks give up isn't for the needy. The masters divvy it up among themselves. Your da has a sneaky account over in the Cayman Islands and heads off to some fancy spot once a year with the masters for a couple of months, livin’ large. That's their so-called 'annual retreat,' not to get inspiration in the poverty-ridden places we were led to believe they were seekin’ guidance from,” she explains.

I can’t believe my ears. “What the hell, Ma? How do you know this?”




Top Books !
More Top Books

Treanding Books !
More Treanding Books