Mia’s shoulders slumped, the fight draining from her posture.“I keep thinking about all the signs I should have noticed.The way she’d cancel plans at the last minute.How sometimes she wouldn’t answer her phone for days, then come back with these elaborate excuses.”She pressed her fingers against her temples.“She’d flinch sometimes when someone moved too quickly.I just thought she was jumpy.How could I have been so blind?”
“Because he wanted you blind,” I said simply, reaching to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear.“That’s what manipulators do.They isolate.They create stories that explain away the strange parts.They make you doubt your own eyes, your own gut feelings.”
Her gaze met mine, searching.“You sound like you’ve seen this before.”
“Ja.”I nodded slowly.“Many times.I learned quickly to recognize predators when I went inside.The ones who find the cracks in people and pry them open until they can crawl inside.”I ran a hand through my hair, memories surfacing that I usually kept buried.“There was this guard at Terre Haute.Everyone thought he was the ‘good one.’Brought in extra food sometimes, looked the other way for minor infractions, always had a joke ready.”
“But he wasn’t good,” Mia guessed quietly.
“No.He targeted the youngest inmates, the ones far from home who never got visitors.He’d build trust, offer special privileges, protection.”My jaw tightened.“Then the demands would start.Small ones at first, until the boy was too compromised to say no to the bigger ones.”
Mia’s fingers laced with mine, her touch anchoring me to the present.“What happened?”
“Some of us noticed the pattern.Made sure he understood the consequences if he continued.”I left out the details of exactly how we’d made our point.Some things were better left unsaid, even with Mia.“The point is, these people are skilled.They show different faces to different audiences.The one Eric showed you was carefully crafted to keep you exactly where he wanted you.”
“Until he couldn’t control me anymore,” she said softly.“Then he went back to controlling the person he knew wouldn’t fight back.”
I nodded.“And he escalated because he was losing his grip on both of you.”
Mia leaned forward suddenly, burying her face in her hands.Her shoulders began to shake with silent sobs that tore at my heart.I pulled her into my arms, felt her melt against my chest as the dam finally broke.She cried with the raw abandon of someone who’d been holding back for too long, her tears soaking through my shirt as I stroked her back.
“Let it out,Kätzchen,” I murmured against her hair.“I’ve got you.”
She cried until she had nothing left, her body occasionally shuddering with aftershocks of emotion.When she finally pulled back, her face was blotchy, eyes swollen, nose red… and she had never looked more beautiful to me.This was Mia stripped bare, honest in her pain and confusion, trusting me to see her at her most vulnerable.
“Sorry,” she said, wiping roughly at her face with the back of her hand.
I caught her wrist gently, using my thumb to brush away a stray tear instead.“Never apologize for feeling,Kätzchen.Not to me.Not ever to me.”
She gave me a watery smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes.“I just keep thinking… What if he’d done those things to me?What if I’d been the one trapped in his web instead of Jade?”
The thought sent ice through my veins, a protective fury rising so quickly I had to take a deep breath to steady myself.“But you weren’t.You got out.”
“Because I found them together.Pure chance.”Her fingers worried at a loose thread on the comforter.“If I hadn’t walked in that day, who knows how long I would have stayed?What he might have eventually done to me?”
I cupped her face between my hands, forcing her to meet my gaze.“Listen to me.You are not responsible for what happened to Jade.The only person responsible is Eric.”
She nodded slightly, though doubt still lingered in her eyes.“I know.Logically, I know that.But I can’t stop thinking about her tonight, alone in that room at Haven, hurting, scared, and I want to go back to her.I want to help her and I feel so awful for not just going but I… Oktober, I need to process everything.”
“She’s not alone,” I corrected.“She has Ada checking on her, Violet bringing her clothes, Lavender making sure she eats.And tomorrow, she’ll have you.Or the next day.Or maybe not until the next day.”I brushed my thumb across her cheekbone.“Because that’s who you are, Mia.You see someone hurting and you reach out your hand.Whether or not they deserve it.I think you know the difference.”
“Is it wrong that part of me still feels betrayed?Even knowing what I know now?”
I shook my head.“Your feelings are never wrong.They just are.What matters is what you do with them.”
She was quiet for a moment, considering this.Then her eyes found mine again, clearer now.“What do you think I should do?”
“I think,” I said slowly, “you should do exactly what you’re already doing.Help her heal.Give yourself time to process.Be honest about your feelings.”I smiled slightly.“And remember that you have an entire MC at your back if you need anything at all.We’re your family now.All of us.”
She sighed, some of the tension finally leaving her body as she leaned into my touch.“Thank you.For listening.For understanding.”
“Always.”I shifted back on the bed, pulling her with me until we were facing each other, legs tangled together.She reached out, her fingertips tracing the line of my jaw, catching slightly on the stubble there.“Mein schönes Mädchen,” I murmured, the German endearment slipping out naturally as I turned my head to press a kiss against her palm.
“What does that mean?”she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
“My beautiful girl,” I translated, watching her eyes darken at the words.I moved closer, letting my lips brush against her ear as I continued, “Mein Herz.My heart.”My hand slid up her arm, feeling goose bumps rise in its wake.“Meine Seele.My soul.”
She shivered beneath my touch, her breath catching as I pressed a kiss just below her ear, then another along the curve of her neck.“You’re not playing fair,” she breathed, her head tilting to give me better access.
