“Can I ask you to put it towards my Dad’s repayment?”
I should have known she would try something like that. “No. It’s for you, not for him.”
She nodded slowly and placed the box on the grass before hugging her knees to her chest. “Thank you. I still think it’s too much.”
“That’s not for you to decide,” I told her as I stretched my legs out in front of me and leaned back on the palms of my hands. “You saw the note?”
She nodded again and turned her head to look at me. Mia was someone who caught the sun with ease, her skin more bronzed now than when she first moved in. Everything about her reminded me of the sun. She radiated warmth in more ways than one; Mia had a personality that had people gravitate towards her, and I was also powerless. I had been sucked into her orbit without even realising it.
“I meant it. That I’m sorry.” I didn’t apologize very often but apparently around Mia it was a word she expected to be used and needed to be said. It held more wealth than the stones that she had held in her hands. “And I would like to start again. I would like to be your friend.”
I would have liked to be more than friends with Mia, in fact, because friends did not think about their friends in the way I thought of her. They didn’t imagine them pinned beneath them, and watching them slowly come undone. I wanted to tease her, please her, and illicit those sweet, satisfactory moans from her again. Not only that, but I wanted her to look at me in the way she did Dom and Dante. Unguarded and with trust. But I needed to tread lightly. I’d already caused multiple storms where Mia was concerned.
“Lucas, if we’re going to be friends, then you need to follow some rules,” Mia said after a moment of thought.
I raised an eyebrow at the statement. “You can’t be serious. This is my home,” I told her.
“Okay,” Mia said. “If you don’t want to listen, then we don’t need to be friends.”
She started to push herself off the ground and I shifted quickly and grabbed her hips to pull her back down. I was not happy at the fact she wanted to set out her own rules, but was more than willing to listen. This was yet another instance of Mia trying to negotiate. What she didn’t know was I would be more receptive, because in this instance she had something I desired. Something no one apart from Mia could give me. “I’m listening. What are the rules?”
I’d spent a lot of my life ensuring that people knew I was in charge. I took what I wanted, when I wanted, but this little piece in front of me had made a habit of putting me in my place and making me work for it. I’d never admit it out loud, but it was a nice change in pace from what I was accustomed to.
“If you want to be friends, then call me that. I hate being called business. It makes me feel dirty,” she told me.
I should have never introduced her like that to Amber, but I was dealing with a lot and wanted to give Amber an answer that wouldn’t cause her to hit the roof. There were only so many fires that I could attend to at any given time.
“From now on I’ll introduce you as my dear friend, Mia,” I agreed.
She rolled her eyes, but a smile came to her lips and I was glad to be responsible for it. It was a nice change considering all I’d managed was to piss her off lately.
“I saw what you did to Dante,” Mia said quietly. “Don’t hurt me.”
All amusement left me at that moment as I sat up straight and looked at her. That was not something I was comfortable with. Leaning over, I took her face in my hands so I could look her directly in the eye, my forehead resting against hers.
“Mia, I would nevereverdo anything like that to you,” I told her gently.
She was probably thinking about the bruise I left on her wrist, and I still hadn’t been absolved of the guilt. Teamed with what I did for a living, Mia had every right to worry, but I wouldn’t harm her.
“You can’t hurt Dante or anyone because of me,” she pressed on.
“Mia, I’m not agreeing to that,” I told her, letting go of her face and leaning back again. She didn’t understand what she was asking of me. Not hurting Mia wouldn’t be a problem. I would never intentionally do anything to harm her, but the same rule did not apply to others.
“Then we can’t be friends,” she told me again.
“You don’t understand.”
“You don’t have to hurt someone. Talk to them,” Mia explained to me as if it were the simplest thing in the world.
I rolled my eyes. Talking had never put the point across as clearly as the snap of a bone or slice of skin or bullet to the brain, but I wouldn’t give voice to those thoughts. Mia was diplomacy but why be diplomatic if brute force was the more efficient route?
“I mean it, Lucas,” she said, sounding stern. “I don’t want anyone being hurt because of me. Plus, I can handle myself.”
Snorting at the sentiment, I ducked as Mia shot me a glare. I recovered quickly and told her, “I just want to make sure that no one disrespects you.”
This time she didn’t yell at me. “And I appreciate that but please, for me, just tone it down.”
I had no intention of following that rule, but made the decision that she didn’t need to know that. “Done.”
