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“If you don’t mind.”
“Tell me the truth. Is it real? Do ye care about him?”
Mia’s face flushed red. “That isn’t spelling out anything.”
“Answer me,” I yelled.
Instant horror struck me at losing my rag. At shouting at the woman I… I…
She goggled for a second, then fury and disbelief descended over her features. Mia stood and planted her hands on her hips. “Oh, you idiot.”
She took a step. I matched it, moving back.
“I see what happened. Greg told you I was in love with him and you believed him?”
At my lack of a reaction, she continued, moving closer still.
“That’s it, isn’t it? Good God, men are the worst. Once upon a time, Greg made a pass at me. Mom was gone, and I was in this weird place of starting a life without her. It made me decide on one last attempt to be nicer to the Winchesters. Family-wise, they were all we had and the only home left for me and Tobi. I’d tried to be friends with Greg and Simon, but both had shown obvious dislike from the moment I appeared at the funeral.They cared for Tobi, but even that was fake, I think, considering Simon didn’t look her way once today. His own sister.”
“Lucky she takes after ye and not that side of the family,” I couldn’t resist the jibe at the brothers.
She paused as if a thought had occurred to her, but then her ire returned, and she got back to educating me.
“The result of my efforts was Greg asking me to go to the local pub with him. I thought it a nice gesture, but when I went to the main house, I overheard him and Simon through the open window. Simon, who always had a loose tongue, was revolted at his brother taking me on a date, and while I stood there expecting Greg to correct him, in my pretty dress and with my hair done for the first time since Mom’s funeral, he replied to him that yes, he was taking the stupid cow on a date and she was dumb enough to believe he was really interested. He was taking one for the team. I disgusted him.”
Mia’s flush paled to white. “Both laughed at me. They joked about having to have sex with me. I was humiliated, Valentine. Not because I cared about him, or that he’d led me on and broke my heart. But because after everything I’d been through, I couldn’t take another hit. From the minute their father had plied me with drink and taken me to his bed while I was too drunk to even remember?—”
My jaw dropped, but she held up a finger so I didn’t dare interrupt.
“To their mother pushing papers at me and issuing her quasi threats. Their coldness and hostility just tipped the balance. I was alone and lost. I missed my mother so much, and every little thing hurt. I cried the whole evening then went to see Molly the next day and sparked my plot to leave. So how does that map to what he told you? Is it helping your scowl any? Do you believe me in the slightest?”
Ah fuck. Fuck all of it. I passed a hand over my face, lost for words. “Just wish you’d told me.”
“Told you what? There was nothing to tell. Greg isn’t an ex. I never kissed him. Never even hugged him. Besides, when did we have even the smallest conversation about our relationship since you came back injured from the tour? We aren’t going there because the moment we do, you’ll get scared and run.”
“What the hell are ye talking about?” I demanded.
Mia dug her fingers into her tied-up hair, the other hand going to her throat. She looked exhausted. Fed up. So over my shit I was scared what was going to come out of her lips.
“You’re in love with me,” she finally said.
I tried to speak. No words came out.
“You love me and you panicked the moment something threatened that. I get it. You went through hell with your engagement. But you stood there and listened to Greg and believed every word he said. Did you even challenge him, or yourself in believing it, or did you just mope until gathering the courage to come yell at me?”
She waited for my reply, but I was still reeling. Denying it. Rocked to my very bones. In my employment, I could pivot on the spot, evading danger and coming up with a better plan fast, but faced with the same in my personal life, I was fucked.
“I just need to know if it’s all an excuse to leave?” she uttered quieter.
“No,” flew from my lips without me even forming the word.
Surprise and relief added to her visibly warring emotions. “That’s something at least. But I think I just found my limit with you, too. I’m done with being the doormat people walk over. I’m done with any and all levels of BS. Tell me I’m wrong about the rest of it,” she commanded.
I forced out my words, panic driving cold through my veins. “You’re wrong. This isn’t love. I know what that feels like. I’ve been there, and it is nothing like this.”
“Describe the love you shared with Kelly.”
I stopped. Thought about what I’d felt when I’d been in love. It had been nothing like what I’d seen of my parents’ relationship. Of Ben and Daisy. Of all the happy couples on the estate. “Paranoid. Painful. Strained for me. For her, it didn’t exist.”
