“He hasn’t mentioned anything.” I took Link from Katia’s arms. “Maybe it’s time to start dropping hints.”
“You know how oblivious he is,” Tori mumbled.
I hummed and said, “I’m just going to find Luc.” A round of quick kisses, then I walked away from the group and found it easier to breathe. Luc spotted us and held out a hand and I gratefully walked to his side. “Can you take Link for a few minutes?”
“Sure. Is everything okay? You look a little flushed.”
“I’m fine.” Reaching up, I kissed him and handed Link over. “I’ll be right back.”
“Dom,” Luc said, looking across the circle. “Go with her.”
“I have Franco.”
Luc shot me a look. He didn’t trust Franco. It was fine for him to watch and follow me when I was in a room full of people that could witness any foul play, but not if I was about to walk out of this room alone.
Dom and Franco trailed behind me as I wound my way through the halls to the bathroom. I didn’t mind Dom being by my side again, but Franco still barely spoke. The irritation rolled off him in waves, obviously unhappy to be tied to me in anyway shape or form. We both had some reprieve once we were separated by the door to the bathroom.
I stood in front of the mirrors and looked at myself. Things were changing. I was changing and this was fast becoming my truth. This woman who dressed in designer clothing, at a sip and see for her baby, lying to her friend about a potential engagement when it couldn’t have been further from the truth. I was this woman.
Tori would be okay. Tori would bounce back. Turning on the tap, I cupped my hands under the cold running water, engagement ring finally in its rightful place, and brought it up before catching a glimpse of my face in the mirror again. I couldn’t splash my face when I had a full face of make-up and a party to return to. Releasing the water back into the basin, I knocked the faucet off with my elbow and dried my hands.
Opening the door to the bathroom, Franco was the only one stood outside. “Where’s Dom?” I didn’t need Franco to answer, as I glanced down the corridor to see Dom with a familiar blonde. “Not today,” I muttered as I walked toward them. Amber had slipped to the back of my mind after that day in the hospital. Out of sight, out of mind, but today was proving to be a day that was testing me. “Amber,” I greeted her coldly. “If you wouldn’t mind. I need Dom.”
“They haven’t kicked you to the curb yet?” Amber asked, looking at me.
“I’m not a stray. They’re my family,” I reminded her.
“Funny way to treat your family.” She took a few steps to meet me in the middle of the hallway. When Dom followed her, I raised a hand to stop him. “No surprise really. Not after the way you treated your Daddy.”
My heart tugged painfully. Dad had been on my mind a lot recently. With both of my parents gone, Link had missed out on having any grandparents from my side of the family, and it weighed heavily on my heart.
“You knew nothing about my Dad.” Apart from she probably did. Most of the family probably knew how I’d fallen out with my father when he’d disapproved of Luc. He hadn’t been at our engagement party because I’d been too scared to tell him. A decision that had not gone unnoticed. “You have no right to mention him or any of my family. They aren’t anything to you.”
“You think you have the perfect little set up, don’t you?” Amber asked, arms folded across her chest.
“You tell me? It’s the set up you wanted, isn’t it?” The smirk she wore made me want to reach across the space and slap her. Whatever was going through her mind had overshadowed my jab at her.
“Do you think Luc would have gotten back together with you if you didn’t have his kid?” Amber asked. “You trapped him, Mia, that’s all. It won’t last. I know Luc better than you. He gets bored easily.” Her words cut through me. I often found myself wondering how things would have turned out if I wasn’t pregnant, but it was a waste of a life to live in ‘what ifs’. I wasn’t about to let Amber try and plant a seed of doubt in my head.
“Why don’t you just go back to whatever you were doing, Amber. Walk away with a shred of dignity, because this is just desperate.”
“You think you’re so much better than us. Just because you weren’t raised around all this. I’d watch your step, doll. You have no idea what you’ve gotten yourself into.”
A year ago, I would have agreed with her. A year ago, everything shocked me and made my stomach churn, but it had become familiar: the expectations, the names, the blood on Luc’s hands after a late night on the job. It had become my life.
Not wanting to waste any more time with Amber, I turned on my heel to walk back to Dom and Franco, ready to rejoin my family. Her nails sunk into the flesh of my forearm and I was forced to turn around. I was surprised to see Franco reacted quicker than Dom, taking steps toward us. “Don’t,” I ordered, more sharply that intended. He stopped in his tracks with Dom at his shoulder. I didn’t want them involved. Every encounter I’d had with Amber, someone else had swooped in to save the day. That couldn’t be the case any longer. There was nothing she could say or do that would send me running. “Do us all a favor, Amber, and let this go. We’re meant to be adults. Let’s start behaving like it.”
Amber leaned in, wicked glint in her eye, and when she spoke it was a whisper. The words were meant for only my ears. “If I were you, I’d watch my back, Mia, or you and your kid are going to end up just like your poor Daddy. The look on his face…”
The cold air rushed over the fresh cuts she’d left in my arm, causing them to sting as she stormed away from me. The shock slowly started to dissipate, and I rushed after her, hearing two sets of footsteps follow closely behind me until we stood outside, the dust from the car that had just pulled away settling.
“Mia, are you okay?” Dom asked, hand on my shoulder.
Had I heard her right? Had Amber just alluded to killing my Dad?
Chapter Forty Two
Lucas
