“Everything all right?” he asked, sounding concerned. “Nev okay?”
“I’m good, Daddy,” she assured her father from where she was still sitting on the couch, but she was watching me with trepidation in her blue-gray eyes and a frown puckering her brow.
“I texted my dad earlier. Could you tell him we made it okay? We have to go now, but Nev will call you tomorrow.” I already had my own phone in hand once again, pulling up my mother’s contact information.
“O-kay,” he said, his tone never changing. “Love you, girls.”
“Love you, Daddy,” Neveah called.
“Love you,” I muttered and tossed the phone in her direction after disconnecting.
“What’s going on?” my cousin demanded.
I crossed to where Braxton was sitting and snatched his phone from his hand before he could even blink. I didn’t want to look at it, but I didn’t want him trying to call Barrick either. Not until I knew what was going on, damn it.
“Mia,” he started, his entire body tensing. “Just calm down. I don’t know what’s going through your head right now, but—”
“But nothing. Just be quiet for a second.” I started pacing as I hit connect on my phone’s screen.
“Hey, baby girl!” Momma greeted cheerfully.
“Why the fuck is my boyfriend meeting with Daddy and the uncles?” I demanded.
There was a short, surprised pause on her end, followed by, “Okay, excuse you. I don’t appreciate your tone or you cursing at me, young lady. And second, what boyfriend?”
Shit, I’d forgotten I hadn’t told her about Barrick. I’d been keeping quiet about our relationship because I didn’t want her to go diving into his background and trying to break us up if she didn’t like what she found.
“Hey, Momma, um…guess what? I kind of have a boyfriend. His name is Barrick—Charles Barrick, to be specific.”
“What?” she whispered, sounding winded.
“Ugh, that doesn’t even matter right now. I just heard him in the background when Uncle Drake called. He couldn’t come to New York with me this weekend because he supposedly had a meeting. Why is he meeting with Daddy?”
“Mia…calm your ass down and think for a minute here. If I didn’t know about you having a gods damn boyfriend, why would your father?” she snapped, and I knew she was in full-on firedragon mode.
She was right.
“Why would he know…?” I repeated, feeling just as out of breath as she’d been earlier.
“You stay where you are. Don’t move. I mean it. I’m going to do some digging and will call you back. Probably from the plane.”
“Momma, what’s going on?” I asked, my voice sounding weak, and I suddenly felt like a scared, brokenhearted little girl.
“I honestly don’t know, Mia. But trust me, I’m about to find out. Barrick, you said his name is? Why does that sound so familiar?” she muttered to herself before the line went silent, and I realized she’d hung up on me.
“Fuck,” I heard Braxton groan and turned my confused gaze on him. “I told him.”
“Told him what?” Neveah demanded. “What in the actual hell is going on? What did I miss?”
“Barrick was there,” I told her in a choked voice. “I heard his laugh.”
“Where? With my dad?” I nodded, and her eyes widened. “But I thought I was the only one who knew you even have a boyfriend.”
“You are…were. Whatever. They obviously know. Why else would he be having a ‘meeting’ with them?” I clutched my phone to my chest with one hand and clenched the other around Braxton’s phone.
Only for the damn thing to vibrate with an incoming text.
Looking down at it, I felt my knees go weak.
Barrick: Meeting going better than expected. Mission is over. We don’t have to pretend anymore.
“Pretend,” I breathed, my eyes glued to that last sentence.
We don’t have to pretend anymore.
Twin tears fell from my eyes before I could blink them back as I looked at Braxton. “Pretend to what?”
“Mia…” Blowing out a frustrated exhale, he lifted his hands in a pleading gesture. “It’s not what it seems.”
“What isn’t? What was he—you—” I shut my mouth and squeezed my eyes closed, trying to gain control of myself. “What were you pretending, Brax?”
“No way, asshole,” Nevaeh suddenly snarled. I snapped my eyes open to find her on his lap, holding him down with her weight as she straddled his legs and pressed him down into the couch, keeping him from standing. “Answer her.”
Braxton’s throat bobbed for a second until his head dropped back onto the couch and he closed his eyes. “I’ll explain everything. Just get off me. Please, kitten.”
His voice was so quiet and strained, I barely heard him. After only a small hesitation, Nevaeh got up, but she didn’t move away. She stood over him, her eyes narrowed like I’d seen her mother do many times over the years right before she struck out with her razor-sharp tongue.
“Barrick isn’t who you think he is,” Braxton said after a moment.
I wanted to scream and shout, “Then who the fuck is he?”, but my phone rang, and I answered it before he could go on.
“Mia?” Momma sounded out of breath, and then I heard Jagger grumbling in the background and a door slamming. “Listen to me. I need you to know, I knew nothing about this. Do you hear me? I knew nothing.”
“Didn’t know about what?” I whimpered.
“Charles Seller’s stepson is Charles Barrick Junior.” I blinked. Her security expert? That Seller? But she didn’t give me the chance to ask. “Charles Barrick Senior was Seller’s best friend and business partner. The son is supposed to inherit everything once Seller retires.”
“Wh-what?” I knew she was giving me answers, but they weren’t making sense to me.
“I don’t know what’s been going on, but I can guess. Gods, I should have questioned it when Nik stopped pouting about my letting you go to college without bodyguards. But I was just glad not to be arguing about it anymore, so I didn’t look too hard at it at the time.”
“Momma, please,” I told her as I wiped my wet eyes with the back of my hand while still clutching Braxton’s phone. “My head is all over the place, and I don’t know which way is up right now. Please dumb it down for me.”
“Barrick works for his stepfather as a security operative, learning the company inside out until he eventually takes over the business. My guess is that your dad hired this guy to be your security at college without either of us knowing.”
“The mission is over,” I breathed, my gaze locking with Braxton’s tortured one, and I felt physically sick. “They don’t have to pretend anymore.”
It made complete sense now.
“Mia?” Momma’s voice sounded strained, and I realized she’d been speaking but I hadn’t heard a word of what she’d said. “Mia!”
“I-I’m here.”
“I chartered a jet. I’ll be in New York before the sun comes up. Just stay there at the hotel with Cole and don’t go anywhere.”
“Cole went out.”
“Of course he did,” she groused. “Who is there with you, then?”
“Nev and Braxton.”
“And that would be?”
“B-Barrick’s cousin.”
“Put him on the phone,” she commanded, and even though I was hurting, I suddenly felt sorry for the guy I thought was my friend.
But was he, though?
I didn’t know anymore.
I didn’t know anything.
Crossing to him, I held out the phone. “She wants to speak to you.”
Sighing heavily, he took the phone and cautiously lifted it to his ear. “Hello? Mrs. Armstrong?”
His jaw clenched, and I knew whatever she was saying to him wasn’t pretty, but she kept her voice quiet so I wasn’t able to overhear any of the one-sided conversation.
&n
bsp; “Yes, ma’am. I understand. No, ma’am. I won’t let anyone in or out of the suite until you arrive. No.” He sighed again. “I knew, but I didn’t agree with it. This was just supposed to be another job for me and Lyla…”
“Lyla, too?” I clenched my eyes closed, my heart taking another direct hit.
“Yes, ma’am. I’ll take care of her.” Braxton continued to speak to Momma.
I felt a gentle arm come around my shoulders, and all I wanted was to curl into a ball and let Nevaeh hold me until my mom got there. But I couldn’t let myself fall apart.
“I’m going to take a shower,” I announced as I opened my eyes. I suddenly felt dirty, tainted.
“Mia,” Braxton started, but I held up my hands and shook my head.
“Save it. I don’t want to hear your version of the truth any longer. Knowing what I know now, I don’t trust you to be honest anyway.”
Chapter 15
Mia
My phone was going off when I walked out of the en suite with my hair dripping and a towel wrapped around my body. Glancing at where I’d tossed both Braxton’s and my phone on my way to the shower, I saw it was my dad.
Angrily, I turned away from the sight of the picture of the two of us on the beach in front of my parents’ house back in Malibu. The man I thought could do no wrong had betrayed me in a way I never thought he was capable of.
I still didn’t know the details, but there was no other explanation for why Barrick would be with him and my uncles when they shouldn’t have even known I was dating the heir apparent to the most successful security firm in the country.
Feeling exhausted, I fell back onto the bed, not caring that my hair was still soaked and would get the bed wet. Glaring up at the ceiling, I went back through every interaction I’d ever had with Braxton and Lyla, not allowing myself to even think about Barrick. I wasn’t sure I could handle that just yet.
Nothing they’d ever said or done even hinted that they weren’t anything but my friends. Or maybe I’d just been too blind to what real friendship looked like because all I had was Jordan to compare it to.
Gasping, I sat up and reached for my phone. Ignoring the texts already on the screen, I unlocked it and pulled up Jordan’s name, then hit connect.
“Sup, buttercup,” he greeted with a drunken laugh.
“Are you seriously drunk again?” I demanded, annoyed. Ever since he’d started becoming more active in his fraternity, he’d been drinking more and more. I knew it was because he was so bored, but I was beginning to worry about him.
“Getting there,” he agreed with a laugh, but when a sob escaped me, he sobered instantly. “What’s wrong?”
“I’ve been stupid,” I confessed, knowing he wouldn’t judge me.
“I don’t believe that. Tell me what happened, and we can figure this out. I’m sure whatever it is, I can help you fix it.”
Rubbing at the throb that was starting to echo in my skull, I told him what little I knew. “I don’t know what to think right now. Momma’s on her way, and she’s pissed. I’m pissed too, but… But my heart hurts s-so m-much, Jordan.”
“Do you want me to come out there?” he asked quietly. That quietness told me plenty. He was angry, but he didn’t want to scare me.
“N-no. You have too much going on with school and everything.” I scrubbed at my eyes. I figured after all the crying I’d done in the shower, I wouldn’t have any tears left, but they wouldn’t freaking stop. “Momma is on her way. I…I just…”
“Mia, I’m here for you whenever you need me. You’re my best friend. That doesn’t stop just because there’s an entire country separating us.”
“I-I know. And the same goes if you need me,” I promised him. “Are…you doing okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.” But his sigh told me differently.
“Jor, you’ve been drinking so much lately. Every time I’ve called, you’ve been drunk. You’re drunk now.”
“Actually, I’m thinking of dropping out of college and going to Italy for a while,” he confessed, and I could almost picture a weight lifting from his shoulders. “After this semester, I’m going to tell my parents I want to take a little time off.”
“Is it that bad?”
“It’s not that it’s bad. It’s just not for me right now. I want to work, find out what I’m really good at, and then go from there. This taking classes just to be taking them with no real path in sight isn’t what I want.”
I was thankful to have his problems to focus on so I didn’t have to think about my own for a moment. “College isn’t for everyone. My parents didn’t even want me to go. I think they just wanted me to live off the trust fund they established for me and play around. Neither of them went to college, and look how successfully they turned out.”
“Yeah, but I just know my dad is going to throw a fit over all of this. He’s a hard-ass, Mia. He’s not going to be on board with me doing this.”
“Go to your mom first,” I suggested. Alexis, his mother, loved Jordan more than life. He was her miracle because the accident that had left her nearly unable to walk had almost completely robbed her of the chance to have a baby. Then when she did get pregnant, her doctors told her repeatedly she would never make it to full term. “She will back you no matter what you decide. She and Aunt Gabs would do anything for you.”
“I know,” he muttered.
“But please, promise me you’ll slow down with the drinking. I’m worried about you. You’re probably my only real friend other than Nevaeh right now, so I kind of need you to not kill yourself from drinking all the alcohol,” I tried to tease.
“I’ll stop, I promise.”
A beep told me I was getting an incoming call. Looking down, I saw Barrick’s face on my screen. Hitting decline, I replaced the phone to my ear.
“Who was that?”
“The man who deserves an Academy Award for the role he’s been playing in my life,” I told him, unable to keep the bite out of my tone.
“Want me to kick his ass?” Jordan offered.
The idea held some appeal, but I’d seen Barrick dominate in the cage too many times to want my best friend to even risk it. “No. I just want him to go away.”
“Just say the word, and I can make that happen. I have family in Sicily who have family in New York, who would be all too happy to do me a favor.” That had a small laugh bubbling up, and when the weak sound escaped, he let out a relieved exhale. “There she is. That’s the girl I love and adore. I knew she couldn’t be too far away, no matter how down she is.”
A light tap on the door had my laugh dying before it could really get started. “Yeah?” I called out.
The door opened, and Nevaeh poked her head in. “The food just got here. Are you hungry? I’ll bring you something if you don’t want to be around the a-hole extraordinaire out here.”
Was it really less than an hour ago I’d felt like I was starving? It seemed like days since I’d heard Barrick laughing in the background when Uncle Drake called. But now, I felt like I would vomit if I even smelled food.
“No. I really just want to be alone right now,” I told her. “I’m sorry for abandoning you out there with him, but could you make sure he doesn’t bother me?”
She gave me a grim smile. “Don’t worry about it. I got this covered. You just do what you have to do until Aunt Emmie gets here.”
“Thanks, Nev,” I whispered.
The door closed behind her, and I replaced the phone to my ear. “I’m going to get off here. I just got out of the shower, and my hair is still dripping all over the place.”
“You’ve been sitting there naked this whole time? Nice.”
Rolling my eyes, I stood up. “Shut up, stupid. I have to go.”
“Yeah, yeah. Okay. Call me tomorrow. I want a minute-by-minute rundown of what happens once your mom gets there. That should be entertaining. I love Emmie, but she scares the hell out of me.”
I walked into t
he en suite and frowned at my reflection when I noticed how pale I was and my bloodshot eyes. All the crying had made my eyes swell, and I looked washed out. “Jordan.”
“Yeah, love?”
“I really miss you.”
“I miss you too, Mia.”
--
It was nearly dawn before I heard my mother’s voice coming from the living area.
Jumping up out of bed, I was across the room and out the door in a matter of seconds.
After getting off the phone with Jordan, I had dried my hair and pulled it up into its usual knot on top of my head before tossing on a pair of pajama pants and a hoodie. Then I’d climbed into bed and channel-surfed for the rest of the night in hopes of trying to find something to keep my mind off Barrick and my dad.
Momma stood in the middle of the living room, her long red hair pulled back into a messy ponytail as she glared at Braxton, who stood in front of her with his shoulders squared and his hands at his sides. He was motionless, eyes straight ahead like the Marine he was, with a blank face as she gave him a dispassionate once-over.
Behind her stood both bodyguards who had been a part of my life since I was five years old. Marcus had been my cousin Lucy’s bodyguard up until a few years before, but as soon as she no longer needed him, Momma had brought him in to work as part of my security detail and her own at times.
Both men stood over six feet tall, their hair short, their faces impassive as they eyeballed Braxton like he was a threat. The irony of it was, both bodyguards came from Seller’s Security.
Which had me wondering if Seller had changed the name of the company when Barrick Senior died and if it would change again once my Barrick took over.
Then my heart made a painful squeeze in my chest that had my breath catching. He wasn’t my Barrick. It was all just pretend on his part, as he’d told Braxton with his stupid text message.
“Hey, sis,” Jagger greeted from the couch where he had his feet propped up, eating a slice of leftover pizza. “You weren’t in New York ten minutes, and you caused so much trouble, Ma needed to fly out to take care of it?” He grinned conspiratorially at me. “Nice. Couldn’t have done better myself.”
Holding Mia Page 11
