“Pleasure.” She barely gazed at him. Dismissed him promptly, likely because he didn’t wear designer clothes, just a pair of jeans and a T-shirt that strained against all of his rock-hard muscles. “Now, Aria Lynne, as I was saying, my lawyer—”
“Stop,” I said.
She was here to file a lawsuit against Dane and the Lux?
My mind reeled. My stomach churned.
Granted, she had no idea she’d be filing a lawsuit against me, since I was married to Dane. Something else I wanted her to have no clue about.
But above all of that … Jesus. Just … ugh!
My eyes squeezed shut briefly. I did a mental rewind from the moment she’d entered the room. She hadn’t even asked how I was doing. She didn’t even care about that. I knew it. I knew her.
She’d found a self-serving angle because of a horrific tragedy. A way to get her hands on more money.
I was instantly sick to my stomach.
Before I could even react, though, Kyle grabbed the handles of the Louis Vuitton bag my mother had placed at her feet and hefted it up. “Get out,” he simply said, his tone tight, his gaze unwavering, as he glared at her.
“I—what? Who are you?”
“A very close friend of Ari’s. Weren’t you listening? She’s hurt, laid up in the hospital, and you’re here to try to collect on the fact that she could have died?”
I wasn’t sure I’d ever seen him so furious. Not even the night I’d told him I was marrying Dane.
“Get. The. Hell. Out.” He thrust the handbag at my mother. I almost chastised him for being so brash—that wasn’t Kyle’s nature. But … he was right. And I was grateful he’d come so immediately and vehemently to my defense.
Obviously, I didn’t currently possess the wherewithal to deal with Mommie Dearest. I appreciated that he was there to come to my rescue. Again.
My mother, however, wasn’t the least bit thrilled. She glared at him a moment, attempting to stare him down with her high-society, snooty gaze.
It didn’t work. Kyle couldn’t be deterred.
Finally, she dragged her gaze away and glanced at me.
I bucked up. Because I knew giving an inch with this woman could be detrimental. She wasn’t my mother, not in any other way than by notation on my birth certificate. A painful admission but the truth nonetheless.
“You heard him,” I said. “All you want is some way to use me for money. Something insidious happened at 10,000 Lux, Mother. I was hurt. So were others. Kyle could have—” My breath caught. “Two people died.” Tears stung my eyes. “It’s tragic and sinister and here you are … not giving a damn about anything or anyone but yourself. You should be ashamed. But you’re not, are you?”
My mother shot to her feet and ripped her bag from Kyle’s hand. “I do not understand who you’ve become, Aria Lynne.”
“It’s Ari,” I ground out, hating how haughtily she said my name. “Just Ari, Mother.”
“And remember me,” Kyle told her. “I’m the guy who’s going to be hanging out here making sure you don’t come back. Making sure you get nowhere near her.”
My mother’s jaw fell slack. My new bodyguard crossed his thick arms over his expansive chest and stared her down.
A flicker of fear flashed in Kathryn DeMille’s eyes. She tore her gaze from Kyle once more and demanded of me, “Where do you find these people that you associate with?”
“There’s absolutely nothing wrong with the people in my life,” I told her, forcing my voice not to crack as I thought of the two who were no longer alive. I wouldn’t give her the satisfaction of seeing me crumble. “The only reason you can’t identify with them is because they genuinely care about me.”
Her attention returned to Kyle. “Don’t ever touch my purse again.”
I could see he fought to contain his fury yet still said, “Take your goddamn designer bag out of here and don’t come back. I won’t let you near her.”
My mother huffed, her expensive surgically enhanced chest heaving. Then she spun around on her dainty shoes and stalked out.
I slumped back against the pile of pillows, every ounce of false bravado quickly draining. I was exhausted by the standoff.