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“Oh, hell, no,” he suddenly said “You don’t get to play all supersecretive Not withinto me

“Kyle”

“Tell me about it, Ari For fuck’s sake, I’ve met your mother, remember? Nut job to the extreme And your dad’s, like, so nor with her?”

“That’s pretty much the million-dollar question” I raisedI had absolutely no clue whatwhen he’d hooked up with her And even less of an idea as to why he’d uess is that when you’re a PGA golfer and have your own high caliber of groupies it’s not so difficult to lose sight of what’s real and what’s not She definitely is not Never was and never will be”

“That’s just crazy, considering hon-to-earth your dad is”

“I know That’s what has alwaysfor her—he’d help anyone, whether he knew the”

I loved my dad fiercely I suddenly realized that was likely why I loathed my mother with equal passion

“He never deserved to be treated the way she treated him,” I said “She cheated on him; she spent every penny he had when they were er haul when they divorced Thanks to her and the team of lawyers my father had to pay for, he and I lived in absolute shit—I’ hellholes After the divorce, she traded in the house awarded to her in the settleeous Scottsdale condo Had it professionally decorated I was rarely welcomed there” I shook ht?”

“Don’t disaze on me “You pulled this nonchalant crap when she caainst the investors of 10,000 Lux—and reap the financial benefit personally, despite the fact that you were the one in the ER, bleeding, and thoroughly fucked up”

I shuddered at the rehtmare “She didn’t care about any of that—and, of course, she has no idea I’uard As for the rest of it, she looked right past the stitches and bruises Didn’t see theine how rabid she’d be if she knew about the wedding? That all of Dane’s money is also mine?”

Perhaps that was my poetic justice ThatI was only worth a s no idea what my investment portfolio really looked like

I’d been upset at first that Dane and I were subjected to a private wedding Being an event planner, naturally I’d wanted a e relief that very few people kneas Mrs Dane Bax—and that ht I was unemployed because the Lux had been destroyed

I tried to shove aside the disht on “Really,” I said to Kyle, “the ht now, I can phase her out I don’t have a cell phone, since I never replaced the one that went up in flames with the Lux and because our last residence had zero reception in that box canyon And well, she has no fucking idea where I live”

I convinced h to keep the wicked witch fro

In fact, I patted rinned A little peace fro