“And then you’ll jerk her away and lecture her on how wicked I am? As you said, she’s not a child.”

“She doesn’t need lectures.” She added cynically, “Hell, I’d even like her to believe that not all men in the world are just wanting to hurt or screw her. I want her to be healthy—even what people call normal. But she’s learned too much from the life she’s had to live with me. Maybe after we’ve had time to heal, we’ll go for normal.”

“If it even exists. I’ve always thought normal was what you make it.” He added quietly, “And I believe you were probably a very good mother, Maria.”

She shook her head. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. There were hundreds of ways I failed her.” She leaned back in her chair. “But I’ll be quiet now and let you go back to listening to Lara. I’ve got what I wanted from you.”

“But I haven’t got what I wanted from you,” he said softly. “You can’t just interrogate me and then run away until you need to know something else. You know that’s not how the game is played. I have to get my turn.”

“Do you?” she asked warily. “What do you want to know? I couldn’t have been more frank with you before.”

“And what you told me was raw and painful and should have been enough for me? What kind of beast would ask anything more of you? Except I could see that you’d already put it all behind you, and you were strong enough to keep it there.” He smiled. “And that’s where I want you to keep it. I know about the struggle; now I want to know about how you fought back.” He nodded at the computer on the seat beside her. “When I was making my phone calls before Lara blew me away, I took the time to notice how absorbed you were in your computer. Your fingers were flying over the keys, and you were very intense. What were you working on?”

She gave him an innocent stare. “Solitaire?”

He shook his head. “Close. Though I bet it did have something to do with gambling. What did you find out about me?”