Page 17 of Embrace Me

Despite the topic, I can’t help but laugh. I called her from the office before leaving, but she hadn’t gotten back to me until I was already almost home, and now I’m maneuvering my beloved Mini Cooper past the gatehouse. I wave at Gus, the guard on duty today, and continue toward the circular driveway in front of our door.

I kill the engine, then stay in the car for a while, talking to her now through the speaker on my phone. “I know,” I say. “I know all of that. And yet….”

“I get it,” she says again. “I mean I don’t completely get it, because my mother is a human, but I still get it.”

I smirk. She’s really not wrong.

“What does Damien say?”

“I haven’t told him yet,” I confess. “I knew that he had back-to-back meetings today, and you know Damien.”

“Yeah,” Jamie says, which is enough. I know she understands that I didn’t want him to rearrange his entire schedule in order to make sure that the reappearance of my mother wasn’t messing with my head.

“I’m home now, though,” I say. “I’ll talk to him in a bit.”

“Is he home?”

“Not sure. He wasn’t planning on coming home early today, but he might be.” Damien often rides in with Edward so that he can get work done in the back while Edward’s driving. And if he drives himself, it’s usually because he’s taking one of his toys, in which case he parks in the bat cave, and walks into the house through the underground tunnel.

“Well, hugs,” she says. “And stay strong. I know you want your mother to magically turn into a human, but the odds are against it.”

I laugh. “I know. But, hey, I won the lottery with Damien. Miracles do happen.”

“Not twice in one lifetime.”

I say nothing. She’s probably right about that. My rational side is warring with my emotional side, and my emotional side is all hyped up because of my hormones. I know this. I just can’t seem to convince myself that I know it and push my mother out of my mind.

“Hey,” Jamie says gently. “I wish I was there to give you a real hug. I know it’s got to be hell. I don’t mean to make light of it.”

I wish she were here for a hug as well. “I know,” I say. “Love you, James.”

“Love you back, Nicholas.”

I get out of the car, and head into the house, bolstered by Jamie’s pep talk. I step inside, then come to a dead stop when I find Damien and my father sitting on the couch in the first floor living area.

Since we’re hardly ever down here unless we’re hosting a pool party, I narrow my eyes at both of them. “Okay. I’ll bite. What’s up?”

Damien’s brows rise, and guilt crashes over me. Honestly, by now I should know better than to try and keep anything from this man, even if for only a few minutes.

“I knew you had meetings all day,” I tell him truthfully. “I figured I’d tell you when I got home.”

“She came to your office?” Frank asks. “She actually walked into your office?”

I frown, then settle into a chair opposite them. “Marge, right? She’s the snitch.”

Damien’s mouth twitches just enough that I know he’s not mad—but he was genuinely worried. Considering the ways in which I’ve melted down around my mother in the past, I suppose that’s fair.

“Bree, actually,” Damien says.

“She called you? I was going to tell you when I got home that she’s probably coming over tomorrow. The girls are going to be so excited.”

“Already on the calendar,” he says with a little smile toward Frank. I look between the two of them. “What aren’t you telling me?”

Damien scowls, but I see the humor in his eyes. “Not anything more than you’re not telling me.”

I cross my arms. “Damien….”

“Apparently, Bree is moving back to Los Angeles.”