She was right. It was touchy. His initial, gut instinct screamed a loud no. Of course, she could call teachers without asking him, so he appreciated the fact that she’d asked him first. But that wasn’t the sensitive part of her request.
His mother.
His sister could handle a conversation with Cassie. Brenda was married and had a two-year-old daughter. She’d always been a straight shooter, and Derek didn’t have an issue there.
“Derek?” Cassie broke into his thoughts. “I’m not going to upset her. I won’t ask about the circumstances of her leaving my parents’ employ. I just want to know about you as a kid.”
He understood why she needed to do it, and he understood that if he said no, he was ruining any further chances between them. She’d forgiven him each time he’d been an outright asshole because she’d mentioned his parents or the status differences between their families had come up. But she’d flat out told him to get over it or walk away.
Which meant it all came down to trust. Did he trust Cassie not to bring up the touchy parts of his mother’s past? Yes. He did. Was he ready for her to talk to his mother, to have those two parts of his life come together?
“Okay,” he said, surprising even himself at how quickly he’d answered those internal questions.
Her eyes opened wide. She obviously hadn’t expected such a fast or simple answer. “Thank you.” She jumped up, coming around to his side of the table to wrap her arms around his neck and give him a hug. “I know how difficult it was for you to agree to. And I appreciate your faith in me. I really do.”
He breathed in her scent, allowing her nearness to calm his rapidly beating heart. Because no matter how much he trusted Cassie, allowing anyone to ask questions and dig into the most personal parts of his life just wasn’t comfortable.
“I’ll need to talk to my mother, give her a heads-up, and set it up,” he said as Cassie untangled herself from him.
“Whenever you’re ready,” she assured him.
He blew out a shaky breath. Though he knew his mother would be happy to meet with Cassie, Derek still needed time to prepare himself. Because allowing the two women he was closest to to meet spoke more about his feelings for Cassie than he was ready or willing to admit.
Chapter Ten
Later in the week, Cassie waited at her mother’s favorite restaurant in Manhattan. In between going to her own office, writing some catch-up articles, and shadowing Derek when he had different things on his agenda for her to see—meetings with developers and investors he didn’t mind her sitting in on as long as she signed a confidentiality agreement on the details—she called her mother and asked her to meet for lunch.
No doubt about it, Daniella Storms was a stunning woman. Heads turned when she walked into a room, a combination of the confidence with which she carried herself and her outer beauty. She wore a fur jacket, real not fake because she didn’t care about being politically or morally correct, a pair of navy wool slacks, and a turtleneck, with a patterned scarf around her neck.
The hostess escorted her mother to the table, and Cassie waved as her mother rushed over to meet her. “Cassandra, I’ve missed you,” her mom said, greeting her with a kiss on the cheek.
“I haven’t been gone that long, but I miss you too.” For all her mother’s faults, which stemmed from having too much money and not enough self-awareness, Cassie had always felt her love.
“I’m glad you asked to have lunch but I’m surprised. You usually don’t have time during the workweek.” Her mother put her jacket next to her in the booth, loath to have it checked and possibly lost.
“I know. I wanted to talk, but let’s catch up and order first, okay?” Cassie didn’t want to start their meal with a conversation that might cast a pall over their time together.
Cassie was starving and decided to splurge on her food, ordering fettuccini Alfredo and a Diet Coke. Her mom ordered a Niçoise salad and a glass of Chablis.
Her mother talked about her charities and the work she’d been overseeing. Cassie mentioned her in-depth interview but deliberately avoided revealing with whom, saving that information for their talk later.
Since her mother didn’t bring up Derek’s name, Cassie assumed Spencer hadn’t ratted her out to her parents. He might not like her being with Derek, but he wasn’t doing anything to prevent it either. At least not yet.
“So what did you want to talk about?” her mother finally asked over coffee.
Cassie wrapped her hands around the warm cup. “You know the interview I mentioned earlier? What I didn’t say was that the subject is Derek West.” Cassie dropped his name and stud
ied her mother’s face.
Her mother wrinkled her forehead in thought, as best she could with all the Botox she’d had. “Derek West,” she repeated. “Is that the son of Marie and Thomas West? They worked for us when you were younger,” she said, no hint of bitterness or anger in her tone.
“Yes, Mom. That’s him. He’s a brilliant tech developer, and frankly he’s worth billions now.”
Her mother’s eyes opened wide. “Well. That’s really something. Good for him,” she said over a sip of her coffee.
“Mom, why did his parents leave?”
Her mother paused in thought. “As I recall, they left to work for a family who had a home on the water, in the Hamptons. Why?”