she’s unaffected, but she is. She tries to act cold, like what they call her, but she’s none of that. She checks her phone a billion times a day, hoping that her asshole of a father—or whoever he is now to her—would call.
He never does.
She ignores Nicky like the plague and she’s now too damn emotional and distraught that John’s worried about her. He was never worried about Mom or Aiden, only how they affected his bank. Asshole.
“Have you talked to her?” Liam starts.
“Who is her?” Mia stares him dead in the eye, her nose flaring. Liam glances at me, we both know that she knows who he’s talking about.
“She’s been asking for you.”
“I’m unavailable,” she mumbles, then looks away. She’s been dancing way more, spends more time at her old house than before. She hardly goes to school, but I’m not worried about that. The girl’s super smart, she should already be in college by now.
“Cupcake,” Liam starts then shakes his head like he’s disappointed. “I know you’re mad but see… time is a crappy thing.”
Clenching my jaw, I walk out of the kitchen. I can’t take the growing warmth or whatever bullshit is happening between the two of them. It’s nauseating which doesn’t help the fact that lately, I’ve been feeling Aiden’s ghost in the house. Everywhere I go, I feel like he’s there. I can hardly sleep. Can hardly rest or function like a normal human being.
There’s just too much history in this damn house. Too much happened here that I can’t wait to get the hell out.
“Leave him be, cupcake.”
“But, is he alright?” I can hear her ask, her eyes on my back.
“Aiden.” Is all Liam says, then I drown out their voices. For all I know, her concern might be fake, but it doesn’t lessen my need for it.
Going down the south wing of the house, I go in search of John. If there’s anyone who knows what Mom’s up to, it’s him. He’s been keeping tabs with everything she does since they separated. Which means, he knew that she was digging about Nicky’s life.
So, he knew about Mia and that she was Nicky’s biological daughter.
I knock on his fucking door, just for courtesy’s fucking sake but. I don’t get a response. Pushing on the door, I find the office empty. I should turn around and leave but for some reason, I step in anyway.
Walking over to his huge mahogany desk, driven by a curiosity I can’t explain, I open the top drawer. It’s full of work papers. The second has stationary and the third has more files and papers from work. But the fourth drawer catches my eye.
On top of the files in this one, there’s the newspaper article…an article I know all too well because I’ve read it so often, I have each word memorized in my damn head. Taking it out, I where the newspaper is coming from. A file with a with a name scrawled on top.
Nathan Montague.
I tense up as on as I read it, then I open the file.
There are surveillance images of Mia’ when we met, on that very day. There’s another f her leaving with her obviously sick mother. Then there’s the image of Nathan rushing from the airport. As I look at them, I recognize the date. It’s when Mia and I kissed then she talked to those goddamn reporters.
“Fuck.” I whisper.
I flip through the rest of the images. Most of them are of Nathan and Nancy, then they morph into images of Nicky. Now, these are different. These are more personal as each one is dad’s new mommy wanna-be with a different man.
Skipping the pictures, I get to the papers underneath. There’s Mia’s birth certificate. But right beneath that, there’s a detailed report of Mia’s birth. It looks like John hired a private investigator for this because it talks about how Mia’s grandmother chased Nicky out of her house. Nathan and Nancy were married that same year.
As I read on, I notice that all the information focuses on Nathan. Whatever move he’s ever made, each case he ever picked up. There’s even a full, detailed client list that Nathan has worked with. Contacts reaching beyond the American boarders and all of them are marked with red, like a hit list or something.
There are details of the law firms he’s worked for. One in New York, another in Chicago then one in L.A, Stevens & Merc law firm.