“You know my husband; he’ll turn up when you least expect it.” There was something that lay behind those words. Emilia had always been timid unless she held the upper hand. That was why Mom and her rarely saw eye to eye. Their entire relationship had been based on Emilia being one step ahead of her in the hierarchy and Emilia flaunting it shamelessly. Mom’s departure from the family had been like handing Emilia a loaded gun. I’d known the Morettis since I was young, and Emilia’s sudden upbeat attitude, teamed with Marcello’s warning, led me to believe that something wasn’t right.
“You’ll let us know if there’s anything we can do to help out while he’s away,” I offered. “Dante and I will be more than happy to lend a hand. You must have a lot on your plate without Xavier.”
“You boys don’t need to worry about anything. My family have it under control. Gabe was happy to temporarily take the reins.”
Gabe. Of all the people he could have left in charge, he’d left us with that liability.
“We shouldn’t keep you from your hosting duties,” I said to her as calmly as possible.
Emilia reached up and pressed a kiss on my cheek. “Always caring about the family. Just how it should be.” She slipped past me to join the rest of the party and Dante flashed me a look.
“I’m going to find Mia and make sure Katia hasn’t turned her into a drunkard,” I told him.
“Good plan,” Dante said. “See you later.” Tori knew Xavier had gone and kept it to herself. Dante would need to figure out if she knew anything and report back. Lines were being drawn and we needed to figure out where everyone stood.
I swept through the room until I found Mia. My heart skidded to a stop in my chest. She stood with Katia and Rosalie, grin plastered on her face as Rosalie gestured wildly to accompany whatever story she told. This was what Mia deserved: a sense of happiness with nothing sinister threatening it. I wanted to be the person to give her that, rather than the one who was constantly adding issues to the ever-growing pile that threatened to pull her under.
“Ladies,” I said, breaking into their conversation. “I’d like to steal my fiancée away if that’s okay with you both.” I wrapped an arm around Mia’s waist.
“Go ahead,” Rosalie told me. “I’m sure we can spare her for a while.”
“I’m grateful.” I pulled Mia away as she looked over her shoulder and wiggled her fingers at the women.
“Can’t you cope without me?” Mia asked, alcohol clearly loosening her inhibitions.
“Never,” I told her, drawing her into me so we blended in among the other dancing couples. “I’m sure you already knew that.”
She laughed and gave me a look as if I was the answer to all her prayers. Moments like these made me grapple with my conscience. I should have let her run. I should have left her out there with Carmen’s protection to raise our son in relative safety. I could let her go now, tell her she was free from me and all of this, but I was too selfish to allow that. Mia could hate me as long as she remained mine.
“I do.” Her fingers played with the hair at the nape of my neck. “You’re lost without me. Just like I’m lost without you.” She nailed it. “I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you, Lucas Foster.”
One night. I could give her one last night of being blissfully unaware of how skewed our plans had potentially become, before we got down to figuring out a way to pull everything back into focus. For now, I’d make sure my tipsy better half stuck with me in case her loose lips got us into any more trouble.
Chapter Forty Six
Lucas
Mia was like a woman possessed. It made me twitch to watch how calmly and methodically she moved after I’d broken the news to her. The morning after had seen her recover from her hangover in breakneck speed, once she knew that Xavier and Emilia probably knew of our plans. I had barely gotten two words out of her that day. Instead, Mia had spent the day with Link while I tried to get something, anything, from her.
It wasn’t until late in the evening when the house was still that Mia finally spoke with a sense of cold finality. She wouldn’t be a sitting duck. She wouldn’t wait and worry about things that had been taken out of our hands when there were things we could control.
When Mia had first told me about her plan, I was a less than willing participant. It was convoluted. There were quicker ways of dealing with a problem, but Mia wanted me to trust her and so I did. Women worked in mysterious ways. Emilia and Mom had been a perfect example of that. Their vengeance wasn’t direct; it wasn’t always physical—it was a more complicated web of emotions—and I was glad not to be a part of that world.
The phone Carmen had given her had lain defunct once Mia had her old one back in her hands. It soon found its role as a burner phone that supposedly belonged to me. Mia wrote every message with cold calculation. She waited and responded as if she were me. I was more likely to blow our cover than Mia when my blood boiled at some of the things Amber said about her. Mia, however, didn’t care as she responded in kind, agreeing to things that ripped apart her character. I often wondered where it would end, and Mia divulged the end of the plan in the darkness of the bedroom that night.
Link had been dropped off with Dante, who was only too happy to keep his Godson. It was a running joke that Link practically had three parents with how much Dante got himself involved. When we arrived home again, Mia disappeared down to the basement, leaving me alone in the vast expanse of the ground floor of our home.
A knock on the door less than fifteen minutes later had me schooling my expression into something calmer as I opened it to Amber. “Hey, doll,” she said brightly. “Inviting me in?”
“Of course.” I moved out of the way so that she could come into the house.
She stomped the snow off her boots and let out a low whistle as she took in the space around her. “You didn’t waste a dime on this place.”
There was no expense spared as far as Mia and our children were concerned, not that Amber could know that. Instead, I shrugged my shoulders. “Like I told you, I want the kid.” I led her through into the living room. “She wasn’t happy at the old place, so I moved to get her to shut up.”
Amber dragged her fingers over the furniture as she wandered around the room. I didn’t want her touching our things, but I couldn’t stop her. I hated referring to my boy as ‘the kid’ but I’d have to for now. Amber was a walking reminder of a life without Mia. Of too many late nights where I was searching for something in all the wrong places. Praying that a quick fix would suddenly take on a new light and become a permanent high. She was a reminder of a man that I refused to be.
“You don’t think she knows what you’re trying to do?”
