“You're right, da scum would have deserved it, but I don't reckon I want to be visitin' my baby brother in prison all his life, so it's a good ting you didn't beat him to death.” Remy hovered near his brother as he helped Mia out of the car. The way she was shaking, he knew if Cole said anything, his younger brother was likely to lose his shit a second time. Sure enough, Cole opened his mouth. “Shut your trap, fucker. Unless you want a trip to da hospital, cuz you speak and dis time I won't stop him from beatin' you half to death.” The tone of his voice suggested he was serious. “Smart move,” he added when Cole promptly closed his mouth. “I'll drive, you can come back for your car,” he said to his brother.
He ushered Gage and Mia away from the crowd but he kept his eye on the three football players who were glaring daggers at Gage. Remy remembered them from the year before. They were assholes. They were also likely to try to cause trouble for Gage with the rest of the team but he'd let his brother deal with that. Right now, he was focused on getting back to the compound. In all the excitement he'd almost forgotten why he'd shown up there in the first place.
“What's goin' on, Remy? What were you doin' at da school?” Gage asked once they were in Remy's truck headed toward the private dock the Pard owned. Mia was sitting between them but she sat closer to Gage than Remy.
“I'll tell you when I'm not drivin'.”
“Bullshit. Tell me now. It's gotta be someting serious for you to show up durin' prom.”
“Fine. It's papa. He had a bad accident, real bad. As in he might not be alive come mornin', bad.” Remy's hands tightened around the wheel.
Gage stared at him. “What? Oh fuck. What happened?”
“He got tangled up wit' some people he shouldn't have and it came back to bite him on da ass.” Finding out their father got involved with organized crime had been a bit of a blow for Remy. He'd idolized the man because he'd thought he was doing so well because of the diner he'd opened. He should have known something was up when their father got tight lipped about how things were going. He was glad when Gage didn't ask any more questions because he wasn't sure he had the answers.
Mia
She was such a fool. She should have known Cole didn't really like her as a person. He saw her as another conquest, another notch in the proverbial bed post. As she struggled to make her limbs work enough to push Cole away, Mia silently cursed herself for ever agreeing to go to the prom with him. She wasn't attracted to him and yet she'd said yes. When the weight of him was suddenly gone it took her several long seconds to understand why. Gage's voice reached her ears and shame filled her. She wanted to crawl into a hole somewhere and disappear forever. She managed to pull her dress back down and curled on the seat. She wasn't sure she could stand even if she wanted to. With her knees bent, she wrapped her arms around her legs, hugging them to her chest, and buried her face. A tremor shook her and silent tears slipped down her cheeks.
Sounds slowly filtered through the thoughts screaming in her head and she realized Remy had arrived and stopped Gage from beating Cole to death. Wait. Was Gage really so angry that he would have kept hitting Cole until he killed him? Why? She couldn't wrap her mind around it. She was too numb.
“It's okay, Mia. You're okay. He won't ever touch you again.”
She lifted her head from where it rested against her knees. One look at his face told her what she already knew; her cat was close to the surface. She wanted to shift. If she let the leopard take over she wouldn't have to think about what happened, or what would have happened, if Gage hadn't shown up when he did. She vaguely heard Remy ask what happened and at first she thought Gage was going to stay quiet.
“He drugged her. I heard her tellin' him no and he ignored her. “
Mia tuned out the rest of his words. Shame returned and a whimper escaped her. She couldn't face the crowd she knew had gathered. When Gage gently drew her from the car she buried her face against his shoulder. He seemed to understand her need to hide because he scooped her up instead of making her walk and draped the jacket to his tux over her to shield her from view.
She barely registered the drive to the docks or the boat ride back to the compound. She held onto the numbness because she knew if she didn't she was going to break down. She needed to be in her room, away from Gage, when that happened. She didn't want him to see her like that. He already knew she was weak, she didn't want to shame herself further by breaking down in front of him.
“Mia? Cher? We're back at da compound. Do you want me to carry you?”
Mia blinked a little. The boat was tied off, Remy was already making his way into the compound, and she hadn't even realized they'd stopped. “No. I can walk. Your mama...needs you.” She'd heard their conversation even if she hadn't reacted to it. She stepped away from him and for a moment she was afraid she was going to fall flat on her face. Her legs felt wobbly but she managed to stay upright.
“Mia...let me help you get home, first.”
“I said I can walk. Just...just go...I can't...I don't want you to see me so weak.” She felt the tears threatening and she didn't want him to see them.
“Fuck dat. I've known you forever, Mia Lafluer. Da one ting you aren't is weak.” He ignored her protests and scooped her up. “Let whatever he gave you work it's way outta your system before you try gettin' around too much.” With that he headed to her home first. Yeah, he wanted to get home and check on his papa, but Mia was just as important and he wasn't going to let her get hurt just because she wanted to be stubborn.
Mia knew better than to try and argue with him. If she was stubborn, Gage was even worse. Instead, she leaned her head on his shoulder as he carried her up the porch steps to her house. The second he stepped inside her family knew something was wrong.
“What happened? What's wrong?” Eliza saw Gage carrying her daughter and moved as quickly as she could.
“I'll let Mia be da one to tell you dat. It's not my place. I'm gonna carry her to her room, though. Den I gotta get home.” He wouldn't betray Mia's trust by telling her family about it. The only way he would speak up was if she kept quiet and let it eat her up inside.
Mia was grateful that Gage didn't go into detail. “I don't want to talk about it right now, mama. I just want to go to sleep.”
Eliza heard pain in her daughter's voice but she didn't push. “A'right. I'll bring you a glass of warm milk in a little bit.” Warm milk always soothed her eldest daughter.
“Thanks, mama.” When they got to her room and Gage set her on the bed she bit her lip. “Thank you...for not tellin' dem anyting. I can't deal wit' dat tonight.”
“It's not my place to tell, unless you let it eat you up. Get some rest, Mia.” He touched her cheek briefly before he left.
By the time her mother came into her room with the glass of warm milk Mia was changed into her pajamas and in bed. She took the glass but kept her eyes averted. “I really...don't wanna talk right now, mama.”
“I know, cher. It's okay. You just tell me when you're ready.” Eliza kissed her daughter's forehead and left her alone. She would have Adele and Constance sleep in one of the boys' rooms to give Mia some privacy to deal with whatever happened to upset her so much.
