Fallen Crest Forever (Fallen Crest High #7)

But even as I thought that, I knew I wouldn’t.

No matter my status with Mason, I had to get along with their mother. If she deemed this the time for a real talk, so be it. I only hoped no one drew blood, and feeling that small amount of bravery, I tipped my head up and gazed steadily at her.

She smiled slightly, like she’d been waiting for me to make that decision. Her hand pressed to her hair, keeping it in place. “Should we go somewhere more private?”

I didn’t have to think about it. “Here’s fine.”

A dry glimmer of humor showed in her eyes before she masked it, her lips pressing together again. “Okay.”

Then she stopped.

I waited. She’d come to me, but she didn’t say anything. I narrowed my eyes. Was I supposed to start?

“You’ll have to give me a minute,” she finally said. “Coming here is, well, humbling to say the least.”

Her hand rested on her pearls, and I saw the intricate detail of her nails. They were long and shimmering, matching her pearls and outfit. Everything about her had been exquisitely put together.

She mused again, almost to herself, “Logan told me that you and my son have broken up.” Her hand fell from her pearls and began to play with the diamond bracelet around her wrist. It was like she didn’t know she was doing it. Her eyes lingered on me, narrowing slightly. “I had an epiphany when I heard that.”

A soft chuckle came from her, but her lips never moved. It was like a ghost laughing beside us.

“I’ve always hated you,” she said, her eyes downcast. “What your father said was true. I blamed you because you’re Analise’s daughter, and she took my family from me.” She lifted her face now. “But if I’m being honest with myself—and my sons will attest that I hate being honest with myself—it wasn’t your mother at all. It was James, and me. He destroyed our family, and I let him, but I have been blaming you in the back of my mind ever since.”

This wasn’t news to me.

“And I haven’t cared one iota what that did to you. I’m not one of those mothers like Malinda. No. James has a type. He likes the cold types, and I’m one of them. It’s perhaps why my sons are the way they are. They can be cold bastards at times, can’t they?”

My lips thinned. “Did you have a reason to come here?”

She raised her chin, elongating her slender throat, and smiled. Almost. It was gone in a moment. The cold disdain never wavered from her eyes.

“My epiphany was that while I don’t care for you, and I never will, my son does. He will never waver from his love, and I am here being the most motherly I’ll be in a long while. I don’t know what happened between you and Mason, but I would like you to fix it.”

I almost laughed. Almost. “You’re telling me to fix it?”

She nodded. “Yes. I am.”

I couldn’t hold the laughter in anymore. “Who do you think you are?”

Helen squared her gaze at me. She didn’t bat an eyelash. She didn’t flinch or look away. I could see some of Mason and Logan in her, and while I loved those qualities in them, I hated them in her. She replied, so smoothly, “I am the mother of two boys you love infinitely. That’s who I am, darling. Who are you?”

I raised my own chin. There was no flinching from me either. “I’m family.”

An approving look swept through her eyes, but she checked it, the coldness coming forth again. “Then do as I say. Fix it.”

“No.”

Her eyes widened, just a fraction. “No?” The beginning of a smile started, but it was just a tease. She kept it in check too.

I would see Mason. It was time to talk to him. I had already decided to, but I would not be ordered to do it. I would not be ordered at all.

“You may have birthed them, but you don’t give me orders. That’s not your place.”

“I’m their mother.”

“You’re not mine.”

She drew in a breath. “I am your elder. Don’t you show respect to your elders?”

“Not to you.”

She raised an eyebrow.

I gave her a nice fuck-you smile. “You can go now.”

We were at an impasse.

She ignored my order, staring at me.

I stared back.

Neither of us looked away. Neither blinked. Neither flinched. Neither fidgeted.

Then she broke, drawing her chin to her chest and gazing at me from under those long eyelashes. “I’m at a loss then. I want to ease my son’s pain, but you seem unwilling to do that.”

I grunted. “They must get their intelligence from James.”

Her eyes sharpened, but she only murmured, “What do you want then? Money?”

She thought she could bribe me.

“No?” Her nostrils flared. “What would you like? I can send you and Mason to Paris too? An all-expense paid trip? Or a cruise for you and your girlfriends? What would you like? What will it take for you to go and make my son not hurt anymore?”

“Not a goddamn thing.” From you. “You don’t scare me, Helen. Have you not met Analise?”

She laughed then. The sound rippled out of her, and she stopped, her hand resting on her throat like she’d surprised herself. Then she dropped it and started laughing again. She shook her head.

“You’re right.” She kept laughing, finally wiping at the corners of her eyes. “You’re right. That’s what it is. That’s why they love you so much.” She shook a finger at me. “And you’re right about Analise. I thank you for implying I’m not as scary as her. That will help me rest better at night.” She dabbed some more at her eyes, the laughter leaving her. “I suddenly feel like a thirty-year-old, young and refreshed.”

I frowned. I wasn’t sure what to think anymore about Helen.

“Okay.” She seemed to speak to herself, pulling a handkerchief from her purse. Folding it into a small square, she smoothed out the ends. “I came here with the purpose to ask you to get back together with my son, something I never would’ve thought I’d do. I’ve only wanted you out of my son’s life, both of them actually, and now this. I am indeed humbled.” A half-bitter/half-amused laugh came from her. “So, what is the problem? I know it must be world-ending for you and Mason to have gone separate ways, or as separate as the two of you can be.”

My mouth hung open an inch.

Was Mason’s mother asking me because she cared?

I closed my mouth. I didn’t know how to respond. I shifted my foot from side to side against the hallway’s carpet. “That’s none of your business. If Mason chooses to tell you, that’s his decision. You and I have no relationship.”

She did that. Not me.

“Okay.” She graced me with another soft smile, the disdain lifting a bit from her eyes. “Noted. And I didn’t expect you to tell me, but the mother in me had to try.” She looked away. “Mason doesn’t share much with me, ever.”