Read Crossfire 01 Bared to You for Free Online Page B

down and to assure her that I could make arrangements for you to pursue your interests in a safe manner. She doesn’t want—”
“Wait.” I set my fork down carefully, my appetite gone. “How did she know where I was?”
“She tracked your cell phone.”
“No way,” I breathed, deflating into my seat. The casualness of his reply, as if it was the most natural thing in the world, made me feel ill. My stomach churned, suddenly more interested in rejecting my lunch than digesting it. “That’s why she insisted I use one of your company phones. It had nothing to do with saving me money.”
“Of course that was part of it. But it also gives her peace of mind.”
“Peace of mind? To spy on her grown daughter? It’s not healthy, Richard. You’ve got to see that. Is she still seeing Dr. Petersen?”
He had the grace to look uncomfortable. “Yes, of course.”
“Is she telling him what she’s doing?”
“I don’t know,” he said stiffly. “That’s Monica’s private business. I don’t interfere.”
No, he didn’t. He coddled her. Indulged her. Spoiled her. And allowed her obsession with my safety to run wild. “She has to let it go. I’ve let it go.”
“You were an innocent, Eva. She feels guilty for not protecting you. We need to give her a little latitude.”
“Latitude? She’s a stalker!” My mind spun. How could my mom invade my privacy like that? Why would she? She was driving herself crazy, and me along with her. “This has to stop.”
“It’s an easy fix. I’ve already spoken with Clancy. He’ll drive you when you need to venture into Brooklyn. Everything’s been arranged. This will be much more convenient for you.”
“Don’t try to twist this around to being for my benefit.” My eyes stung and my throat burned with unshed tears of frustration. I hated the way he talked about Brooklyn like it was a third-world country. “I’m a grown woman. I make my own decisions. It’s the goddamn law!”
“Don’t take that tone with me, Eva. I’m simply looking after your mother. And you.”
I pushed back from the table. “You’re enabling her. You’re keeping her sick, and you’re making me sick, too.”
“Sit down. You need to eat. Monica worries that you’re not eating healthy enough.”
“She worries about everything, Richard. That’s the problem.” I dropped my napkin on the table. “I have to get back to work.”
I turned away, striding toward the door to get out as quickly as possible. I retrieved my purse from Stanton’s secretary and left my cell phone on her desk. Clancy, who had been waiting for me in the reception area, followed me, and I knew better than to try and blow him off. He didn’t take orders from anyone but Stanton.
Clancy drove me back up to midtown, while I stewed in the backseat. I could bitch all I wanted, but in the end I wasn’t any better than Stanton because I was going to give in. I was going to cave and let my mom have her way, because it hurt my heart to think of her suffering any more than she already did. She was so emotional and fragile, and she loved me to the point of being crazy about it.
My mood was still dark when I got back to the Crossfire. As Clancy pulled away from the curb, I stood on the crowded sidewalk and looked up and down the busy street for either a drugstore where I could get some chocolate or a cellular store where I could pick up a new phone.
I ended up walking around the block and buying a half-dozen candy bars at a Duane Reade on the corner before heading back to the Crossfire. I’d been gone just about an hour, but I wasn’t going to use the extra time Mark had given me. I needed work to distract me from my crazy-assed family.
As I caught an empty elevator car, I ripped open a bar and bit viciously into it. I was making strides toward filling my self-imposed chocolate quota before I hit the twentieth floor when the car stopped on the fourth. I appreciated the added time the stop gave me to enjoy the comfort of dark