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“Just my immediate family.”
“How long has this been going on?”
“It started when she had plastic surgery at seventeen. She got hooked on the painkillers. She was on Broadway at the time and I was finishing up my senior year of high school in LA. No one knows this but my parents and me, but she almost died after overdosing.” Mia looked miserable. “That’s when it was decided I should become her assistant so I could keep an eye on her.”
“But it’s been eight years.” At least this explained Mia’s dedication to her sister. “How long is everyone expecting you to sacrifice your life for Ivy?”
She didn’t answer his question. “She doesn’t always make good choices. I’ve been worried about her spending so much time with Riley and Skylar. They are far more likely to drag her into trouble than they are to keep her out of it.”
“How bad are things with her?”
“She’s been mostly clean since what happened in New York.”
“Mostly?”
Mia winced. “Except for a setback a couple years ago.”
“She seemed fine on the tour.”
“She was. It’s the album. She’s really struggling. But I don’t know what happened tonight. Usually she loves performing.”
Nate had a pretty good idea. “It’s because you’re here with me. Your sister loves to spoil things for you.”
“That’s not true.” But she didn’t sound or look convincing.
When Mia offered nothing else, he asked another question. “Does your father know what’s going on?”
“Before. But not this time around.”
“You should tell him. He’s her father.” Nate thought that Javier needed to act like her father for a change and put his manager role on the back burner. “This could ruin more than just her career.”
Mia dropped her gaze to her hands. Misery radiated from her. The tour had offered Nate plenty of chances to observe the family dynamic and he sensed more at work here that Mia wasn’t saying.
“What?”
“They’ll blame me.” She leaned forward and dug her spoon into the ice cream. “That’s not true. I don’t mean that.” But it was obvious that was exactly what worried her. “It’s just that I’m supposed to keep an eye on her. And I’ve
been distracted.” The sly smile she shot him wobbled at the edges.
His heart broke. “Why do you let them do that to you?”
“Because she’s my sister and I’m...”
“Responsible for her?”
He’d never had a brother or sister and didn’t understand the connection these two had. To make matters worse, Ivy and Mia were twins. Granted, they were fraternal rather than identical twins, but still, sharing a womb with someone for nine months must take the bond to a whole different level.
“Where does it end?” Hopelessness overwhelmed him as he suddenly realized his plan to disengage Mia from her sister had been doomed from the start. “When do you get to live your life?”
“I don’t know.”
His mother had stayed with a bully too long and she’d ended up beaten and bruised on too many occasions. Mia wore her wounds on the inside.
On the other hand, he wasn’t sure if Mia was ready to leave her situation. Shucking off her family’s expectations couldn’t be easy. He’d seen firsthand the pressure Javier exerted on both his daughters.
“Have you asked yourself what you owe her?”
“I know you don’t think I owe her anything,” Mia said. “Maybe I don’t. I just know if I leave and something happens to her again, I would never be able to forgive myself.”
