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The phone call ended where Angela hadn\'t had the chance to answer. Soon after that, her phone beeped with a message containing a restaurant and a time she would meet her mother tomorrow.

"Did she say why she wanted to meet with you?" Gael asked after Angela explained the call to him.

"No. She just said she wanted to see me."

"Pretty coincidental that she wants to meet at the same time I\'d have to meet the person tomorrow. Same time, different venues."

Angela met his curious gaze. "You think it\'s related?" She knew her mother wasn\'t staying in New York.

"I don\'t know what to think."

"Will it be a problem if it\'s anyone related to my mother or grandfather whom you will be meeting tomorrow?"

He leaned sideways against the wall next to the dining table. "Could be. Other than the fact that the Russians think I\'m me… It shouldn\'t be a problem. It\'ll just be like any other business transaction. Except with people who don\'t like me too much."

Her brows drew together as she folded her arms under her breasts. "Why don\'t they like you that much? You\'re very…lovable." She smiled.

Gael chuckled. "They think I\'m a threat, what with how I helped increase SVR\'s revenue over the years I\'ve started working there. I crushed some businesses on the way up. They don\'t like it."

Angela scoffed as if she couldn\'t believe it. "It\'s hard for me to think they have a conscience."

"Oh, it\'s not that. They\'re just as ruthless. It\'s the fact that they\'re doing business with us and know my skills that they\'re worried about me doing the same to them."

"So…" she hesitated. "Are you saying…tomorrow\'s going to be okay…or…?"

Gael took a deep breath, reached for her, and then circled an arm around her waist. He paused for a beat as if weighing his words. "It should be. Unless whoever it is I\'m meeting holds a grudge against me. Otherwise, it should be okay. What about you? Are you meeting your mom tomorrow?"

Angela stiffened in his arms. She had momentarily forgotten the phone call she just had. She hadn\'t expected to hear from her mother at all after the last time they met went south. Of course, she couldn\'t deny that she had wondered several times if Cynthia would reach out to her once again. But now that she had, Angela wasn\'t sure how to respond. Was she ready to see her mother again?

Releasing a defeated sigh, she curled her hands and grasped at his sweater. "I…honestly don\'t know." She took a few breaths before she continued, "When I met her with you last month, I was so pissed. Like… How dare her tell me what to do when she hasn\'t been a mother to me for years? But after speaking with Dad, I…can\'t help but somehow understand why she did what she did. I still hated that she left. It still hurts. But…"

"But she\'s your mother…" Gael finished.

She nodded, exhaling another sigh. "I keep thinking what\'s wrong with me ever since she left. I hated myself while I hated her."

He slid a finger under her chin and lifted her face up to meet his stare. "You don\'t hate yourself anymore…"

"Not as much, no… I mean… Well, actually, not anymore." A small smile flitted across her face as she gazed up at him. "How could I when I know you like me so much? I must be really awesome."

Gael threw his head back and laughed. She chuckled with him. Then he said, "You\'re the most wonderful woman I\'ve ever met. You\'re my favorite person." He leaned in and kissed her lips that calmed her nerves.

Then he gathered her in his arms and whispered to her ear, "Whatever you decide tomorrow, always have Trigger next to you. I don\'t want you unaccompanied when you\'re near them. Doesn\'t matter if she\'s your mother. She\'s a Novikov."

She nodded. She had later to think about tomorrow. Angela pushed her thoughts about her mother to the back of her head and decided that she wanted to enjoy dinner with Gael tonight, eating the dish that she so excitedly learned for him. \'One at a time,\' she thought.

When she pulled away, she plastered a smile on her face and took his hand, pulling him towards the table. "And as your favorite person, I demand that we sit at the table so we can enjoy this A-plus noodle soup. It\'s getting cold."

"Ah…" He eyed the simple dinner spread on the table and touched his chest. "I\'m the luckiest man on earth."

***

Last night as Angela and Gael lay in bed, she still couldn\'t decide if she would meet her mother the next day. Noticing her anxiousness, he stripped off her clothes one by one as he kissed her everywhere until she writhed underneath him. It was her decision to make, and he would support whatever her choice was. The least he could do was help settle her stress, and there was one way he knew how. He worshiped her body, not stopping until she had four orgasms before she passed out.

Angela ended the night satiated, but came the next morning, the same question plagued her head.

It was only half an hour before Gael had to leave that she decided she would meet her mother at the restaurant. He didn\'t stop her, but he ran several measures with his men to ensure the security was tight. He kissed her goodbye and walked out the door, promising to go to her right after his meeting was done. 

Gael left at ten in the morning, and she began to feel more nervous that she decided to take a warm bath, dreading when she had to meet her.

She spent a while donning herself in front of the mirror. Angela wasn\'t trying to impress her mother. God knew she stopped wondering and asking for approval from her. But getting ready made her feel less jittery—if that made sense. After changing into four dresses, she settled into a plain white silky satin dress with puffed sleeves and flowy skirt that stopped at her calves, making her look sophisticated and classy.

As she descended the stairs, she caught Trigger\'s eyes widened before he schooled himself and cleared his throat. She chuckled. "Am I dressed okay? Is it too much?"

"No. You look beautiful. Er… Let\'s go." He rubbed his neck as he hurried towards the front door.

"Thank you." Angela quietly chuckled. Trigger rarely flustered around her. 

Once they drove towards the restaurant in Manhattan, she began fidgeting with her hands. Was she making a mistake? What if her mother was going to be hurtful again?

Angela closed her eyes and took a few calming breaths. Then the car stopped in front of a Japanese restaurant. Suddenly, she didn\'t want to go anymore.

"We can turn around and go back home," Trigger said. "Or…you can go inside and stop wondering what it is that she wants from you."

Looking out the window, she stared at the front door where a family had just exited with smiles on their faces. "What if she says something awful again…or does something…" She sighed, shaking her head.

"What else could she do that she hadn\'t already?" he questioned. "I don\'t know the whole story, but I pretty much guessed she abandoned you. It\'s not like she could do it again to you now—even if she could, you\'ve already survived. She can\'t hurt you anymore."

Angela shifted her stare at Trigger, and for some reason, she felt calm. She didn\'t know when it happened, but this man had become family, and his words helped her a lot. She nodded. "You\'re right. I\'m not gonna let her hurt me anymore."

A small smile curved his lips as he got out of the vehicle and helped her out of it. She walked into the restaurant with him a few steps behind, and the thought of having a friend with her right now helped ease her worries. Gael would be with her as soon as he could. For now, she could handle her mother.

However, she wasn\'t sure she was prepared for what she saw when the restaurant staff opened the door to the private dining room for her. Because other than her mother waiting for her inside, there were two other people in it. One was the younger girl from the library when she saw her mother. And the other was a man who looked to be in his twenties. And his glare was directed at her, causing the hair on her arms to rise.

The door closed behind them, and she wondered if it was too late to run back out.

"Kylie…" her mother got to her feet and reached out for her. "Come, sit with us."

Angela clutched her purse tightly and steeled herself.. Wherever Gael was at the moment, she hoped he was having a better meeting than her.