I won’t seek out another.
Family, to me, is weakness—nothing more. It’s the blind spot that kills you.
And I intend to survive.
“If you’re looking for a pay raise,” I growl, “I’m afraid you’re going to have to look elsewhere. I’m not looking to fill that particular position.”
“I wasn’t suggesting?—!”
“Weren’t you, though?”
“I wasn’t offering myself up, asshole,” she hisses. “Believe me, one solo trip to the delivery room was enough. I’m not looking to be single-mothered twice.”
“And you assume that’s what I’d do?” I ask. “Enjoy the perks and leave you to fend for yourself afterwards?”
Her jaw hardens as she turner her face toward the window. “In my experience, that’s exactly what men do.”
“Then you haven’t met a true man yet. A man never abandons his family. Not his blood, and certainly not his woman.”
She averts her gaze, embarrassed. “Then she’ll be a lucky girl,” she mumbles. “Whoever you choose to make a family with.”
I don’t bother answering. This shit is not why I hired her, not why I’ve kept her, not why I’m bringing her with me again and again. It’s irrelevant.
She has a job to do.
So do I.
That’s the beginning and end of the matter.
Or at least, that’s what I intended to be the end of it. But…
“I’m sorry.”
Mia’s voice catches me by surprise. Her hand on my arm, even more so. For a second, I can do nothing but stare, the warmth of her skin seeping into the ice of mine.
“I don’t want your pity.”
“It’s not pity,” she insists. She offers me a small smile. “I’ve… been separated from my family, too. It’s hard enough not to see them, but I can’t imagine what it would be like to know they’re not waiting for me.”
I keep staring into Mia’s eyes, hoping to find something there. A flash of sharpness, of betrayal—anything.
Instead, there’s just warmth.
It’s ridiculous.She’sridiculous. I’m her enemy. I am the man who shoved her against a wall and threatened her. The one who holds all the power in our relationship.
Anybody else would be looking for a weapon. Something, anything they could use to even the scales.
But she’s not doing that. She’s just—listening. Even though I haven’t said a word about what happened. Even though she has nothing to gain.
Which meansshemust have something to gain.
There’s no other reason to be kind. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that.
And if it just plain old kindness?—
Then she hasn’t seen what this world is capable of.
I shake my head, yank my arm away. Mia’s savior complex is none of my fucking business. Just like my past is none of hers.
