“I told Mia that your case wasn’t going well and guess what asshole? She told me she had a game plan,” Cole starts, his voice low, laced with anger and caution as he regards me.
“Did you fucking see her then?” I seethe, feeling like I’m hanging on by a fucking thin thread. “Besides teaming up with that retched mess that calls herself my mother, you fucking saw Mia, didn’t you?”
“Of course, they saw her,” Dad says but even he can’t hide the uncertainty in his voice.
I stare at Cole. Unease trickling down my spine as the heaviness of their silence stiffens my neck and shoulders.
I want him to say yes. I want him to say he saw her, was close to her and saw if there was something wrong, something that could fucking clue us in on how the fuck Matthews got to her!
But I should know better than to have some fucked up hope at this point.
Cole looks away, fists clenched at his sides, giving me my answer.
Rage and violence seethe in me.
“You didn’t see her, huh.” I mutter, shaking my head.
Cole doesn’t say anything. Liam looks away and I… slowly, with measured breathes and movements, I turn away from then and resume stalking toward Cole’s car.
“Wait!” Dad calls after me but I ignore him. “What do you boys mean? Julian, where else would they have gotten the news that Mia provided the evidence needed to get you acquitted?” Dad questions, turning around to look at Cole and Liam fully. “Right, boys? You just saw her. There’s no way...” he trails off.
At the deafening silence, I feel more than hear them right behind me.
Ahead of me, Cole has unlocked the car. I don’t have to look to my side to know that he’s already there, silently brooding beside me.
“Fuck,” Liam whispers. “I should’ve known something was wrong the moment I saw that she-devil, but I didn’t fucking think of it.”
“Boys, you stop right now!” Dad demands right behind me, then I feel his heavy hand on my shoulder.
“Let me go.”
“Son, I know you’re livid right now, and I know the last thing you want to do is talk, but just stop and think.”
There’s nothing to think about, but I don’t say that. All I see is Mia, on that bed, in that dark room… bruised and hurt.
“Let me fucking go!”
“Julian, remember what we talked about. I know you know this is far bigger than it seems. I expect you to be smart.” Dad says, his voice deceptively soft yet still non-judgmental.
We’ll see how that lasts when there’s blood on my hands.
“Yeah, well let’s just say for argument’s sake I’m not fucking smart, Dad but you two…” I grit out, looking at Liam and Cole. “You had no fucking right going to her like that. I could’ve—”
“Gone to fucking prison!” Liam seethes.
“Yeah, and how the fuck did you know she’d help?” I grunt, the thing in my chest beating wildly because it’s clear. While I hated her, my best friend never shared the same sentiments because he knew the truth.
“Well, if you must know, you insufferable jerk, I’ve been talking to Mia almost every single day, well when you weren’t breathing down my fucking neck for mentioning her name,” Cole says silently. “Someone needed to check in on her and looking at this shit now, I was right and fucking wrong at the same time.”
“Yeah, and my mother?” I demand. “Were you talking to her every day too?”
“How does Courtney tie into all of this anyway?” Dad demands.
“She came in place of Mia,” Liam mumbles.
“In place of… what the hell does that mean? Courtney hates Mia.”
“Well, might as well start from the beginning,” Cole says. As always, my best friend can’t be bothered to be rushed. If Cole Perry is giving you details, you best fucking believe it will be just that, detailed. “After you fucked up by casting her aside, ignored her calls when she was all but out of her mind with worry trying to contact you and make you see reason. She even tried Liam but he...”
“I messed up so bad,” Liam whispers brokenly, staring down at his phone. “I told her to go suck the devil’s cock and burn in hell.” A pained, horrified look crosses his face as if he’s disgusted with himself. “I swear I thought I was protecting you. I didn’t know...”
I stare at Cole, waiting for the rest of the story, guilt churns in my gut.
“She told me she was innocent.” I can hear the accusation in his voice. The anger, mixed with the disappointment, again, in me. “I believed her.”
“Don’t. Make. Me. Fucking. Question. You. Again.” I grit out, each word tinged with a murderous intent that doesn’t faze Cole.
“She told me she has a plan, but she was pretty sure in order for that plan to work, she had to deal with the devil.”
Deal with the devil.
“Courtney.”
Her name falls from my lips and a plan starts forming in my head. Of course, my dearest mother is involved in this.
“Your mother?”
“Oh please, Dad,” Liam seethes. “Give us some more respect than that, Dad, referring to that watch as our mother.”
“Well, unfortunately for you, son, no matter what she has done, or what she is now, she still gave birth to you.”
“Are you on her side? Is that it?” Liam demands angrily, getting into Dad’s face. “For all we know she’s the one who set this entire thing up! She’s had it out for Mia since day fucking uno.”
“What? You think your mother would set an elaborately criminal plan like this where an innocent girl is not just taken but…” Dad trails off, looking at me.
“If you’re going to defend her, then fuck off,” I say keeping my voice low then turn to go, painfully aware that I’ve just wasted a shit load of time.
Time I could’ve used to get to Mia.
I need to get to her.
God, she’s never going to forgive me. Not after everything.
“I’m not defending anyone, I’m saying we need to pull the facts together,” he says, then drops his voice. “Before things are done that cannot be undone.”
“Well, Julian’s going to kill that asshole and by God, Dad, I’m helping.”
“Shut your mouth! We’re in public for Christ’s sake!” Dad seethes at Liam, then he looks at me. “Listen to all the facts first and then you can do what’s best. If your mother is involved, then she might be in it for other reasons.”
Yeah, to break Mia and I apart, fuck! How could I be so fucking stupid and arrogant?
“At least consider it,” Dad says in a rush. He’s the voice of reason, that much is clear, but where’s the reason in taking a girl who’s barely coming out of the throes of depression, grief and quite recently, the heartbreak I caused her?
“Get out of my way or I’ll remove you,” I say just as smoothly.
“Think, Julian. How exactly did Courtney get to Mia? How did Mia end up going to her? At least let’s figure that out.”
I stare at my father, hating him but also fucking aware of where he’s going with this.
“The Matthews scum are in no way related to your fucking brother.”