“I’m ready,” I told Mom.
“Really?” Her brown eyes skimmed over my attire, and her lips pressed into a firm line. “Don’t you want to change that hoodie?”
“This is Braxton’s hoodie. I’m not changing it.”
Her eyes softened, and a sly grin teased at her lips. “Of course it is. Okay, then. Get your beautiful butt in the van while I go make your sister hurry up.”
“We’re meeting Emmie and Mia at the mall,” Aunt Layla informed me as we entered the garage and got into Mom’s minivan. It was spacious and always clean, no matter how hard Damien tried to destroy the interior every day.
I climbed into the back with Aunt Lucy, and by the time I had my seat belt on, Mom appeared with Arella. My younger sister was dressed in a skirt I knew our dad would have freaked over and a red sweater with thigh-high black boots. Her hair was pulled into a ponytail, but she’d curled the ends. With the makeup she had on, she looked like she was ready for a date, not a simple day of shopping with her family.
Knowing Arella, though, I imagined she was probably expecting to see friends from school at the mall, and she didn’t like to look anything but perfect around them.
We met Mia and Aunt Emmie in the mall’s garage. Marcus and Rodger, their bodyguards, were with them but thankfully dressed in casual clothes rather than their normal suits.
As soon as she saw me, Aunt Emmie threw her arms around me. “Happy birthday, sweetheart,” she said as she kissed my cheek.
“Thanks, Aunt Em,” I murmured.
As she stepped back, she put her arm around Mia’s waist. “Where to first?”
“Coffee,” Mom spoke. “I need caffeine stat.”
Mia’s face turned green, and she muttered a small oath but put on a bright smile and nodded her head along with the others who agreed that we needed to arm ourselves with drinks before we started shopping.
As we walked into the mall, I dropped back to talk to Mia. “How are you feeling?” I asked quietly.
She only gave me a look that was full of misery. “Kill me now.”
“Is it that bad?”
As soon as we walked through the mall entrance, she groaned and put her hand to her nose. “Worse,” she muttered. “These food smells are killing me.”
“But the food court is on the third floor,” I reminded her.
“Yeah, but it seems like my sense of smell is amplified. Mom told me she had the worst morning sickness when she was pregnant.”
I glanced at the others as they walked ahead of us. “You told her?”
“Just her,” Mia said with a nod. “Not Daddy yet.”
I stopped and turned to face her. “Mia, don’t you think it’s time to finally forgive your dad? It’s been two years, and he’s tried time and again to earn back your trust.”
Her chin trembled for a moment before she shook her head. “I’ve tried. Believe me, I really have. It’s just hard to get over what he did, Nev.”
“I understand, but you forgave Barrick. Why can’t you do the same for Uncle Nik?”
“Because…” She clenched her jaw and swallowed hard. “Because he broke my heart more than Barrick ever could.”
That made a lot of sense to me. Having your heart broken by your father—the man who was your first hero, the first man to ever love you wholeheartedly—that was a million times worse than any other heartbreak. Mia lost a part of herself when Uncle Nik betrayed her, and I didn’t know if she was ever going to get it back.
“Anyway,” Mia said as she put her arm through mine and we started walking again. “I thought maybe Barrick and I could do a cute little baby announcement for Daddy. Maybe a Christmas present or something that announces his impending grandfatherhood.”
“Yeah, that would be nice,” I agreed.
For the next two hours, we shopped and had lunch in the food court. Mia tried to eat a slice of pizza, but two bites in, she had to excuse herself. Thankfully, the bathrooms were close by because she had to make a run for it.
All the moms at the table shared a look with Aunt Emmie, who grinned and nodded her head. But no one said anything about it. Not even when Mia returned from the bathroom fifteen minutes later, looking less green but sweaty. They all pretended nothing out of the ordinary had happened.
“Well, we should get going,” Aunt Emmie announced as she got to her feet. “I have a few things to pick up before the party tonight.” She kissed the top of Arella’s head then gave me a hug. “Enjoy the rest of your afternoon, babes.”
Mia gave me a wave, wiping at the perspiration on her upper lip as she walked with her mom and the two bodyguards toward the escalators.
“Mom,” Arella said as she pushed away her plate of half-eaten Japanese. “Palmer is downstairs. Can I go with her? She’ll drop me off, and I promise I’ll be home in time for the party.”
Without hesitating, Mom nodded. “But if you’re late, you’re grounded. I mean it, Arella.”
She made an X on her chest. “I promise.” Jumping up, she kissed Mom’s cheek and skipped off toward the escalators as well.
“That girl is going to get in trouble, Lana,” Aunt Layla said with a laugh.
Mom snorted. “When isn’t she getting in trouble? Drake put an extra tracker on her phone, though. Seeing as she disabled the first one so she could go to some party a few weeks ago.”
I wasn’t surprised by my sister’s antics. She was born to cause trouble. Of the five of us, Arella was the wildest, and I knew the majority of Daddy’s gray hair was because of her.
Half listening to the others talking, I pulled out my phone to see if I had a text from Braxton. There was nothing, and I tried to push down my disappointment. I’d already texted him twice, even snapped a picture of myself in the changing room trying on the new dress I’d picked out for the party in the hope of getting a flirty response. I should have known I wouldn’t; Braxton had never flirted before, but a girl could dream, damn it.
“Four of the most beautiful women I have ever seen are sitting here with no man in sight,” a deep voice I knew well announced, making everyone at the table but me laugh as Jordan Moreitti appeared at the end of the table. “I knew this was my lucky day, but damn, ladies.”
I rolled my eyes so hard, his dark eyes landed on me, and I stuck my tongue out at him before flipping him off. He was Mia’s best friend, so we saw him a lot back in Virginia. Probably more often than his parents did since he spent his time either in Italy working in his father’s company or visiting Mia.
“What are you doing in this part of the country?” I asked. “Last time I saw you, you were trying your hardest to avoid this place.”
“Needed to see Mia, and lo and behold, she was in this godforsaken dump.”
“Yeah, California is a cesspool.” Rolling my eyes again, I tossed my napkin at him. “You just missed her.”
He shrugged. “I’ll catch her later. It’s your birthday, right?” I nodded. “Maybe your mom would be okay if I took you shopping for a present.”
“Mom would be fine with that,” she said with a wink as she and my aunts stood and gathered their bags. “Party starts at seven. Don’t be late.” She patted Jordan on the arm. “And you are more than welcome to join us, sweetie.”