Killing Ruby Rose by Jessie Humphries Read Free Book Online Page B

bit at her Restylane-injected lips—an old nervous habit, and one Dr. Syringe-Happy in Beverly Hills had warned her to break.
    “Obviously not,” I said, trying not to gawk at the hot mess before me. I’d never seen her looking like this—not even when Dad died. I knew she probably cried then, but it was behind her perpetually closed doors and perfectly coiffed facade. “What, did Bill Brandon call you a bad name in the Los Angeles Times today?”
    She turned her back to me and rubbed her eyes with a clean dishrag next to the sink. This was highly unusual. I’d caught her in a real weak spot. Maybe I could actually win this one.
    “No, this isn’t about Bill Brandon.” She faced me with renewed strength in her bloodshot, mascara-smudged eyes. “This is about you. Only you.”
    Oh, snap.
    I told myself to think happy thoughts. I scratched at the thin wax coating on Granny Smith and imagined landing a sweet high kick. Buying a new pair of Steve Madden cowgirl boots. Kissing Liam Slater while we lay on the beach. Wait, where did that come from?
    “Please stay with me,” she said with a note of uncharacteristic hysteria in her voice. “I really need you to not do that thing where you close yourself off and think of other things and direct your attention onto inanimate objects.”
    I set down Granny Smith—like she’d ratted me out. “Wow, so you’re a psychic now?” I asked. Since when had she paid attention to me long enough to figure out my war tactics?
    “I may not be perfect, but I’m not stupid.” She rounded the counter and stood opposite me. “I know we’ve been distant … and I haven’t really been here for you…”
    Not this conversation. I was so not in the mood for one of our strained heart-to-hearts.
    “This past year has been difficult to say the least. Losing your father, fighting for my campaign, this whole LeMarq debacle. It’s fair to say, I’ve really been thrown for a loop.”
    Excusez-moi ? Did she just say that me shooting a man in the head had thrown her for a loop?
    “I want you to know I love you very much.” In my peripheral vision I saw her fiddling with her wedding ring, like her words weren’t only meant for me.
    I looked up. I hadn’t heard her say the word “love” in so long. Something inside me felt soothed by that one simple sentence, reminding me of a better time when it felt true.
    “I know I haven’t been spending enough time with you and that I’ve been relying too much on Dr. Teresa for updates, which is completely unacceptable.” She pinched her eyes shut. “But that’s not the way it’s going to work anymore.” She opened her eyes and focused on me with a scary intensity. “And I need to start by telling you something important. Something I should have told you a long time ago—but never found the right time.”
    She paused and put her lips in position to say something, but nothing came out. This was becoming too painful to endure.
    “I need you to know that everything I’ve done is to protect you, provide for you, and help you. And I will never stop trying to do that.” With her hand over her heart, she nodded at me to make sure I understood. I didn’t.
    “What are you talking about, Mom?”
    “Regardless of what has happened, or what will happen, I want you to remember that, OK?” A full-blown heat rash had developed on her neck. She started rubbing at it without taking her eyes off me. Her agitation did nothing to comfort me.
    “Just tell me what you’re talking about. Am I in trouble with the police? Are you going to have to press charges against me?” I gulped, not sure I wanted the answer.
    “No, Ruby, that’s not it. No charges will be brought. I don’t want you worrying about that.” She rounded the counter and brushed some of the hair off my brow. That simple touch felt like stars springing to life inside of me after years of living in darkness.
    “It’s about your dad.” She hesitated, pulling away before I was ready.