“Mia?”
I checked all the usual spots in the house, but she wasn’t occupying any of them. As I walked through the house, I could hear her raucous laughter and I followed it through to the living room. Standing in the doorway, I saw she sat with her legs curled beneath her while Dom laid his head in her lap. Her fingers worked through his hair deftly.
The same anger that burned through me when I saw Dante near her sparked up in my chest again. We were never on the same page long enough to have a moment like this. My heart tugged at how candidly the affection ran between the pair of them. I craved for devotion that came because of a genuine relationship, instead of money and power. I craved it from Mia.
“Mia.” My voice held a darkness that I was unable to push away.
She turned her head and the smile dropped from her face when she registered me. Dom shot up from where he was lying and stood by the couch.
“Glad to see you’re feeling better, boss,” he said with a nod, cottoning onto my mood.
“Dom, don’t you have any work you should be getting on with?” I asked, eyes narrowing as they focused on him. He gave me another nod before squeezing past me out of the room with a mumbled apology.
“I should probably leave,” Mia muttered.
I turned back to look at her and shot down the suggestion. “You can’t keep avoiding me.”
Walking into the room, I took a seat beside her on the couch.
“I’m not avoiding you,” she said defiantly.
I decided that it would be best not to pick an argument with her for the fact she had just lied to my face. Instead, I tried a different tactic. “I wanted to thank you for last night. You cleaned up my cuts. You stayed with me.”
When Mia recovered from the shock she said, “You needed help.” Her answer is short and blunt, and I nod.
“Well, I appreciate it.”
She shifted in her seat so that she faced me. Mia’s eyes were so dark they looked almost black unless the light caught them, and then they melted into a golden hue. When she gave me her full attention like this, I had to suppress the urge to pull her into me and kiss her again. I was yet to have my fill of this woman.
“Is that all you wanted to say?” she asked me tersely.
I took in a deep breath. “No. The other night with Amber, I need you to know—”
Mia raised a hand. The same one that had tenderly rested against my face last night as she cared for me. “Stop, Lucas.”
I hated the way she wouldn't call me Luc when she had become so familiar with everyone else. By only calling me by my given name Mia ensured a level of professionalism between us that I now wanted to strike out.
“Mia, please,” I tried. It was not a word I was in the habit of using, but the more time I invested in the woman, whether by accident or not, the more she had begun to infiltrate my thoughts. I wouldn’t beg but I could make an effort if that was what was required of me.
“No. I don’t need to know anything. That’s your personal life, Lucas, and as you keep saying, this is strictly business.”
Internally, I recoiled at the phrase as it came back to bite me. “I didn’t want to hurt you.”
“Hurt me?” Mia asked. “Lucas, for me to be hurt means I would have to care, and I don’t.”
The way she said it felt like a slap to the face. She had cared. It had been written all over her face that morning, and Dante had confirmed as much. Yet she would rather lie than try to talk about it with me. Why was it so difficult for her to try to build some sort of relationship with me when she clearly managed with others? I clenched my jaw as I told her, “Fine. Well, I’m glad that’s clear and that we both understand.”
I got up, tired of her attitude, and was about to leave the room in hope of avoiding another disaster with her when she called out to me.
“Lucas.”
“What, Mia?”
“Last night,” she started.
That had my attention. I turned back to see her arms folded across her chest.
“What about it?” I searched my brain, trying to remember if there was something I had said or done that would cause her to discuss it with me. It remained hazy in my mind; the only clarity came in the form of her face so near mine that I should have taken the chance to kiss her once more.
