A Million Tiny Pieces

by Nicole Edwards

“I’ve known them for a month,” she declared, realizing instantly that she’d referred to both of them. Damien didn’t seem to notice. “How long do you think it takes to get to know someone?”

  Damien looked at her skeptically.

  Oh, Lord. He was losing his mind. “Look, Damien,” Mia said, trying to regain her composure. He was the one worked up, and the guilt glittered in his eyes because of it. There was no reason for her to try to defend herself. He was the liar. Not her.

  “No, Mia, hear me out.”

  “I thought that’s what I’d been doing, but you don’t seem to have anything to say,” she snapped. “Everything that’s come out of your mouth has been a lie.”

  Hell, at one point, he’d tried to convince her that, although he’d been unfaithful, it hadn’t been his fault. Teresa had tricked him because Phoenix had put her up to it. Something about Phoenix wanting to get to her so that he’d have leverage against Damien and the lawsuit. Not that Mia understood how any of it would’ve worked, but okay.

  A knock on her front door had her looking over Damien’s head.

  “Don’t answer that. We need to finish talking first.”

  They were finished, but she didn’t bother to tell him that. Mia placed her hands on the table and pushed to her feet, staring at her ex-husband as she did. “I’ll be right back.”

  Leaving Damien behind in the kitchen, Mia escaped down the narrow hall that led to the door. She glanced in the security hole to see Tarik standing in the outer hallway. Instantly opening the door, she hoped he saw the relief in her eyes. “What are you doing here?” she whispered.

  “Are you okay?” he asked directly, looking past her into her condo.

  “I’m…” Glancing over her shoulder, she shook her head before meeting his gaze once more. “As good as can be expected, I guess.”

  “Landry’s here?”

  “Yeah.” Mia stepped out into the hall and shut her front door behind her so they could talk in private. She didn’t particularly like leaving Damien alone in her condo, but she didn’t have much of a choice. She needed a breather, and he clearly wasn’t planning to leave. “Wait. How did you know he was here?”

  “His fiancée stopped by for a visit,” he said, rolling his eyes.

  “Really?” What the hell was Teresa doing there?

  “Just showed up a little while ago. Mentioned Landry was down here talking to you.”

  “Well, he’s talking, all right. He’s not saying anything, but his lips keep moving. Honestly, I think he’s got a screw loose.” Mia smiled, refusing to think about Teresa talking to Tarik and Phoenix alone upstairs.

  “Yeah, well, I think there might be a few missing, too,” Tarik replied.

  Tarik automatically pulled her into his arms and hugged her. Without releasing her, he slid his hands into her hair and pulled, tilting her head back so that she was forced to look up at him. She had to crane her neck to meet his gaze, but she didn’t mind. And she certainly didn’t have any issues when he leaned in and placed his mouth on hers. God, she’d missed him. Both of them. After spending most of the weekend with them, being alone in her bed last night had been hell. And with everything Phoenix was dealing with, she hadn’t been sure she was going to get the chance to see them today, either. Tarik’s arrival was certainly a nice surprise.

  “So what does Teresa want?” Mia asked when Tarik released her lips and her hair, allowing her to take a step back so she could see him better.

  “Don’t know for sure, but I know they’re up to something. She mentioned Landry was down here paying you a visit because you were upset.”

  Mia noticed the way Tarik continued to stare at the front door as though he had x-ray vision and could see through it. If that were the case, Damien would probably be burned to a crisp at the moment.

  She suddenly wished superpowers were real.

  “Yeah, well, he’s talking nonsense, and if I’m upset, it’s only because he’s here,” Mia explained.

  “Speaking of nonsense,” Tarik muttered, and a cold chill raced down Mia’s spine. “His lawyer hasn’t been able to produce anything yet, so I still think he’s lying, but he claims Sid actually moved forward with the sale. The question is why wait till now?”

  “Lying is second nature to him,” she said. “But I’m with you. This seems farfetched, even for Damien. What he’s really after, I don’t know.”

  “Just whatever you do, don’t let him get you talking about Phoenix.”

  Nodding her head, she didn’t know what to say to that.

  Tarik cupped her face in his big, warm hands. “Do you trust us, Mia?”

  “Yes,” she said, surprising herself by the truth in that single word. She did trust them, even though everything that Damien had said about Phoenix so far should’ve made her think otherwise. Then again, she’d have to dig through the blatant lies to possibly decipher even an ounce of truth.

  Just as Tarik opened his mouth to say something more, Mia’s front door opened, and Damien loomed over her. Turning to face him, Mia welcomed the warmth of Tarik’s arms when he pulled her in against him.

  “What are you doing here?” Damien asked Tarik as though he had every right to question her visitors.

  “He came to see me,” Mia responded. “I’ll be inside in a minute, Damien.”

  Her ex-husband nodded but didn’t hurry to close the door. He continued to watch Tarik. A strange expression crossed his face, but Mia couldn’t place it.

  Once the door closed, she turned back to Tarik.

  “Do you want me to come in?” he asked.

  “No. I need to handle this on my own,” she explained.

  “Call me when you’re finished,” Tarik told her.

  “I will.” Mia took a deep breath and turned back to her front door. Looking back with her hand on the knob, she said, “Oh, and do me a favor, would you?”

  “Anything,” Tarik said.

  “Get Teresa Somerhaus away from Phoenix. I don’t want her near either one of you.”

  The knowing smirk that tilted his lips said he approved of her possessiveness, and that made Mia feel good.

  The feeling didn’t last long when she pushed open the door. She didn’t want to talk to Damien any longer. She knew what he was trying to do, but she didn’t see any way to avoid it aside from not going back home. And that wasn’t an option.

  The moment she stepped inside, Damien was right there, reaching for her.

  Mia had to jerk away to keep him from touching her. “What are you doing?” she asked, suspicious.

  “Are you okay? He didn’t hurt you, did he?”

  “What the hell are you talking about?” she asked. She wanted to ask him whether he was taking any new medication, something that could possibly throw off his brain function, because he was certainly acting strange.

  “I just wanted to make sure. It’s just like Phoenix to send his lackey to do his dirty work.”

  “He’s not Phoenix’s lackey,” she snapped.

  Damien stared down at her for a minute before he finally spoke. “I thought you were seeing Phoenix. Are you…” Damien glanced over her head toward the front door before he continued, “You’re not seeing him, are you?”

  Mia sighed heavily. She did not have any intention of going into details about her personal life with him. He’d given up all right to ask her questions when he’d started sleeping with other women. The best thing to do was to get him out the door. It was that or scratch his eyes out. He was obviously doing his best to upset her. “Damien, it’s not gonna work.”

  His blond eyebrows lifted in question.

  “I’m not interested in telling you anything more. And I’m done listening. Now, if you don’t mind, I really do have things to do today.” Motioning toward the door, Mia prayed that he would leave.

  “I came to tell you that I’m sorry, Mia. I’m so sorry for hurting you. Is there any possibility that you’ll give me another chance? Give us another chance?”

  Mia’s eyebrows furr
owed. “Us? Are you serious? Don’t you have a fiancée waiting for you upstairs in Phoenix’s penthouse?”

  The guilt returned to Damien’s eyes, something she was all too familiar with. She waited for him to lie, to tell her some other bullshit story about how he’d been duped into something he didn’t want. There had been a time in her life when she might’ve believed him, but not today. Not ever again.

  The first thing she’d done when she’d woken up, the same as she’d done since she’d stumbled upon the last article that had mentioned her name, was check the Internet.

  She’d become a pawn for Damien, and based on what she’d read that morning, he wasn’t relenting, even though he pretended to want to make amends. What she’d found online had surprised her. Damien’s name, as well as Phoenix’s, was everywhere. Everyone was talking about both of them at the moment, and she’d been curious as to what had spurred the sudden intense interest. A lawsuit alone wouldn’t incite the press that much.

  What she’d found hadn’t been surprising. Someone was trying to dig up dirt on Phoenix. It always worked that way, and since she’d been hounded by a couple of reporters on her way home from school last week — something she hadn’t bothered to tell Tarik or Phoenix because they had enough to worry about — she’d been expecting it.

  Of all the things the media could’ve said, Mia probably would’ve believed anything other than Phoenix was after her to get Damien off his back. It sort of negated all of the other nonsense. First of all, she knew Phoenix hadn’t been hurting for female companionship when she had met him. She’d read more than her fair share of articles from his past about the women he’d been seen with. He’d been with some incredibly beautiful women. She was nothing compared to them. Phoenix didn’t need to use her. She truly believed that.

  The fact of the matter was, someone was trying to use her to get to Phoenix. The question was why.

  “Look, I’ve got things to do, so if you don’t mind,” Mia repeated. Holding out her arm, she reached for the doorknob.

  “Mia, please.”

  “I know what you’re doing, Damien. And it’s not gonna work.”

  And just like that, the pleading tone and the sad eyes were gone, and in their place was the crude businessman she knew so well. The one who didn’t do anything for anyone other than himself. Whatever he was up to, Mia knew she needed to be cautious. He was looking for something. Likely details on Phoenix, as Tarik had suggested, although she truly didn’t understand why. Or why he thought she would give him any information.

  It was a little ridiculous, even for Damien. Not to mention, he was rich in his own right, and his business was thriving, so why was he putting so much effort into getting money from Phoenix?

  Making a mental note to do a little digging, Mia turned her attention back to Damien and opened the door. Just as she did, the elevator in the hall dinged, and the doors slid open. Out walked Phoenix, looking incredibly handsome in a pair of jeans and a navy polo. His hair was haphazardly sexy, a look she wasn’t used to seeing on him. He was usually so well put together, his hair generally styled to perfection. She decided she liked this look on him. Immensely.

  Teresa was beside him, glaring at her, and Tarik followed behind them.

  “I think this belongs to you,” Phoenix told Damien as he nudged Teresa toward him.

  The couple glanced at one another, a scheming look passing between them. What the hell were they really up to?

  Phoenix moved to her side just inside her condo while Tarik moved past and came to stop behind her. She had no idea what Damien was thinking as he looked at the three of them, and quite frankly, she didn’t care.

  “Thanks for stopping by,” Tarik said gruffly before taking a step back and gently urging Mia to move so he could close the door.

  Damien didn’t say another word, but the look on his face would likely be something that would haunt Mia for days to come.

  She didn’t know what he was after, but she’d somehow been trapped in his crosshairs yet again, and that was really beginning to piss her off.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  “THAT WENT WAY too well,” Mia said offhandedly as the door closed behind her and she leaned against it to stare at Tarik and Phoenix.

  On one hand, at least Mia was calm. On the other, Tarik wasn’t so sure whether that was a good thing or a bad thing.

  However, Tarik knew just what she was saying. According to what the most recent article had said — Landry’s story shifting from Sid being the one to back out of the deal to basically Phoenix setting up the entire thing in order to bring Damien to his knees, which was horseshit all on its own — and knowing the shit that was going down with the legal team for the Austin Arrows … that had been far too easy. There was no doubt that Damien Landry was only there to stir up more shit. He probably wanted more attention than he was getting.

  “What’re you thinking?” Mia asked Phoenix as he turned and walked into Mia’s living room. She shot Tarik a concerned glance before following.

  Tarik took a minute to look around. The last time he’d been there, he hadn’t spent much time checking things out. Other than noting how bright the space was and how it suited Mia perfectly, he hadn’t paid much attention to the little things. He’d been more interested in other things. Now that it looked like they might be there for a little while, he took the time to admire what she’d done to the place.

  It felt like her in every way. Light and airy, lots of color and life. It felt like a home.

  Tarik knew his own condo would not make the pages of any designer magazines. He had little to nothing in his place, just enough to get by. Not that Tarik minded the extremely masculine decor of Phoenix’s place, either, which was where he spent most of his time. It’d been that way since the first time Tarik had been there. Not much had changed, other than a trinket or two here and there — added by Ellen because Phoenix wasn’t one for knickknacks and shit. It still made his place look like a room with walls and little else.

  Even with the lack of color and furniture and knickknacks, it was a far cry from where Tarik had grown up. His parents had never owned a house, but they had rented plenty, usually skipping out without paying more than a couple months at a time. If that. Just as he’d told Mia, Tarik had changed schools more times than he could count, never settling into one place for too long. Grades had been the only thing he had focused on, and it wasn’t until he was a freshman in high school that he didn’t move around anymore.

  His parents had had an unstable relationship from the get-go; neither of them had ever tried to deny that. In fact, there were plenty of nights he’d gone to sleep wondering why they were even together. They had hated each other, and the verbal and physical abuse — doled out by both of them — had been brutal. But then one day it had all stopped.

  And so had the moving, but it wasn’t until he’d graduated from high school that he’d gotten his own bedroom. College hadn’t been an option, because Tarik had been tossed into the system without any family to take him in after they’d carted his father off. And maybe that was the real reason he was grateful for the security he felt with Phoenix. The lack of change didn’t bother him in the least.

  Unlike the bright, cheery room Mia slept in, Tarik’s bedroom was just as monochromatic as the rest of his place, with black furniture, black sheets, and a black-and-gray comforter. Nothing fancy, just a place to sleep at night. A place he’d hoped to be sleeping less after the first night he’d spent with Phoenix and Mia, but as of yet, little had changed. He’d suspected Phoenix had needed space afterward, and that was exactly what he’d given him.

  He was quickly growing tired of the space between them. All three of them. He wanted to eliminate it permanently, although he wasn’t about to tell Mia or Phoenix that.

  “Can I get you something to drink?” Mia offered as Phoenix took a seat on the cream-colored sofa with the brightly colored pillows.

  “It’s too early for what I’m thinking,” Phoenix muttered as he rested hi
s head in his hands while propping his elbows on his knees.

  “Not if we put it in coffee,” Mia teased. “Then it’s fine.”

  Phoenix looked up at her to see if she was serious, and a smile tilted his lips for the first time since Tarik had walked out of Phoenix’s office to find Teresa Somerhaus decorating the entryway with her too-fake appearance and her overabundance of perfume.

  “Want to tell me what’s going on?” Mia asked. “And yes, I’ve read all of the articles, I’ve watched the news, and I’ve listened to Damien’s crap. For the record, I’m not buying any of it. It just doesn’t make sense to me.”

  “It’s all bullshit,” Tarik assured her, glancing over at Phoenix to see if he was going to explain. He didn’t look in any mood to talk, so Tarik continued. “No matter what Landry claims, Sid did not back out of any deal. There wasn’t a deal. Ever. The man died nearly ten months ago, and this is way too fucking convenient. The question is why Landry is pulling this shit now. What prompted him to bring it up and try to push it?”

  “It just seems too coincidental,” Mia mentioned. “My marriage fell apart about the same time that your father passed,” Mia told Phoenix. “Well, that’s not coincidental. I think what happened with Damien and me is, though. He came home one night smelling like cheap perfume knowing that I would smell him. That was it for me. And now this. It just seems like he had a hand in moving things forward, so to speak. Did he set it up on purpose? Or is he using me? Or hell, is it because of me?”

  Her questions were riddled with the same confusion Tarik felt when he tried to wrap his mind around what Landry was after.

  “I don’t know what he’s after, but I know that it isn’t because of you,” Phoenix inserted. “Regardless, I’m not worried about it. He wants money. And if I have a say in the matter, he’s not going to get a fucking penny from me.”

  Mia perched on the arm of the sofa and glanced between the two of them. “Do you know when Damien claims to have made this agreement with your father?”

  “He hasn’t been specific. I’ve heard a couple of months before my father died.”