Like Mother, Like Daughter (Season 3)

Chapter Eleven: Candle in the Wind

I felt sick as soon as I returned to my hotel room, leaning my back against the door as I clutched my high heels in my head. I shook my head, knowing that, despite the notion that I was still very much a teenager, I seriously needed to keep my priorities in check, and last night wasn't helping matters either. I took a shower, allowing the hot water to reach every inch of my body, wanting to literally wash away whatever had happened the evening before. I felt sick at the thought of having drunken sex; as a mother and COO of a successful company, the last thing I needed to be doing was cheating on my boyfriend, no matter what my feelings connected to Liam were. It wasn't fair to anyone in the equation, and the sooner I managed to cough up the truth, one I figured it out what the truth really was, the better.

I got out of the shower and headed into my bedroom, a smile automatically coming to my lips when I spotted my phone ringing, and who it was. "Hey, Pops," I said, placing the phone next to my ear. "Little late to be calling, isn't it? Everything okay?"

"Everything's fine," he assured me. "Hailey woke up and wanted to say hello. If that's okay. Is this a good time? You aren't in a breakfast meeting with an abundance of mimosas, are you?" he asked, a chuckle escaping his lips.

"No, of course not," I replied, shaking my head and moving to sit on my bed. "I'd love to hear my little girl's voice. Put her on."

"Mama's on the phone," Pops said, and lowered the phone.

"Mama!" cried Hailey.

"Hi, baby. How are you?" I asked, tears springing to my eyes at the thought of my little girl on the other end of the world.

"Okay, Mama," Hailey replied. "You coming home soon?"

I smiled. "Soon, baby, soon," I assured her. "Just another couple of days. Mama's working really hard, baby."

"Take me next time?" she asked.

I laughed a little then. "We'll see, baby," I told her.

"Uncle Yev wanna talk to Mama," she said after a moment of silence. "Love you, Mama. Come back soon."

I nodded. "Okay, sweetheart. I love you, too," I said quickly as the phone was handed over to my brother. "Tell Pops to put her back to bed," I ordered.

"Hello to you, too," Yev said.

"Yev," I said, my voice firm.

"He's already taken her upstairs. Keep your towel on."

I stammered for a moment, lowering my eyes to thick, white hotel towel that I'd currently wrapped around myself. "How the hell did you know...?!"

"I'm smarter than I look, Iana," Yev replied, and I could detect the smirk lingering at the back of his tone. "I mean, let's face it, I'm the only one who knows about the second tattoo you got on your trip to Milan."

"Hey!" I cried out.

"Hey, all I'm saying here is, all your tattoos have been inked illegally," Yev said, his voice mockingly serious.

I scoffed, moving my towel back slightly and crossing over to the floor-length mirror my hotel room boasted, getting a good look at the tattoo, painted on the left side of my ribcage, which was an ink representation of the heart locket that I always wore. "Yeah, well, suffice it to say that Axel wasn't too pleased about it..." I said, my voice barely above a whisper, as I ran my fingers over it.

Yev sighed. "He misses you, you know."

My eyebrows shot upwards then. "You've seen him?!" I hissed.

"A little, since you've been gone," he replied. "He's come by a few times to see Hailey while I've been watching her."

I bit my lip, leaning back against the elaborate wood frame of my bed. "Well, I think it's over anyway," I muttered, taking off my towel, and putting Yev on speaker as I proceeded to pick out an outfit for the day.