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“Sweets,Ihavea question,” I singsong in an obnoxious way that’s only fifty percent to ruffle Alec’s feathers, and the other fifty is to get a smile from Mia.
The three of us are in the middle of a hot breakfast date, complete with cereal that contains so much sugar that Alec is unable to not criticize us every time we have some. Admittedly, that’s the entire reason I’m slurping mine like a child.
“Go on,” Mia urges, and I smile at her before lifting the bowl to my lips, drinking the milk that’s mixed with flavor from the chocolate cereal.
“Ahh, good to the last drop,” I say and wink at Alec, who shakes his head at me.
The day after Christmas, Lila emailed all employees and told them that Serendipity was closed for the time being. She got the advice from her lawyer, and I can’t say I blame her. I have no idea if the place has even been cleaned up, but even if it has now, it was still part of the ongoing investigation then. Of course, this means that I’m currently unemployed, which suits me perfectly.
I know I can’t remain without a job for long, but right now, Mia is the most important thing for all of us—which is why Coen is grumpy, because he still has to go to the evil place that holds his paycheck hostage.
“When you asked Coen to make decisions for you, what exactly does that entail?” Mia’s cheeks redden, and I decide to lighten the mood a little. “I mean, if I want a blow job, will I have to go through him?”
Surprisingly, this doesn’t merely make her laugh. Oh no, Mia laughs so hard that she sputters milk onto the table. “Oh, shit, I’m so sorry.” Jumping up from the chair like it bit her, she runs to the kitchen to get a wet cloth, and she wipes the milk away as soon as she’s back.
“Calm down, Baby. It’s an ugly table anyway,” Alec grumbles.
With my brows raised, I say, “Excuse you, this happens to be one of my masterpieces.” Looking at Mia, I explain, “This table is from a Swedish furniture chain, and I single-handedly defied the odds by putting it together by myself only using the screws, nuts, and bolts within the package. I’m practically a hero.” I tag the last part on because I still feel it should have earned me a hero badge if it was the whole truth.It isn’t, though.
Truthfully, I cheated my ass off. I didn’t use fuck all that came with the table. Instead, I drove to a hardware store with the drawing of the table and had them tell me what to use. However, that’s not the official story, and I like my version better.
“I do not know what you’re talking about, Kas,” Mia says with a barely there smile. “But to answer your question, no. Coen isn’t the one to ask if you want any action. I just… I don’t know how to explain it, but I need to not be in control of the bigger things. Although I know it might be hard to understand, I feel better knowing that he’ll tell me what to do. Does that make sense?”
No.“Yep, I totally got it.” Nodding, I pretend to understand what the hell she means.
“I have another question for you,” Alec says before Mia can call me on my bullshit. The girl is just as bad as Coen. They must have a built-in lie detector. “Do you still want to plan Mark’s funeral, or do you want us to do it?”
The police have finally released Mark’s body, and so far, the plan is to have him buried on Sunday, which is only four days away. When Mia got the call yesterday, she was pleased initially, but that soon changed to stress. She didn’t calm down until I offered to help her, and together we made the arrangements with a local funeral home.
Aside from New Year’s Eve, that was the longest she’s spent away from the basement. So, naturally, I was happy to help in any way I could to keep her away from that depressing place.
“I still want to do it. Besides Martin and us, I want to ask my parents to attend.”
Well, color me fucking shocked. In the time I’ve known Mia, she’s never initiated contact with her parents before, and now that I have my memories back, I’m not the least bit surprised.
Mia continues in a voice that reveals how much she idolized her second dad. “When Mark took me in, he reached out to them and insisted they come to visit us. He put them up in a hotel and explained he wasn’t asking for anything from them. He simply wanted my mom and dad to know he was looking after me.”
That explains a lot, actually. Damn, the man was a saint.
“If that’s what you want,” I say smoothly. “But we’re here to help if you need anything. All you have to do is ask. Keep that in mind.”
Biting down on her lip, Mia looks lost for a moment before squaring her shoulders. In the time it takes for her to blink once, she replaces her uncertainty with steely determination. “Maybe you could both be around while I call my mom?”
Before answering, I look at Alec, who’s busy looking from one of us to the other, obviously not aware of the magnitude of Mia contacting her mom. “Of course, but you realize I’m the only one who knows why you’re asking, right? I think it’s time to tell Alec and CJ.” I place my hand on top of hers, silently trying to tell her it’ll be okay.
I really need to get my head straight, so I can comb through my memories and make sure that Alec and CJ know everything that I know—which also means I have to come clean about my own skeletons. With my easy-going persona, people don’t realize that I’m just as closed off as Alec. But with Mia, I don’t want it to come back and bite us in the ass later. Especially not hers. Her backside is too fine for that unless it’s one of us sinking our teeth into the soft flesh.
It seems our time together is up when she quietly murmurs her agreement to explain it all when CJ comes home for lunch, and then she heads to the basement.
Even though it feels like we made some headway on New Year’s, she’s still obsessed with watching Mr. Riley. But when she’s around us, she’s no longer as guarded, and I can only imagine it’s because she’s told us about what she did to Luis.
Fucking Luis!
Although I want to wring the fucker’s neck for taking advantage of her like that, I can’t find it within myself to hold it against her. I can’t even pretend to understand the horrors she went through all to protect my brothers and my sister, so how the fuck can I hold that against her?
“Are you going to join her?” Alec asks, and I notice I’m halfway standing. Yes, I want to follow her. I want to know what she says to her pet if she says anything.
I know that all I have to do is open the app on my phone, and then I would be privy to everything in our basement. That doesn’t feel right to do, though. If Mia wanted us there with her, I have to believe she would ask, and until she does, it will be her well-earned secret.
