Mia finally dropped off to sleep near dawn. Brax wished he’d been able to do the same, but his mind wouldn’t turn off. Needing to move, he slipped out of bed, leaving her curled up with Leno and heading for the kitchen.
They’d stumbled home well past midnight, after enduring what had felt like an endless parade of county officials. The Sheriff’s Department, who’d left the bakery unguarded in response to a domestic violence call down in Hyde’s Hills Trailer Park. The fire department EMT, who’d been dispatched ahead of the ambulance that had to come all the way from Johnson City. The county coroner. Because Brax had killed a man tonight.
There’d been questions. So many questions. But ultimately, they’d both been released.
The dead man had been identified as Joe Abruzzi, an ex-con with a rap sheet about half a mile long, though none of the charges had been for violent crimes. He had a talent for electronics and specialized in information retrieval. He was, indeed, originally from Jersey, though he’d headed south after being released from his latest incarceration. According to what Cash had dug up, his services were advertised on the dark web, and he had done work for the mob family Mia’s father had been suspected of working for. It proved nothing. The guy had done work for a lot of less-than-reputable people. But the connection seemed too great to be a simple coincidence. What information he’d been looking for and who’d hired him were still questions with no answers. The authorities had impounded the older sedan they’d found on the scene, but Brax had little faith they’d find much when going through it. Abruzzi had been thorough. Careful.
And now he was dead.
Brax didn’t feel guilty about it. Despite the lack of violent crimes attached to the man, he would’ve killed Mia.
No, the guilt came from knowing that if anything had delayed Brax mere minutes in getting back, he would’ve been too late. Because the man he’d entrusted with Mia’s safety had failed to protect her. The guy who’d been lying about his reasons for coming to Tennessee, according to what Cash had ferreted out. Yeah, Luca had been hurt himself. Concussed. But his injuries hadn’t been sustained in a fight. He’d been overpowered without even knowing about the fucking threat, leaving Mia to fend for herself.
Exactly how long was this latest trauma going to haunt her? It had taken years before she’d stopped having nightmares about the foster father who’d nearly raped her. Knowing Wayne was behind bars had only helped a little. And then there were all the traumas Brax hadn’t been around for. While he’d eliminated this most immediate threat, there was no knowing whether whoever had hired Abruzzi would send someone else. Clearly, whatever he’d been looking for hadn’t been found. Would they ever get a clear resolution, or was she doomed to simply live the rest of her life looking over her shoulder?
He’d do almost anything to give his wife a sense of peace and safety. But he didn’t know how to achieve that. And he wasn’t positive she didn’t look at him differently. It was one thing to know he’d killed in the line of duty. What had happened last night was something else entirely.
When Brax realized he’d been standing in front of the open cabinet for nearly five minutes, without even seeing the contents, he shut the door. Much as he might take comfort in baking something right now, he wanted the violence of beating the shit out of some bread dough, and he wasn’t sure the noise wouldn’t wake Mia. She needed the rest more than he needed to channel his frustrations into cooking.
A soft knock sounded on the front door.
Who the hell was here at this hour?
A glance through the sidelight had his temper spiking. He yanked the door open. “What the hell are you doing here?”
Luca shifted on his feet. “I saw the light and wanted to check on Mia.”
“She’s sleeping. And you’re concussed. You shouldn’t be driving.”
“Look, can I come in for a minute?”
Maybe he wanted to apologize for dereliction of duty. Brax would accept that and then kick his ass out. He stepped back, and Luca strode inside, looking far worse for wear, with dark circles under his eyes and blood still matted in his blond hair around the stitches. Maybe Brax should’ve felt some sympathy at that, but he just didn’t give a shit. He was far too angry.
Luca didn’t sit, prowling around the living room instead. “Is she okay?”
Brax stared. “Are you fucking kidding? A man tried to kill her tonight. Of course, she’s not okay.” It was a struggle to keep his voice low when he wanted to shout.
“I didn’t mean it like that. I just… I thought maybe the shooting would bring some shit up for her, and I was worried.”
“I’m sure it has, and will, as she has time to process everything.” And Brax would make sure she had whatever support or therapy she needed to get through it.
Luca narrowed his eyes. “Why do I get the feeling you’re pissed at me about all this?”
“Oh, I’m pissed at you about a lot of things.” And in the aftermath of everything that had happened, Brax just didn’t have it in him to play nice anymore. “Heading the list is that I trusted you to protect her, and you didn’t.”
Luca flushed. “I was knocked fucking unconscious. But this isn’t really about that, is it?”
Finally, they were getting all of this out in the open. “No. Let’s talk about the fact that you’ve been lying to her about why you’re in Tennessee.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You spun up some sob story about your ex leaving you for some high society guy. You conveniently left out the part where she really dumped you because you’re in love with Mia.”
A muscle jumped in his jaw. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Oh, I had you checked out. I’ve got a whole dossier on the life and times of one Luca Andrew Gallo. Haven’t had time to read more than the highlights yet, but the only part I really care about is that you’re in love with my wife, and I’m not okay with it.”
All pretense of civility faded from Luca’s expression. “Your wife. That’s rich, considering you didn’t even know you were still married for the last fucking decade.” He shook his head. “I will never understand her allegiance to you.”
“We have history.”
“So do we.” Luca snarled. He stalked over, vibrating with fury. “Who do you think picked up the pieces after you left? Who do you think held her when she cried after you sent back every single one of those hundred and thirty-seven letters? Did you even realize she sent one for every week you were together? Of course, you didn’t. Because you couldn’t be bothered to open and read a single one.”
Brax couldn’t stop himself from flinching as the verbal blow struck against his own potent regrets. No, he hadn’t realized the significance of the number. He hadn’t even counted. He’d just been relieved when they’d finally stopped.
“Who the fuck do you think is the one who found her after she downed a fifth of Jack and an entire bottle of sleeping pills, because you sent back her last letter and she couldn’t take the pain anymore? Who do you think is the one who convinced her she still had something to live for? Who took her to get that semi-colon tattoo after she got out of the hospital as a commitment to try?”
Suicide. Brax’s breath wheezed out as if Luca had sucker punched him. Horror, shame, and guilt hit him like a tidal wave. Before he could even begin to react, the other man was pushing on.
“Who do you think was there when she found out she can’t have children because of the damage to her body when she got shot? Who do you think is the only one she told that the only reason she didn’t bleed out that day was because she was pregnant? Me. I have been there for her every day, giving her support and encouragement and friendship. What the fuck have you ever given her but pain?”
Brax swayed as all the starch went out of his knees.
A baby. She’d been carrying his child. Their child had died. And she hadn’t told him.
Luca took a step closer, going in for the kill shot. “You don’t deserve another chance with her. You wasted the one you had, and nothing you can do will ever make up for how much you hurt her. So why don’t you do the one good thing you can do for her and sign those fucking divorce papers? Cut her loose to finally live her life free of your ghost.”
From where she stood in the bedroom doorway, Mia sagged against the door frame, absorbing this utter betrayal from the man she’d considered her best friend. Leno whined, pressing against her legs, and she gripped his ruff, as much for comfort as to keep him in place.
She hadn’t meant to eavesdrop. But when she’d woken from a fitful sleep to find the bed empty, she’d gotten up to find Brax. The moment she’d opened the door, she’d heard angry male voices. Exhausted and not at all feeling up to playing referee between the two most important men in her life, she’d hesitated, torn between going back to bed and intervening. Then she’d heard Brax accuse Luca of lying, and she hadn’t been able to stop herself from listening.
Was he right? Had Luca lied to her about what had happened with Larissa? He hadn’t denied it, instead switching to the offensive and falling back on the bitter fact of Brax’s absence from her life for the past decade.
And then he’d done the unthinkable and revealed her deepest, darkest secrets to the person they would hurt the most.
Brax said nothing in response to the onslaught, and Mia couldn’t move. How the hell could she walk into the middle of all this? What could she possibly say now about why she hadn’t told him? If she hadn’t avoided the subject, maybe she could’ve found some way to soften the blow. But Luca had delivered the news in the most hateful, damaging way possible.
The sound of the front door closing broke her paralysis, and she hurried into the living room with no idea what to say to her husband. But it hadn’t been some mic drop moment of hate that Luca had walked out on. He was still standing in the middle of the room, looking smug as he stared at the door.
It was Brax who’d walked out.
Mia ran for the door, pulling it open. But he was already backing his truck out of the drive. She ran out, waving at him to stop. But if he saw her, he didn’t slow. He gunned the engine, racing down the street. Leaving her. Again.
She fell to her knees in the cold grass, barely feeling the damp soaking into her flannel pants as she absorbed the devastation of seeing the man she loved walk away without a word. Her breath hitched on a sob, and she curled over, wrapping her arms around herself. How could she survive this again?
Leno bumped against her, but not even her beloved dog could dim this pain.
Gentle hands cupped her arms. “Honey, come inside.”
Mia flung Luca off, only barely restraining herself from striking out with all the hurt and anguish rioting through her. “How could you?”
The smug expression was gone, replaced by something that looked like genuine remorse. “It’s not what you think.”
“Really?” she demanded. “You didn’t just spout off my deepest, most personal secrets in a calculated effort to destroy my marriage?”
He blanched, evidently realizing she’d heard everything. On a swallow, he lifted his hands. “I didn’t mean to say it. My temper got the best of me. He had me investigated—”
“Oh, bullshit. You’ve always hated him. You just let fly everything you’ve wanted to say from the beginning. How could you? I trusted you.”
At her use of the past tense, something that might’ve been panic flitted over his face. “Mia, please. Come inside. Let’s talk about this.”
“Do you really think you’re going to be able to talk your way out of this?” There was no excuse, no possible explanation that could fix this.
“Maybe not. But I don’t think you want your personal business all over your neighborhood. And it will be if you stay out here.”
The appeal to her private nature worked where nothing else would. She staggered to her feet. When he reached out to steady her, she snapped, “Don’t you fucking touch me.”
Leno inserted himself between them, lifting his lip in a snarl. Mia didn’t correct him.
She didn’t want to talk. Didn’t want to listen to Luca’s excuses. But she had some more yelling she wanted to do, so she let him come back inside.
Because her legs simply wouldn’t support her, she collapsed onto the sofa. Leno took up position next to her, as much guard as emotional support, as Luca began to pace the living room.
“I’m sorry. You were never supposed to hear that. Certainly not like that.”
“Is that the only thing you’re sorry for? That you got caught?”
He shoved both hands through his hair. “No! No. I— Damn it, Mia, I couldn’t take it anymore. Maybe I went about it entirely wrong, but it’s all still true. He doesn’t deserve you.”
Shocked, she could only stare as he doubled down on his argument.
“I’m the one who was there for all of that. I’m the one you came to. I’m the one who supported you. I’m the one who was there. Always. I’m the one who loves you. Doesn’t that count for anything?”
She closed her eyes. She’d known. Deep down, somewhere, she’d known, and she’d willfully ignored how he felt, believing that it would fade and that he’d eventually accept that she couldn’t give him what he wanted. But it was a whole other thing to have it confirmed by him.
So now they’d get this all out in the open. Like purging some kind of wound.
“Of course, it mattered. You’ve been my best friend for years. I literally wouldn’t be here if not for you. I can’t ever repay you for saving my life that night. For getting me to the hospital. For being there for me through all the months and years of therapy after. I appreciate that. But none of it gives you the right to tell my darkest secrets, without my permission, to the one person they’d hurt the most.”
Face twisting with regret, he took a step toward her, stopping when Leno growled. “You’re right. You’re absolutely right. I have no excuse. I honestly didn’t realize you hadn’t told him any of it. You’ve been talking about working on your marriage, and I just assumed by now you’d worked around to it.”
“We’ve been kind of busy trying to make sure I’m not a victim of a mob hit.”
“What?” His voice rose two octaves. “Is that what’s been going on the past month? What the hell? How did you—”
She held up a hand. “No. You don’t get to ask questions about this right now. And you sure as hell have abdicated your position in my inner circle. Tell me about Larissa.”
His head kicked back. At the demotion to his friend status or the sudden subject change, she didn’t know. Didn’t care.
“I told you—”
“No. You told me what you apparently thought I wanted to hear. Tell me the truth. What really happened with her?”
He stared at her for a long moment before releasing a long breath and dropping into a chair. “I’ve been in love with you for a long damned time. You’d made it clear that, regardless of the fact that Brax abandoned you, you didn’t consider yourself free, so when you moved out here, I made a promise to myself that I was going to make a real effort to get over you. It felt like an insurmountable task. Then I met Larissa.”