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“How long?”
“I don’t know. Maybe a year or two.”
“And then you’ll let her go?”
“If she ever really wanted to leave, she could walk away. She knows that.”
“Because you’ve told her?” he demanded.
“No…but she knows me. She knows I’m not a monster. She knows I’ll take care of her and her son. She knows she’s comfortable and safe here, hidden away from the real monsters outside these walls. She’s not a prisoner, and I’m not a master. We’re friends. We care about each other. There’s more here than that…”
“But you don’t love her?” he countered.
“Love isn’t something I’m looking for.”
“I’ve heard that before.”
I leaned against the refrigerator so we could face each other.
“Now what?” he asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Is her son here?”
“No. I had a guy get him out of the orphanage. He’ll be here next week.”
“And you’re okay living with a kid?” he asked incredulously. “For a man not looking for love, it seems like you’re trying to settle down.”
I didn’t want to be a father. I didn’t want to be a husband. I just wanted to be Carter, the successful car designer. “I made it clear he needs to stay out of my way. They live on the second floor. I live on the third. He’s not allowed up there.”
“You obviously don’t know shit about kids. They don’t just listen.”
“Mia seems like a pretty authoritative person.”
“Mia…pretty name.” The rage slowly left his eyes, but the disappointment was still there. “You can have any woman you want, Carter. Why bother with this one?”
It was a good question, and I didn’t have a good answer to match it. I’d been with lots of beautiful women who were lovely and interesting. Mia was different in ways I couldn’t explain. She’d been raped and beaten, but I didn’t see her as a victim. I didn’t care that the last guy who fucked her did it by force. I didn’t view her as damaged goods, but as a powerful woman who didn’t give up, no matter the odds. “I don’t know…I really don’t.”
“You know, I would be a lot more supportive of this if you did love her. If you fell in love and this was the one woman you wanted to spend your life with, I could be on board. I could understand. But the fact that you’re doing all of this for a woman who doesn’t mean that much to you…just annoys me.”
I bowed my head, hurt by his harsh words. “I saved an innocent woman. That doesn’t make you proud?”
“You only did it so you could fuck her.”
“That wasn’t the only reason.”
“Say whatever you want, Carter. No matter what you have, you always want more. I don’t get it.”
I raised my head again, feeling sick because of his coldness. “Where do we go from here?”
He shrugged. “I don’t have a fucking clue, Carter.”
I hated it when he called me by my first name. It meant he was angry. Otherwise, he called me son. “I don’t want Mom to know.” She was the strongest woman I knew. She was always vocal about her opinions, and she put my father in his place so easily. She was a fierce disciplinarian, pushing Carmen and me as far as she could to make us good people. Raising me wasn’t easy, and I respected her for doing such a good job.
“Normally, I would make you tell her yourself. But I agree…she shouldn’t know about this. Only Conway knows?”
I nodded.
“Then we’ll keep this between us. No reason to upset her, especially if nothing bad ever happens.”
“Agreed.”
“So, Mia will just be your maid. That’s the story.”
I nodded.
He searched around the kitchen, like she would pop out at any moment. “Can I meet this girl?”
“You want to?”
“Absolutely. Need to have a few words with her.”
I walked into the other room where another staircase was. “Sweetheart, could you come down here?” I never called her by anything else besides sweetheart, so the action was involuntary. If I’d been thinking more clearly, I would have called her Mia in front of my father. I walked back toward him and heard her footsteps on the stairs.
She emerged a moment later, the apron gone. In a yellow sundress with her long hair pulled back in a ponytail, she was more beautiful than a sunflower. She livened up my new home, bringing the sunlight directly into the house. She smiled as she looked at me and my father. Slowly, she approached and extended her hand to the man who raised me. “It’s so nice to meet you, Mr. Barsetti. I’m Mia.”
My father didn’t take her hand. Instead, he wrapped his arms around her and gave her a fatherly hug. He patted her on the back, embracing her the way he did with Carmen. “Pleasure to meet you. I’m Cane.” He stepped back and dropped his touch, wearing a friendly expression in his eyes that he hadn’t shown me during our conversation. “My son just told me everything, not by choice, but by force. I want you to know that you can come to me if you need anything. If my son doesn’t treat you right, I have no problem beating him into the ground. He won’t fight back, so it’ll be an easy match. He may be a confident man, but when it comes to me, all he knows is fear. So if you ever want to leave, you’re free to do so. Let me know, and I’ll make it happen.”
