My Lieutenant had frowned at me, but I’d given him a look that said, “Don’t ask.”
So, while I’d sat outside my boss’s office and actually worked on solving cases, my Lieutenant had been in with Mia, doing nothing but fucking around. I could hear when he’d laugh at something she’d said and I could hear every time she laughed too. And when my Lieutenant would walk out of his office with a grin on his face, again, I knew it was because of something Mia said.
I glared at the door, again.
“Boy, what’d you do?” I heard my Lieutenant ask and I glanced up and to my side. He stood next to my desk, staring down at me with a glower on his face.
“He’s a jackass,” my partner answered before I could and I quickly hissed, “Shut up, Johnson.”
Her brows lifted to her hairline. “You’re not a jackass? See, earlier you told me you were a jackass.”
I groaned and lifted my hands to rub the temples of my head because it hurt like a bitch. And as I did that, Johnson proceeded to tell my Lieutenant all the reasons I was a jackass, which - by the time she finished repeating everything that had happened at the diner - made my head pound harder.
Next thing I heard was my Lieutenant say through a low chuckle, “Boy, you ain’t just a jackass, you’re their motherfuckin’ king.”
I leaned back in my chair and threw out, “Got any advice to help me fix this, or are you just gonna talk shit? All that time you’ve spent with her in your office so far, you should know her well enough to tell me how to fix it.”
He looked taken aback, but it only lasted a second.
His expression turned smug and he tilted his head to the side and asked, “Jealous?” I narrowed my eyes on his face and he laughed. “Honestly, I don’t got a clue how you can fix this, Bryant.”
“Just perfect,” I muttered.
“I do!” Johnson chimed in and I rolled my eyes. She continued. “Next time you go to town--”
“To town?” I interrupted.
That got me a blank stare. “Yeah, to town, you know… downtown,” she looked down at her lap, met my eyes, lifted her brows, and tilted her head to the side as if saying, “Boy, you know what town I’m talking about.”
I shook my head furiously and rushed, “Oh, hell no. I’m not talking about this shit with you...or with anyone.”
“Yes, you are, boy, quit playin’. Next time you go downtown, you work that shit so good you make her head spin and I guar-an-tee she’ll forget what just happened. And if she don’t forget, she’ll at least be open to the idea of forgiving yo jackass.”
Fuck me.
I stood and muttered, “Thanks for the tip.”
My Lieutenant and Johnson both laughed their asses off at my expense, but I had to get away.
And there was only one person I wanted to see.
Mia glanced up from her e-reader the second I opened the door, but as soon as I took a step inside, she glanced back down. I walked to her chair - the same chair she’d been handcuffed to the first night I walked back into her life - and touched the side of her face. To my surprise, she didn’t push my hand away.
“Baby, are you hungry?” I asked in a hopeful tone, but she shook her head, still not looking at me. “You haven’t eaten all day, Mia,” I continued.
“Doesn’t matter, I can’t eat,” she replied, sounding tired and I knew she wasn’t hungry because of the shit I pulled earlier. I closed my eyes and cursed myself.
I never considered myself to be a very emotional dude, but Mia had the power to make me feel whatever she was feeling. And right now she was hurting. So was I.
“I apologized earlier, and I meant it, Mia. You have to forgive me.”
That got her attention, but all that got me was a glare that said she didn’t have to do a fuckin’ thing, much less forgive me.
“Fine, you don’t have to eat, but will you at least come with me?”
“No thanks, I’ll stay here. I don’t think we should try eating out in public together ever again.” I stiffened. “Besides, I’m reading something really good right now.” Her voice sounded so small I knew she was lying.
My anger spiked, but I knew she wouldn’t budge, so I bent, gave her a swift, frustrated kiss on the forehead, and said through my sigh, “I’ll bring you something back to eat, Freckles.”
I really wanted to pick her up and carry her out the damn room over my shoulder, but somehow I knew that’d only piss her off more.
It was ten o’clock at night and I hadn’t seen her since dinner.
That was over an hour ago when she’d placed her dishes in the sink and said she was going to take a quick shower.
So I went to find her.
We hadn’t arrived home until nearly seven o’clock, because I’d been working to wrap up a few cases in preparation for taking the rest of the week off - to spend with the wife who would barely look at me. On the way home, I’d also stopped off at the grocery store to buy some pork chops, vegetables and a bottle of Riesling for Mia, in hopes the wine would loosen her up, but that didn’t happen.
When we’d pulled up to the house, and Mia had seen the huge black spot in the driveway where her car had burned last night, her indifferent mood turned into a darkened plague.
The entire bottle of wine hadn’t helped her mood.
When I’d asked, “Baby, you still mad at me?”
She’d answered, “I’m not mad, just disappointed.”
My already heavy heart sank.
She hadn’t given me the silent treatment, but she definitely hadn’t been Chatty Kathy, far from it. I’d much prefer her fighting than indifferent, just as I’d prefer her angry than disappointed. Disappointed was much, much worse.
The first place I checked was the bedroom, but she wasn’t there. I walked into the bathroom and steam and the scent of coconut welcomed me. I took a deep breath. It was obvious she hadn’t been out of the shower long, but she wasn’t inside. When I turned, I noticed the clothes she’d been wearing earlier strewn across the end of the bed, as was the towel she used after her shower.
I frowned.
Where the hell was she?
I walked out of the room, down the hall, and froze outside the first guest bedroom. Through the crack in the door I could see her sitting on the edge of the bed next to the night stand and my heart skipped a beat. A dim lamp was turned on and I could also see a glow coming from the small TV.
She was in a small, sexy, white tank and some silky looking hot pink shorts that made her legs look long. Her hair was down and it looked wet. I watched as she picked up a bottle of what looked like lotion, put some in her hand, put the bottle back on the table and applied the stuff in her hand to her face. When she was done, her body slumped and she just sat in place and stared down at her lap.
She looked so damn beautiful, but she also looked extremely unhappy.
My gut tightened.
After a minute or so, she sighed, stood from the bed, turned off the lamp, pulled back the covers and crawled in bed. When she curled up on her side, I thought about going in to ask her why she chose to sleep in the guest bedroom, but there was no point. I already knew the answer.
She didn’t even want to be in the same room with me.
And I had a feeling that if I went in there later, I’d feel tears on her pillow, just like I had six years ago.
I’d made the biggest mistakes of my life back then, but I refused to repeat it.
So, I turned and walked away. Then I showered. After, I threw on some boxers-briefs and went downstairs. Grabbing a beer, I moved to the family room, turned on the TV and sat down in my recliner.
Chapter Thirty
Mia Bryant
I slowly came awake - then my eyes flew open and my heart thudded hard against my chest when I felt myself being lifted in the air.
“Shhh… Baby, it’s me,” I heard Adam’s calming voice say low and soft. I threw my arms around his shoulders and buried my face in his neck. He smelled good and I breathed him in.
> Coconut. Like me.
“Why are you carrying me?” I asked in a whisper, just as he turned our bodies to fit through a doorway.
He didn’t answer and I lifted my head to look at him just as he deposited me in his bed. I’d completely forgotten I’d fallen asleep in another room.
He climbed in behind me, wrapping his arm around my waist. His fingers pressed into my stomach, dragged me closer to his chest and threw a leg over both of mine.
“I won’t sleep without you,” he rasped. “Never again, Mia. Be pissed at me, be disappointed in me, be sad, but do all that stuff while you’re in my arms. I need to feel what you’re going through. You hurt, I hurt.”
Oh my God!
I let out the breath I’d been holding since the moment he started talking. I still didn’t understand how he could be so sweet and so bossy at the same time, but I really, really liked it, even though I was still upset with him.
But that was love, wasn’t it? I would not have all these winding emotions if I didn’t love him. You couldn’t control who you loved and I absolutely, unconditionally loved Adam. Always have and always will.
I moved, but Adam’s arms tightened enough that I couldn’t change positions.
“I just want to face you,” I told him, and his arms loosened straightaway. I turned in his arms, snuggled up to his side, rested my head on his shoulder, wrapped my arm around his waist and threw my leg over his. The arm he had around my back squeezed tight and I felt warm, and safe, and loved.
“Don’t touch her or any other woman again, Adam. Only me…or your nieces.”
His free hand lifted to my face, he tilted it to his and he bent to kiss me.
“Never again, Baby. I promise and I’m damn sorry,” he whispered against my lips and my body relaxed against his.
I wanted to tell him I loved him so much, but I couldn’t bring myself to say the words out loud. It was too soon and I wasn’t ready for the responsibility of what those words meant.
Not yet.
“Mia, Baby, let’s go. I can’t help you get your case dismissed if you show up late to court,” Adam said at my side and I glared at him.
He smiled and I decided I really wanted to know why men didn’t have to do shit to get ready in the mornings. No face lotion, no make-up - for Adam, no fixing his hair.
Lucky bastard.
“I can’t very well go in there looking like I’ve been hit in the face with a wrecking ball, now can I?” I retorted as I finished up my last coat of mascara. I was running late, like always, but I still had like…ten minutes before I was supposed to be inside.
“Freckles, you couldn’t look bad even if you tried, but since I have you here, let’s go over this one more time: if you see Missy inside, do not go redheaded terrorist on her ass, do not go she-devil on her ass, do not go flaming bitch on her ass, and whatever you do, do not claw her eyes out no matter how much you want to, okay?”
I gasped, threw my makeup bag back in my purse, opened my door, jumped out of his truck, turned and glared.
“I might just go do all of those things on your ass for calling me those names,” I snapped and slammed the door. I walked around to his side where he met me at the back. He threw his arm around my shoulders and pulled me to his side.
“I just so happen to love them all, but redheaded terrorist is my favorite, Baby,” Adam advised.
I sighed. “You’re a jerk.”
“Yeah, but I’m your jerk.”
I rolled my eyes and he moved to guide me in the right direction.
Outside the courtroom door, just before Adam opened it for me, he bent and kissed me.
“I’m gonna run to the office real quick like we talked about. I have a couple more things to tie up, you’ll be in there for at least two hours and there’s nothing I can do right now. Remember, all you’re doing is postponing your case to give you time to find an attorney. You won’t need one, but you need the time…or I need the time to work on getting the case dismissed. Did you get all that?”
I rolled my eyes again and smirked. “Yes, Baby, I got it the first five times you told me.”
He grinned back, his mouth swooped down on mine and then he muttered, “Call me as soon as you’re done so I can come get you. And wait for me inside the building, not outside.”
Then he let me go and I felt his eyes watch me walk inside.
Exactly two hours later, I walked out of the court room and headed straight for the restroom. I wished I could have waited, because the thought of using a court house restroom kind of grossed me out, but alas, I’d had way too much coffee and my bladder was about to explode.
I also wanted to get as far away from Missy’s bitch-ass as fast as possible.
I hated her so much I knew that if she got near me I’d end up back in jail.
She’d sat in that court room the entire time in her too-tight clothes looking smug, but the worst part about the whole thing was that she sat there looking smug with Johnny, Adam’s old best friend from college.
A nice guy with shit taste in women.
Adam actually stopped talking to Johnny, because he’d stayed with Missy after our apartment showdown when I’d moved out. But who would have guessed that their relationship would have lasted this long?
Definitely not me and I could guarantee Adam neither.
Actually, my bet was that she got pregnant just to keep him. Stupid bitch. I didn’t even know if that was what happened, but I’d bet money it was close.
The poor guy had looked depressed too. He looked good, really good, don’t get me wrong, but he also looked totally miserable. Most of the time I’d done a good job of keeping my eyes off them, but the few glances I took, almost made me feel sorry for him.
Every time Missy would lean over and say something to Johnny, he’d scowl and look offended. Then his eyes would lock with mine and they’d go soft. I wasn’t a mind reader, but he hadn’t been hard to read. He hated Missy, probably just as much, if not more, than everyone else. I’d have to remember to tell Adam, who I needed to call as soon as I got out of the restroom.
But I never got that chance.
It happened as soon as I finished washing my hands and right before I reached for the paper towels. My hips were forced into the sink and the side of my head was slammed into the mirror. I never saw it coming. I vaguely heard a crack through the ringing in my ears, but I didn’t know if it was from my head or the mirror.
“You dirty fucking whore,” I heard Max’s voice hiss in my ear just before he spun me around, slammed the back of my head against the mirror and held me awkwardly with his hand at my throat. My back was bowed to accommodate the sink and it hurt so badly I thought it might snap.
“Please,” I wheezed, but his grip on my neck constricted. I lifted my hands to bury my nails in his skin, but he didn’t even flinch.
“You just couldn’t…fucking…wait,” he ground out through his teeth. “You’re a dirty fucking whore. I’d fucking kill you right now if I could, but I plan on getting what I deserve first, and you’re the only one who can get it,” Max finished hissing through his teeth.
He looked terrible. Scary. Nothing like the same Max I remembered. He’d clearly gone days without shaving, his hair was nearly an inch longer and he had black bags under his bloodshot eyes. He looked as though he hadn’t slept in months.
“I don’t have anything of yours,” I wheezed as loud as I could.
“Yeah you do, bitch, and if Alfredo wasn’t fucking looking for me, I’d have gotten the shit myself and you’d be dead right now.”
I didn’t know who or what he was talking about, but I knew I didn’t have anything that belonged to him. However, I wasn’t thinking straight because I was concentrating on breathing.
I turned to stone when I felt his free hand clench around the top of my thigh, close to the V between my legs, and he squeezed so hard, I whimpered in pain.
“If I had more time, I’d fuck your dirty cunt on this floor. But I’ll come back for y
ou, and when I do, you’re gonna do whatever the fuck I want. Until then, here’s a little something to remember me by…” He let my neck go and I gasped for air. He gripped me under the chin and pressed his fingers into my cheeks so excruciatingly hard, it brought tears to my eyes. He pulled me from the wall, his lips collided down on mine, so brutal our teeth clashed, and if they could bleed, I’d be drained.
I shoved and clawed at his chest, but when he didn’t budge I started crying. As soon as my first sob broke free, he threw my face away so hard, I crashed into the wall at my side.
“Tell Adam I said hi,” he spat.
And with that, he turned. I slid down to the floor, heard the door to the restroom open, and then Max’s snapped, “Move outta my fucking way,” which was immediately followed by a gasped, “Oh my God!”
For some reason, it sounded a hell of a lot like Missy’s voice.
Then the door shut and I heard silence.
I took a moment, gathered the minimal control I had left, took a deep breath and touched the spot on the side of my head that was throbbing. The first thing I felt was wetness and I froze. I was terrified to look, but I was too concerned with how bad the cut was not to. So I dropped my hand and stared
It was covered in blood. Not a little… a lot. And I didn’t do well with blood which was inevitably why I started to feel lightheaded.
I started to see spots and I would have passed out, had the restroom door not banged open. I looked up in time to see Johnny run in. Luckily, curiosity over his strange arrival pushed the faintness to the back of my mind where it lingered.
“Mia, are you all right?” He bent and got in my face.
“I’m okay, I think,” I answered hesitantly.
He grabbed me under the arms, helped me to stand and never took his arms from around me.
“You’re not fuckin’ okay. Your head is bleeding.”
At his words, I leaned into him further to prevent from falling flat on my face when I passed out, and that’s exactly what two officers saw when they entered the restroom. As they started rushing toward Johnny, I stopped them with a panicked, “I know him! He’s only helping me.”
Adam, Enough Said (This Can't be Happening) Page 28