Mia
My phone was going off when I walked out of the en suite with my hair dripping and a towel wrapped around my body. Glancing at where I’d tossed both Braxton’s and my phone on my way to the shower, I saw it was my dad.
Angrily, I turned away from the sight of the picture of the two of us on the beach in front of my parents’ house back in Malibu. The man I thought could do no wrong had betrayed me in a way I never thought he was capable of.
I still didn’t know the details, but there was no other explanation for why Barrick would be with him and my uncles when they shouldn’t have even known I was dating the heir apparent to the most successful security firm in the country.
Feeling exhausted, I fell back onto the bed, not caring that my hair was still soaked and would get the bed wet. Glaring up at the ceiling, I went back through every interaction I’d ever had with Braxton and Lyla, not allowing myself to even think about Barrick. I wasn’t sure I could handle that just yet.
Nothing they’d ever said or done even hinted that they weren’t anything but my friends. Or maybe I’d just been too blind to what real friendship looked like because all I had was Jordan to compare it to.
Gasping, I sat up and reached for my phone. Ignoring the texts already on the screen, I unlocked it and pulled up Jordan’s name, then hit connect.
“Sup, buttercup,” he greeted with a drunken laugh.
“Are you seriously drunk again?” I demanded, annoyed. Ever since he’d started becoming more active in his fraternity, he’d been drinking more and more. I knew it was because he was so bored, but I was beginning to worry about him.
“Getting there,” he agreed with a laugh, but when a sob escaped me, he sobered instantly. “What’s wrong?”
“I’ve been stupid,” I confessed, knowing he wouldn’t judge me.
“I don’t believe that. Tell me what happened, and we can figure this out. I’m sure whatever it is, I can help you fix it.”
Rubbing at the throb that was starting to echo in my skull, I told him what little I knew. “I don’t know what to think right now. Momma’s on her way, and she’s pissed. I’m pissed too, but… But my heart hurts s-so m-much, Jordan.”
“Do you want me to come out there?” he asked quietly. That quietness told me plenty. He was angry, but he didn’t want to scare me.
“N-no. You have too much going on with school and everything.” I scrubbed at my eyes. I figured after all the crying I’d done in the shower, I wouldn’t have any tears left, but they wouldn’t freaking stop. “Momma is on her way. I…I just…”
“Mia, I’m here for you whenever you need me. You’re my best friend. That doesn’t stop just because there’s an entire country separating us.”
“I-I know. And the same goes if you need me,” I promised him. “Are…you doing okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.” But his sigh told me differently.
“Jor, you’ve been drinking so much lately. Every time I’ve called, you’ve been drunk. You’re drunk now.”
“Actually, I’m thinking of dropping out of college and going to Italy for a while,” he confessed, and I could almost picture a weight lifting from his shoulders. “After this semester, I’m going to tell my parents I want to take a little time off.”
“Is it that bad?”
“It’s not that it’s bad. It’s just not for me right now. I want to work, find out what I’m really good at, and then go from there. This taking classes just to be taking them with no real path in sight isn’t what I want.”
I was thankful to have his problems to focus on so I didn’t have to think about my own for a moment. “College isn’t for everyone. My parents didn’t even want me to go. I think they just wanted me to live off the trust fund they established for me and play around. Neither of them went to college, and look how successfully they turned out.”
“Yeah, but I just know my dad is going to throw a fit over all of this. He’s a hard-ass, Mia. He’s not going to be on board with me doing this.”
“Go to your mom first,” I suggested. Alexis, his mother, loved Jordan more than life. He was her miracle because the accident that had left her nearly unable to walk had almost completely robbed her of the chance to have a baby. Then when she did get pregnant, her doctors told her repeatedly she would never make it to full term. “She will back you no matter what you decide. She and Aunt Gabs would do anything for you.”
“I know,” he muttered.
“But please, promise me you’ll slow down with the drinking. I’m worried about you. You’re probably my only real friend other than Nevaeh right now, so I kind of need you to not kill yourself from drinking all the alcohol,” I tried to tease.
“I’ll stop, I promise.”
A beep told me I was getting an incoming call. Looking down, I saw Barrick’s face on my screen. Hitting decline, I replaced the phone to my ear.
“Who was that?”
“The man who deserves an Academy Award for the role he’s been playing in my life,” I told him, unable to keep the bite out of my tone.
“Want me to kick his ass?” Jordan offered.
The idea held some appeal, but I’d seen Barrick dominate in the cage too many times to want my best friend to even risk it. “No. I just want him to go away.”
“Just say the word, and I can make that happen. I have family in Sicily who have family in New York, who would be all too happy to do me a favor.” That had a small laugh bubbling up, and when the weak sound escaped, he let out a relieved exhale. “There she is. That’s the girl I love and adore. I knew she couldn’t be too far away, no matter how down she is.”
A light tap on the door had my laugh dying before it could really get started. “Yeah?” I called out.
The door opened, and Nevaeh poked her head in. “The food just got here. Are you hungry? I’ll bring you something if you don’t want to be around the a-hole extraordinaire out here.”
Was it really less than an hour ago I’d felt like I was starving? It seemed like days since I’d heard Barrick laughing in the background when Uncle Drake called. But now, I felt like I would vomit if I even smelled food.
“No. I really just want to be alone right now,” I told her. “I’m sorry for abandoning you out there with him, but could you make sure he doesn’t bother me?”
She gave me a grim smile. “Don’t worry about it. I got this covered. You just do what you have to do until Aunt Emmie gets here.”
“Thanks, Nev,” I whispered.
The door closed behind her, and I replaced the phone to my ear. “I’m going to get off here. I just got out of the shower, and my hair is still dripping all over the place.”
“You’ve been sitting there naked this whole time? Nice.”
Rolling my eyes, I stood up. “Shut up, stupid. I have to go.”
“Yeah, yeah. Okay. Call me tomorrow. I want a minute-by-minute rundown of what happens once your mom gets there. That should be entertaining. I love Emmie, but she scares the hell out of me.”
I walked into the en suite and frowned at my reflection when I noticed how pale I was and my bloodshot eyes. All the crying had made my eyes swell, and I looked washed out. “Jordan.”
“Yeah, love?”
“I really miss you.”
“I miss you too, Mia.”
--
It was nearly dawn before I heard my mother’s voice coming from the living area.
Jumping up out of bed, I was across the room and out the door in a matter of seconds.
After getting off the phone with Jordan, I had dried my hair and pulled it up into its usual knot on top of my head before tossing on a pair of pajama pants and a hoodie. Then I’d climbed into bed and channel-surfed for the rest of the night in hopes of trying to find something to keep my mind off Barrick and my dad.
Momma stood in the middle of the living room, her long red hair pulled back into a messy ponytail as she glared at Braxton, who stood in front of her with his shoulders squared and his hands at his sides. He was motionless, eyes straight ahead like the Marine he was, with a blank face as she gave him a dispassionate once-over.
Behind her stood both bodyguards who had been a part of my life since I was five years old. Marcus had been my cousin Lucy’s bodyguard up until a few years before, but as soon as she no longer needed him, Momma had brought him in to work as part of my security detail and her own at times.
Both men stood over six feet tall, their hair short, their faces impassive as they eyeballed Braxton like he was a threat. The irony of it was, both bodyguards came from Seller’s Security.
Which had me wondering if Seller had changed the name of the company when Barrick Senior died and if it would change again once my Barrick took over.
Then my heart made a painful squeeze in my chest that had my breath catching. He wasn’t my Barrick. It was all just pretend on his part, as he’d told Braxton with his stupid text message.
“Hey, sis,” Jagger greeted from the couch where he had his feet propped up, eating a slice of leftover pizza. “You weren’t in New York ten minutes, and you caused so much trouble, Ma needed to fly out to take care of it?” He grinned conspiratorially at me. “Nice. Couldn’t have done better myself.”
“Jagger,” Momma said warningly.
He lost the grin immediately and stuffed his mouth with another bite of cold pizza.
Momma and I just looked at each other for the longest time until I couldn’t stand the silence in the room anymore. “Momma, I’m sorry.”
“Mia, I’m sorry,” she said at the same time, causing us both to laugh, and tears filled both our eyes.
I didn’t know who moved first, but suddenly her arms were around me, and mine were holding on to her like she was my lifeline. Because she was. This woman was my everything and I didn’t know how I’d gotten so lucky to have her as my mother, but I was thankful for her every damn day.
“You have absolutely nothing to be sorry about,” she told me fiercely as she took a small step back so she could see my face.
“But I’ve done nothing but cause trouble since I asked to go to college in Virginia. I never should have—”
The words dried up in my throat when she gave me a look to keep my mouth shut. “It wouldn’t have mattered if you’d wanted to go to college back home or Virginia or the gods damned moon. It would have happened regardless of where you went to school.” Her gaze shot to Braxton. “Wouldn’t it?”
“Yes, ma’am, it would have,” he admitted, his gaze still trained straight ahead.
“Wh-what?” I whispered.
“It’s time for answers, Mia.” Momma took my hand and guided me over to the couch. I sat down beside my brother, and he wrapped his arm around my shoulders, tucking me against him. Like he was the older sibling and he was protecting me from all the truths that were about to flood the room.
“Lance Corporal Collins,” Momma addressed Braxton. “Would you please be so kind as to join us for a cup of coffee? And while we’re at it, I would be extra grateful if you would tell us every motherfucking thing you know.”