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Mia’s outside on the phone with her father for a while longer, and my eyes are drifting shut when she comes in.
“You leave me any hot water?” she jokes, and I nod, smiling.
“Should have waited for you,” I comment.
“I don’t think you’re in any shape for shower sex,” she teases.
I bark out a laugh. “Maybe not.”
She slowly unwinds the beige bandage that Jimmy must have put on her, and the bruises all over her torso are in full view.
I curse. “Who did that to you?”
“One of the guys grabbed me around the waist to put me in the car and I fought him. Probably broke my own damn ribs,” she mutters.
“Good girl,” I praise. “I hope you kicked him in the nuts.”
She laughs and it sounds slightly out of control. Mia’s not okay and I can tell just by looking at her.
“That shootout, the one when you were a kid,” I start, and Mia looks at me blankly. “Was that the only time you’ve been in danger?”
“Yeah, I think so,” Mia says softly. “My dad always protected me from the worst of it. I’ve seen him get hurt, but that was the only time I was in the middle of it.”
“So, this morning was hard for you,” I say simply, not asking, just stating a fact.
Mia smiles weakly. “Not as hard as it was for you.”
I scoff. “That’s bullshit. I got hit by a stray bullet. You were taken and didn’t know what was happening or how you were going to get hurt. I’m so sorry that I was a dick when I got home.”
She looks away. “Where were you all night, anyway?”
“Vincenzo called me, told me that someone shot up my dry-cleaning business,” I tell her. “When I got there, he pulled up right away. I should have known he was up to something.”
Mia’s eyes widen. “Do you think he did it?”
I nod. “To get me out of the house. They just got lucky that you happened to be walking to the coffee shop.” I give her a hard look. “No more of that, okay? Never leave the house without me or one of my men. Preferably Nico.”
Mia bites her lip. “I’m sorry, Dante. Marta was asleep and I just wanted to get out of the house. I was feeling overwhelmed and as if I couldn’t breathe. I needed air and a change of scenery, since I was mad, but I’d been drinking...it was stupid.”
“It wasn’t stupid. You have every right to walk wherever you want, baby, but when you’re you and you’re married to someone like me...”
“I have to be careful,” she finishes quietly.
I sigh. “I’m not scolding you. I was just terrified when you went missing.”
She looks back up at me with bright blue eyes. “You were?”
“Of course I was,” I say softly, keeping her gaze. Maybe it’s the drugs or the adrenaline, but I find myself wanting to open up to her, wanting to tell her...
Tell herwhat?
There’s nothing to tell. She’s just a girl, and we’ve been spending a lot of time together. Sure, it’s flattering that she loves me so much, but I’m on a mission to kill her father. This isn’t going to last.
I lick my lips, my mouth dry again, and take the water glass and drain it.
Mia goes into the shower but it’s a quick one and when she gets back out, she looks pale. I’d been dozing off so I sit up, frowning and grimacing at the pain in my shoulder.
“Hurts?” I ask her. “You should wrap it back up.”
