Page 10 of Consume

7

Mia

I’d been hopingfor a repeat of last night or maybe breakfast in bed, but when I woke, Grant had a scowl on his face. And our bags were already packed.

“Morning, hubby. Do we have to leave so soon? I was hoping we could stay in bed allday.”

“I have to get back to work.” He came over to me, put his finger under my chin, and gave me a kiss. “I love you. Once everything gets settled, I’ll give you a big wedding, and we’ll go on a honeymoon. But for now, we need to get backhome.”

I understood, even though I was disappointed. I hopped in the shower, dressed quickly, we checked out, and headed back to San Diego.

Grant remained silent for the first hour of the drive, and the air between us made me nervous. He’d been so warm and loving last night. What had changed?

I touched his thigh. “Any word from Kyle on Julián?”

“Nope.”

I pursed my lips. “Okay. Well next time we see Joaquín, I think—”

“There isn’t going to be a next time. That’s it, Mia. You’re not going to see him again. It’s final.”

Anger flushed through me. “You may be my husband, but you’re not going to tell me what I can do and who I’m going to see. Joaquín is my brother, my family.”

“I’m your family now! I don’t want you to see him. Do you hear me? He’s not even your real brother!”

“Fuck you! He is too my brother. Biology doesn’t matter. How can you saythat?”

“I’m trying to protect you, god damnit.”

“Protect me? From Joaquín? Joaquín would never harm me. How dare you saythat.”

Grant turned and faced me, daggers shooting from his eyes. “Damn it, Mia. How can you not see it? Joaquín is a psychopath. You have to trust me, you have to believe me. I love you so fucking much. Please, for once, I need you to believe inme.”

“You have nothing to prove that he’s a psychopath. Just your crazy theories. You won’t tell me anything, anything about the meeting, any—”

“He raped you!” My whole world stopped and then tilted so sharply I saw spots dance in my eyes. When Grant spoke again, his voice was a stark contrast to the sudden chaos inside me. “I talked to Mitch. April told him that she saw Joaquín at the party that night, and Mitch said the guy who ran out of your room was around Joaquín’s height. I always thought he wanted you, but I thought I was a sick fuck for even thinking aboutthat.”

I let out a scream. What the fuck? “How dare you say something like that to me. To use what happened to me as a way to keep me from my brother . . . I can’t believe you. My brother would never hurt me. Never. Especially not that way.” I seethed through clenched teeth.

“It’s the only possible explanation. He’s obsessed with you. He never wanted us to start dating. And the reason I never asked you to move in back then was because Joaquín was againstit.”

“No,” I said through sobs. “You’re wrong.”

Grant’s tone dropped and he attempted to grab my hand but I swatted it away. “Baby, please. I know you don’t believe me. But it’s what they saw. I would never ever lie to you and they have no reason to lie to me. It explains why he never told me you were raped after Mitch told him. And why he never told you he knew you were raped.”

“I don’t know. But I’m sure he had a reason. Probably because he didn’t want to upset me. Or he didn’t know how to approach it. And he didn’t tell you because we were broken up. Just stop talking!”

“No. He was hiding his guilt.” I really, really didn’t want to hear anything else he had to say, but I knew more was coming. “Listen to me. I think Joaquín was the one who took Julián. Remember the missing papers in your storage? He took them. He was the only one who could have. Joaquín took him, because . . . he thought Julián was hisson.”

“Be quiet!” I covered my ears like a child but could still hear Grant’s rambling.

“And did you ever look into your parents’ death? Did you know the truck that hit them was registered to Rafael? That is not a coincidence. I’m so sorry, baby. It’strue.”

“No!” I screamed so loud the single word burned my throat. “No. Shut the fuck up. You are wrong. I’ll prove it, I’ll showyou!”

“I’ll stop and give you a chance to try to absorb this. But I love you, Mia. You are my wife, now. The mother of my child. I’ll lay down my life to protect you. But somewhere, deep in your heart, you know what I’m saying istrue.”

After an excruciating four-hour drive in silence and a pit stop to pick up our pets, we were back home in Point Loma. Despite my anger, Grant still lifted me and carried me over the threshold into ourhome.