Always With You - Part Two(10)
"Cash is taking Izzy and me on a little tour of the city. I'd love for you to come."
My blood runs cold. When I walked in, it looked as if Sophie was holding Cash's hand, dragging him back this way. I thought I was surely mistaken. Surely. But even if I wasn't, I'm sure there's a good explanation. Knowing this woman, she was trying to pull him into her den and sink her claws into him. Whatever it was, I'm sure it had everything to do with Sophie's despicable machinations and nothing to do with Cash giving her the time of day.
"He did tell you, right?" she asks, her face innocently covering the nasty smirk I can picture hovering just beneath the surface.
She's just trying to get to you, I remind myself. Don't let her. Don't let her come between you and Cash. Don't do it!
I turn on my brightest smile. "Of course. And I'd love to! While we're out, we can swing by and get that paternity test. I called this morning and they're open today until three."
Score! I think gleefully.
Sophie's good. I'll give her that. Her expression is nearly unchanged.
Nearly.
But I can still see the discomfort. She can't hide it completely.
"Oh, they're open already? I thought the message said they're still closed for the holidays."
"I guess you were mistaken." God, I feel so smug and awesome. I can almost hear Ginger saying something like, "That'll teach you to toy with me, you bitch!"
Sophie's expression hardens almost imperceptibly, but again, I can see it. Or maybe it's that I can feel it, like a chill in the air.
"Well, it works out for the best anyway. I know Cash would've wanted to come along with his daughter to get the testing done anyway. Like a family."
Her words hit their mark and I try not to flinch. I want to lash out. I want to call her names and pull every strand of that shiny blonde hair out, but I force my emotions back under my control. I have to keep a cool head. Otherwise I risk everything.
"So tell me, Sophie, why is it that Cash is my family instead of yours? What happened between you two?"
I'm going to get every piece of information I can from this wanton whore. The more I have on her, the better chance I have of destroying her from within.
"He asked me to marry him. I said no. I wasn't ready for that kind of commitment. I realize my mistake now, though. I wouldn't make it a second time."
Holy mother of God, my heart!
Cash asked this woman to marry him? And she said no?
She said she'd hurt him. He never denied it. He never gave me details either. Maybe this is why. Sophie is the one who got away. And how she's back. With his baby.
I swallow hard, staving off panic. "You needn't worry about a second time. Cash is happily married. Very happily married."
Sophie takes a single step toward me, her lush lips curving into a smile that any cobra would be proud of. "You sure about that?"
CHAPTER SEVEN
Olivia
I take a single step forward, putting me dangerously close to the woman I'm about to physically strangle. Like, wrap my fingers around her scrawny throat and squeeze until she drops dead at my feet. The fact that her daughter is sitting less than two feet away watching cartoons is the only thing that reins me in.
For Isabella's sake, I plaster a soft smile on my face and modulate my voice to something in the neighborhood of "Southern belle offering sweet tea on the front porch." But still I whisper, hoping that Isabella won't hear my words.
"Now you listen to me, Sophie," I begin, practically spitting her name in her smug face. "You don't know me so I wouldn't expect you to understand that Cash means everything to me. That our family means everything to me. And when someone … anyone threatens what I love … what's mine, I can throw more bitch from my little finger than you've ever seen in your whole miserable life. If you mess with me, you're liable to find that I've made my own happy little family with my husband and his daughter. Back off, Leann Rimes! I won't say it again."
With that, I retreat one slow step, holding her eyes and maintaining my smile. "Isabella, I'll be right back," I say, speaking to her in my most cheerful voice. "I can't wait to get to know you better."
I don't stop looking at Sophie until I close the door between us.
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I never would've imagined that a day spent in the company of Sophie could be anything less than pure hell, yet today was actually fun. I credit Cash and Isabella with that. Sophie only gets credit for keeping her mouth shut and being smart enough not to push me one bit further.