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She holds up her hand. “Don’t apologize. You have every right to want to bite my head off. Considering I’m still absolutely livid with you for what you’ve done.”
“What did she do?” Lucia wants to know.
Now it’s Mia’s turn to glare at her. “Nothing you need to worry about,” she replies.
“Ah, of course. Because it’s none of my business until you make it my business.” Lucia is about as calm as anyone can be at twenty. “Gotcha. I should be used to it by now.”
I roll my eyes.
“Seems we all have something to bitch about this morning. Perfect. This is my absolute favorite way to start my day.” Mia settles back in her seat and crosses her arms over her chest, looking prim and proper and rested, if not a little peeved.
“What’s your deal, then? Carter finally has another tree to sniff up, so he’s leaving you alone? Not sure what to do with all your newfound free time?” I make the joke partially because I know it’s not true and partially to try to get under her skin.
Mia usually does really well in rising to the occasion. Today, she just groans and pinches the bridge of her nose.
“It’s hard for me to speak with all the acid burning away my stomach lining, but if you want honesty, then it’s because of this transition.” Mia watches me settle across from her with my plate empty and my attention vacillating between the fruit and the bacon. “It’s been really rough for me to try and shoulder the bulk of responsibility and still maintain the distance I used to when I was learning.”
I finally decide to head for both and fill my plate. Better to have something in my system and feel sick than be weak on an empty stomach.
“It’s what you wanted, though,” I remind her.
“And I’m sure you’ve heard it many times before, but there are still complications when you finally get what you want,” Mia insists hotly. She narrows her eyes on me. “Papa is making things as easy as possible, but there are aspects to our business that even years of shadowing him have not properly prepared me for.”
I stare at her warily until Lucia clears her throat. “You ever wonder what it would be like to be part of a normal family unit? Like…we wake up and go to school, and our parents are accountants or something?”
Mia curls her lip. “Unrealistic. Sounds gross.”
Lucia goes on. “I’ve just always wondered what it would be like going to soccer games instead of meetings or having your parents teach you about taxes instead of the proper way to handle a gun.”
“You’ve been taught how to handle a gun?” I ask her, glancing at my sweet baby sister with her hands tucked around her mug, her throat bobbing.
“Mom thought it would be necessary to learn how to protect myself as a business owner,” she replies.
“Ah, so once again, I’m the one left out in the cold.” A little bit of bitterness seeps through, and I have to reel it back in quick, a muscle ticking at my temple.
Rather than making up some kind of empty platitude to make me feel better, Lucia nods in the following silence. “I can teach you, Iz, if you want.”
Mia opens her mouth to protest before wisely snapping it shut. “After all of this has settled.” She says it like some kind of compromise, something I should be grateful for receiving, and I frown at her.
I’ve done my best not to take anything she said yesterday as a personal attack, even when it felt that way. Mia might have what I want, but I’ve never held it against her. It’s the birth order. It’s the way things are done with old-school tradition. She’s lucky enough to be considered the heir to the company built by our grandparents, as a woman.
“This might not be the life we would have wanted if given the option to map it all out, but it’s the one we have,” Mia answers at last. “And yes, Izzy, if you want to learn, then Lucia and I will teach you. It’s fair.”
I gawk at her for a moment, dumbfounded by her abrupt change from yesterday. She catches my look and gives a subtle shake of her head, a silent plea to not discuss this in front of Lucia. I smartly keep my mouth shut and murmur an agreement to both of them.
“Well, now that we’re back to not talking about things in front of me, why don't we discuss something else? Fine weather we’re having.” Lucia sounds a bit frustrated herself as she rips into a piece of toast with her front teeth. “You know, a conversation I might actually be a part of?”
I swallow down the chuckle that will only make things worse.
It’s a gift, I realize, this moment with the two of them. When there is no one else around, our parents or guards included, Ricardo and Carter included, who might stifle any sort of natural flow between us by their presence. Whether they mean to or not.
I reach out and pat the top of Lucia’s hand, reaching with the other toward Mia, the binding keeping the three of us together. It’s a small moment of peace before the real shit hits the fan.
“Acting all sweet now isn’t going to make up for anything,” Mia notifies me.
I clear my throat, breaking the contact between us. “Does it matter?” I want to know. “If I act sweet or not? If I tell you to trust me?”
The others turn and face me, and something about their attention has me bristling. Better get used to it, a small voice in my head chimes in. This isn’t going to be the first or the last time today that I have the bulk of the attention directly on my head. My thoughts start swarming at once as if I’ve somehow opened a latch and let them all out.
