Page 126 of Be With Me
Dad’s gaze flicked to the city skyline. “No one comes to mind, but it’s a good lead. Any further movement—anything else you find out about that visit—I want to know immediately.”
The whiskey burned as it went down my throat. A coincidence?
My gut said no.
But if Mia’s father was involved with the same people trying to sabotage our deal with the Colombians…it would mean a level of corruption even my mother hadn’t anticipated from him.
I could ask Mia. Try to get more information.
If she was still willing to speak to me at all.
CHAPTER39
ROM
The hotel was a small, understated brick building nestled on a quiet street in the Upper West Side. There were only ten rooms, and I had booked the presidential suite for Mia and me. She was running late, and I needed something to take the edge off, so I went down to the bar.
It was nearly empty, occupied only by a few neighborhood regulars drinking wine in worn leather chairs. They minded their business. I minded mine.
Loosening my collar, I took another sip of whiskey, trying to temper the tangle of emotions clawing at my chest.
Mia had taken her time replying to my text yesterday. Long enough for me to sweat. Long enough for me to get a bitter taste of what was waiting on the other side of this.
My life without her in it.
I'd always known it would come to this. That we had an expiration date. But now that it was staring me in the face, I still couldn’t bring myself to accept it.
Impossible ideas swirled through my head.
Ideas like walking away from the only life I’d ever known. Ideas like taking her with me, whether she liked it or not.
But deep down, I knew I couldn’t do it. I was a selfish bastard, but I couldn’t ruin her life just to keep her in mine. That knowledge was driven by something stronger than my selfishness, something I refused to put a name on.
I’d always thought this kind of obsessive attraction burned fast and bright before fizzling out, but with Mia, it had followed a different path.
It had led me straight to my doom.
The revolving door spun, and there she was.
The hard set of her mouth told me something was wrong. A sliver of worry curled inside my stomach, adding to the stress, anxiety, and fucking dread that had been festering ever since yesterday afternoon. She crossed the empty lobby and headed straight for me.
I stood as she approached, bracing myself, wondering if she was only here to say goodbye.
“Mia—“
She pressed herself against my chest and wrapped her arms around my waist.
Inside me, something shook.
I exhaled, locking my arms around her as I pressed a kiss to the crown of her head.
“Baby, what’s wrong?”
The bartender started to approach, likely to take her drink order, but I shot him a glare that sent him scurrying back to the other end of the bar.
Mia tilted her head up. Judging by the red around her eyes, she’d been crying.
It fucking killed me.
