I rolled my eyes as I got out of the car. He was asking from a cop perspective. All his rules and regulations pissed me off. Sometimes, I’d just like him to be laid-back about stuff. “Yes, I paid it yesterday if you must know.”
He stepped back to let me out. “Christ, did you have a bad day?”
I slammed the door and then glared at him. “Yeah. It turns out my brother doesn’t like my boyfriend, so my mum refused to invite him to dinner, which means I have to sit through this fucking night by myself.”
“I’m here, Hailee. You’re not on your own.”
I stared at him. “God, you have no idea.”
He blew out a frustrated breath. This was our same old argument. Without fail, we always had it when we visited Mum. “Tell me, what do I have no idea about this time?”
I straightened my shoulders, ready to lay it all out, when Mum called out from her veranda, “Aaron, come inside, it’s hot out here.”
My brows shot up and I jabbed a finger in her direction. “That for one. No worries about Hailee being fucking hot!”
I stalked away from him, up to where Mum stood waiting. Her mouth spread out into a thin smile for me as I approached, before her gaze darted to Aaron and her smile grew.
“Hi, Mum,” I greeted her as Aaron’s boots sounded on the step behind me.
“Hailee,” she murmured, running her eyes down my body as a scowl appeared on her face. I guessed she didn’t like the short shorts I’d worn that night. Or maybe it was the skimpy white T-shirt I’d paired them with. The one that clung to my boobs in the way I knew she hated.
She quickly transferred her attention to my brother. Her gushing over him sickened me, so I left them and entered the house.
My gaze fell on the family portrait that had always hung in the entryway. The portrait of the three of us with Dad and Gran. The fucking portrait that had disappeared and been replaced with a framed family photo that didn’t include Gran.
Turning back to Mum, I demanded, “Where’s the family portrait?”
She looked at me with distaste. “I beg your pardon? Since when do you come into my home and speak to me in that manner?”
I ignored her question. “I can’t believe the way you’ve acted since Dad died. You were just itching to cut Gran out, weren’t you?”
“Hailee,” Bronze said in a deep voice full of warning.
My phone buzzed with a text, and because I was waiting to hear from Devil, I quickly flicked it over in my hand so I could read the message.
Leona: Sperm. Babies. Happy times. You’ve got this, girl.
Fucking fuckity fuck.
What the fuck was I doing? I never won an argument with my mother. Fucking never. So why bother trying now?
Just take a deep breath, Hailee, and get through this night. You won’t have to see her again for another three months if you’re lucky.
With another glare at Aaron, I turned and made the long trek down the hallway to the dining room where I knew Mum would be serving dinner.
This house was way too big for her. She kept it because it had been in her family for years. I figured she had plans to leave it to Aaron when she passed away. Good luck to him, because all I could think was the amount of cleaning it needed. That wasn’t something I ever wanted in my life.
Mum served dinner ten minutes later. At least I could always count on her not to fuck around and keep us waiting. She was a stickler for being on time, and when she said dinner was at six, you arrived at six and you were eating by quarter past. This was good for me because it meant I had half a shot at being out of there by seven thirty.
She’d cooked a roast lamb and vegetables, and my guess was she had apple pie and cream for dessert. So damn predictable. My life had run on predictability while I grew up. It was one reason why I left the country and travelled as soon as I could.
“Hailee.” Aaron’s voice broke into my thoughts. I glanced up to find him staring at me as if he was waiting for an answer to a question.
“Huh?”
My mother tsked. “I asked you how your work was going?”
She didn’t really want to know. Usually I’d give her the standard reply that all was well so she could move straight onto Aaron who she actually was interested in, but I’d had some exciting news that day, and I decided to share it with them. “I received a phone call today from a woman who wants to invest in my charity work.”