“D,” Mia said, and I bristled at the way she shortened Dante’s name. Of all the people she favored over me, he was the one that made me rankle the most. “I went to hug him, and he said he wouldn’t want you to break his other arm.”
My expression remained neutral. “What are you asking?”
“Did you break his arm?”
I let the silence stretch between us. I’d made enough of a mess over the past few days, though why should I care? Apparently, Mia did not.
“You wanted respect and honesty, Lucas,” Mia reminded me, waiting for my answer
“Yes.”
“Yes, what?”
“Yes, I broke his arm,” I confirmed.
She pushed herself off the sofa and tried to leave but I blocked her path with my body.
“Move, Lucas,” Mia told me angrily.
If it weren’t for the storm brewing between us, I would have thought Mia was cute for trying to tell me what to do. I was easily a foot taller than her and her tiny frame wouldn’t have been able to move me even with her full effort behind it.
“Where are you going?” I asked her.
“I want to see him.”
“He’s not here.”
“Why did you do it?” she demanded, looking up at me. Was it only me who pulled the anger out of her? I mulled over the answer to her question but wasn’t sure if it would help the situation. “Honesty.”
I hated the fact she had begun to use the code against me. I had implemented those rules for her to follow but she would only do so if I obliged in return.
“He touched you, Mia.”
“What?” Mia asked, confused as I ran a hand through my hair.
“I saw him slap your ass.” Even the thought of it made my blood boil. If I was honest, I wasn’t impressed with the fact that Dantehuggedher, let alone anything else. The only reason Dom had his bones intact was because his interests lay in men and not women.
“So, you thought you’d break his arm?!” Mia asked, outraged. The anger was no longer a small spark but a fiery inferno.
“I’m not going to have anyone disrespect you,” I told her simply, standing my ground. It was an effort to stay calm but there wasn’t a need to be screaming at each other.
Quite obviously, I’d just given her the wrong answer because Mia began to yell louder. “Disrespect?! You want to talk about disrespect after what you did the other night?!”
I couldn’t help myself as I commented smoothly, “I thought you didn’t care.”
Mia all but screamed in frustration before she jammed her index finger into my chest, and I took a step back. It was surprisingly painful for a single digit.
“Stay away from me and don’t you dare touch Dante again! I swear, Lucas. You’re an awful human being!”
She pushed herself past me and I watched her go, standing there feeling the sting of her words for the second time that day.
Chapter Twelve
Mia
I’d done everything in my power to avoid Lucas over the past few days. It wasn’t difficult since work seemed to be keeping him preoccupied, and I made an effort to turn up to breakfast late, much to his annoyance. In the short moments we were in each other’s company I didn’t indulge him in conversation. The anger hadn’t subsided, and it was accompanied by guilt that Dante’s arm had been broken because of me. Both emotions weighed heavily on my shoulders and I couldn’t trust myself to be polite around Luc and keep my temper in check.
“Dom, will you take me to see Dante?” He was currently trying to fix a tap in my bathroom, and I’d perched myself on the edge of the tub, watching him work. I may not have been able to do anything about my anger, but I could try and resolve the guilt.
