Cross My Tigress Face the Wrath (Stella) novel Chapter 989

Dan had practically run out of things to say about that night. He tried to explain, but Yvonne wouldn't believe a word; Xander tried too, and got nowhere. At this point, nobody had the faintest clue what would possibly convince Yvonne—and everyone was running out of patience.

...

Susanna, meanwhile, had cut off Barnaby completely. Then, in the middle of the turmoil, her phone rang. The sight of who was calling left her breathless, almost as if she were dreaming.

“Mom?” she managed, voice shaky. The moment she heard the familiar voice on the line, the tears spilled over. “Mom, where are you?”

“Now what’s all this crying about? Pull yourself together!” came Lacey Tucker’s scolding, loving as ever. Her voice was still full of that commanding, indomitable spirit Susanna had always admired. Even after vanishing for so long, she was nothing less than the fiery force of nature Susanna remembered.

Sniffling and fighting back sobs, Susanna tried to explain, “I couldn’t find you anywhere. I was scared.” It was honest—Susanna’s stomach had been in knots for weeks, bracing for dreadful news. It had always just been the two of them—except Lacey was constantly busy, always away, so much that Susanna grew up mostly in the company of various nannies. Still, her mother was her world, her only real family.

“None of that crying now,” Lacey chided, her tone brisk. “You’re not a child anymore.”

“I just—Mom, I was worried about you…”

“Worried? What, you think a few thugs could actually hurt me?” Lacey declared, fearless and sharp-tongued as ever.

Susanna hesitated. “They sure looked dangerous…” She couldn’t help worrying something really terrible had happened.

“Relax. I can handle myself. Any fool who thinks they can take me down seriously doesn’t know who they’re dealing with!” Lacey scoffed, full of fire.

Susanna blinked through tears. If her mom had the energy to chew people out like this, maybe she really was all right…

“Then where are you, Mom? Why are you only calling now?” Susanna pressed.

“You’re in Litamark, right?”

“Yeah!”

Just then, her phone buzzed again. She answered distractedly. “Hello?”

“It’s Yorick Quarry.”

The cold, severe voice caught Susanna off guard. “You…?” Yorick? How long had it been? Since she’d come to Litamark, the two of them had barely had any contact—truth be told, there’d never been much reason for it in the first place.

“So, why are you calling me?” she asked brusquely.

“Is Stella with you?” Yorick’s tone was as clipped as ever, but as Susanna listened, she caught an unmistakable note of weariness, even defeat.

She paused, picking up on it. He must have been having a rough time. She’d heard rumors he’d gone all the way to Ferrowland looking for Stella—surely Mr. Quinn wasn’t about to let that go unpunished. No doubt Yorick had been put through the wringer, and the entire Quarry family had apparently become a ticking time bomb.

“No, she’s not here,” Susanna replied. Then, unable to help herself, “Seriously? You’re still chasing after her? Listen, Star has moved on. She’s married to Mr. Quinn, she’s expecting triplets, and you are ancient history. So do yourself a favor—let her go.”