Ashton Scott

Before Matt can reply, Mum jumps in. “We’re not seeing each other, Luke. This is simply a lunch to discuss Tyler’s new job at Matt’s firm.”

“Because that requires a liquid lunch to discuss,” I mutter. Their body language screams sex, and I’ve spent my entire life watching my mother chase men—I know when she’s sleeping with one.

“Did you just come here to insult your mother?” Matt’s nostrils flare, but I couldn’t give a shit if I’m pissing him off. Nothing much changes in life.

“No, I came to talk with her about a private matter. Are you two nearly finished your lunch?”

Matt stands and drops his napkin on the table. “I have to get back to work. I’ll call you, Estelle.”

He levels one last glare on me before leaving us.

I take the seat he vacated. “Why are you going down that path again?” I ask.

She finishes the Cosmopolitan sitting in front of her—her preferred cocktail. Eyeing me over the rim of the glass, she says, “I’ve known Matt since I was nineteen, Luke. He’s one of my oldest friends. Just because we have lunch together does not mean we are sleeping together.” God, she’s smashed already.

I ignore the slurring of her words because if there’s anyone who can still function when she’s drunk, it’s my mother. “I need to talk to you about Jolene.”

Her face crinkles. “God, what is it now? What has that bitch done?”

“The police came to me about a month ago with evidence they have of another murder they think she committed. They asked me to get close to Jolene again in an effort to get information from her to help them prove her guilt. I told them no, but they threatened to haul me in for further questioning over that armed robbery from last year if I didn’t help them. So, I went back to Jolene and gave her a bullshit story to make her think I wanted us to be together agai—”

Mum cuts me off. “You’ve been seeing her for the last month?” Her words are riddled with disgust. It’s nothing I haven’t felt the entire time I’ve been part of this charade.

I nod. “Yeah, but only because I don’t need this shit with the robbery to come back and bite me in the ass. Sean needs me at home rather than in prison.”

“But you had nothing to do with that robbery.”

I sigh. “Right. But I did speak to Dermot when he was sitting in the fucking getaway car that day. That’s enough to register on their radar.” I will always regret approaching my old friend when I saw him sitting in that car. No good deed goes unpunished.

“Oh, this is complete and utter rubbish, Luke! They can’t hold that over your head.” My mother always did live in fantasyland. It goes hand-in-hand with never having to get a job in order to afford to live and being able to spend your days flouncing around with your socialite friends.

I rub the back of my neck and force a few frustrated breaths out. It will do me no good to lose my patience with her today. “They have and they are. But I told them today that I won’t do it anymore. I’ve come to ask you if you’ll help me with a lawyer if I need one.” I hate having to ask my mother for financial help, but I spent every last cent of my savings trying to prove Jolene’s innocence back when I thought she wasn’t a woman who could commit murder.

“Of course. You never need to ask me for help. Do you want me to call Barry?” Our current family lawyer.

“No, I want to talk to him myself and explain the details.”

She signals to the waiter to bring her another cocktail. “Do you need me to do anything else?”

I stand to leave. “No, there’s nothing else we can do except wait and see what this detective decides to do now that I’m not helpin

g him.” My chest tightens with apprehension. I hate living my life this way, and it’s become all too familiar over the last two years. First, with waiting for the verdict on Jolene’s case, and now, with this. Always waiting for the police to make their next move.

Mum stands and wraps her arms around me. “You’re going to get through this, Luke. I know it must feel like a never-ending struggle to end this horrid marriage and get your life back on track, but soon you’ll be free.”

If only life was as simple as my mother thought.