Shadows In Durango
Chapter 144

*****Vincent's POV*****

I stayed frozen in my seat, my body rigid and cold as ice slithered down my spine.

My father's words had been sharp enough to patch over Sofia's blunder, but the damage was already done.

Watching Frazier lean even closer to her, his eyes raking over each and every mark and tear presented on her skin, made my pulse hammer in my ears.

I watched Frazier tilt his head, suspicion clouding his features. He might not have said a word, but his calculating silence was worse — growing more dangerous.

I swallowed hard, forcing myself not to look at Sofia in fear that I would eventually crumble. Her wide eyes were darting between Frazier and my father, her head lowered in an attempt to shrink herself, but I knew her mind was racing in fear that she had messed this up.

Then the knock at the door came, loud and untimely - confusing us all with who it could be.

The handle dipped before any of us could speak, and every muscle in my body seized up at the sight of the person behind it...

No!

The door creaked open, and there she was my fucking mother of all people!

Why the fuck is she in here? I told my father to keep her out of this!

Standing in the doorway, dressed to perfection, her crimson coat hugged her figure like armor, her heels clicking sharply against the floor as she allowed herself inside - closing the door back over softly behind her.

Her twinkling eyes swept the room like a storm, filling up with mischief, sharp and assessing, before landing on my father.

"What the fuck are you doing here? I told you that I had important business today!" my father hissed out under his breath, his usual air of control wavering as he shot up from his chair.

His jaw was tight with fury, his hand gripping the table edge hard enough to turn his knuckles white.

I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from swearing. She wasn't supposed to be here. I had explicitly told him to keep her out of this because I knew she would be detrimental to our plan. I didn't trust her.

Mother or not.

Not one bit!

She lived to cause chaos when it served her, and worse, she hated Sofia because Sofia was the newest young and more gorgeous female in our lives...

She was jealous, she always was.

The last thing we needed right now was for her to poke holes in our story just because she could...

She ignored my father entirely, her dark red lips pulling out into an icy smile as Frazier stood to greet her warmly. "Well, isn't this a pleasant surprise," he drawled out, his smile shallow.

"Frazier," she said smoothly, hugging him. "I wasn't expecting to replace you to be the one in the middle of this important... business." Her gaze skimmed over the room again, landing briefly on Sofia, who was still slumped in the chair. The moment her eyes fell down on her, her entire face shifted...

"For crying out loud, what's happened to you?!" she said, and her voice carried the kind of sick satisfaction that made my stomach turn.

Her sharp heels clicked across the floor, growing closer as she took Sofia in, eyes widening with mock shock. "Woah! How is this the same girl you brought at dinner? What the hell did she do to piss you off this much Vincent?" Her manicured hand pressed down on Sofia's chest in exaggerated surprise as she turned back to Frazier. "You know this girl too? What's she doing here at the 'all important' meeting?!"

My chest tightened as I glanced at my father. He looked murderous, and not at Sofia — but at my mother. "Get the fuck out of here, we have important shit to discuss!" he muttered under his breath. "You don't belong here right now." She ignored him again, stepping even closer to Sofia.

I nearly stood up to go round and block her from making more unnecessary contact, but I forced myself to remain seated, fists clenching under the table.

My mother was nothing if not observant, and she was already narrowing her gaze, head tilted ever so slightly.

"Sorry but you look fucking terrible, Sofia," she murmured, her voice dripping in feigned pity. "I'd almost feel sorry for you but whatever you've done to my son to deserve this is most likely valid..." she clicks her tongue, shaking her head to be a complete bitch.

Sofia flinched at her words, and I could see the way she was fighting to keep her expression blank. My mother turned her head, hair spilling over her shoulder as she addressed Frazier again. "I'm sure Vincent told you about this girl? At first I thought he was in love but looking at her now, it seems not!" she said sweetly, glancing at me like she was dangling bait in front of a predator.

My stomach sank.

Don't do this.

She's going to ruin our entire plan!

"Love? Is that so? As far as I was aware he wanted to have my daughter as a mere sex object? Both he and your husband it seems!" Frazier states bluntly, as my mothers jaw almost falls off and hits the floor beneath her.

The silence that followed Frazier's words was so sharp it could've sliced through flesh. My mother's head snapped toward me, her perfectly arched brows drawing together in disbelief and then -worse amusement. Her lips curled into a smile so tight and venomous it made my teeth clench.

"A sex object?" she echoed, the words lingering in the air like poison. "Vincent, darling, is that what you've been up to? Renting girls for pleasure now? You and your father? And this time Frazier's daughter too?! I would have never guessed since you seemed to adore her before now! What a mess you two have found yourselves in huh?" She crosses her arms, as my breathing grows heavy.

Her voice carried that cold, cutting edge she'd perfected over years of manipulating anyone in her path. I wanted to grab her, drag her out of the room, and land punch after punch in to her throat to prevent her from speaking ever again! I could feel my father's fury building across the table, his hand tightening like a vice on the chair's backrest. His silence was always worse than his yelling — it was the kind that meant someone was going to pay for this later... that person being my mother!

Frazier, however, was no longer amused. His gaze had hardened like steel, flicking between my mother and me, and I could see the cracks forming in the careful illusion we'd constructed. Sofia sat frozen, her wide eyes darting between all of us the panic slowly creeping up into her expression as she too knew we were done for...

It was slipping the entire act — and every instinct inside me was screaming to fix it before it shattered completely.

"ENOUGH OF THIS!" I said finally, my voice sharp as a whip. I stood up, my chair scraping back across the floor, the sound grating in the tense silence. I leveled my gaze on my mother, the kind of look I reserved for situations just like this when she was about to set fire to everything just because she could. "Why are you even still in here?"

She blinked at me, mock innocence washing over her face as she clutched at her chest. "I came up to say hi to my son and husband, because I care, Vincent. About you. About this family. That is why I can't let this obsession for this girl go any further... maybe she should go back home with her own family now hm?" She turned her attention back to Frazier, her expression calculated and honeyed. "It seems that this meeting is some sort of long winded reunion? I didn't think the girl had any family until now... especially when she's been freeloading off of us for weeks now!" She stated, and I knew that her words would cut Sofia deep.

"She doesn't know what she's talking about," I said, forcing out a short laugh. "My mother loves drama, and she'll make up whatever she can to be at the center of it. You've met Sofia once, so fucking calm down with your accusations of what this meeting is!" I snap, as Frazier studies me intently.

-

how important she

"Drama?" My mother cuts in, that sick smile still plastered on her face as she slowly crossed her arms. "Oh, darling, you know how much I hate to exaggerate. I was just reminiscing about how you spoke of this girl before was to you, how you couldn't keep your hands off her - yet now she's sat here looking this beat up!" Her gaze slid back to Sofia, her lips curling. "What happened, Vincent? Did you suddenly get bored of her over the past day or two?" Sofia flinched again, and I felt something twist painfully in my gut. My mother's words hit their mark, and she knew it.

"Shut your fucking mouth," I snapped at her, my voice colder than I'd intended. "You have no idea what you're even talking about."

"Oh?" She tilted her head, looking me over like a predator cornering its prey. "So you didn't tell me how much you wanted her? How perfect she was for you? Because it certainly didn't sound like you wanted her for a business arrangement back then... flying her around on our private jet and dressing her up like a little princess in expensive clothes... but now you want her as no more than an object?"

Frazier's eyes shot toward me, his suspicion now an undeniable fire behind them. My father cursed under his breath, stepping closer to my mother, his hand clamping down hard on her arm in a futile attempt to stop her from talking. "That is enough."

She yanked her arm free and smirked. "What? I'm just trying to understand why this whole thing looks like some sort of performance. You're all gathered here with Sofia seated there all beaten, bruised, and scared! It's humorous, really!" she sneered, flicking her gaze toward the slumped figure of Sofia with tears now rolling down her cheeks as she trembled and shook her head.

"Fucking stupid whore!" My father hissed, and with that, my father lifted his hand, sending the back of it across my mother's face harshly - knocking her down on to the floor with a shriek and a clatter as she clutched at her face. The room froze.

Frazier's expression darkened further, his focus now entirely on me. He straightened himself, his large hands splaying on the table as he leaned in. "Explain all of this. NOW!"

The command in his voice made my throat dry up. My mother smiled triumphantly from the floor, as though she'd accomplished exactly what she had hoped to in such a short time of her being in here... My mind raced.

I could feel Sofia's gaze on me, her panic likely mirroring my own, and for a brief moment, I couldn't breathe.

We were caught out, and in that moment, I could only think of one last thing to do...