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“There are a lot of things in our future.” He brought her hand up to his mouth and kissed the back of it.
Mikelina sighed. She forgave him for snooping in her closet. Maybe she should come clean and tell him everything. She would. After the bachelor party. That way if he didn’t want to associate with her because of her father, she could move on because he’d be going back to New York. If she did it while the party was still going on, she’d still have to face him in order to do her job.
As they continued to walk through the poker room, the thick smoke began to tickle the back of her throat. “I wish the casinos were smoke-free.”
“Can you imagine the money they would lose having people step out for a cigarette break?”
“You’re cynical.”
“Damned straight. Hey, isn’t that your boss?” Bastien nodded to the screens that showed the horse races.
Kirk Diamonte was placing a bet, but that wasn’t what held her attention. Hanging on to his arm and looking up at him adoringly was her mother. Mikelina had to steady herself on Bastien as she craned her neck to keep them in sight while Bastien methodically went up and down the rows looking for Jace.
“Excuse me a minute,” she said when they were about to get out of line of sight of her mother. “Keep looking. I’ll be right back.”
Kirk and Tawny were watching the screen intently. Mikelina approached them, unsure what she was going to say. She knew they were friends, but there was something in their body language that caused her to look twice. It was confirmed when Kirk’s horse won and Tawny threw her arms around his neck and gave him a kiss that dropped Mikelina’s jaw. It was similar to the kisses she and Bastien had shared.
“Mom?” she said, gawking at them.
Tawny broke away from Kirk and stared at her, equally shocked.
“What are you doing here?” they asked each other at the same time.
“I’m with a client.” Mikelina turned to Kirk. “Bastien thinks Jace is here and I offered to show him around if he’s not.”
“Good work,” Kirk said.
“Why were you kissing my mother?” she asked.
“I wanted to,” he said.
“You know she’s married,” Mikelina said, crossing her arms.
Kirk waved his winning ticket. “I’m going to cash out. Tawny, why don’t you address that with your daughter?”
After he walked away, Mikelina whirled to face her mother. “What is going on here?”
“I probably should have told you sooner, but there was never the right time.”
“Tell me what?”
“I’m divorcing your father.”
Mikelina couldn’t hear anything over the roaring in her ears. “Does Dad know this?”
“He was served papers yesterday. I was going to tell you, but you rushed me off the phone so quickly last time.”
“Divorce? Mom, are you sure?”
“Trust me. I’ve been thinking about divorcing Tanner ever since it happened. It’s taken months for me to get up the courage to do it. But now that the papers have been served, I feel so free.”
“I don’t know what to say or how to feel,” Mikelina said honestly.
“It’ll take time. I know it did for me. But in the end, I feel it’s for the best for my sanity. I can’t go on living in limbo waiting for your father’s appeal trial or after he’s been granted parole in a few years. I don’t want to waste my life or my time on someone who doesn’t have my best interests at heart. I know Tanner is your father and you love him, but Tanner has always been about himself. I need more.”
“Is that why you were kissing my boss?”
“Kirk and I go way back, you know that. He’s an attractive man with a fat bank account and he doesn’t mind spending it on me. You should find yourself a guy like that. Take him for a ride, enjoy yourself. You’re young. Enjoy it. And whatever you do, don’t tie yourself down to a man who doesn’t know how to have fun. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to see if Kirk will buy me something pretty with his winnings. I’ll call you later in the week.” Tawny kissed her cheek and wandered off to find Kirk.
