by Zavi James
"Beautiful as always, Mia," Dad smiled at me. I’d been the one to take a hold of Christmas in our house ever since I was in double digits.
"Thanks, Dad," I called from the dishwasher. When I turned around, Stefan was standing behind me with a handful of plates and I could feel Luc watching us. Taking the plates from his hands I said, "Thanks."
"Mia, don't go with him."
Back at the table, Luc was speaking to Dad and I itched to be back in my seat so I could keep an eye on the conversation and steer it if it wandered into choppy waters.
"Stef, it's none of your business," I said, bringing my focus back to him for a second.
"If Luc puts a foot wrong with Moretti, he'll kill you."
"Xavier’s his godfather and Luc's not going to do anything that puts me in danger.”
"Jesus!" Stef exclaimed. "He really has brainwashed you."
I pushed past Stefan to make my way back to the table, but he grabbed my arm.
"Get off," I hissed at him.
The sound of a chair scraping the floor filled the room as Luc stood up. "Let go of her."
Stefan didn't release his grip. "Mia, listen to me. You're going to get yourself in too deep."
"This is nothing to do with you," I told him.
Luc walked over to us. "I'm warning you, Stefan. Take your hand off her and sit your ass back down at the table."
"What? Because you're worried she might actually listen to me?" Stefan shot back. He dropped my arm to square up to Luc with me in between them. "Let her talk to me, Lucas. Or are you scared she's going to change her mind? Scared she might not have bought into you as deeply as you think."
"Shut up," Luc said through gritted teeth.
"When you lose her, I hope it lies on you conscious for the rest of your life."
Luc gave Stefan a hard shove and I stumbled slightly as his body pressed against mine.
"Luc! Please, just stop," I pleaded, standing in front of him with both of my palms on his chest. Luc was livid and I could see the red mist that settled over him. We did not need a full blown fight today.
"Mia! Move!" Luc ordered.
"No." I stood firm. "Please calm down." My hands moved up to his face and pulled it down to look at me. "Please, babe."
It took a moment before Luc rested his forehead against mine and I let out a breath before kissing him. That had been defused more easily that I thought it would.
"Mia, what is going on?"
I pulled away from Luc to see that Dad was standing there, staring at us. "Mia?" he asked, waiting for an explanation.
"Isn't it obvious, Mr Griffin?" Stefan asked.
I looked over my shoulder. "Stefan, don't."
"My big brother," he continued. "Has decided he loves your daughter."
"Is this true?" Dad asked us.
The power of speech fled as panic arrived so all I was capable of was nodding in response. There was no way to deny it. Dad looked alarmed at the revelation, but a sense of comfort filled me as Luc took my hand in his.
"Hector," he began calmly.
"That isn't even the best of it!" Stefan had no intention of letting us tell Dad that it was a simple romance. "She got stabbed because of him. Damn well near lost her life from it, too."
"WHAT?" Dad erupted.
"Dad, listen." My voice trembled as I spoke.
"Is it true?" Dad asked, looking me in the eye.
"Yes."
"No, Mia. No," Dad said, shaking his head. "I won't allow it." He walked out of the kitchen and I let go of Luc's hand so that I could follow after him.
All I wanted was a simple Christmas as a family.
Chapter Forty Seven
Lucas
"I swear to God, Stefan," I said, turning on my brother.
"Doesn't that say it all, Lucas. Her Dad doesn't want you with her."
I had him up against the wall in seconds.
"Luc, sweetheart," Mom called over, panic lacing her words.
"It's her choice, Stefan," I told him. "Why can't you get it through your thick skull?" I jabbed a finger roughly into his temple.
"No one thinks you're any good for her!"
"You need to get over this," I hissed. I had let Stefan off lightly for Mom and Mia's sake, but I was tired of his behavior. Stefan continued to play games and he had hurt Mia in the process. I wouldn't stand for it any longer. Blood didn’t give him a right to disrespect me.
"I'm trying to fix this before she ends up as collateral damage," Stefan fired back. I’d always thought the reason he chose medicine as a profession was more to do with his savior complex than love of the job itself.
Pulling him away from the wall, I slammed him back against it. "You're going to end up damaged if you keep going."
Dante's hand appeared on my shoulder. "Go see Mia," he said. "She's more important."
It took me a moment before I let go of Stefan and stormed out of the kitchen to find my girlfriend. When I got out the front door, Mia and Hector were mid-argument in the driveway.
"You don't know him, Dad!" Mia yelled.
"I know his kind well enough, Mia. You should want better for yourself," Hector told her. "You aren't staying with him, Mia. I won't allow it!"
"You can't tell me what to do."
I joined Mia's side. "Hector, just listen to her."
"You!" Hector pointed a finger at me. "You sneaky bastard. You took her from me and now you've done this. You've twisted her mind into thinking that she loves you."
"He didn't do anything!" Mia screamed.
"Hector." I tried to be a calm voice of reason. This was not my fight but seeing Mia’s fury unleashed meant I needed to step up to the plate.
Hector ignored me and kept his attention on Mia. "This isn't love, Mia! This is sick! He's a sick man!"
"As if you are any better!"
"Mia," I warned her. She was going to say something she would regret.
"You're the reason I'm here in the first place," she reminded her Dad. "You didn't know when to stop, did you? We could have sorted things together."
"I did everything I could for you!"
"Apart from being honest until Luc forced your hand to be!"
Hector was red in the face, looking between me to Mia and back again. "You're making a terrible choice. He's taking advantage of you. I'm begging you, Mia, rethink this."
Mia took my hand in her own. "I love Luc. That's not going to change."
Hector shook his head before getting into his car. Without another word to the pair of us, he turned on the engine and drove off. I turned to Mia expecting her to be distraught, but she looked pissed. My angel looked like she was ready to raise hell.
"Princess?" I said gently.
Mia let go of my hand and marched back into the house. I followed close behind, unsure about what was running through her head. She went straight through into the kitchen where Dante poured himself a drink.
"Where is he?" Mia demanded.
Dante looked up and any smart remark died in his throat at the display of rage on this tiny woman. "Back yard."
Without a word of thanks, she stormed out of the doors into the crisp evening.
"Where's Mom?" I asked Dante.
"Took her up to the room. She was tired."
"Thanks."
A scream rang out and Dante and I exchanged a look before we ran out from the kitchen. Mia stood in front of Stefan, anger pouring off her in waves. This was a side to her that I had only seen glimpses of. I had seen Mia possessed a spark of anger, but I hadn’t ever seen it spiral into the fiery inferno of rage that she displayed now.
"What is wrong with you?!" she screamed at Stefan.
"You won't listen, Mia!" Stefan said furiously. "You need to actually think about all this. He wants to take you to Moretti. That's basically taking you into the lion's den."
Mia pushed her palms into Stefan's chest with such force that the thudding sound could be heard by all of us as he stumbled back a step or two. "Stop trying to make d
ecisions for me!"
"I'm not making decisions for you. I'm trying to show you."
"You told my Dad. I told you I didn't want him to know."
"I think he deserves to know what you were doing. He's your Dad."
"What gave you the right?!"
"I care about you, Mia," Stefan said, looking her in the eye. "I love you."
"Oh fuck..." Dante muttered beside me.
He loved her? I was ready to tear Stefan’s head from his body for that admission. Dante took hold of my arm, forcing me to stand still and watch the situation unfold before us.
“Let’s see how she deals with this,” he told me.
"Don't you dare," Mia told him. "Don't you dare say that!"
"Why?" Stefan asked her. "Because you might feel the same way?"
Mia let out a laugh of disbelief. "Are you listening to yourself? We were friends, Stefan."
"You would have kissed me, Mia. We both know it."
"For fuck's sake, Stef!" Mia was exasperated by the entire situation. There had been a point where she almost kissed him, but things had moved on. She turned on her heel to look at me. "He needs to leave this house."
That was a direct order, and this was the one person in the world who could dictate, and I would listen. I gave a curt nod and pulled my arm from Dante as Mia turned back to look at Stef. "You need to..."
Mia was unable to finish the sentence. Stefan pulled her towards him, and his lips descended on hers. When they broke apart, Mia balled her fist and punched him directly in the mouth.
"Stay away from her!" I roared. I didn't stop to think before launching myself straight at Stefan and we both landed on the ground. This time Mia did not protest. She didn't call my name or tell me to wait or stop. Even if she had, I wouldn't have listened. My only regret was that I didn't have anything on my person that would do the job properly.
"Mia, come on," Dante said, trying to pull her away.
"I told you not to touch her," I spat. "I told you to stay away from her."
How dare Stefan touch her in any way? My fists started to feel numb from the blows I dealt, and my brother barely fought back. Every cut that appeared on my fist, every small crack I heard felt good and brought satisfaction to my heart.
I grabbed Stefan's wrist when he aimed a punch and twisted it with all my strength. Stefan screamed as a snap sounded and I smiled down at him. "You need to learn that you don't always get what you want. You're such a sanctimonious bastard. I should have killed you the first time."
For the second time, Dante hauled me up off my brother and when I attempted to rush Stefan again my friend stopped me. "Get off me!"
"Luc, you're going to regret it," Dante told me.
"He just said he loved her and then he kissed her!"
"Yeah, I was there," Dante said. "Just breathe, brother. Breathe."
Stefan laid on the grass, writhing in pain and I couldn't bear to be around him. I couldn't even look at him or I’d want to finish what I had started. "Get him out of here, Dante," I ordered. My next words were for Stefan, "If you so much as come anywhere near us I'm not going to give you another chance."
I walked back into the house, not willing to waste any more breath on Stefan. On the second floor, I stopped in to check on Mom who had already fallen asleep amid the chaos. I’d have to explain the fallout from all of this tomorrow, and I wasn't sure how she would take it.
When I walked into my room Mia was sitting on the bed, hugging her knees to her chest. She looked up at me as I entered. "Luc. I'm so sorry."
She pushed herself off the bed and came towards me but I lifted a hand to stop her. My hands were covered in blood, a mixture of Stefan's and my own, and I didn't want to get any on Mia. I was surprised when Mia wrapped her fingers around my wrist and pulled me into the bathroom, forcing me to sit on the edge of the tub.
She soaked a small towel before beginning to wipe down my hands.
"Are you okay?" Mia asked me.
"I'm fine. Are you?"
She shook her head slowly. I took her hand that she had used to punch Stefan and kissed her knuckles gently. There were no words to describe the pride I felt when I’d seen this little thing smack Stefan in the face with such force. I knew I didn't give her enough credit.
"I never imagined all of this happening. I'm so sorry. I just thought..."
I cut her off. "I know."
I hissed as she pulled the rings from my fingers, the skin around them cut open.
"Sorry," she apologized again. "I just want to clean them."
"We seem to always end up here, don't we, princess?"
Mia let out a soft laugh as she wiped down my other hand, careful not to press too hard on the cuts. When she finished, she placed the cloth in the sink and walked back towards me. Her expression was tired, something I wished I could rectify.
"Come here," I told her, getting up from the edge of the tub. I scooped Mia into my arms, carrying her through to the bed. I placed her down and Mia settled under the covers.
"Stefan is not living here anymore," I told her. It was no longer negotiable. I didn't care what my Mom thought. I didn't care if Mia tried to reason with me. She didn't want to be touched by Stefan and he had forced a kiss on her. Stef had lost the right to call this his home.
"Good," Mia said quietly and I was glad there was no resistance.
Once I climbed into bed with Mia, she instantly curled her body against mine.
"My Dad just left," she whispered. "I said some horrible things to him." Her voice shook and I hugged her close to him.
"Shh, it's okay, Mia," I soothed. "He'll come around."
"He was so mad. I didn't think he'd be that mad about it."
"Princess." I moved so that I could look at her. "When we have kids and they bring someone home you know we're not going to think they're good enough."
I didn't blame Hector for his reaction. I wasn’t the ideal man for someone’s daughter when they didn’t come from my world, but I wished it had been a bit more contained on both ends.
"We're having children?" Mia asked, her eyes trained on me. She didn't want to talk about what had happened at dinner and so latched onto something else.
"At least six or seven," I told her.
"At least?" Mia squeaked.
"As soon as I make you a Foster we'll get started."
Mia blushed violently and some of the sadness left her as she laughed.
"Would you want that?" I asked her as Mia rested her chin on my chest and looked up at me.
"What?"
"Would you want a family with me?" Suddenly it was not a ridiculous notion. The fleeting thought had rooted itself in my mind. Mia as a Foster and starting our own empire woke something deep inside me. Was this how Emilio had felt when he’d decided to settle down with Carmen?
Mia's blush deepened. I knew we hadn't been in a relationship for long, but I knew Mia was it for me. I knew from the way I couldn't stand anyone being near her and the way I hated being away from her that Mia would be the only one I would want for the rest of my life.
"I think I could see that happening," Mia whispered and I reached down to kiss her.
"I know today didn't work out the way you wanted," I told her. "But we'll get through it together, okay?"
She gave me a small nod.
"I have a gift for you."
"Luc," Mia said. "We agreed to no gifts."
"I know but I couldn't help myself," I said with a shrug. Moving Mia from my chest, I pulled a wrapped box from the drawer of my nightstand and handed it over to her. “Go ahead and open it.”
We both sat up in the bed and Mia carefully unwrapped the gift. Everything about her had order and structure including how she opened the present. A beautiful gold, Cartier designer bracelet sat nestled in velvet. The design engraved in the metal looked as if screws had been placed along it.
"Luc, it's beautiful."
"Let me put it on you."
Mia handed the box back to me. I picked the b
racelet out of it and she was surprised when I used a small screwdriver tool provided to unlock it before placing it around her wrist, the one I had bruised months ago, before it locked into place.
"That's a reminder," I said and placed the tool and box away before kissing her wrist. "That I am always with you."
Chapter Forty Eight
Mia
I woke early the next morning to see Luc sound asleep beside me. As the fogginess of sleep left me, I remembered the events from the day before and felt a knot in my stomach. I slipped out of bed and tiptoed out of the room.
On the second floor of the house, in the hallway, I saw Maria step out of her room.
"Morning, love," Maria greeted me.
"Morning." I helped her down the stairs and we settled in the kitchen. It was still a mess from our dinner, and I started to clean up.
"Do you want to fill me in on what happened?" Maria asked as I moved around the room.
I sighed and put the last of the dishes into the dishwasher. "It was a mess."
"Tell me about it, sweetheart."
"I don't think Dad and I are talking," I started. "He disapproves of Luc and I said some things I shouldn't have."
Maria gave my hand a weak squeeze as I joined her at the table. "Give yourselves time to calm down and then sit and talk. I'm sure he just worries about you."
"He wouldn't even discuss it with me."
"It probably took him by surprise."
It definitely wasn't the way I had planned to tell Dad. Maybe I would try and talk to him in the new year. It would give us both plenty of time to calm down and perhaps Dad would have processed the news by then.
"And Stefan?" Maria asked me. She had been sitting there when Stefan and Luc had started to blow up at each other but had not been there for the aftermath.
"I..." I hesitated. Last night was not pretty. All my logic had left and watching Luc beat Stefan hadn’t sparked the usual panic I felt. Instead, I had let Luc do what he felt was necessary and watched until Dante had pulled me away.
"Mia, you can be honest with me."
"I was so mad at him for telling my Dad about Luc and the stabbing. We had a fight, he kissed me and I hit him."