In a stroke of courage, my arm shot out and I planted my palm on the door to keep him from shutting it. The pain radiated up my arm, wrist not fully healed from the fall.
“Paulo.” I smiled at him through the discomfort. “Is Chas home? I could use some company and thought she might like to grab some brunch together.”
“You’ll have to run that past Gabe first. He doesn’t want any unscheduled visits.” Paulo put his hand around my wrist and Dom stepped up instantly.
“Paulo?” Chas’s voice sounded from behind him. “Who’s there?”
“Chas,” I said, moving my head so I could look past him.
“Mia?” She came down the hall and Paulo let go of my wrist looking less than impressed at the situation. “Is everything okay? Has something happened?” From what I knew of Chas and everything that had happened in her life, it seemed natural for her to catastrophise.
“Everything’s fine. I didn’t catch you at the christening and thought we could have brunch together. There’s a cute little place a couple of blocks away.”
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” she said nervously. “But you can come in.” She didn’t sound sure about that either, but the offer was on the table.
Paulo didn’t move immediately. He was most likely weighing up the consequences of upsetting Gabe by not following orders versus upsetting Gabe because he upset Chas. Eventually, he stepped aside, and I walked over the threshold.
“Coffee?” Chas asked. I nodded and followed her through to the kitchen, making myself at home at the table. Dom and Paulo hadn’t followed us in, and I had a vague feeling that Dom was dishing out a warning about what might happen if Paulo laid another finger on me.
"You didn't make it back to ours after the christening," I commented, watching her move around the kitchen, pulling out mugs. She’d made herself at home here, knowing where everything was kept. "No sugar or creamer," I told her before she could ask.
"No. Gabe thought it was best we come back home. He's not on best terms with Luc. I don’t think he felt comfortable."
I bit my lip hard to stop myself from saying my first thoughts. Of course, Gabe wouldn’t feel comfortable. He would have been steeped in an environment, forced to watch just how loved my family was compared to him. He probably would have preferred to stick hot pokers in his eyes.
"They haven't been seeing eye-to-eye lately," I agreed cordially.
Chas had her back to me as she said, "Gabe said he won't work with him on finding out who was responsible behind the attacks."
Gabe was selling his version of the story. Luc was uncooperative on an issue that required clarity. He was purposefully stopping them finding out who was responsible. This wouldn't be something that sat well with the family. Gabe was hoping to capitalise on Luc's attitude and turn people against him. Sly move but well played. It was a shame for Gabe that barely anyone outside these walls would believe him.
"Gabe's looking for answers where there aren't any," I told her. "He assumes Luc knows more than he does. Don't you think if Luc had anything that could help, he'd have shared it with him?"
"That's what I told him."
The guilt made me squirm. Chas was sweet to have attempted to fight Gabe with reason even if she was far off the mark.
She poured the mugs of coffee and joined me at the table. I noted that hers was ghostly pale from the amount of creamer she added.
“How have you been?” I asked her.
“Bored,” she replied with a small laugh. “I’m not really leaving the house at the moment. Not after everything. The christening was a nice break from the walls of this place.”
“I’m sure Gabe’s assigned you—”
“I would rather not have an entire entourage. I’d rather have a normal life where I can walk out the house and not worry about getting shot at.” She bit her bottom lip and shrugged. "He watches you," Chas said suddenly. "At the christening, I saw him. Luc watches you closely like he's scared you might disappear."
"I did once." It stung whenever it was brought up. A piece of my past that I’d like to bury but I didn’t believe in living with regret. Everything in life taught you a lesson and I had learned major ones over the course of the last few years.
"I've heard.” That came as no surprise. “But he doesn't look angry," she said, almost sounding confused. "He looks like he's worried his entire world might slip away." It was startling to hear someone describe it like that. I’d had enough people tell me that they could see how much Luc and I loved each other but the way Chas put it made my hairs stand on end. She must have watched closely to glean all of that from a single morning. “It must be nice to have someone who cares so deeply.”
“It used to be my dad’s job,” I admitted. Dad did what he thought was best to keep me safe. It didn’t always work out, but I knew that I was his world, and I missed him terribly.
“He passed the baton to Luc?” Chas asked and I realised that she wasn’t fully aware of my entire history here.
“He’s not with us anymore,” I told her.
“Oh!” Chas’s eyes grew wide. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t realise. I would never...” She stumbled and stuttered.
