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“Keep your eyes to yourself, kid,” Drake said with a sigh. “I’ve told you time and time again. That girl will break you.”
“Could be fun, though.”
“Jagger!” Emmie and Armstrong snapped at him in unison, but he only laughed harder.
Ignoring them, I reached for Mia again, but she stepped back, making my gut clench.
“You don’t have to pretend anymore, Barrick. The game, along with the job, is over.”
“I’ve never pretended with you, baby. Everything between us is real.”
“Liar,” she whispered, tears spilling from her eyes. “If you even, for one second, cared about me, you would have told me the truth.”
“I couldn’t. I knew if I said anything, you would hate me.” And I couldn’t risk losing her, not even in the beginning.
“No,” she denied vehemently, shaking her head and causing strands to fall from the knot she’d pulled her hair into. “I would have been pissed, but I wouldn’t have hated you.”
“I couldn’t risk it. Losing you wasn’t an option for me, because I loved you even then.”
“Your love is nothing but a lie you’ve been telling yourself to make yourself feel better about doing your job,” she whispered, turning her back on me.
She took a step then stumbled, a pained whimper escaping her.
This distance between us disappeared in a heartbeat. I wrapped my arms around her tiny waist, anchoring her to me. “Baby, you’re shaking.”
“I’m just tired. I’ll be fine.” Pushing against my hold, she glared up at me through her tears. “Let me go, Barrick.”
“Never.” When she continued to struggle, I lifted her into my arms. “If you’re tired, you should get some sleep.”
“He’s right, Mia,” her mother said with a grimace. “You haven’t slept at all. Please, take a nap. When you wake up, we’ll go.”
“I’d rather just leave now,” she muttered, continuing to push against my chest. “I don’t want to be here.”
“Take a nap. I need to talk to your father and uncles.” Emmie gave the four men a dispassionate glance. “Before I call their wives.”
Chapter 18
Mia
My head was throbbing from lack of sleep, and my knee was absolutely killing me, it ached so badly. But the physical pain had nothing on what had taken over my heart.
The bedroom door slammed shut behind Barrick as he crossed to the bed and placed me in the middle. As soon as he straightened, I sat upright, and I would have crawled to the edge of the mattress if my knee didn’t protest the sudden action. Even with the brace on, it was agony.
Dropping onto the edge of the bed, Barrick grabbed my ankles and tugged me carefully toward him. I had on jeans, but they quickly disappeared before he was examining my brace to make sure it was perfectly in place.
Which it wasn’t.
After my shower the night before, I’d just strapped it on, not really paying attention to its positioning.
Once he was satisfied everything was where it needed to be, he released me and stood up once again. Taking off his shirt, he started working on the belt of his jeans.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” I demanded, my voice coming out strangled.
“How well do you sleep without me, Mia?” he asked casually as he pushed his jeans down his thighs.
My traitorous body instantly responded to seeing him in nothing but a pair of black boxer briefs. Dear gods, it wasn’t fair that he could look so good when I felt like pure shit.
“I-I guess I’ll just have to learn to sleep alone again.”
