mom and aunt. They were, after all, competitive women who ruled in both high school and college once.
The rest of the ugliness is all my father. It’s not my fault I look like my father.
“My apologies, Auntie.” I drop my voice, inserting a fake sigh of resignation, looking sad. “It’s just, I didn’t sleep well last night, and I feel like my life has just been uprooted which is an uncomfortable and painful feeling to have for any teenager really.”
I wasn’t lying about that.
“Oh, I—” he starts but I cut him off.
“I mean, you have sons, right?” I press, knowing damn well that John is a shitty parent. If he wasn’t, Julian and Aiden wouldn’t have been alone for that long at the hospital three years ago. “You must know what it’s like when they feel uprooted?”
I want to look up at Julian, but I stay put, comforted by the fact that he’s still there, his eyes on me, listening to everything.
“Uh, yes. I understand,” he starts then clears his throat.
“So you understand that I’m in a bit of a funk, right?”
“Oh, I understand what you mean.” John’s face grows red with embarrassment and my aunt frowns at me. “I’m terribly sorry for all this, Mia. You’ve already done so much for my boys. The least I can do is try to make this move as easy for you as possible.”
I pretend to wipe an imaginary tear, ignoring my aunt’s shocked gaze. As well as a studying, penetrating gaze that’s been on me since I arrived.
“It’s alright.” I sigh heavily. And dramatically. “I know you two are just in love and couldn’t wait to live together.”
John shifts uncomfortably but I can see the sharp intelligence in his eyes as he watches me.
Hmm.
“If there’s anything I can do for you, Mia, all you have to do is say it and I’ll move heaven and earth to make it happen.”
“Oh, you don’t have—”
“You saved my son’s life, so yes, I do,” John cuts me off, a large hand clutching his chest.
“Well, I’m not thinking of anything right now.” I tap my foot, pretending to look nervous.
“That’s alright, Mia,” John says with a sympathetic shake of his head. “Whenever you think of something that you need, my offer will still stand.”
Good.
“Like a blank check, kind of thing?” I look up at him through half-closed eyelids, batting my eyelashes that I took time to curl this morning, knowing that I’d have an audience of enemies waiting for me. No way will they catch me on a bad hair day, no matter what hell I’m going through.
John chuckles at that but nods regardless.
“Yes, Mia, just like a blank check.” He laughs. “You’d make a fine negotiator.”
“You think so?” I laugh, hoping my mother has tuned all this out and isn’t listening. If she is, I’m in shit.
“I know so.” John winks. Good, he thinks we’re going to get along well. Grim satisfaction moves through my system. See, if I ever believed in fairytales, and wanted to star in one, I’d be one of the stepsisters, not Cinderella.
“Why thank you, Mr. Fitzgerald.”
“Please, call me John,” he rushes to correct, and I smile sweetly, glancing at my aunt, a sly look on my face.
“Maybe soon you’ll be Uncle John,” I tease with a smile, ignoring the bile rising up my throat as I say that.
I kissed both your sons. They both hate me. One of them broke me.
My aunt’s face clouds another shade with anger, but she plays the game, smiling at her fiancé, all fake, pretending to be sweet and pliable, just like the women in my family do.
“Wow, I’d love that.” John chuckles again, placing a kiss on Aunt Nicky’s head. If he notices that she’s angry, he doesn’t let it show.
Yup, I’ve got him hook, line, and sink him. It’s no wonder Aunt Nicky managed to convince him to put a ring on her finger, even though she once swore she would never wear a handcuff as small as a wedding ring.
One thing’s for sure though, I’ll be collecting on that blank check one day.
Inside, I’m smiling like an evil deviant. I look up to the second floor and catch Julian’s hard glare on me.
I send a wink his way, then grip my mother’s wheelchair and follow nurse Hayley to our new home.
For now.
17
MIA
“Okay, Mom,” I start, kneeling before her. “This is where we’re at for now.”
I grab her hands but they’re cold and trembling. I quickly stand up and grab a blanket that