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"That doesn't matter right now. Shall we?" He gestures toward the doors, and the three of us step inside.
There is only one server as we walk in, and we're quickly seated in a booth in the farthest corner of the restaurant.
"Is it always this quiet?" Mia asks, filling the silence that's descended.
"No. I booked the entire place."
"At an hour's notice?" She balks.
"Yes. I sense we might need to discuss some… sensitive topics, so I thought it for the best."
"Right. I'm sorry, but who are you exactly?" Mia asks as she stares James directly in the eyes. Pride for my girl oozes from me as she holds her own against him.
Everyone knows that James Jagger takes no prisoners, but she doesn't seem fazed in the slightest.
"I work for Q," he states. “My grandfather and grandmother fled from Gravestone after falling in love. My father was promised to someone else. Sound familiar?" he asks, looking between the two of us.
"Somewhat," I mutter, having already heard this story from my mom.
"They moved to Gravestone, and thankfully my father was in a position with Q that he could broker a deal. He agreed to work for them if they agreed to make Sterling a safe haven, that they wouldn't come after either of them or others who flee.”
"What did your grandfather know or do to hold that much power over them?" Mia asks, enthralled by this story.
"That doesn't matter right now. Marcus—my great-uncle, your grandfather—stayed. His son took my father's place as heir, and everything would have continued."
"But he died."
"Died after also falling for the wrong woman. A woman who had you."
"Okay we know all this," Mia says in a rush, wanting to get to the main point of the meeting. "I was never meant to be Cade's prosapia," she states with confidence.
"Your name was in the calix, Mia."
"I know, but it threw everyone for a loop. It wasn't meant to be me. Someone planned it, and I want to know why." Her voice begins to rise with her anger. "Cade is unhinged, a complete psycho, and someone thought it would be a good idea for us to be together."
James swallows somewhat nervously as Mia's emotions begin to get the better of her.
"We found this," she says, slamming the list of names down on the desk. "I found it in my father's office after hearing him having a very suspicious conversation with Phillip Cargill. I need to know if this is all linked, if this is going to help me get myself out of this hell before Cade Kingsley kills me.”
James takes the piece of paper, but he doesn't look at it long enough to really read the names. He knows exactly what it is.
"Gregory Kingsley's accident was no accident, was it?" I ask James, voicing my suspicions.
"No. It was not."
"So why? Why was he killed along with all these other men?”
"The other men don't matter. They are not linked. The only reason they are on the same piece of paper is because they met the same end."
"So Q killed Gregory Kingsley,” she deadpans. “Why? And how does this involve me?"
20
Mia
“Why does my father have the list? It doesn’t make any sense,” I say, trying to process everything.
“That I can’t tell you.” James gives me an apologetic look. “But know that this knowledge is dangerous. In the wrong hands, it could be catastrophic.”
