In the span of a day, Mia had come to greatly admire Camilla D’ Angelo. The woman wasn’t only smart and funny and equipped with a purse that was packed with just about everything under the sun. She was also kind and generous and was proving to be incredibly supportive.
And she was nearly killed because of me. Theyallwere.
Guilt had been a rabid dog, eating at Mia ever since she realized Carter was behind the explosion on the Otter. It finally broke through her reserve.
“I’m so sorry, Cami.” She fought to hold back the tears that clogged her throat. “So unbelievably sorry.”
“For what?” Cami’s black eyebrows drew together.
“For nearly getting you killed. For nearly gettingallof you killed. For Doc’s broken arm. For Romeo’s destroyed plane. For your lost sunglasses.” The words tumbled out of her mouth so quickly, she wasn’t sure Cami followed her.
Then she remembered she was talking to the High Queen of Rapid Banter. “What areyouapologizing for? It’s not your fault. The blame rests solely on your cousin’s shoulders.” Cami’s expression turned curious. “Whydoeshe want you dead anyway?”
Mia sighed heavily. She never would’ve thought Carter capable of murder. Petty theft? Sure. Some selling of illegal substances? Absolutely. Butmurder?
Returning her gaze to the door directly across from her, she willed it to open for what felt like the millionth time. But like it’d been doing for the last thirty minutes, it remained stubbornly shut. Which meant she didn’t have an excuse for not answering Cami’s question.
Just to be clear, it wasn’t that she didn’twantto answer the question. It was more like it was all so awful and senseless and...it felt so sleazy that she wasashamedto answer the question. Her family, her ownbloodhad done this to her. Tothem.
Taking a deep breath, she quickly explained about her mother’s addiction and about how that addiction had led to Mia’s father leaving Mia most of his money. She touched briefly on how she and her mother had been estranged for most of Mia’s life and how Carter had been filling the role of her mother’s caregiver—for a price, of course—since Mia’s father had died. And she finished with, “So maybe he thought if I was out of the picture for good, Mom would get the money? And thenhewould get a piece of it? It’s the only thing I can figure.”
“Which explains his crack about you and the moral high ground.” Cami’s upper lip curled with distaste. “No doubt he’s convinced himself that hedeservesthe money since he’s been shouldering the burden of your mother’s care.”
“It’s all so embarrassing and...and...” Mia stuttered as she fought to find the right word. She finally landed on, “Andsordidto think that you and Doc and Romeo got pulled into this. I’mmortifiedthat myfamilybrought us all here.”
“Take it from me.” Cami’s voice was flat. “That’s nothing to be mortified about. We don’t get to choose who we’re born to.”
When Mia glanced over at the lawyer, she saw the woman wore a weary look of comradery. It occurred to her that Cami, maybe better than anyone, understood what it was to be ashamed of the people she was supposed to be the most proud of.
“Whoever saidblood is thicker than waterobviously had no experience with toxic family members,” Mia observed quietly.
“It was Matthew who said it. The biblical Matthew,” Cami told her. “Or rather, whowroteit. But he’s been misquoted for centuries.”
“Really?” Mia was happy for any momentary distraction from her fear for Romeo and her guilt over what her cousin and his companions had done.
“The scripture actually reads:The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb,” Cami explained. “Matthew was talking about oaths, thebloodoaths people entered into back then, and how those bonds were stronger and more important than the bonds of family. Today, most scholars read the verse and take it to mean that the promises we make to people, the vows we pledge to friends or lovers or whoever, are stronger than the bonds we share with the people we were born to.”
“I don’t know about you,” Mia murmured, once again thinking of everyone living and working on Wayfarer Island, of how they’d been more of a family to her than anyone had been since her grandmother and brother died. “But I like that version much better.”
Cami didn’t have time to respond before the door to the medical bay opened.Finally.Mia was on her feet in a flash, feeling sand shower from the bottoms of her shorts.
“How is he?” Her usually quiet voice was loud enough to echo down the hallway.
She hadn’t given Doc time to step over the threshold before asking her question. And when he waited to answer until he did, and until the ship’s doctor joined him, she was hard pressed not to throttle him.
Of course, hertruemurderous tendencies came out when he closed the door before she could go up on tiptoe and get a peek at Romeo.
Damnit!
“He’ll live,” Doc assured her, and her breath of relief was so huge that it deflated her like a popped balloon. The anxious tears she’d managed to keep at bay suddenly flooded her eyes. “He’ll need surgery to remove the bullet,” Doc added. “But we’ve got the bleeding stopped for now, and he’s breathing fine on his own.”
“Breathing fine thanks to your battlefield thoracostomy,” the Coast Guard doctor said—he’d told Mia his name before disappearing into the medical bay, but she’d forgotten it because her entire focus had been on Romeo.
“Can I see Romeo?” Mia asked, desperate to get a glimpse. Just one tiny peek to reassure herself that what Doc said was true.
“He’s been given some pretty heavy painkillers to get him through the ride to the hospital,” Doc told her. “He’s out cold.”
“I don’t care. I’m fine to stand beside him while we—” That’s all she managed before an official-looking woman in the navy-blue Coast Guard uniform called her name, “Miss Ennis?”
