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“Whatareouroptions?” Alec asks, and I can feel his eyes bore into me.
I’m watching Kas remove his glasses and clean them on his blue shirt before placing them back on his face. As much as I’m avoiding looking at Alec, Kas is doing the same to me. Rather than facing me, he’s intently watching Mia tap away on her phone.
I wonder what we would look like to an outsider. We’re all sitting together, but we’re not really together. We’re definitely not interacting. Each of us is busy with our own thoughts.
Some part of me regrets fucking Mia outside yesterday, and the guilt I feel from potentially exposing her is clawing at my throat. She wanted it, and with the wild look in her eyes, I knew there would be no changing her mind. And truthfully, I wanted it as much as she did—if not more.
Amazing sex aside, the package that was delivered yesterday has changed everything. I’m once again feeling like we’re caught in the proverbial headlights, always one step behind the events that are unfolding around us.
“We get rid of Neil, and then we stand our ground.” I’m surprised by the vehemence and clarity in Mia’s voice. “I’m done being a victim, and I won’t hide or bend for anyone. If someone else wants me, I’m going on the offensive. I. Will. Not. Be. Broken.” She’s beautiful in her wrath.
Even though her features are scrunched up, her eyes burn with malice, and she’s clutching her phone so hard the tips of her fingers are turning white.
Tilting her head to the side, she looks directly at Alec, and in a softer voice, she asks, “Has Neil said anything about your mom?”
“Umm, no, but that—”
Mia interrupts him, “It matters. It matters to me, and it matters to you.”
“No, Baby, it doesn’t matter because I don’t think he knows anything. Even if he does, I’m over it. She’s not coming back, and I don’t want her to.”
Mia’s gaze remains on Alec for several long moments before she nods. “Okay. Then I need to ask, is there anything hidden in your past that you haven’t told me yet? Anything that can be used against us?” The question deflates me like a balloon with no air in it.
I’m the reason she’s asking this question. Ironically, I’m the only one who hasn't told her everything yet.
“No, at least not as far as I know,” Alec says with a contemplative look in his eyes. He’s undoubtedly thinking about all his past transgressions, weighing them up to gauge if they can be used against us. I don’t need a trip down memory lane to know that the answer is ‘no.’
Alec’s biggest crime is covering for Kas and me. Well, me more than Kas. But that’s it. That’s where his list ends, and I refuse to let that tarnish his otherwise clean slate.
Mia turns her eyes on Kas, who visibly swallows before answering her unspoken question. “I don’t know if there is any documentation of me helping CJ in the basement. Short of that, no. I’ve told you everything. I guess for me, my mom and Marilyn are my weaknesses.”
“We could get them away,” Mia thoughtfully says. “Send them on vacation or something.”
Kas cleans his glasses again, proving just how stressed he really is. “I’m not too proud to accept yours or anyone’s money if it means keeping my family safe. But how do we know they’d be safe? We don’t know who’s out there, but clearly, it’s someone worse than Neil. He proved that yesterday, didn’t he?”
“We’ll figure something out, Kas,” Alec interjects, probably feeling like he has to say something, just like I do.
Knowing what needs to be done, I finally speak the words out loud, “Mia is right. We need to get rid of Neil. The sooner, the better. I will call my dad and see if he can help.” Taking a deep breath, I prepare myself for the next part. “But first, I think we need to talk.” Not wanting to leave any room for misconstruing who I’m talking to, I look Mia dead in the eye.
“Okay,” she agrees, nervously biting her lower lip.
Running my hand through my hair, I get an idea. “You need to meet my parents. We can’t get rid of Neil without my dad helping. How do you feel about going there tonight after Business Class?”
I know I shouldn’t be doing this. For the last twenty minutes, I’ve had my ear pressed against the wooden door. Occasionally I can make out a few hushed words but not complete sentences. I don’t think I need to, though. I feel like a blind man that can finally see what’s been in front of him for weeks, and I’m not proud of how long it’s taken me to string it all together.
Fuck, I should have put it all together when Alec mentioned Mia slipped him a note with a phone number from Mark. I know it’s not common knowledge, but I’ve heard about this before. It’s a service that allows you to leave messages for your loved ones—or just people you have a message for, in Alec’s case. I don’t doubt that Alec held some importance to Mark, but calling him a loved one is too much of a stretch.
Anyway, part of this service is that you can buy however many unique phone numbers and leave as many messages as you want. Some messages can be hidden behind passwords. Like, you need to enter a specific date of relevance to hear a particular message. Depending on the package you buy, the person who receives the number can also call back and leave a message for the deceased… Fuck, Mia has been calling Mark all this time, leaving messages for him.
“I know you wouldn’t approve…” Despite her voice being muffled by the door and something else, I overhear a few more words. “I have to… For me and you… Love you…” It’s not a lot, but I’m betting it’s about Neil.
Is it wrong that I convinced myself that Mia is better now? After she finally realized that she shouldn’t play basement games, I felt relieved. A part of me knew it wasn’t for her, and I’m secretly relieved by that.
So, why is she again holed up in her room, avoiding all of us?
It’s not as though I think I have a magic cock and that she’s better just because I fucked her. I did, however, think we were on the same page and that we’d communicate from now on. Maybe that was too much to hope for… She lost the first person she ever opened up to, and I’m not expecting that feeling of loss to dissipate after a quick fuck outside. But I expected that she’d turn to us and not away from us.
No matter how many times I’ve told myself to move away from Mia’s door, my feet refuse to do so. They’re digging themselves further into the soft and light gray rug she’s put down outside her bedroom door.
