Becca smacked her uncle on the shoulder. “You said a bad word, Uncle Kick,” she chastised him, a stern look written on her face.

I suppressed a laugh, and watched with interest as he handled the situation. “I’m sorry, darlin’. I’ll try not to say it again, yeah?”

She pressed her lips together, trying hard to emulate her mother. I’d seen Lina give her that very look. “You’re always saying bad words. I’ll have to tell Mummy on you.”

Laughter bubbled up, and I managed to hold it in, but I had to walk away to stop Becca from seeing my body shake with it. I took Candace into the kitchen, catching snippets of Becca telling Kick off.

When they joined us a couple of minutes later, he gave me a dirty look and said, “Thanks for that.”

“For what?” I asked as I checked the cake I’d placed in the oven. The girls had scampered off to the lounge room to the television.

He grabbed me around the waist. “For leaving me alone with a four-year-old I had to defend myself to,” he said, pressing a kiss to my lips.

“Well, you shouldn’t use that language around her.”

He groaned. “Do you know how fuckin’ hard it is to stop myself from swearing around them?”

“What does Lina say?” I asked, loving seeing Kick squirm, but mostly just loving the fact he cared about it.

Lina’s voice came from behind me. “Lina tells him not to do it, but do you think anyone can tell Kick what to do?”

I laughed and turned out of Kick’s embrace to face her. She looked a little better. “How are you feeling?”

“A little better,” she said, walking towards us. “What word did you say?” she asked Kick, giving him a dirty look.

He held up his hands in a defensive gesture. “I didn’t say fuck, that’s for fuckin’ sure,” he muttered.

She shook her head and smacked his chest. “Well, don’t say it now, for goodness’ sake!”

“All I said was asshole,” he admitted.

Pointing a finger at him, she bossed him, “Don’t say it again. I’m gonna start charging you, I think.” Giving me her attention, she said, “Thank you for this afternoon. I really appreciate it.”

I grimaced. “We had a visitor while you were asleep,” I admitted, not wanting to have to tell her.

At her frown, Kick stepped in with an explanation. “Dave came over. He was drunk again and bashing on the front door to be let in, so Evie called me and I came and took care of him.”

“Thank you,” she said, her voice full of exhaustion. “How did you get him to leave?”

“Let’s just say we had words.” Kick’s face had that closed-off look I knew well; he had no intention of telling her what those words had been.

“Did you guys get in a fight?” Lina asked, knowing her brother well.

“No, but I’m telling you, Lina, that if he keeps turning up like he did today, we will be having more than words.”

She opened her mouth to say something but a knock at the door interrupted us.

Shit, who was it now?

“Wait here,” Kick said as he strode to the front door and opened it. “Fuck,” he muttered, and I wondered who the hell it was, “what are you doing here?”

A voice I hadn’t heard in years sounded, and my stomach dropped. “Well, that’s a lovely way to greet your mother, Kick.”

Chapter Fourteen

Kick

Fuck, could this day get any worse?

I stepped aside and let my mother enter. Actually, I had no choice, because she barged her way in before I could stop her. I closed the door after her and turned to see Evie’s face had paled. She looked like she’d seen a ghost, and I guessed she had.

My mother.

The reason for so much of her heartache growing up.

“Mum,” Lina said, sounding anything but pleased to see her, “what are you doing here?”

Mum’s back stiffened. “Am I not allowed to visit my daughter and grandchildren?”

Jesus, bring on the fucking guilt trip.

Lina scowled. “You never just drop by out of the blue. Not unless you want something.” The unspoken accusation sat between them.

Mum’s hand went to her hip and I could just imagine the superior look on her face. “That’s not true -” She stopped mid-sentence and her head turned to look at Evie. “What the hell are you doing here? I thought my son had seen the error of his ways years ago.” Before Evie could respond, Mum looked at me and said, “Please don’t tell me she’s here because you are?”

I stalked to where she stood, and, fuming, said, “You don’t get to come here and say that shit to or about Evie.” My body buzzed with anger at her attitude, and my breaths were coming hard and fast. “Besides, what I do is none of your business anymore.”

“Yes, you made that perfectly clear two years ago, Kick, but just because you stop seeing me and try to tell me what is and what isn’t my business, doesn’t mean I’m not interested to know what’s happening in your life.” Her eyes were still as vacant as they’d been my entire life. The words were coming out of her mouth but she didn’t mean them.

My mother. The shallowest woman I’d ever had the misfortune of knowing.

“You’ve never been interested in my life,” I spat. “The only thing Veronica Hanson is interested in is Veronica Hanson.”