“Huh?” Her head was still in a post-orgasm haze. And judging by Sam’s slow reaction, so was hers. “Sam, someone’s—”
But as her bodyguard grew alert and pulled away from Bianca’s body, the front door opened.
And Bianca’s mom stepped through it.
“Bianca, sweetie,” she began. “I wanted to apologize. There are some things I need to—”
Her eyes fell on the scene on the couch. Bianca had pulled the blanket over herself, but it didn’t hide the fact that she was mostly naked. And that Sam was in nothing but a sports bra and pants, her fly unzipped.
“Mom!” Bianca braced herself against her couch. “I… this is…”
Her mother’s face turned ashen. But she didn’t scream at Bianca. She didn’t accuse Sam of taking advantage of her precious porcelain doll.
All she did was look away as she backpedaled toward the door. As Sam remained frozen on the couch and Bianca struggled to breathe, the door shut again with a soft click that was louder than the pounding of Bianca’s heart.
* * *
The next hour was a whirlwind. First, after getting dressed and cleaning herself up, Bianca chased down her mother, hoping to explain herself. But not only was her mother nowhere to be found, she wasn’t answering her phone or texts. When Bianca messaged her sisters, they swore they hadn’t seen her since the gala. When she went up to the penthouse and spoke to the housekeeper, who was on her way out, all she could get out of Fleur was, “I’m sorry, Madame Black has not returned since she went down to see you, mademoiselle.”
When Bianca went to the last resort—her father—he grunted that he knew where his wife was and that she would like to be alone for now. But he gave no indication that he knew the reason why. And Bianca could hear the strain of the long night that had passed in his voice.
She didn’t know what else to do. All she knew was that her relationship with her mother would never be the same again.
She slunk back to her apartment, where Sam was waiting for her. The two of them sat down at the dining table, Bianca’s phone before her as she anxiously awaited a response from her mother. A call. A text. Anything was better than silence.
Sam got up to make them some tea. Bianca was too exhausted to tell her that the only thing she had was hot chocolate, but Sam discovered that for herself soon enough.
“I’m sure she’s fine.” Sam placed two cups of cocoa on the table, sliding one over to Bianca. “Your father would be more panicked otherwise.”
“You don’t understand. This is so unlike her. She’s never shut me out like this before. I think it’s finally hit her that I’m not her little girl anymore, that this isn’t just a phase for me.” Bianca wrapped her hands around the warm mug. “Is this what my sisters have dealt with for most of their lives? Parker was always fighting with Mom. And sometimes it felt like Scarlett was just wound so tight. I get why now. It was all Mom.”
Sam took a seat next to her and placed a comforting hand on her arm. It didn’t help.
“I just can’t stop thinking about the way she looked at me.” Bianca stared down into her mug. “It was like she doesn’t love me anymore.”
“Oh, Bianca. Of course your mom still loves you. Parents don’t just stop caring about their kids. Well, some do, but not yours. Your mom just needs some time to come to terms with things. She’ll be fine, you’ll see.”
“Yeah, right. You really don’t know my mom that well.”
“Maybe not, but I know people who have been in your position before.”
“You don’t know anyone with a mom as insane as mine.”
“Do you want to bet? I’ve told you about my mom, but not the entire story. The whole reason I joined the military was to get away from my family. As far away as I could. As soon as I turned eighteen, I signed that contract, got on a bus to Texas, and didn’t look back. I had to get away from it all. My mom, my dad, everything. The life I was trapped in was killing me, slowly but surely.”
Bianca finally held her mug up to her nose. Sam waited for her to take a sip before continuing.
“It was… liberating. Finally making a decision like that for myself and following through with it. That bus trip to bootcamp was my first time traveling on my own. I finally felt like an adult. Sure, I had some asshole yelling at me for sixteen hours a day, and a few of my bunkmates were insufferable and even racist gits, but I was just so glad to be away from my old life. When someone drove me to cry, it was because they didn’t think I was tough enough, not because I wasn’t conforming to some idealized form of femininity.
“Plus, I knew the only way to get away from my mom’s manipulation was to cut ties with her, and joining the military effectively did that. My parents completely cut me off as soon as I left the house. I would get pretty upset when my bunkmates were getting mail from home, setting up Skype calls, telling stories about their siblings like they happened yesterday. Because I didn’t have any of that. I didn’t speak to my family for years. I wasn’t even allowed to contact my little sister.”
Bianca drank more hot chocolate, saying nothing. What could she possibly say to something so awful? Her own family was her whole world, for better or worse. She couldn’t imagine being cut off from them all.
“It wasn’t until the incident with Rosalie, me leaving my old company, and starting my new one, that my mom finally reached out to me. They’d moved to Seattle and wanted to meet up with me. I met with them in a café and steeled myself for annihilation. Instead, my mom pretended that nothing had happened. My dad just asked me what it was like in the military. It wasn’t until later, when Mom and I were alone, that she finally apologized. Kind of. She’s never been big on apologies, unless they’re to her, of course.”
“I know that attitude well,” Bianca murmured.
“So, even though I was ‘welcomed’ back and they never brought up my sexual orientation again, it’s always hung over everything we did together. It’s why I still avoid going home unless it’s to see my sister. For my mom, the separation may be over, but I’ve been dealing with the fallout since I graduated high school. All because some nosy girl caught me making out with my teammate in the locker room after soccer practice and told everyone about it.”