“You are a pain in my ass,” she mumbled.
“What have you been thinking?” I asked, mentally preparing myself to talk her out of whatever bright idea she’d stumbled on to. It was wishful thinking on my part to believe that a little scare would force a retreat. No. Mia was done with running. Now she just needed a breather and reassurance from me before dusting herself off and getting back to the job in hand.
“About getting a new tattoo. I wanted something to celebrate Link.”
Relief. This was an idea I could get behind. “Great minds think alike.” I’d wanted to commemorate my first born with a new tattoo, but I was holding off until Mia became my wife. Both names inked across the space on my ribs in one session. “You have a design in mind?”
“Yes,” she said. Mia momentarily paused to stick her head around the living room door. “Morning, Lyds.” She continued to follow me into the kitchen. “A bear paw print and Link’s birth date.”
“A perfect way to celebrate our little cub. Where?” I asked her, pulling faces at our son who seemed to have started the day in a happy mood.
“Where do you think would be best?”
I took the time to look over Mia. My eyes ran from head to toe, drinking her in. I knew her body better than I knew my own. Placing Link down in his seat, I moved back towards her and took her left hand, lifting it up and kissing the inside of her wrist. “Here,” I told her, running a finger down her inner forearm.
“Why?”
“It’ll be on the left with your wedding ring,” I explained. “It’ll be there for everyone to see.” The rings and the tattoo would serve as a constant reminder to anyone that even dared to look her way that Mia was spoken for. “And there’s plenty of space to add more.”
“One more. And not before the wedding.” Mia laughed, pushing me away from her, and I left her in peace and dropped into my seat at the table.
There was no way we would be stopping at one more. We had a house large enough for a baseball team worth of children. However, no more children before she was a Foster, that was the plan, but I was impatient. Link was growing every day and if we had a brood, I wanted them to be close in age in the hopes they’d have a stronger bond. The fear was that they’d end up with a relationship like I’d had with Stefan. I reminded myself that we wouldn’t raise them in a way that would have them harbour a hatred towards each other.
Dom walked into the kitchen, holding a padded envelope. I held my hand out for it, but he shook his head and said, “It’s for Mia.”
“Me?” she asked, turning around with a fresh mug of coffee. “I didn’t order anything.”
“Wedding prep?” I suggested.
She shot me a look that told me I was talking out of my ass. “Nothing I’ve ordered for the wedding is arriving in a package like that.”
Instantly, I grew suspicious. Mia walked around the island and reached out for the envelope. “Don’t,” I said, making them both freeze. “Dom can open it.”
Mia opened her mouth to argue but Link started to fuss and the reminder of why she needed to stay safe was delivered. She turned away from Dom to see to our son and Dom slid his finger under the seal of the envelope. He tipped the contents out into his free hand, a solitary phone. A brick compared to the modern smartphones that everyone was used to. A burner. Something else fluttered out of the envelope and fell onto the kitchen tiles. Dom stooped down and picked it up and deposited the folded piece of paper and phone into my open hand.
My eyes flicked over to Mia who watched me quietly as she fed Link. Unfolding the note, I saw a single line and read it aloud. “We’re even,bella.” My jaw tightened and Mia had pointedly stopped looking at me. There was only one person that referred to Mia in that way. The paper crumpled in my fist.
“Why is Gabe sending you a burner phone?” Dom asked, not even attempting to keep the curiosity out of his voice.
Mia took in a deep breath and walked over to me. She ran her free hand over my shoulders in an attempt to calm me down. When I pressed a button, nothing happened. It would need to be charged.
“We’re even,” she muttered.
“Bella,” I added through gritted teeth.
Her arm snaked around, and she turned my chin so that I was looking up at her. She was choosing not to play into me picking a fight. I could see the way her brain had started to tick. “I gave him something he wanted. I told him about Silas, and he’s given me something in return. Luc, that’s Xavier’s phone.”
“I doubt it, Mia,” I said, pulling my chin from her so I could look at the phone again. I didn’t want her to get her hopes up. “Gabe’s probably playing with us.”
“And if he’s not?” she asked me sharply, disliking the way I’d dismissed her suggestion.
I wasn’t sure what irritated me more. The fact that Gabe had the gall to keep calling Mia a pet name when he’d threatened her or that her meddling might be justified if Gabe had sent us genuine help.
“We’ll find out.” I pushed back my chair and stood up.
“Where are you going?”
“To see Angelo. He can work out if this is worth anything to us.” I gave Mia a kiss to end the conversation and started out of the kitchen.
