“Yeah.We really do.”
Ada pulled out her phone.“I’m texting Hannah.She’ll want to be here too.”
Violet and Hannah arrived within minutes, her distinctive red hair visible through the classroom window before she even opened the door.“Where’s the asshole?”she asked without preamble, her pale blue eyes flashing with protective fury.
Despite everything, I laughed.“At the gate.I haven’t decided if I’m going to punch him or just tell him to get lost.”
“Why choose?”Violet grinned, but her expression softened as she studied my face.“You OK?”
“Yeah.Just ready to close this door permanently.”
The four of us made our way from Haven down the path leading to the back corner of the compound.From there we went toward the front gate.
“Does he know about the fire?”Violet asked quietly as we approached the gate.
I shook my head.“I didn’t tell him.Didn’t tell anyone from my old life.”The realization struck me that I hadn’t spoken to a single person from my previous existence since moving to the compound.And I hadn’t missed any of them.
“We won’t mention it either.You share as much as you feel you should,” Ada said, her tone making it clear she thought that amount should be nothing.
As we neared the perimeter gate, I spotted Eric standing on the other side of the heavy iron bars, looking spectacularly out of place in his pressed blue button-down and designer jeans.His shoulders were tight with tension, his eyes darting nervously at the two patched members who stood a calculated distance away looking deceptively lazy, watching him with undisguised suspicion.The contrast between his manicured appearance and the raw grunge of the compound struck me as almost comical.
Eric’s gaze locked onto me as I approached, relief washing over his features.That relief quickly transformed to confusion when he took in Violet and Ada flanking me like bodyguards.He clearly hadn’t expected me to have allies, probably assumed I was alone and vulnerable and as easy to manipulate as I’d been before.
Each step became more determined with each foot of ground I covered.I was not the same woman Eric had betrayed.I had walked through fire, literally, and emerged stronger.I had found my place in a world that valued loyalty and truth above all else.I had found Oktober, who loved me for exactly who I was, not who he wanted me to be.
The man waiting beyond the gate didn’t mean anything to me.After the time I’d spent here with Oktober’s family -- and everyone in Kiss of Death represented Oktober’s family -- I didn’t think Eric had ever really meant anything to me.
I stopped a few feet from the gate, close enough to speak normally but far enough that he couldn’t easily reach through the bars.My heart hammered in my chest, but not from fear.This whole situation was surreal.Completely backward.
“Mia.”He exhaled my name like he’d been holding his breath.“Thank God.I’ve been worried sick about you.”
“Eric,” I replied, my voice steadier than I’d expected.“What are you doing here?”
His gaze flicked nervously to the patched members watching from nearby, then back to me.“Could we talk privately?Just for a minute?”
“Anything you have to say, you can say where you are.”I felt Ada shift slightly closer to my shoulder.“I’m not going with you, so there’s no point in me coming outside my safe place.”
Eric’s jaw tightened.“Fine.You haven’t returned any of my calls or messages.Your department head says you’ve taken an indefinite leave of absence.You’ve not been home once.No one’s seen you for weeks.”His concerned expression didn’t quite reach his eyes.“What was I supposed to think?”
“That I moved on with my life?”I asked simply.
“Moved on?”He gestured incredulously at the compound behind me.“To this?Living with… with criminals?Throwing away everything you’ve worked for?”
I felt rather than saw Violet bristle beside me, but she remained silent, letting me handle this.
“I’m not throwing anything away,” I replied.“I’m working with trauma-affected children at the shelter, developing an educational program that will actually make a difference in their lives.It’s the most fulfilling work I’ve ever done and I’ve only just started.”I closed my eyes as I took a deep breath.“I didn’t think I’d realized exactly how much I’d wanted to do something like this.It’s going to be challenging and gut-wrenching and all kinds of other things, but helping these children and their mothers is what I’m supposed to be doing.”The longer I spoke, the stronger I felt.My voice grew steadier and I felt… free.
Eric’s forced smile slipped.“Come on, Mia.This isn’t you.You’re a scholar, not some… biker groupie.”He lowered his voice as if sharing a confidence.“Listen, I know I hurt you.What happened with Jade was a mistake.We can work through this.”
The strange part was how little his mention of the betrayal affected me now.The pain that had once felt like shards of glass beneath my skin had dulled to nothing more than a distant memory.
“This has nothing to do with you and Jade,” I said honestly.“This is about me finding where I belong.”
His expression hardened, patience evaporating.“Where you belong?With a bunch of ex-cons?You think your career will survive this association?”He glanced around with obvious disdain.“The tenure committee will laugh you out of academia once they find out where you’ve been spending your time.Besides, how the hell does a place like this get to be next to a school?Or children in general?There’s got to be a guy in here guilty of stuff against kids.”
And just like that, my patience snapped.“Get the fuck out of here.”My voice didn’t sound like myself.I kind of sounded like Hannah did sometimes.When she was particularly put out with one of the club… uh… whores.I still stumbled over the word but the fact was, women enjoyed sex as much as men and there were women here who slept with any available man she wanted to.And the guys generally pampered them.Though, sometimes the old ladies had to put their foot down.That’s when hair and makeup got ruined.
I turned to go, but Eric called out again.“Wait, Mia!I’m sorry, OK?But you gotta admit, the optics look bad.”
