Gage frowned. “What do you mean?”
“How do you feel about her, son?”
Anyone else, Gage might have brushed them off, but not his mama. “I don't know. I tink maybe I love her. When I found out she was in danger...I almost lost control of my leopard. Dat's never happened to me before.”
Caroline nodded. “Dat's what I thought. I tink Mia is your mate.”
Gage blinked at her. “Why do you tink dat?”
“You're protective of her, you're drawn to her. You've been dat way for years, always preferrin' her company over anyone else's. And she makes you crazy, yeah?”
Gage nodded. “Yeah. But I don't tink she feels da same, mama. If we were really mates, she would, right?”
“Or maybe she does and just doesn't understand what she's feelin'. I suppose time will tell. I'm gonna go check on your papa.” She got up and gave his shoulder a squeeze as she passed him.
Gage thought about what she said. Could it be true? If it was, what was he going to do about it? As exhaustion pulled at him, he made his way to his room and collapsed on his bed. It wasn't going to do him any good to think about it right now when she was reeling from Cole's assault. Thinking about Cole made Gage want to beat the shit out of him again and he had to push the anger away in order to get some much needed sleep.
Chapter Eight
Mia
Monday morning. Mia was dreading walking into school. She just knew rumors about what happened Saturday night at prom were already running rampant. That was how things happened. As she and Julius reached the doors leading into the building, she decided she wasn't going to let what happened control who she was or how she acted at school. Her back straightened, her head lifted, and she stepped inside. She saw some of the looks she got from other students and ignored them as she made her way to her locker.
“You're...Mia, right?”
Mia silently groaned and turned to the girl who'd approached her. “Yes.”
The other girl looked down at the floor a moment before she looked back up. “Sorry, I don't mean to bother you. I just...I wanted you to know, you're not alone. You're not the only one he's done that to.” That was all she said and then she was gone.
Mia watched her go. It was cold comfort knowing she wasn't the only girl he'd drugged with the intention of raping. She doubted he called it that, but that was exactly what it was; rape. She tried to put it out of her mind and focus on her day, but it wasn't easy. It was even harder when she caught a glimpse of him and the bruises Gage left behind in their fight.
As the week went by, Mia ignored the whispered comments from those who had no freaking clue what they were talking about. It was only Wednesday and she was already anxious for the weekend to get there so she didn't have to deal with it for a couple of days. On her way to the tables outside where she and Julius often sat during lunch, she stopped off at her locker to change out the books she needed for the rest of the day.
“Hi, Mia.”
Mia turned and arched a brow at the girl who'd stopped next to her locker. “What do you want, Stacy?” She knew her attitude was a bit frosty but she'd disliked Stacy ever since the other girl had dated Gage.
“I know you don't like me, and I figure it's because you used to have a thing for Gage when I dated him, but...look, Cole Ambrose is scum. Don't let what he did to you change who you are. Not like I did.”
Mia blinked at her. “Are you saying...? When? Never mind. Dat was rude.”
“When we were thirteen. Don't let him change who you are. You're better than that. I wish I'd realized that back then, about myself, but...anyway, I just wanted to say that.”
Mia watched her walk away. Stacy was the seventh girl who'd come up to her about what had happened to let her know she wasn't alone. It was in that moment a decision was made. She needed to press charges. But what proof did she have other than the fight? She frowned a moment. Todd. He was taking photos...he saw what Cole did. Forgetting her books, she made her way to the yearbook room where she knew Todd spent his lunch break. “Knock knock.” She tapped the door before she stepped inside.
Todd looked up from what he was doing. “Hi. Look, if you're here to read me the riot act for not speaking up sooner about what I saw, Gage beat you to it. I'm sorry I didn't say anything right away. I was a coward and you...got hurt.”
“It's okay, I understand. Cole's a jock, you were worried about what might happen to you. Da important ting is you did go to Gage about it before tings got...bad. I need your help, Todd. You were takin' pictures, have you gotten dem uploaded to da computer yet?”
“I was just doing that. Why?”
“I need to know if you happened to get a shot of him puttin' da drug in my drink. I know it's a long shot, but I really need you to look. Can you do dat?”
“Yeah, sure. Gimme a sec.” His fingers tapped away and soon he was scrolling through the photos. “Well, all be damned. Jackpot.” He motioned Mia closer.
She leaned in and for the first time since Saturday she grinned. “Can you print dat off for me?”
“Yeah.” There were three shots, one of him dropping it in the glass, one of him swirling it around, and the final shot of him handing the cup to Mia. “Here you go. All three photos. I'm still really sorry I waited so long. I hope this helps.”
