A Million Tiny Pieces

by Nicole Edwards

  Phoenix purposely ignored Tarik’s question. It was obvious, as far as Phoenix was concerned. Not to mention, he wasn’t sure how to explain this protective feeling he had toward Mia. Hell, he didn’t even understand it himself. “I’ll be back in a minute,” he said instead, ending the call.

  He wasn’t sure what he’d expected Tarik to find on those cameras, but he was disappointed that nothing had come up. He found it peculiar that Mia would’ve been spooked by nothing.

  Shaking off the thought, he ran through his list of things he needed to do. After he showered and got ready for work, he would have to go into the office for a little while. There was a meeting he couldn’t avoid, and he was anxious to get it over with as soon as possible. From the instant he’d learned about the damn thing, he’d been dreading it, but now he was actually looking forward to it. Phoenix couldn’t help but think that fate had played a little part in his stalling tactic this time.

  But now he knew exactly what he had to do. And he was more than happy to do it.

  Two hours later, Phoenix had made it into the office, checked his emails, had two cups of coffee, and was heading to the only meeting he had on his calendar for the day. A rare occurrence, but one he wasn’t going to question.

  “Mr. Pierce.”

  As Phoenix entered the executive boardroom that was generally reserved for larger meetings than this one, he lifted his head and met the crude blue eyes of the man he’d purposely been avoiding. “Landry.”

  Tarik followed closely but moved to stand against the wall behind Phoenix, pretending to be invisible as usual.

  When Damien held out his hand, Phoenix ignored it before pulling out the seat across from him and meeting his gaze. “Lay off the niceties, Damien. We both know why you’re here.”

  “So, I take it you’ve been updated on the most recent developments?” Damien asked, pulling his hand back and extending a belittling grin, his eyes darting up to Tarik and then back.

  “I know just enough to be dangerous. But still not enough to be worried.” Phoenix unbuttoned his suit coat before lowering himself into the chair across from Landry.

  Damien’s smile faltered slightly before widening, and Phoenix hated the man even more now than he had before. Not only was Damien a cheat and a liar, he was a first-rate asshole to boot.

  “You don’t think you should be a little worried that your father backed out of a deal that’s going to cost you millions?” Damien questioned, looking far too cocky for a man who wasn’t going to get the answer he was hoping for.

  “Considering that never happened, I’m not the least bit worried,” Phoenix stated, leaning back in his chair, steepling his hands and resting them on his stomach. Two could play this game.

  Damien didn’t say anything, merely studied Phoenix momentarily.

  Phoenix had never actually met Damien Landry before today. He’d known of the man, but then again, Damien was a well-known businessman — it would’ve been hard not to know who he was. For the most part, Phoenix did his best to steer clear of guys like Damien. Arrogant, greedy assholes who thought they’d accomplished something others couldn’t possibly.

  They didn’t run in the same circles, didn’t have any mutual friends. Actually, the only reason Phoenix had had any interaction with Landry was thanks to his father’s previous discussions with him. Back when Phoenix’s father had been alive, a month or so before he’d passed, to be exact, the old man had mentioned Landry’s interest in buying the Austin Arrows, much to Phoenix’s dismay. However, Sid had never intended to sell the team, so where Landry had come up with the absurd idea that Sid had backed out of a deal, Phoenix didn’t know.

  If he had to guess, Sid Pierce had entertained the notion because that was the way he did business. He listened to what people had to say. Always said it was good business, that it made people trust you. Based on what Phoenix knew of Damien, the guy had likely misconstrued Sid’s attention to the idea as something more than it was.

  But Phoenix didn’t plan to play that game with Landry. Although he could be as shrewd as the next guy when it came to the high stakes of his company, Phoenix had always put people first. When he did something, he always weighed the good with the bad. It was clear that Damien Landry didn’t work that way. He was a greedy, selfish bastard who had only his own best interests at heart.

  “I’m sorry if somehow you mistook my father’s kindness for something more than it was, Landry, but I assure you he had no intention of selling the team.”

  Landry’s blond eyebrows shot up into his hairline, his forehead wrinkling with the move. Apparently Phoenix had surprised him with that response. Of course, Damien was the type to think that everyone would bow to him when it came down to it.

  He was about to learn a lesson that Phoenix hoped the guy would never forget.

  “I think you need to give this the attention it deserves,” Damien said quickly. “Sid and I had an agreement. He backed out of the deal, and I have every intention of recouping my losses here. What I stood to gain from taking on the team far outweighs any amount you could settle for.”

  “That’s a little overdramatic, even for you, Landry. Regardless, I have no intention of settling,” Phoenix replied confidently, making sure to show absolutely no emotion. “In case you forgot, my father was a very smart businessman. If you had proof of your claim, you’d have presented it by now.”

  “Oh, I’ve got proof. I think we can handle this civilly. I’m merely giving you another chance to consider my offer.”

  “See, I’ve always said you should avoid that. The thinking part. It’ll only get you in trouble,” Phoenix countered, his frustration with Landry’s snobbish responses beginning to get the best of him.

  “I could make you a very rich man,” Landry said through gritted teeth, clearly unhappy with Phoenix’s retort. “The publicity alone from this lawsuit is going to benefit you.”

  “Money’s not the most important thing to me, Landry,” Phoenix informed the other man, clenching his teeth as he finally grew tired of the conversation.

  “It should be.”

  Phoenix leaned forward, resting his forearms on the table. “Is that why you’re engaged to one of the biggest gold diggers in Texas?”

  Not surprisingly, Damien didn’t jump to defend his fiancée. Then again, this was the same guy who’d cheated on his wife.

  “Teresa comes from money,” Damien said quietly, his lips a hard, thin line. “The relationship will be good for both of us.”

  “I know Teresa well. We go way back,” Phoenix said, purposely insinuating how well he knew her with the inflection in his tone. “And you’re correct, she does come from a very wealthy family. But in case you haven’t verified her net worth prior to putting that rock on her hand, you might want to know that her father is the one with the money. Not her.”

  “At least her father is a sensible businessman,” Damien returned, the hostility in the man’s tone making Phoenix feel only slightly better.

  And while he mentally celebrated the small win — pissing Landry off didn’t bother him in the least — he pretended to consider the statement. Teresa’s father couldn’t be too sensible if he were willingly backing his daughter’s impending nuptials to one of the biggest assholes Phoenix had ever had the displeasure to meet.

  “Last I recall, you were already married,” Phoenix stated, once more resuming his casual stance, leaning back in his chair.

  “Divorced.” Damien’s response was almost instant, as though the guy knew he had to be on the defensive.

  “I’m sorry to hear that,” Phoenix said, pretending to actually give a shit.

  “I’m not. Mia didn’t have what it took to support a man like me.”

  Phoenix chuckled, glancing down at his hands, imagining them wrapped around Landry’s thick neck. “A man like you.”

  “She was too soft. Too…”

  A growl sounded from behind Phoenix, but he didn’t turn around. He knew that was Tarik’s way of informing him he wasn
’t happy with the conversation.

  “Too what?” Phoenix inquired, wanting Landry to explain himself.

  His heart rate had spiked from the hatred that began sizzling in his veins. He might not know much about Mia, but he knew that she deserved someone a hell of a lot better than Landry.

  “You should know,” Damien smarted off, looking up at Tarik. “The two of you looked kinda cozy the other night. Not that it matters. She got what she wanted,” Damien said, obviously not planning to finish his earlier statement as he met Phoenix’s gaze again.

  “Which was?”

  “Money.”

  “Is that right?” Phoenix said, biting his tongue to keep from saying something he shouldn’t.

  “She walked away with three million. Now she can get the education she never bothered to get. She’ll make some blue collar worker a nice wife one day.” Damien nodded toward Tarik as he said the words.

  “According to what I read, she should’ve received another ten mil for your infidelity,” Tarik stated.

  “That was never proven.”

  “Of course it wasn’t,” Tarik muttered.

  Phoenix growled, the sound radiating from his chest before he even realized it. “We’re through here,” he told Landry.

  Damien pushed to his feet, his eyes still locked with Phoenix’s. “Is this about Mia? Is your lackey over here trying to get in her panties? Trust me, it just takes a little money to get her to spread ’em. I doubt he” — Damien nodded toward Tarik again — “makes nearly enough to satisfy her.”

  Another growl emanated from behind Phoenix, and he knew that a shit storm was about to rain down.

  “We’re. Done,” Phoenix snapped as he leaned forward.

  “You’re making a mistake, Phoenix.”

  “I don’t think I am. But if that’s the case, it won’t be the first time.”

  “See, that’s where you and I differ,” Damien said through gritted teeth. “Every single thing I do, I do for a reason. I don’t make mistakes.”

  Phoenix grinned defiantly. “You already have, Damien. You already have.”

  Damien glared at him for a second longer but then turned and walked out, leaving Phoenix to himself.

  “That’s not the only way we differ, you bastard,” Phoenix muttered to himself.

  »»»»»♥«««««

  TARIK WAS TEMPTED to follow Landry out into the parking lot and beat his ass into a slimy pulp. The bastard irritated the fuck out of him solely by breathing, but then he’d gone and made the mistake of talking shit about Mia. The possessive instinct that had overwhelmed him damn near had him doing something he’d likely regret later.

  Somehow he managed to maintain his composure. But it wasn’t easy.

  “Ten million? Really?” Phoenix asked when he got to his feet, the lethal tone he’d used with Landry no longer present in his voice. Phoenix casually slid his hands into his pockets as he moved toward the door. Tarik fell into step behind him.

  “The prenup had a fidelity clause. Of course, Landry’s lawyers made it damn near impossible for Mia to win that one.”

  “So she just let it go?”

  “From what I can tell, yes. She got a mil for every birthday she spent with him. She asked for a divorce a couple of weeks before year four.”

  “Well, that proves she wasn’t in it for the money.”

  “Honestly, I don’t know what the fuck she saw in him,” Tarik stated fiercely.

  “You and me both,” Phoenix agreed as they stepped out of the conference room and back in the direction of Phoenix’s office. “I’ll be ready to head out in a few.”

  Tarik nodded and then went to his office to get his laptop. He couldn’t stop thinking about Damien’s comment. Could the asshole really be that stupid? Did he honestly believe the bullshit he’d spewed about Mia? Or was that his ego talking? After all, she’d up and left him for cheating. Tarik wasn’t sure that Phoenix had ever dated a woman who would’ve cared as long as she was sitting in the lap of luxury while he dipped his wick in someone else’s pool.

  It made him like Mia all the more, and he realized he already liked her quite a bit. So much so that he’d been a little disappointed that he hadn’t been able to see her over the weekend. At one point, he had considered stopping by her condo to talk to her but had thought better of it. First of all, Phoenix had warned him away from her — not that he had any intention of following direction for the simple fact that he enjoyed the hell out of getting Phoenix riled up. And second, Tarik had spent most of the weekend trying to figure out how to deal with the situation with Phoenix, doing a little more research on Mia Cantrell while he was at it.

  He still didn’t have an answer for how to handle Phoenix, but he did understand Mia quite a bit more now.

  From what he’d read, Mia had been barely twenty when she’d said her vows to Landry. From the pictures he’d pulled up, she had looked like a woman in love. Damien, on the other hand, had looked like a man who’d acquired something he’d longed to get his hands on. Knowing Phoenix as well as he did, Tarik understood the emotion behind an acquisition, but he also knew how quickly the elation faded when all was said and done.

  Based on the stories he’d found, through the years, Mia had stood by Damien’s side, flaunted as a trophy, talked about as though she lacked a single brain cell — by the press and by Landry. He’d noticed a change in Mia through the progression of pictures over time — her smile and the light in her eyes had dimmed over time. Yet Tarik had been surprised to find that there weren’t any stories from Mia’s point of view after she’d asked for a divorce. She had never gone to the press, never tried to fight for the money that was due her. It said a lot about the woman they’d both found themselves taken with.

  “You ready?”

  Tarik looked up to see Phoenix standing in the doorway. He hadn’t even realized he’d sat down at his desk until that moment. The thought bothered him. He wasn’t supposed to sit down. The whole PR/assistant thing was more of a way to stay close to Phoenix without hovering, something that had irritated Phoenix in the beginning. Not that Tarik minded the details of his job. They didn’t bother him one bit. Talking hockey was more a hobby than a job. And Phoenix had never made him feel as though he had to do anything for him. Tarik did them because he wanted to. His real job was to protect Phoenix. And he was clearly failing.

  “I’m ready,” Tarik said as he grabbed his laptop and pulled the key to the Escalade from his pocket. “Where to?”

  “Let’s grab lunch and then stop by the training center. We’ll be meeting Mia at UT around four thirty when her classes are over.”

  Tarik didn’t respond, merely lifted his eyebrow at the news. It wasn’t his place to argue with Phoenix.

  Nor did he want to.

  Chapter Thirteen

  MIA WAS NERVOUS as she exited the building on her way to the spot where she’d left Phoenix that morning. It wasn’t because of what had happened or the possibility that someone had been following her that had her on edge, either. No, her nerves had been slowly ratcheting up one notch at a time for the last hour as she’d counted down the minutes before she would see Phoenix again.

  It could’ve also been due to the information she’d immersed herself in during the day. And no, she wasn’t referring to schoolwork.

  If someone were to ask her to explain anything her professors had discussed in any of her classes, she would’ve been at a total loss. For the better part of the day, she’d been daydreaming, lost in her own thoughts. She felt like a schoolgirl anxiously hoping she would get a glimpse of the boy she was crushing on as she passed him in the hall, never mind the fact that she was, technically, in school. When she wasn’t doing that, she was researching.

  As she walked across the campus, she rapidly glanced from one face to another until she saw him. Luckily, her feet continued to move her forward, because her chest had tightened and her belly fluttered at the mere sight of him standing there exactly where she’d left him that morning. S
he wasn’t the only one who had noticed him, either. Then again, there weren’t many men on the planet who drew attention the way Phoenix Pierce did. And of course, it didn’t hurt that he was wearing a suit and looked like he’d stepped out of GQ magazine.

  “Mia,” he greeted when she approached.

  The way he said her name, his tone low and authoritative, had the army of butterflies desperately trying to escape her stomach.

  “Hey,” she said, still admiring him when he took her bag from her arm, hefting it on his shoulder.

  “I hope you don’t mind, but I brought the car.”

  “I don’t mind.” Hell, she didn’t know what she was even saying, but she decided to go with it because he seemed to be okay with her answer.

  When they approached the sleek black Escalade, she realized the driver was none other than the sexy, intimidating Tarik Marx. She wasn’t sure she should’ve been surprised. He was, after all, Phoenix’s right-hand man — as she’d learned via her Internet research. Since Phoenix was none other than the owner of Austin’s very own NHL team and Tarik was responsible for public relations, it seemed fitting that the two of them were always together. It didn’t hurt that she’d read hints that Tarik was also Phoenix’s bodyguard, although that had never been publicly stated by Phoenix or Tarik. However, she remembered the knowing gleam in Tarik’s eyes when she had mentioned it.

  Still, knowing all that she did now, she ignored the myriad of questions she had for both of them as she smiled at Tarik. His golden eyes traveled over her briefly as though he was sizing her up to determine whether or not she was a threat.

  That or he wanted to eat her for dinner.

  The thought sent a tremor of awareness snaking down her spine.

  She could’ve assured him she wasn’t a threat — not to Phoenix and certainly not to him — but she didn’t. She merely thanked him when he opened the door for her. Phoenix climbed in behind her, and the door closed, sealing them inside.

  Alone.

  At least until Tarik made his way around and into the front seat.