“If you must know,” she says, closing the laptop and spinning around toward me on the stool. “I’ve kept a journal for years now. It’s where I detail stuff. Write down what’s happening, what’s being done for me.”
I cross my arms. “And what’s being donetoyou?”
“Either you already know, and you’re asking to gain my trust. Or you’re the clueless newbie who can’t help me, anyway.”
I shift back on my heels, swallowing loudly. “What if it’s something else?”
She chuckles, shaking her head. “No offense. But it never is.”
“What if I do want to earn your trust, but not for the reasons you think?” I ask gruffly.
“You already lost it,” she says pointedly, like what’s done is done. Forever.
“I get where you’re going with this. That I maybe didn’t handle things right before. But this isn’t about me. It’s about you and your manager and what you want your life to look like.”
“What I want my life to look like? Now, that’s rich!” She stands, pacing back and forth, hand going to her mouth deep in thought. “I’m forced to take medication I don’t need. I’m treated like a child without the ability to function or make my own decisions. Hell, I’m a virgin, and yet I still have an IUD, just in case. Just to make sure nothing—not romance, not family, not a future—gets in the way of Edwin’s plans for me.”
I inhale sharply, stung by her words and knocked flat by the pain etched on her face. “See, that’s what we need to know, Mia. So your parents can help you.”
“My parents?” She screams, raising her hands. “Are you out of your mind? Who do you think signed away parental rights to Edwin in the first place? God, this is pointless!”
“And so what are you going to do, Mia?” I ask darkly.
She stops pacing, eyes drilling into me. Like she’s searching for a connection she can no longer find.
“I’m going to… I’m going to get a lawyer, and I’m going to make a huge legal stink, and?—”
“The guardianship blocks you from seeking legal counsel unless it’s court-appointed.”
She bites her bottom lip, face going as white as the sheets on the line earlier.
“But you already know that, don’t you?”
Her head sinks back, and she lets out a ragged sigh. “I have a plan now. One where I don’t need help. Not from you. Not from anyone else. I’m going to appeal directly to my fans. Try to put enough public pressure on the legal system, on Edwin, on whoever will listen so that I can finally be free.”
“I know you don’t want to believe this, Mia, but I can help.”
A caustic laugh escapes her lips. “You?” She arches an eyebrow, imperious like the princess I once took her for. “You’d have to care to be able to help me. So would Lone Star Security. So would my parents. But if there’s anything I’ve learned from this situation, it’s this: I can’t rely on anyone.”
What scares me most about her words isn’t that she rages or makes a loud scene. It’s the way her gestures diminish, her voice goes quiet, as she speaks with the kind of determination that means I can’t change her mind.
Turns out, the most fragile thing about Mia Love was never her safety or her ego. It wasn’t the public persona or the fame.It was the trust she placed in me—the trust I shattered without a word or a second glance.
Chapter
Fourteen
MIA
Before Maverick can answer, I grab my laptop, heading silently for the bedroom.
“Is that it?” he asks, raw-voiced, face darkening.
I let the click of the closed door answer for me. An ache tugs at my ribs. Maybe I’m being too hard on him. But I can’t fall back into old patterns. Like waiting for someone to save me. If there’s anything Maverick has taught me, it’s that I ultimately must act alone.
Hours pass in a flash, the only witness shadows creeping long across the floor as I hit the record button again. Try to get it right.
Nothing about this is performance. It’s raw. Authentic. Dangerous. Yet, my body trembles, and a knot tightens in my stomach. Am I walking into another Edwin trap without even knowing it?
