the best disinfectant. These are clichés but they are also true.”
Mia blew out a breath, knowing now what she had to do.
“I love you so much.” Mia hugged her sister hard.
“And I love you.” Isobel’s expression lost a modicum of its fury as her affection for Mia tempered it. “Let’s go.”
Mia and Isobel walked into the Rebels front office. It was quiet on a Sunday, no evidence that it was usually a bustling hive of activity during the week. Harper’s door was closed but Isobel walked in without knocking, Mia trailing her.
Harper and Selena were seated on the sofa, while Cal and Vadim were ensconced in a couple of armchairs.
Cal blanched and stood. “Mia, what’s going on? Are you okay?”
He looked like he’d had no sleep, and she imagined they had that in common.
“I’m fine. Isobel said you were all meeting and I thought I should get in on that.” Wishing she could look at Cal all day and absorb the strength she always felt in his presence, she instead directed her attention to Selena. “I wondered if I could have a word in private.”
Vadim’s expression darkened. “Sestra, what is going on?”
She squeezed her brother’s shoulder. “I need to take care of something, Vad. This has to happen first and then we can talk.”
Isobel smiled at her husband, then nodded at Harper who she had texted on the way over, asking her to stall. “Let her do this.”
All eyes turned to Selena, who merely shrugged and stood, smoothing her skirt as she went. “Always happy to talk to a member of Team USA.”
But there was no missing the note of concern in her voice. She had to know this could not be good.
Cal shot a speaking glance at Mia, asking if she was okay. She took that care inside her heart and let is settle. So he wasn’t willing to step up to be the man who nurtured that same heart back to life, but she knew he would be there for her as a friend. One day they might get back to there.
Mia walked to the outer suite and waited, digging nails into her palms, her nerves stretched taut. When Selena appeared, she took a seat and looked at Mia expectantly.
“First, I want to apologize for what Cal said to you last night. I know Harper and Isobel have probably already done that, but I wanted to say it again. That was not his place.”
Selena placed both hands in her lap. “I assume you told him some version of events that produced that attack dog response.”
“I told him the truth. But I didn’t ask him to get into it with you. That was uncalled for.”
“Well, I expect he had been drinking. Not that it’s an excuse to make threats of bodily violence.”
Cal was perfectly sober when Mia spoke with him later. He knew exactly what he was doing, and while she didn’t need his defense, she’d had a night to toss and turn about it and become more appreciative.
Cal was her champion and her friend. He might not love her the way she wanted or needed, but he cared and that’s where his actions of last night stemmed from—his big-hearted generosity.
Selena was still talking. “But he’s here today to make amends as I requested.”
Oh, how this woman loved to wield her power over people. Mia wanted to slap the smug right off her face.
“Before I can move forward with the franchise negotiations,” Selena continued, her tone more confident now that she assumed this wasn’t going to play out so badly after all. “I will expect that apology which he hasn’t quite got around to making. While it’s sweet of you and the other surrogates to step up, I think that the wrong doer should take responsibility here.”
“Wow, you are one self-righteous, hypocritical bitch, Selena.”
Those gray eyes went as wide as the saucers of Harper’s very fine tea service. “This really isn’t the way back into my good graces, Mia.”
“What are you going to do? Call Coach Lindhoff and get me thrown off the Olympic team? Start another whisper campaign that ruins my chances of a spot with a pro franchise? I don’t think so, Selena. You took advantage of my inexperience and youth a couple of years ago and crafted the narrative. Your son did something wrong. Then to compound it, you did something wrong. And when you had a chance to put it right, you kept doing something wrong. And I put up with it.”
“Now Mia—”
“I put up