Mia didn’t know how tonight was going to end. She hadn’t really thought that far ahead. Deep in her heart she had hoped that Ivan would just help her out without any nonsense. There was going to be no way that would happen. He wanted something from her, and the only way to get something from him was to give him what he wanted.
Enter Damian Denton. She knew nothing of the man who now sat opposite her in a diner. Now they were able to sit, and she could look at him properly, she saw the suit. Crisp white shirt, expensive jacket and pants. He didn’t wear a tie, and a couple of buttons at his neck were undone. His hair was a little unkempt, the length just to his neck. He looked like a badass, and for some reason, she got the sense that he would rather shoot his own arm off than hurt her.
She held Reese in her arms, and he had gone to sleep. Her stomach growled, and Damian kept on staring at her.
“Food will be here any minute.”
“Thank you.”
She looked down at her sleeping son, and sighed. Tonight was an epic failure.
“So why won’t Ivan let you have a job?” Damian asked.
“He likes to be in control. I’m running out of money that I’d been able to save up, only now with the stress and everything, I need to take care of my son.”
“I also notice that you keep calling him ‘your son’, and not ‘our son’, or even ‘Ivan’s son’.”
She stared at the man opposite, and something just told her that he didn’t deal in bullshit but truths. “Ivan believes that he has a right to Reese when he doesn’t.”
“He was there when you conceived him unless you’re lying about his paternity.”
Mia gritted her teeth. Of course the woman had to be lying about paternity. Women were just a bunch of lying, cheating whores who could be used and dumped. Her anger was what made her say the next thing. “Ivan raped me. Yes, he was there at Reese’s conception, and even as I screamed and begged that he stop, he didn’t.”
Damian went pale, and he glanced at her, and then at Reese. “He knocked you up.”
“Yes, and in his sick twisted mind, we did it because we both wanted it. I’ve never been able to stand Ivan, and he can’t stand the fact that I don’t want him.” She watched as Damian ran a hand down his face. “Some women may get off on telling the father the wrong paternity or whatever the fuck it is she says, but I’m not one of them. I’d give anything to change Reese’s father so I never had to look at Ivan’s face again.”
“Why were you there?” Damian asked.
“Haven’t you been listening? Ivan controls everything around here. I have to live some way, and I don’t want to be at his mercy. I don’t think you have a clue what it means to have your life in someone else’s hands.”
“Why didn’t you go to the cops?”
Mia burst out laughing, shaking her head, and glancing around to see a couple of the customers looking at her. “You’re so funny.”
“I’m not laughing.”
“Wow, you really don’t get it, do you? Ivan controls the cops here. He’s got them eating out of his pocket. I’ve got no one. No one would believe me. I bet he had people lining up to say that I was begging for it or something. So no, I didn’t go to the cops. I dealt with it, and I moved on.”
The waitress came back with their milkshakes and burgers. Picking up a fry, she placed it in her mouth, and rocked Reese in the seat, which fit into most cars. She had picked it up on the way out of Mary’s place. Reese was inside it, and she rocked him to make sure he stayed asleep.
Sleep wouldn’t be easy for her tonight.
“I want you to come back with me,” Damian said.
“You’re crazy.”
He held his hands up. Two fingers were covered in ketchup, which for some reason she found to be utterly cute, and didn’t get it. “Hear me out. I can’t promise you anything here, and I saw that shithole you call a home. I can offer you a better life. A job, isn’t that what you want?”
Her shoulders dropped. All she wanted was the chance to earn a living.
She looked at him, his expensive suit, the gold watch that she had seen on his wrist. Everything about him screamed money. “How will you offer me a job? I’m not a whore.”
Damian started to laugh. “You’re funny.”
“You know Ivan, and he knew you. Does that mean you’re … business partners?”
“Hell no. That asshole is nowhere near our league. Your work will be safe, and I was wondering, how do you feel about taking care of my girl?”