Yet, I saw how Franny chewed her cheek, absorbing the divisive comment and information. Valerie was constructing a box that Franny thought she’d have to fit perfectly into, but I wasn’t about to make her feel that way.
Maybe if it was just me, I would have shrunk back. But not for that sweet girl. “Probably time for Paradise Grove to respect more than outward appearances though, right? It takes more than an outfit to make a princess, right, Franny?”
She smiled. “Heart-in-pinkie promise?”
“Of course, and remember that when someone makes you feel less than, Franny. Friends love you for who you are, not for what you dress up to be.”
I turned and walked off before anyone could say another word, because I wouldn’t act out in front of Franny no matter how bad I wanted to.
I heard Jameson behind me as he closed the door to his study. When I turned to meet his eyes, they were cold and unreadable. I didn’t care. “She had way worse coming, and you know it.”
He pinched the bridge of his nose. “You know what I’m going to say, Mia.”
“What? I’m out of line? Not to talk to your girlfriend that way?”
His eyes snapped open to hold mine under their glare. “She’s not my girlfriend.”
“Oh. Then maybe future fiancée? From how she’s sitting with your mother?”
He clenched his teeth. “She’s my child’s psychiatrist. You’re her nanny and teacher. You two should be getting along.”
I scoffed at that. He didn’t know I’d heard them banging, so I couldn’t throw it in his face even if I wanted to. “Come on,Mr. Knight. She seems quite cozy in your house and with your mother and your child to be only that. But if that’s the story we’re going with, fine. I don’t really care about anything else she might be to you anyway.” It was a petulant thing to say, but I felt petulant. I crossed my arms to try to hold onto my jealousy.
“Bullshit, Darling. I think youdocare. Want to admit it now, or will I have to make you confess later?”
The fact that he thought he could was disrespectful enough for me to tell him, “Neither. I care about yourdaughter, Jameson. And she’s being fed a crock of shit by her psychiatrist, so I hope you’re considering that.”
“Now you’re definitely out of line,” he practically roared, probably because that hit too close to home for him. Because I was onto something.
“I’mout of line?” I stepped up to him and let him look down at me. I’d meet him bellow for bellow if necessary. “You just swore at me in front of your family, friends, and staff, then proceeded to threaten to drag me down the hall!”
“Swore?” He looked flabbergasted. “You should be happy it was only words. I’m the leader of arguably the most powerful syndicate in the world, Mia. I swear all the goddamn time!”
“Well, I don’t like when it’s directed toward me,” I told him. I was trying to not swear, and he could too. “Sofuckingquit it.”
“You’re unbelievable.”
“And you’re rude! God forbid I want to look a certain way while going out.”
“I didn’t say anything about how you looked—”
“Exactly. You didn’t. You stood there and let another woman tear me down in your daughter’s presence. So, I had to be the boss, I guess, and put another one of your employees in her place so that your daughter doesn’t take up being a mean girl.”
His hands slid into his pockets as if he needed them there. Maybe he wanted to strangle me at this point, but instead, he tried to take the higher road. “Valerie’s just prickly when—”
The low road was clearly where I was comfortable with him at this point. I was so annoyed as I thought more about how disrespectful that woman had been and how he hadn’t done a thing about it. “When she’s off the clock and being herself? Or when she feels threatened? Either way, she’s instilling values in Franny that make your daughter uncomfortable. Are you a father, or a fucking people pleaser?”
“Jesus, Mia,” he whispered, but it whipped through the room with a vengeance. “Do you want me to lose my mind and control with you? I swear you do. I swear you enjoy lashing out at me.”
“I do what I have to for your daughter.”
He shook his head. “Valerie’s right that Paradise Grove is a certain way with women.”
“What women, exactly? Because Pink and Olive—”
“Live a different lifestyle,” he finished, his eyes blazing angrily toward me. “One I don’t want for my daughter.”
“Because they’re a part of the syndicate?”
