“Asshole!” he heard the damn bird yell from behind him. Little fucker was actually right for once – he was an asshole. No woman deserved the shit he’d just pulled on Mia.
He’d prepared himself for the sight of her stripping in preparation for her shower but to his surprise he found her staring at herself in the mirror, her fingers trailing gently over her lips – her puffy, well-kissed lips. If it hadn’t been for the tears slipping down her cheeks, he would have been pleased with himself for the look of wonderment in her features. But there were tears and even though she looked awe-struck, she looked hurt as well. Which was a brutal reminder that no matter what, she really was an innocent. Even if she’d had a plan to worm her way into his life for his money, it was clear that the orgasm she’d just experienced was her first.
Her eyes caught his in the mirror and she dropped her hand. But she didn’t rail at him like he expected. It was far worse when she simply asked, “Why?”
“I was trying to make a point,” he said lamely. “It went too far. I’m sorry.”
“You did this because I said you have so much to offer?” she asked in confusion.
“Look, the proposal I made to help you start over with your own place and school was legit but that’s as far as it goes. I’d only give you enough to get on your feet.”
Mia shook her head, a genuinely confused look crossing her features. “This was some kind of lesson?” she managed to get out. “Because you think I want your money?”
He didn’t answer which was answer enough because her tears stopped and she suddenly pushed past him. She disappeared into the closet and within a minute she was back out, the ugly yellow dress back on her gaunt frame. God, he had really hoped she had burned that dress. It wasn’t until she was out of the room that it registered what the dress meant and he hurried after her.
“Are we really doing this again?” he yelled as she ran down the stairs. He managed to reach her before she was able to open the door and he kept his hand pinned on the heavy wood to keep it closed. She yelled in frustration and then turned on him like he would have expected. But she stilled almost as quickly in his grip and his shameful body reacted once again to having her in such close proximity.
“I don’t give a crap about your money,” she snapped. “I thought you were a good, decent guy who deserved to have someone in his life besides just his dogs,” she muttered.
He searched her features for deception but there was no hint of it. Elise had been a good liar too, he reminded himself. But it was pathetic because he really wanted to believe her. That was just his dick talking, he convinced himself. His still hard dick.
But if he let her go, she’d take off and he couldn’t allow that. So he settled for just enough of the truth.
“You hit a nerve,” he admitted.
There was no change in her demeanor but he supposed the fact that she was still standing there was a good sign.
“I haven’t exactly been successful in my past relationships. Most of them turned about to be less about wanting me and more about wanting what I had to offer,” he explained. Her eyes widened at his deliberate use of the word “offer.” Just to make sure she really got it he said, “The last one took a lot more from me than all the rest...a hell of a lot more.”
He could see she wanted to ask the obvious question about what had been taken but he was glad when she didn’t. Not that he would have told her. He realized he was still holding on to her and forced himself to open his hands. She stepped back instantly and he felt a strange loss go through him.
***
Mia wished the tingling under her skin would stop. After-effects of her orgasm, she guessed, since her anger at Vin had lessened somewhat. She had seen a flash of pain go through him at the mention of whatever woman who’d done a number on him in the past. It wasn’t an excuse for his harsh treatment of her but part of her fury had been built on the humiliation that had coursed through as she realized how quickly and easily she’d come apart at his touch. She’d touched herself before but the end result had been nothing like what Vin had done to her.
If the encounter had been based on something other than the lesson he’d intended it to be, she had no doubt that she would have let him take her completely. Even now part of her craved to feel his mouth on hers again. And the feel of him licking her nipple while his fingers played with her...
It had been like being set on fire. And the fear of something inside of her winding almost unbearably tighter and tighter had nearly consumed her enough to beg him to stop, but then suddenly she’d been flying. Her whole body had stopped being her own and had belonged to Vin in that moment. He’d owned her. And the whole thing had lasted less than five minutes.
She knew her options were limited when it came to leaving the safety of Vin’s house. The sensible thing to do would be to accept his offer to pay for an apartment, but now more than ever, that left a sour taste in her mouth. The next best thing to do would be to ask Dom if she could stay with him and Logan, but for reasons she couldn’t explain – and didn’t want to think too much on – she’d rather be here.
The cool, dominant man across from her was messing with her head and her heart but at this moment her heart was winning out. Damn it, she liked him. Even after the things he’d said to her, deep down she felt comfortable around him – at least in the few moments when he didn’t have her wound up tight with desire. And the information he’d shared about his past relationships, while minimal, was enough to prove that he didn’t want her to take off. She knew that was more because he was concerned about her safety rather than from a desire to have her close, but it reminded her that he was a good man. He could have tossed her and the animals out on day one but he hadn’t. But how the hell was she supposed to proceed?
“You can’t kiss me again,” she finally said.
He seemed taken aback by her demand but he nodded. It was a stupid thing to insist on since Vin Barretti struck her as someone who would take what he wanted when he wanted it, but since she couldn’t trust herself not to give in to even the slightest touch, it would have to do. After all, so far all he’d done was kiss her out of anger or in an attempt to punish – what the hell would happen if he actually did those things because he really wanted her?
***
They were back exactly where they started. Avoiding each other. Even a week of commuting for more than an hour in the car each day had done nothing to mend the rift he had caused with his spiteful reaction to an ill-perceived comment. Even he had to admit the truth – Mia had truly been curious about his lack of a relationship because she thought he was a good guy. And he’d fucked it up.
“Hey,” he heard Dom say from his office doorway. He glanced up from the sandwich he’d been staring at on his desk – the one she’d made him for lunch along with her own – and motioned for his brother to come in. He’d never, ever taken lunch to work with him but for some reason Mia had made him a turkey sandwich every morning for the past week and left it next to his empty travel mug on the kitchen counter near the coffee pot. She’d even stuck a couple of pieces of fruit in the bag.
“We’ve got a problem,” Dom said as he dropped a folder down on his desk. The dead serious tone in his brother’s voice had Vin sitting straight up and reaching for the folder. He glanced at the contents and sighed when he saw the computer gibberish.
“You know I can’t read this shit,” he muttered as he flipped through the few pages.
“Our servers have been hacked,” Dom said.
Vin froze. “What?”
“Desi found it this morning,” he muttered. “It happened more than a week ago.”
Vin cursed. Their company’s reputation was built on protecting their customers, both their information and their bodies – something like this could destroy them.
“What’d they get?”
Dom’s hesitation had Vin looking up from the papers. From the look on Dom’s face, he knew it was really bad.
“They went after our personal
servers, not the company’s,” Dom said. “It looks like they got information on Mia.”
Vin was standing before he even realized it. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“Emails between myself and her doctors at the hospital before she was committed to the psych ward.”
Rage went through Vin. “What the fuck, Dom?” he shouted.
“My texts also back up to that server,” Dom said quietly. “There would have been enough there for them to piece together that I hid her at your house.”
“Son of a bitch!” Vin yelled as he stepped back from the desk, his chair crashing to the floor. “How could you let this happen?” he snapped.
Dom paled at the attack and he instantly felt guilty. His brother was one of the smartest men he knew and also the savviest when it came to computers. If he didn’t know something, he made sure to hire the people who did. Not to mention that he was probably already torturing himself for the breach and didn’t need Vin to add his shit to the pile.
“Sorry,” Vin muttered as he reached for the chair. “You think it was some overzealous reporter?”
Dom dropped into one of the chairs across from his desk. “Probably not someone who’s legit since he would have had to pay a really good hacker to get past our firewall. Freelancer maybe – for the tabloids.”
Vin sat back down and ran a hand through his hair. “I guess it doesn’t really change anything,” he murmured.
“It could have also been Hamilton’s accomplice,” Dom said.
Shit, he hadn’t considered that. Chances were the guy who’d rigged the collars for Mia’s father and helped him hide his true identity for so long was in the wind by now. But he probably would have had the skill needed to hack their system himself.
“Fuck, I have to tell her,” Vin muttered.
“I heard,” came a voice from his office door.
Vin wanted to rail at his brother all over again for not closing the damn door, but the reality was Mia wouldn’t have heard a thing if he’d managed to keep his temper in check and his voice down.
“Come on in, Mia,” he called. He was proud of how well she carried herself as she crossed the room and sat down, especially since her pale skin and wide eyes said that she was anything but unafraid at the moment. It was all he could do not to pull her into his arms and tell her everything would be okay. That’d he’d keep her safe.
“Whoever helped your father probably went underground the second his crimes were discovered,” Dom offered.
“But you don’t know that for sure,” she whispered. “And why would he steal information if he wasn’t planning on using it?”
He could see Dom didn’t have a reasonable answer so Vin said, “It doesn’t matter. He won’t get anywhere near you.”
Her copper eyes landed on him and held his gaze as if testing the validity of his words. Whatever she saw must have made her feel somewhat better because she smiled briefly and nodded. And that tiny show of trust made him feel like king of the fucking world.
“Dom, can you give us a minute?”
Dom nodded and left and Vin got up to sit in the chair next to her. “Nothing changes, okay? This guy doesn’t get to take the life you’re putting together for yourself.” He couldn’t help but reach out and take one of her hands into his.
When she nodded and gave him a reassuring squeeze, he actually found himself leaning in so he could brush his lips over hers. But at the last minute he managed to remember he’d agreed not to kiss her again. Damn, that had been a smart move on her part.
Chapter 6
“Asshole!”
Vin bit back the smile as the irritated bird stretched out his wings and flapped them angrily. Mia glanced up at him and his insides did something funny when she smiled at him. She crooned to the bird on her arm and the cockatoo settled and then bumped his head against her fingers.
“What’s his story?” Vin asked as he moved farther into her room. The kittens came running at him and he quickly scooped them up so they wouldn’t use his leg as their personal scratching post. He deposited them on the bed and kept an eye on them so they wouldn’t tumble off the edge.
“Asshole!”
“I’d say it’s pretty obvious what his problem is,” Mia joked.
Vin did smile this time. “I meant his wing,” he said.
“I guess his owner was pretty frustrated that Percy had only learned the one word.” She settled the bird back on his perch. “Apparently it was something the guy’s wife called him all the time and Percy picked up on it. The jerk grabbed Percy by the wing and threw him across the room. His wing snapped and by the time the wife took him to the shelter, the wing had already started to heal and it was too late to try and fix it,” she grumbled.
“You have a way with him,” Vin said and was surprised when she came and sat next to him on the bed. “All of them,” he managed to get out as he tried to shift his weight discreetly to hide the effect her proximity was having on his body.
“Do you think it’s something I could do someday? Like for a living?” she asked.
“What? Take care of animals, you mean?”
She nodded.
“I don’t see why not. Riley does,” he pointed out. “I could invite her over if you want to talk to her about it.”
He could see she was reluctant but he wasn’t sure if it was because she didn’t want to be around other people or if it was because the woman in question was one of her father’s victims – a lucky one since she’d managed to walk away mostly unscathed - but a victim nonetheless.
“I’d like that,” Mia finally said. “Have you know them long? Her and her husband?”
He shook his head. “That day was the first day I met either of them,” he admitted, hating the way she stiffened when he mentioned that horrendous day. But she recovered quickly.
“But they were friends with Dom already?”
“Yeah. Gabe and Logan went to college together so they’d been friends for a really long time. I’d only been back in the country for a couple of days when the kidnapping happened so I didn’t have a chance to meet any of Logan’s friends or his sister before everything happened.”
“Where were you?”
He tensed. Talking about Ren was always difficult for him. Not to mention Rafe. He’d failed not one but two brothers – it was a weakness he hated having to admit to.
“Sorry,” she suddenly said and made a move to get up but he grabbed her wrist before she could escape and gently pulled her back down.
“I was looking for my brother,” he began.
***
Mia flinched at the heat that flared under her skin where Vin still had a hold of her. She should pull free of his gentle grip but his thumb was rubbing back and forth over the pulse point on her wrist. She wondered if Vin was even aware he was doing it. A little part of her wanted to believe he needed a connection between them as he told her about something that was clearly a painful subject.
“What’s his name?” she prodded when he fell silent.
“Ren. Lorenzo,” he said with a smile. “We all shortened the traditional Italian names our mom gave us so they’d be more American. Vincenzo, Dominic, Lorenzo and Rafael.”
So he had four brothers.
“What happened to Ren?”
“His unit was ambushed in Afghanistan. But his body was never found so we’re not sure if he’s alive or dead. I feel like I’ve searched that fucking country a dozen times but I can’t find any proof either way. I go back every time there’s a new lead but they come less and less now,” he admitted.
“I’m sorry,” she murmured.
His fingers drifted up towards her palm and she was surprised when he laced their fingers together.
“I was supposed to watch out for them,” he whispered. “I promised.”
“Your brothers?” she offered.
He nodded. “After we lost our parents I swore to all three of them that I’d keep us together. That we’d still be a family.”
His hand tightened around hers but not enough to hurt. “You were a good big brother,” she said softly.
Vin shook his head violently. “I wasn’t. We lost Rafe within weeks. His real father took him away and I couldn’t stop it. He was begging us not to let him go.” The pain in Vin’s voice had Mia’s heart breaking for him.
“His real father?”
“My mother cheated on my father with some guy she met at the trucking company she worked part time at. It went on even after Rafe was born but my father didn’t find out the truth until Rafe was almost eight. He confronted her and she admitted there’d been more than one affair and that Rafe wasn’t his. He stabbed her to death and then shot himself,” Vin grated out.
Horror shot through Mia and she instinctively wrapped her other hand around the one already clenching hers. “Vin,” she gasped. When his eyes shifted up to meet hers she nearly reared back at the pain she saw.
“It was my fault,” he said in a barely audible voice. “I was the one who told him.”
“Your father?” she asked.
Vin nodded. “I saw her with one of the men. I knew it wasn’t right so I told my dad.” His voice broke as he admitted, “I thought he would leave her. I didn’t know...”
“It’s not your fault,” she said firmly as she reached up to grab his cheek and force his eyes back to meet hers. “There was no way you could have known what would happen.”
“It doesn’t change the fact that my decision tore my family apart,” he said bitterly. “We have no idea where Rafe is and Dom’s been killing himself for twenty years trying to find him. And Ren...if he is alive...”
Mia didn’t need him to finish the thought. If Ren had survived the initial attack, he would have wished himself dead a thousand times over as he suffered at the hands of his captors.
Any words Mia could think of seemed inadequate and trite so she did the only thing she could think of and wrapped her arms around Vin’s neck. He stiffened at first but then she felt his arms go around her waist and he buried his head against the crook of her shoulder. There were no tears or words but the fact that he held her so close for so long gave her some measure of hope that she’d done the right thing.
Loving Vin (Barretti Security Series, #1) Page 6
