Queen of Harte's

by Brooke Harris

  ‘I don’t get it,’ Eva said shaking her head. ‘This is old news. The office announced the acquisition of those companies down the country months ago. Nathan would have known all of this ages ago. Where’s the real story? About the Da Lucas.’

  ‘He didn’t write it, Eva.’

  Eva’s forehead pinched. ‘But he knows everything, he has all the research. All the stuff you told me in the hospital…even the stuff about my dad. It’s a huge scandal. It would make him one hell of a reporter. He’d be the hottest journalist in the country.’

  ‘And it would make him one hell of a shit friend. He couldn’t do that to you. He couldn’t even do it to Julian. Nathan owes Julian his life. He knows that. He’s not about to stab Julian in the back now.’

  Eva rolled her eyes.

  Shelly slapped her forehead with her hand. ‘Shit, sorry, terrible choice of expression.’

  ‘Did you have something to do with this, Shell? Did you ask Nathan not to write it? Oh God, that’s not why you’re back together, is it?’

  Shelly laughed and snorted. ‘Ha, no. Jesus. It’s been a while since I had to sleep with a man to get what I wanted.’

  Eva’s stomach was already dodgy enough without a reminder from Shelly that she had slept with Julian in the past. Thinking about it now made her feel even more galled than she already did.

  ‘Nathan’s here, isn’t he?’ Eva said realising that Shelly’s eyes were darting towards the door every so often.

  ‘He just wanted to check that you were okay.’

  ‘Is he waiting in the hall?’

  He’s gone to get us some coffees. I told him to give us ten minutes.’

  ‘Ten minutes? That’s how long you thought it would take to get me on your side?’ Eva knocked her shoulder gently against Shelly. She was half-joking, half-furious. And wholeheartedly exhausted. She didn’t have the energy for any more confrontation.

  Shelly looked at her watch. ‘Well, it only took five.’

  Eva laughed dryly. ‘It’s going to take a lot more than coffee, Shelly. Nathan better not have any more surprises up his sleeve.’

  ‘No surprises. Just a suggestion.’

  Eva stared at her friend blankly.

  ‘Go see Mia,’ Shelly said.

  ‘Not a chance. No fucking way. Nope, nah-ah, not happening.’

  ‘Go see her, Eva, before you completely crack up.’

  Chapter 13

  Eva checked and rechecked the address that Nathan had given her. He’d asked someone in his office to do a little digging to find out where Mia lived. Shelly could have easily pulled up Mia’s address from the office files, but Eva knew it was Nathan’s attempt at a peace offering and she’d accepted it reluctantly. But did Nathan have to ask someone with illegible handwriting, Eva decided, squinting to try to make the words on the page out. She wasn’t sure if she should be knocking on number twenty-seven or number fifty-seven. And looking down the street at a row of pretty semi-detached two stories, Eva wasn’t even sure if she was on the right road. This just didn’t seem like the type of place Mia would live. It was very suburban family and very not Mia. Then again, Eva didn’t think Mia would turn out to be a mother to a gorgeous ten-year-old little boy or married to the man Eva loved. A mismatched house was the least of the surprises.

  Eva gathered herself on the porch for a few minutes. She’d thought about calling or texting Mia first, but she’d decided against it. Mia might have warned her not to come or had time to conjure some sort of a story. No! This was definitely something that had to happen spontaneously.

  Eva pressed the doorbell and waited, regretting not taking Shelly and Nathan up on their offer to go for a couple of glasses of dutch courage in the hotel bar before she left.

  She didn’t have to wait long. Mia opened the door with a smile, looking a lot less surprised than Eva anticipated.

  ‘Oh, so you’ve decided you want to talk to me now after all,’ Mia said. ‘Come in.’ Mia turned her back and walked back inside.

  Eva glanced back out onto the road and down the street. It was starting to get dark but children were still out on the green playing. Eva didn’t spot Daniel, but she hoped he was out with his friends and not in the house with his mother.

  ‘Close the door behind you,’ Mia shouted back from the kitchen. ‘It’s bloody freezing out there.’

  Eva took a deep breath and pushed the door over. She followed Mia into the kitchen. Fuck, it felt weird, she thought, hoping her apprehension wasn’t written all over her face.

  ‘Coffee?’ Mia said as Eva came through the door. ‘Or are you a tea person?’

  ‘Neither, thanks. I’m not staying long.’

  ‘Okay,’ Mia said, putting the kettle back down on the shelf. ‘C’mon. You look positively frozen. I’ve a fire lighting in here.’ Mia walked through pretty double doors of pine and frosted glass leading into a small, cosy living room.

  Mia sat at one end of the sofa in front of a fabulous roaring, open fire, and Eva sat at the other end. A music channel, with the volume turned down low, was playing on the television in the corner. It was all so normal. Like they’d been friends for years and Eva had just popped over for a catch-up.

  ‘Is he here?’ Eva said breaking a short silence.

  ‘Who?’ Mia seemed instantly on guard.

  ‘Daniel?’ Eva replied.

  ‘I don’t think that’s any of your business,’ Mia snarled.

  ‘Sorry. I just…I have some questions and I don’t think they’re something you’d like him to hear.’

  ‘Well, he’s not in this room. So unless you plan on shouting your head off, I think we’re good.’

  Fucking Mia. Always had to pass a bitchy comment, Eva thought, furious.

  ‘I’ll start with the obvious. Do you know where Julian is?’

  ‘Yes.’

  Eva hopped up off the couch. She hadn’t anticipated that answer. ‘Where? Oh, my God, where?’

  ‘So you are doing the shouting thing, then,’ Mia said glaring through Eva.

  Eva wanted to take the fuck ugly lavender and mint vase off the mantel and crack it over Mia’s head. But she held herself together, apologised, and sat back down.

  ‘It looks like we’ve something in common,’ Mia said changing the subject.

  Eva snorted. She had nothing in common with Mia. This was getting her nowhere. Eva eyed the door. She wasn’t going to sit through Mia’s nastiness, but she’d kick herself if she came all this way and didn’t at least ask what Mia meant. ‘Really, Mia. What is it you think we have in common?’

  ‘We both love a man who doesn’t love us back,’ Mia finished.

  Eva swallowed hard. Hearing Mia’s confession hurt more than Eva imagined it would. She wasn’t prepared. She’d never expected honesty from Mia and she had no idea how in the hell to reply to a revelation that big.

  ‘So you’re in love with Julian Harte.’ The words tumbled from Eva’s mouth without her thinking, as if somehow knowing the information gave her some sort of subconscious power. It made them equals at the least. Their marriage might have been nothing more than a fancy contract to Julian, but it certainly seemed to mean a lot more to Mia than just a piece of paper.

  ‘I love Julian. But I am not in love with him. There’s a big difference.’

  Eva grunted, hearing Julian’s words in Mia’s mouth. ‘Gah. Was that line one of your wedding vows or something?’

  ‘Excuse me?’ Mia mumbled.

  An uncomfortable tightness eased in Eva’s chest. It wasn’t gone completely but at least she could breathe without it feeling like the air in her throat might choke her.

  ‘Nothing,’ Eva said dryly. Mia couldn’t have known that Julian used the exact same expression when describing their marriage. Maybe they were both more alike than Eva had realised before, or maybe they’d rehearsed what to say if the truth ever came out. Either way, it didn’t really matter. There was a big difference. And that big difference was that Julian didn’t just love Eva. He was in lo
ve with her.

  ‘Eva, sit back down,’ Mia said with a softness in her voice.

  Mia was attempting to act casual, like they weren’t both in hell. But she needn’t have bothered. They were so far past the point of niceties. Their mutual hatred for one another was only matched by their mutual concern for Julian.

  Eva was so tense that she felt like she was leaning back against broken glass as she lowered herself into a nearby armchair.

  ‘I think we’re going to need something a little stronger than coffee,’ Mia insisted.

  ‘No. Thank you. As I said, I’m fine,’ Eva reiterated.

  ‘Well, I’m not.’

  Mia disappeared into the kitchen and returned a few moments later with a bottle of red wine, a bottle opener wedged under her arm, and two wine glasses dangling from her fingers. She set both glasses on the table and opened the wine skilfully. The label looked beyond fancy, and no doubt expense. The way Mia handled the bottle, the way she poured the first glass…Eva guessed she knew a lot about wine. Maybe Julian had taught her. Eva’s face pinched as she wondered what else Julian had shared with his wife. Ugh! That word hurt her brain.

  Mia didn’t fill the second glass. She put the bottle down on the table with a force that was unnecessarily excessive. Eva’s eyes narrowed. Was Mia trying to intimidate her?

  ‘So, you think you know the boy?’ Mia said, after sitting down on the sofa, leaning on the arm closest to Eva and draining a large mouthful of wine.

  ‘The boy?’ Eva said, not sure why in the hell Mia was bringing Daniel into it.

  Mia snorted and Eva rolled her eyes. Mia’s sweet disposition was dissolving as quickly as Eva had expected it to.

  ‘You’ve only met the man, Eva. I’ve known the boy.’

  Oh. She was talking about Julian, Eva thought, relieved. If Mia was trying to turn this into a competition, she was a little late to the event. Mia was Julian’s wife. She’d already fucking won!

  ‘So I didn’t know him as a kid. So what?’ Eva replied.

  ‘So, then you don’t really know him.’

  ‘Mia. That makes no fucking sense. So people only know the people they’ve grown up with? Yeah, right. I know Julian. I know him inside out! You’re just freaking out because the boy wanted you, but the man wants me.’ Eva couldn’t believe she had said something so cheesy, but hell if it worked, she’d throw every cliché in the book at Mia.

  ‘So you think he’s in love with you?’ Mia said. For someone sipping so much wine, her words were painfully dry.

  Eva stood up again, not sure why, since it was a little dramatic. ‘I don’t think it, Mia. I know he is.’

  ‘Why? Because he told you?’

  ‘Well, yes actually. Because he told me.’

  ‘Eva, he was dying. He would have told you Mickey Mouse was his uncle if he thought that would save you.’

  ‘Save me?’ Eva snapped. She was furious, she wanted to storm away, but she wanted information out of Mia far more.

  ‘From yourself. Jesus, Eva. You’re so helpless. You’re afraid of your own shite. Why are you the only person who can’t see that?’

  ‘I’m not,’ Eva argued tiredly.

  ‘I’m not,’ Mia mimicked. ‘Excellent comeback, Eva. Real conviction from you there.’ Mia snorted out a laugh and quickly raised her hand to her mouth as wine attempted to come back out.

  It was Eva’s turn to laugh. ‘That’s fucking disgusting, you know.’

  Mia exaggerated a gulp and tossed an eyebrow in Eva’s direction. ‘There, I knew you could do bitchy if you tried.’

  ‘What can I say? You bring out the bitch in me.’ Eva tossed her head to one side instinctively as she spoke.

  ‘Whoa! You’re on a roll. Don’t stop now, girl.’

  ‘Mia. Fuck off. Why did you let me in? So you could be nasty as usual? Aren’t there enough new girls in the office for you to pick on?’

  ‘You know, if you were a bit more like this most of the time…I think I could like you.’

  ‘You know, if I was a bit more like this most of the time…I think I could hate myself.’

  Mia smirked. ‘I think I know what he sees in you.’

  ‘This question is probably redundant, but I’ll ask anyway. What does Julian see in me, Mia?’ Eva fully expected a sarcastic ass answer, but she was past caring. If Mia wanted to play, she was definitely up for the challenge.

  ‘You’ve got fire. It’s just covered in a smokescreen of damage and scars,’ Mia said, oddly softly.

  ‘Scars? What the fuck do you know about scars?’ Eva could have kicked herself as soon as the words slipped out, remembering that Mia spent her childhood in the same orphanage as Julian. ‘Shit, sorry. That was out of line.’

  ‘No. It wasn’t. I’ve been hard on you. You’ve a right to find out why,’ Mia said.

  ‘So why?’

  Eva watched as Mia eyed up the bottle of wine in front of them. Her glass was drained and she was reaching forward to fill it again. ‘You sure you won’t have some? It’s good stuff.’

  Eva already had a headache; wine was the last thing she wanted. But maybe Mia needed the security blanket of girlfriends chatting over a couple of drinks. They were far from friends, and Eva knew Mia would be far from just having a couple of drinks, but Eva decided to play along.

  ‘Yeah, okay. Just a small one.’

  Mia filled both glasses close to overflowing and passed one to Eva.

  ‘Thanks,’ Eva said taking a glass and concentrating on not spilling.

  ‘You haven’t heard from him since he left the hospital, have you?’ Mia asked.

  ‘No.’ Eva thought about lying to sound less desperate, but if Mia knew where Julian was, then she most likely also knew that he was also avoiding Eva. Maybe Mia even knew why. Shit as it felt that Mia had the upper hand, it was worth a little humiliation if Mia could give her answers.

  Mia shook her head. ‘That’s not fair of him. I thought he might have called you or at least text.’

  Eva squinted. Mia actually sounded genuine. Concerned even. It was Oscar-worthy.

  ‘Well, you’ll be glad to know I haven’t heard a single word. He decided we were over and that was that.’

  ‘Over before you even began,’ Mia mumbled into her glass.

  Eva’s jaw twisted and she sighed with her mouth closed.

  ‘Don’t get pissy, Eva. That’s not what I meant. I actually think Julian is the one in the wrong here. He’s not even giving things a chance.’

  ‘Mia, where is he?’ Tears laced Eva’s words.

  ‘I can’t tell you. I want to, Eva. I know you probably don’t believe that, but I do.’

  ‘Okay, and you’re not telling me because…’

  ‘Why do you think?’

  Eva dropped her head. She didn’t really want the answer to her next question. ‘Julian told you not to, didn’t he?’

  Mia nodded, and the already shattered pieces of Eva’s heart turned to dust.

  ‘I want to tell you because Julian Harte never needs anyone. But right now he needs you,’ Mia said.

  Eva’s head was reaching her bursting point. She’d never had a migraine that bad before.

  ‘You look like shit,’ Mia said, taking Eva’s glass from her twitching fingers and putting it down on the floor.

  ‘Thanks,’ Eva snorted, unsurprised.

  ‘I mean you don’t look well. Are you okay?’

  ‘Not really,’ Eva admitted. ‘Have you any aspirin?’

  ‘Yeah, sure. Hang on.’

  Mia stood up weirdly awkward and Eva couldn’t miss the rectangular paper that fell out of Mia’s back pocket onto the couch. Eva waited until she could hear Mia opening and closing cupboards in the kitchen before she reached for the pale blue leaflet. She scanned it as quickly as she could, barely taking in every second word. She flicked right through to the back. She couldn’t believe the words on the page. Suddenly, no amount of aspirin would be enough.

  ‘Well, that was subtle,’ Eva barked, cha
rging into the kitchen.

  Mia turned around with some small white pills in her hand. ‘Here.’

  ‘You wanted me to find this,’ Eva said waving the pamphlet that was now shaken out into just one large page that she couldn’t figure out and didn’t give a shit about folding back.

  Mia calmly filled a glass of water from the sink. She dropped the two, small white tablets onto the counter and slammed the half-full glass down beside them. ‘Take those.’

  Eva looked at the pills through squinted eyes. Her head felt like someone was attacking her brain with scissors, but she wouldn’t give Mia the satisfaction.

  ‘Why did you want me to see this? This is about organ donation, for fuck’s sake. Do they want Julian to be a donor or something? Oh ,God. Oh, my God.’ Eva’s hands were on her head, and she was spinning around on the spot. ‘Oh, my God.’

  ‘No.’

  ‘No. Fucking no? That’s all you’re going to say? Just one word?’

  ‘Will you keep your voice down. Jesus, Eva,’ Mia snapped, rushing to close the kitchen door leading into the hall.

  ‘No. No, I fucking won’t. You want me to shut up? Well, tell me what in the hell is going on. I don’t care how much you hate me…fucking tell me.’

  ‘I told you. I can’t! I promised Julian and I owe him a lot more than a goddamn promise.’

  ‘So, what? Julian has banned you from talking to me, and you’re just going to do what he says?’ Eva growled.

  ‘Oh, don’t you dare pull that card on me, little miss pathetic,’ Mia replied equally aggravated. ‘You’re the queen of being bossed around. Tell me, Eva…was it your idea to come here or did your friends give you an encouraging push? You know Nathan, the guy who almost got Julian killed. The guy who’s been plotting against him for months so he could print shit in his shoddy newspaper. And yet you still judge me? Fuck you, Eva. Fuck. You.’

  ‘So, what? You’re using this shitty hospital jargon on this page to say what Julian won’t let you say with words.’ Eva’s grip on the leaflet was so tight her fingers burned.