AllFreeNovel
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“Sorry I ain’t got more for ya, buddy. I’ll keep digging, see if there’s anything else I can come up with.”
“Yeah,” I say with a sigh. At least I know more now than I did an hour ago. And not that I needed further proof that Brad Mulcahy needs to be wiped from the face of the earth, but I sure have it. Sick, twisted fuck. I can’t even imagine what happened to his kid sister.
“I have to go to Abu Dhabi for a few days,” he says with a dramatic sigh. “That oil guy is making me work for my money. But I’ll get right back on it as soon as I get home.”
I thank him and end the call, my mind racing with more questions than ever. I need a fucking drink. Or maybe I need a completely different kind of distraction.
Mia opens the door, her eyes widening when they land on me. “I’m s-sorry.” Her cheeks flush pink and her voice gets quieter. “I thought you were out. I’ll come back later.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Mia,” I snap, harsher than I intended, but Lionel’s revelations have me on edge.
She frowns, rolling her shoulders back before stepping into the room. “You don’t have to be so rude. I was being polite,” she replies, her tone clipped. She walks to the pile of boxes where she’s been working, her movements stiff and her whole demeanor cold and detached. Nothing like the woman who’s spent the last few weeks in this house. The Mia I’ve gotten to know is always full of warmth, rarely seen without a smile on her face.
A wave of guilt rolls through my gut. How many times has she forced herself to be a lesser version of who she is to placate a man?
I push my chair back and wander over to her side of the room. She barely glances at me, focusing instead on the pile of books in front of her. “Have you been avoiding me, Mia?” The flush on her cheeks creeps down her neck.
For a few seconds, I wonder if she’s going to brush me off, but she looks me square in the face, full of confidence and a defiance that makes all the blood in my body head south. “I’ve been giving you space, is all. I assumed you were happier working in here alone.”
My jaw clenches. I should tell her that’s true. It should be true. Except it’s not. “Actually, I kind of missed you.”
Her eyes spark with the kind of unrestrained happiness that should make me turn around and walk out of this room without looking back, but I can’t pull my gaze from hers. There’s something magnetic about those hazel-green eyes. But this is strictly platonic. What’s wrong with enjoying the company of a beautiful woman when nothing will ever happen between us?
“You did?”
“I guess I’ve gotten used to your background noise,” I say with a shrug. “It’s quiet in here without you.”
I watch her throat bob as she swallows. “I know I talk way too much,” she says. “Brad hated it. He was always telling me to shut my yammering. Sometimes I think that made me worse.” Her laugh is full of self-deprecation and humility.
That simmering anger bubbles beneath my skin. I fucking hate that her prick of an ex-husband talked to her that way. I hate that he ever made her feel like she’s anything less than perfect just the way she is. “You talk the exact right amount, Mia.”
She sinks her teeth into her full bottom lip, her eyes crinkling at the corners. “Now I know you’re just being nice.” She laughs softly. “I’m aware that I’m a chatterbox, so you can tell me if I’m talking too much. I don’t mind, honestly.”
“Maybe I should be a little less of an ass about it in future,” I suggest.
“I really wasn’t avoiding you, Lorenzo. Not in the way you think, anyway. I just thought you didn’t want me in here and this is your space. I’m a guest. Besides, you haven’t been at dinner the past few nights. Were you avoiding me?”
I don’t particularly want to tell her that I’ve been feeling guilty about the way I spoke to her, so I lie. “I’ve been busy.”
“Well, I kinda missed you at dinner,” she says softly, that flush on her cheeks deepening further.
My heart rate kicks up a notch. I clear my throat and change the subject. “Do you know anything about Brad having a sister?”
Her brows pinch together. “No. He doesn’t have a sister.”
“It seems he does. She was a few years younger than him. Looks like she was removed from the home when she was thirteen, but I can’t find the reason.”
Her frown deepens. “Brad never mentioned a sister to me. Neither did his brother or his dad. Are you sure?”
“I’m sure. So there was never any mention of her anywhere? Any old pictures with a girl you didn’t recognize maybe?”
She shakes her head. “No. But they didn’t have any family photos. Brad told me his dad burned them all after their mom killed herself.”
“She hanged herself, right?”
“Yeah. So sad,” she says softly. “Poor Brad and Jake never really got over it.”
I tilt my head, cracking my neck. Maybe I should tell her aboutpoorBrad and what he did to his own mother, but it would bring her no peace, so I keep quiet.
