“How’s it been living with Gabe?” I asked, pushing away the shame that started to color my cheeks.
When Mia didn’t answer straight away, I shot a glance at her. She was staring straight ahead and chewing on her bottom lip. “Interesting,” she said eventually. “There’s never a dull moment in this family.” There felt like there was something more under those words, but she said no more.
Pulling up to the restaurant, I hopped out of the car and opened Mia’s door. A strange, nervous energy pulsed through me at having her by my side again. I gave her my hand and helped her out of the Range Rover, a static tingle running across my skin. The grace she had once possessed had been sacrificed for the pregnancy. Even with her standing in front of me, I found it hard to believe that Mia was growing our child. I’d missed out on so much, but I’d be there from here on out for both her and the baby. Our touch lingered for a moment before she pulled her hand out of mine gently, flushing pink.
“Mia,” I started. Last night had cleared the table. The truth was out, and we had managed to have a conversation that didn’t end in a death threat. Being close enough to touch her, to feel her respond to my touch the way she always had, had obliterated the last of the walls that remained. Mia would always be mine and I would always belong to her in every sense of the word, I just needed to make that clear to her again.
“Mia!”
My head snapped in the direction of her name to see Carmen slipping out of a similar car, parked a few spaces away. She pushed her large, black sunglasses onto her head and narrowed her eyes when she registered me. “Get away from her,” she demanded, coming toward us with her index finger pointing in my direction. What followed was a hiss of Spanish. Carmen had been calm yesterday because she had to save face. She’d let Emilio deal with me in front of the family, but now she could do as she wished.
Mia moved her tiny frame in front of me and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes before stepping around her. No one would be hiring my pint-sized princess out for security anytime soon. “Carmen,” she said, causing Carmen’s attention to be diverted to her. Gio stood behind her looking vaguely amused, and I bit my tongue. “It’s fine,” Mia continued. “He brought me here. We’ve talked things through.”
Carmen’s eyebrows rose in surprise as she looked back to me. I folded my arms across my chest and waited for her to speak. “And?” she said, looking between the both of us.
“And what, Carmen? Do you want chapter and verse?” I asked. Mia put her hand on my arm and stood next to me. “We’re talking. We’re sorting through some personal matters.”
Carmen held my gaze, looking less than impressed. Whatever bond had been formed between her and Mia held strong and reminded me of the way Dante and I stood by each other. As irritating as it was to have Carmen question me, I was happy to see Mia had formed strong allies without my help.
“I think you need to say something to Carmen regarding your behavior yesterday,” Mia said quietly.
I dropped my arms and twisted my torso to look at her, eyes wide. What the hell was she thinking? Mia stood there looking at me and didn’t utter another word. I felt the corner of my eye twitch. There had been a lot of collateral damage that had occurred as a result of her leaving, and we were both trying to make amends. Mia had witnessed just how volatile some of my relationships had become. They would need to be repaired, but I planned to do it in my own way and in my own time. That wouldn’t wash with Mia. Apologies had always been a necessity where she was concerned and just like Carmen expected certain things for Mia, Mia expected certain things for Carmen.
Slowly, I turned back around to face the Diaz matriarch. “I—” The word sounded funny, so I cleared my throat and started again. This was for Mia’s sake more than my own. “I should… apologize for my behavior at the christening yesterday.” Every single word sounded strained but at least I’d managed to spit it out.
Carmen looked at me curiously before raising a hand. My body tensed as I prepared myself for the slap, but the sting never came. Instead, she rested her hand gently on my cheek and said, “You will always be family to us, in more ways than one. Glad to see you more like yourself. You get one pass, Lucas. Try behaving like that again and I’ll make sure Emilio cuts all ties.” It wasn’t a threat but a promise. Carmen did not handle disrespect well and I was lucky that she was willing to overlook what had happened yesterday. If she was unhappy, Emilio wouldn’t hesitate to end our friendship on her say so. “It’s in the past,” Carmen continued. She removed her hand from my face and asked, “Will you be joining us for brunch?”
“No!” Mia said, a little too eagerly for my liking. I wondered what she wanted to discuss with Carmen in my absence. “No. I think Luc probably needs to go and apologize to Emilio as well.”
“Mia,” I said with warning, looking down at her. She had always pushed her luck with me, never quite knowing where the boundary was. Carmen had gotten an apology because she deserved it.
“You should go and see him,” Mia suggested, changing tack. “It would be good for you to both clear the air before we all go home.”
“I’m meant to be keeping an eye on you.”
“Gio will be with us the entire time,” Carmen reassured me. I knew her version of the Hulk would be more than capable of keeping an eye on them both, but that didn’t mean I wanted to leave.
“Fine,” I relented, out of excuses. Leaning down, I brushed a kiss against Mia’s cheek. “Enjoy your brunch.”
Chapter Twenty Six
Mia
The feeling of Luc’s lips on my skin lingered as we walked into the bistro and were seated in silence. Only after the orders were made did Carmen turn her full attention to me. Her dark hair sat over her shoulder in glossy curls and her make-up was done perfectly, no trace of late night revelry in her aura. My mouth ran dry under her expectant gaze.
“He found me last night,” I explained without any more prompt, and catching myself before I qualified that it had technically been this morning. Luc may not have wanted to give her chapter and verse, but I would preach the omitted version. “And we spoke.”
“Does he know why you left?”
“Yes.”
“Will we ever be party to that knowledge?”
I’d originally kept the secret out of fear. The last thing I wanted was to drag anyone else into the mess that I’d stumbled into, but since speaking to Luc I knew there were larger implications to people finding out about his true parentage. “I don’t think that would be a wise decision,” I said as the waiter placed down a jug of water at the center of the table and a mimosa in front of Carmen. “Luc and I would appreciate some privacy, especially since everyone has been pretty vocal about their thoughts.”
“I can respect that,” she replied, although I knew some part of Carmen was disappointed. She enjoyed a piece of gossip as much as the rest of them. “It’s good to see you back together.”
“We’re not back together,” I corrected. Luc and I hadn’t discussed the state of our relationship. That topic remained untouched and I wasn’t sure whether it would be broached any time soon. Between Xavier and the baby, we had enough to contend with and I had the small issue of trying to shake Gabe, who was probably pitching a fit if Franco had managed to fill him on everything already.
