“I’m not saying that I don’t care, Mia. I’m saying that I know I fucked up, especially where Della is concerned. But I’m not that person anymore. I have a family now.”
“I don’t want to fight with you,” Mia whispers, looking exhausted.
“No, lay it on me. I want to hear how you feel.”
“Fuck, Carter,” I snap. “Who the fuck do you think you’re talking to?”
He takes a deep breath and quickly reigns in his temper. “You’re right.”
He walks to where Mia is, and I know this is hard for him, but I won’t have him disrespecting Mia. Fuck, it’s hard for all of us.
“I’m sorry, Mia. You know you’re like a sister to me. I’d never do anything to hurt you. Not intentionally. I was a dick in college, and I’m sorry it bit you in the ass. I can’t change what happened, but I am sorry.”
Her chin quivers and she looks so sad it even melts Carter’s frozen heart.
“Mia, I love you,” he whispers as he carefully pulls her into a hug.
“Fuck, bro, you’re making me cry,” Marcus mutters, actually wiping tears from his eyes.
Jaxson is the first to laugh, and it goes a long way to easing the tension in the room.
Carter pulls back, flips Marcus off, then looks back to Mia. “Are we good?”
“Yeah,” she says, while wiping her tears away.
“Good, then I’m going home. I promised Danny that I’d read her a bedtime story tonight.”
Rhett slowly pulls himself up against the wall. It looks like he’s gone to war and lost, as he walks to Mia.
“If I could turn back time, I’d become a fucking monk for you. I can’t change what I’ve done and I know me saying I’m sorry, won’t make it all magically right. I can promise you that I’m going to make Josie pay.”
Mia lets out another bitter chuckle. “How, Rhett? We have no physical proof.”
“Let me worry about that. I’ll find a way. I promise you that her crazy ass will never get close to you again.”
Mia stares at the floor for a long while, then she starts to scroll through her contacts, which instantly has me taking a step closer to her.
“Don’t phone her, Mia. You’ll play right into her hand.”
She flicks her eyes at me. “I’m not phoning her.”
She turns her back on me and it feels like I’m watching the only door to all my dreams being nailed shut.
“Mr. Peterson? It’s Mia Daniels. You need to come to New York.”
We all watch as Mia tells Mr. Peterson everything that’s happened over the past four years. It hurts just as much hearing it now, as it did the first time.
Mr. Peterson says something, to which Mia replies, “The only way you can make this better is by coming to get your daughter. You can’t pay me to go away. If you don’t, I will go to the police. You’re not the only one with money. I’ll hire the best attorneys to destroy your name the way your daughter tried to destroy me. You have a week. I want confirmation that she’s in LA, and that you’re getting her professional help.”
She switches her phone off and throws it on the coffee table as if it’s a burning lump of coal.
Rhett places a hand on her shoulder, giving it a squeeze. “That was badass.”
“She hates her parents. It’s the best revenge I could think of.”
“Badass and clever,” Rhett says, as he gives Mia a pleading look. “Hopefully, forgiving too?”
Mia shakes her head at him but says, “I might forgive you, but I