“Is everyone necessary?” Helen asked Mason again.
He shrugged, standing behind where I sat on a couch. Logan stood next to him, and both had their arms folded over their chests.
“They’d all find out anyway. Besides—” He gestured to Garrett. “Meet my new lawyer. If memory’s right, you two know each other, in a biblical way?”
My biological father grimaced, rubbing a hand over his face.
Helen bristled. “Is this what’s to come? Have you and Logan switched roles? You’re the sarcastic one now?”
“No.” Logan leaned back against the wall, giving his mother a dark look. “He’s just a bit meaner to you than I am. You took me to Paris. And you’re actually nice to my girlfriend. Mason doesn’t have those reasons to be kind. You like to be a dick to his girlfriend. Remember?” His voice indicated that he wasn’t all right with that, but he bared his teeth in a forced smile. “Trust me, mother. I’m walking a fine line here between being pissed at you too about Sam and being somewhat grateful to you about Taylor. Keep being a dick, though, and I’m certain Taylor won’t care to have anything to do with you either.”
“Noted.”
She glowered at me before letting out a loud sigh, pulling out a magazine, and tossing it on the hotel’s table. “This is running on Monday. It’s an article saying my son was given special privileges because of his ‘promising’ future. He was arrested for assault and battery, but was released and received no consequences from the Cain University administration.”
Mason let out a savage curse.
Helen kept going, as if her son hadn’t reacted, “It was supposed to run later in the month. They wanted to wait for a bowl game, but it was pushed up because Samantha ran an impressive race yesterday afternoon. A second article is coming out on Tuesday where they’ll talk, at length, about my son’s history, along with his Olympic-hopeful girlfriend and my other son. Now,” she said, looking around. “Was I wrong in interrupting such a cozy family meal?”
“Come on, Mom.” Mason moved forward to pick up the article. “Don’t be snide because you weren’t invited. If you were ever around, I’m sure we would’ve thought about inviting you.”
Logan snorted.
Helen sighed. “I’m having déjà vu. Aren’t we missing a few people?” She glanced to Nate and added, “And we’ve picked up a few new ones too.” Her eyes fell on Malinda. “Were you at the first meeting? When we learned how sexually active Mason and Samantha had become?”
Logan’s head tipped back. “I can’t. I can’t keep quiet.” He shook his head, letting out a dreamy sigh. “Fond memories. We all bonded together over our hatred for Analise.” He glared at Helen and drawled, “Sorry, Mother, but apparently hell’s frozen and you’re now taking the Anabitch’s place.” His tone cooled. “Stop being a bitch.”
“Okay, okay.” Garrett held his hands up and moved into the middle of the room. “There are issues that need to be addressed, I agree, but—” He pointed to the article in Mason’s hands. “Can we brainstorm on how to get that pulled? It’ll be very bad if that article comes out.”
“You can’t.” Helen shook her head. “I got an early copy out of consideration because my friend works with the magazine.”
Mason finished reading and handed it to me. His jaw clenched, but that was his only reaction. “Who’s your friend?” he asked.
Helen paused.
“Answer the question, Mom.” Logan growled.
She flicked an annoyed look his way. “You’re nicer when you’re not around these two.”
“I’m nicer when you’re not a bitch.”
She sucked in an angry breath. “My God, can you be more disrespectful?”
Logan started laughing again, and I read enough to feel my heart sink. Everything was there. Everything that had happened this summer.
I stood, fed up with the mudslinging. “Stop!” I couldn’t read it. I’d vomit if I did, and threw the article on the floor. “Your friend told you about the article. You’re in the best position to fix this. Why are you here?”
“What?” Her eyes narrowed.
I stepped toward her, folding my arms over my chest too. I lowered my voice to the same cruel level as hers.
“This is something you could’ve fixed. If you have the pull to get an early copy, you could’ve flown to your friend instead of here. You knew about this days ago. You would’ve had to get the story, book a flight from Europe, and have the foresight to text Taylor and not your actual sons. Did you even text Logan, like you told Taylor you did?”