This became something else entirely. Something bigger. And I wasn’t ready for Mila to look at me and see exactly how deep that world ran.
Outside, the ocean kept moving. Inside, I was running out of room to protect her without pulling her under.
CHAPTER SIX
MILA
Iexpected silence when I came downstairs. Instead, I found muted conversations.
Early sunlight filtered through the thin curtains, casting a soft gold across the kitchen table. The apartment carried the scent of coffee and cedar, familiar and steady, but threaded through it was something rarer. Laughter.
Mom sat across from Edwardo, one hand wrapped around her mug, shoulders relaxed in a way I hadn’t seen in months. It wasn’t guarded or forced. It was my mom, the way I remembered her before all of this.
Edwardo leaned back in his chair, broad shoulders filling the narrow kitchen space without effort. Dark hair combed back, the ends brushing the collar of his shirt, he looked every bit as solid as I remembered. The man who my mom had once trusted more than anyone. His voice rolled low and even, commanding attention without trying.
“You should’ve seen the accountant’s face when I told him I’d be handling the rent payments myself. He couldn’t get off the phone fast enough.”
My mother shook her head, amusement lingering in her eyes. “You can’t bulldoze everyone, Ed.”
“Sometimes it keeps the snakes in their cages.”
That edge in his tone didn’t feel theatrical. It felt practiced.
When I stepped fully into the doorway, he rose immediately. The movement was instinctive. Protective. It had always been that way with him.
“Morning, kiddo. I was hoping I’d catch you before you left.”
No one else had called me that. It had only ever been him, and the word sat somewhere steady in my chest.
“Morning,” I managed.
He studied me for a second, gaze sweeping over me as though assessing damage that wasn’t visible. “Until I’m sure Dunn’s dogs stop sniffing around, you call in sick. You stay where I can see you.”
My mother’s voice lowered. “Ed?—”
He cut her off gently, not unkind. “This isn’t up for debate. I’ve got something in motion. It needs a few hours to settle. Once it does, certain people will understand that coming after you isn’t worth the trouble.”
I folded my arms. “Untouchable how?”
A grin tugged at his mouth. Not playful. Controlled. “Let’s just say I made a few calls. By the end of the day, the climate will shift.”
My mom reached across the table and squeezed his hand. The gesture was subtle, intimate.
I watched the ease between them. The quiet alignment. For the first time in a long time, my mother didn’t appear braced for impact.
Mom squeezed Edwardo’s hand, the gesture subtle but charged with something older than this week.
“Be careful, Ed.”
He met her eyes in a way that made my stomach tighten. “I always am.”
There was history there. Years of almosts. Of timing that never lined up. Of feelings neither of them had ever named out loud. And for the first time, it didn’t feel unfinished.
Maybe she was finally done running from what had always been between them. Maybe she was finally letting herself choose something for herself that was real.
Edwardo turned back to me, expression firming. “You call in sick today.”
I blinked. “No.”
