“About six months or so ago, she came to me and asked me for the ring you gave me. The diamond one Grandda gave you.” Her grandmother sat up high in the chair and asked her if she’d gotten it. “No. I told her I didn’t know where it was at that time. And she’s since asked me four more times for it. I had Hugo take all the jewelry you gave me, as well as some of the other personal items I’ve collected over the years, to my vault in the suites where I rest. I never thought I’d have to use it against my own mother when I had it put in, but I thought it would be safer for my things if I wanted to keep them.”
“What do you suppose she wants with them? You don’t suppose she planned to sell them, do you? I know that she and your father never had a pot to piss in, and I’ve also been made aware that you’ve stopped paying their bills too. Good for you, child. They’re older than dirt. They need to act like it.” She wasn’t supporting them anymore, and told her grandmother what she’d found out when she’d checked her finances. “So she’s borrowed against a house she doesn’t own. How well do you suppose that is going to go over when the owners find out? Not well, I’m sure. I wonder how she even managed that.”
“Dad, I’m sure. He can move among the humans now, and I heard he’s been whispering in the ears of some bankers. Mom had about ten grand in her account a few weeks ago, and now it’s gone too. Plus, I’ve told her that she won’t get anything else from me. Not for any reason.” Vinnie sat down on the chair then and picked up Hugo. He was a huge cat and much too big for her to pull onto her lap, but she needed the comfort of him there. She noticed that grandmother’s bird was there as well, a large falcon that had been with her for as long as Vinnie could remember. “The witch is gone as well, the one he’d gone to for help just before he was staked out. I tried to tell her he’d be back, but she said she was too powerful for him to mess with.”
“Do you suppose he ever found out that she was working with you?” Vinnie told her she didn’t think so. “Then you’ll have to find her if you can. Unless you already believe her to be dead.”
“I do. The connection we had is gone. There is nothing left of her.” Running her hand down Hugo’s back, she thought of everything that had been bothering her lately about her mom. “I’m going to talk to Mitch too. I think that...I think he’ll be safer here than living where he is. I’m guessing you know who he works for and the fortress he has there.”
“Yes. And I know someone that you should talk to as well. I don’t know if you can speak directly to her, but contact Connie Aster. She’s buried out there on the land. Steele is her grandchild.” Vinnie had already figured that part out. “Vinnie, take care you don’t get caught with Horrie. Your father wasn’t a stable man when he was alive. He couldn’t be much better as a dead man. And I’ve heard rumors of his murdering sprees even now.”
“Dad will hurt Mitch, won’t he?” She told her that he’d kill him, and they both knew it. “I don’t...I want you to meet him. When I can...I don’t know a great deal about him yet, but I like him a great deal. He’s funny, considerate, and he seems to have this sadness about him that I want to fix for him.”
“Talk to him, darling.” Hugo stiffened in her arms, but then relaxed. Both her and her grandmother looked at the door when Gilda opened it. She shouldn’t have been surprised to see Mitch there. But seeing Steele with him had her standing in front of her grandmother. Steele stopped moving and put his hands out in front of him. It was not that she didn’t trust him, Vinnie just didn’t know him all that well.
“I won’t harm either of you. I’m not...please, don’t be afraid of me.” She nodded but didn’t move. Steele laughed a little. “You’re going to have to learn to trust me at some point. And I swear to you, I’ve come to talk to you about good things, not just bad ones.”
“Are there bad things you need to tell me?” Steele glanced at Mitch before he nodded. “Then let’s start with those. I’d like to end on a good note for a change.”
“All right.” After the introductions were made, Gilda brought in tea and a plate of cookies. There were four cups, and before Vinnie could ask her who else was coming, Gilda looked at her.
“I wanted them to be comfortable.” Vinnie nodded and tried to remember the last time she’d held a cup, much less drank from one. Mitch laughed and she looked at him now.
“Don’t do anything you’d not do if we weren’t here. You don’t drink tea, that’s fine.” He picked up the plate of cookies and took four before handing it to Steele. “Your father threatened Addie and Kari today. And in doing so, he’s pissed the two of them off. Not a good thing if you ask me.”
“Did he hurt them?” Her grandmother looked at her when Mitch said that he’d not. “Well then, it seems things are worse than I thought. He apparently knows about your mate. You must do something now, my dear.”