A Million Tiny Pieces (33 page)

Until
Phoenix, Tarik hadn’t even been sure he was capable of having feelings for
anyone. Then again, until Phoenix, no one had ever made him feel like he
mattered.

Brushing
his hand over Mia’s hair, Tarik inhaled deeply.

“I
didn’t mean to make you cry,” he said softly, keeping her close.

Mia
nuzzled closer, her breath warm against his skin.

“Can
I tell you something?” she asked, her words so soft he wouldn’t have heard her
if she hadn’t been close to his ear.

“Sure,”
he said just as quietly.

“I
love you, Tarik.”

For
the first time in his entire life, Tarik was pretty sure those three words were
going to pull tears from him. He was just grateful that it was dark.

»»»»»♥«««««

WHEN
PHOENIX MADE it back to the penthouse after spending nearly three hours talking
to his mother, he was emotionally wrung out and exhausted. What had started out
as a conversation about the Arrows, the lawsuit, and the direction the team was
headed had turned into a trip down memory lane, and Phoenix hadn’t been able to
leave. He’d helped his mother cook, and they’d eaten together while talking
about his father, the pain still fresh for both of them.

Finding
Mia and Tarik asleep on the couch curled up around one another in the dark,
Phoenix had pondered what to do. He hated to wake them, but he didn’t want to
spend the night alone in his bed, so he’d managed to nudge Tarik awake enough
to get him moving. Phoenix had lifted Mia and carried her into his bedroom. He
didn’t bother removing her clothes, just tucked her in, then stripped down to
his boxers and joined her. To his surprise, Tarik climbed in beside him, lying
on his back as they both stared up at the ceiling in the darkened room.

“You
okay?” Tarik asked, breaking the silence.

“I
will be.”

“Me,
too.”

Phoenix
turned his head to look at Tarik, only making out his profile in the light
shining in through the floor-to-ceiling windows. “Something happen?”

“She
asked about my parents.”

Something
compelled him to find Tarik’s hand with his own, linking their fingers as they
lay there. “Did she cry?” Phoenix asked. He’d heard the story, knew it was
heart wrenching. Having grown up with two parents who had doted on him and one
another, Phoenix couldn’t relate to the hell Tarik had lived through. He knew
Tarik carried scars with him that would never fade, both physical and
emotional. He also knew that Tarik was a much stronger man than he was.

“Yeah.”

The
silence lingered between them for a few minutes before Tarik spoke up again.

“I
made love to her.”

“I
figured,” Phoenix replied. “There’s the distinct scent of sex in the living
room. Incredible, huh?”

“That
doesn’t even begin to describe it,” Tarik admitted, and Phoenix heard something
he’d never heard in Tarik’s voice.

Phoenix
knew what Tarik was feeling. He’d felt it himself when he’d been with Mia. He’d
known from the beginning that there was something about her, something unique.
She captivated him, pulled him in, and as every day passed, the strings that
tethered him to her only strengthened. The same way those that held him to
Tarik continued to be reinforced. Proof was in the way Tarik held his hand, the
three of them in his bed.

“This
is real, huh?” Phoenix finally asked.

“It’s
real.”

“Good.”
And with that, Phoenix gave in to sleep.

“DAMN
IT,” PHOENIX growled, tempted to punch a hole in the kitchen wall. After what
had turned out to be an incredibly relaxing Sunday spent with Mia and Tarik
doing little to nothing and a decidedly uneventful Monday, it was now Tuesday,
and he was ready to go back to a simpler fucking time.

His
mother had bombarded him with questions the moment he’d gotten back from his
run that morning, apparently having gotten a few more details from Phil. The
details that Phoenix had purposely kept from her for that very reason. He had
enough to deal with without her getting worked up. And to make matters worse,
his phone hadn’t stopped ringing, his email was overrun with bullshit messages,
and on top of that, he had a fucking headache.

Not
enough coffee, that was the problem.

Before
he got the chance to enjoy his second cup, the one he had just poured, the
doorbell rang, and he spun around so fast he nearly spilled his coffee all over
himself.

His
initial thought was that Mia was there, but he couldn’t picture her coming up
without calling him first. She’d paid him a surprise visit once, and he
remembered how that had gone.

So,
what the fuck was someone doing ringing his doorbell? And how the fuck had they
gotten up there in the first place? No one was permitted on the penthouse floor
without the code to get there. Not even the doormen or the concierge were
allowed to give out that information.

Glancing
down the hallway toward Tarik’s office, he expected to see him emerge, but he
didn’t. Where the hell was he? Another chime from the damn doorbell had Phoenix
moving. He could easily handle whoever had made it to his front door; he just
wasn’t sure they were going to be walking without a limp when he got through
with them. It wasn’t his mother, either, he knew that much. She had a key and
wouldn’t bother with the doorbell.

Stalking
through the entryway, Phoenix grabbed the knob and yanked it open. Hell, it
hadn’t even been locked.

“Teresa?”
Phoenix was stunned to see her standing there, raking her fingers through her
hair. “How the hell did you get up here?”

“Good
morning to you, too,” she said sweetly, clearly ignoring him as she flashed a
toothy smile his way.

“I
asked you a question,” he snarled.

Her
devious smirk was enough of an answer. She’d somehow figured out his code,
probably having watched him enter it back when he’d brought her to his condo.
He was a dumbass. And he needed to remember to have Tarik change the code.

“Are
you going to invite me in?” she asked.

“I’d
rather not,” he said honestly at the same time Tarik came to stand behind him,
the warmth of his body relatively close to Phoenix.

“What’s
going on?” Tarik asked, glancing past him. He was holding his phone to his ear
as he peered over Phoenix’s shoulder, close enough that Phoenix could smell
him. He smelled good.

Shaking
off the distraction, Phoenix looked back at Teresa.

“No
fucking clue,” Phoenix retorted and then turned away. He didn’t have time for
this shit. Whatever she wanted, she could just turn right back around and go
elsewhere. He had nothing to say to her.

“I
thought I’d make a surprise visit,” Teresa said loud enough for him to hear as
he headed for the kitchen. “Damien had some unfinished business to attend to
with one of your tenants. I thought I’d stop by to chat while I waited.”

Phoenix
stopped in his tracks and slowly turned around to see Tarik had allowed her to
step into the foyer. “Who?”

“Huh?”
Teresa asked, looking around as though she were trying to see if anything was
different from the last time she was there, which had been more than eight
months ago.

“Who
did Landry come to see?”

“His
ex-wife. You know her, right? Mia something or other.” Teresa’s snotty attitude
flashed like a beacon in those words, her distaste for Mia evident.

“What
does he want with her?” Tarik asked, the growl in his voice causing Teresa to
take a step back. She would expect Phoenix to be aggressive, to not put up with
her shit, but Tarik had never so much as talked to her. According to him, she
was a snake, and he hadn’t wanted anything to do with her since the first time
Phoenix had introduced them.

“We
saw that she was in the news this morning. He felt the need to check on her,”
Teresa said. She was far too calm, far too easy-going about her
fiancé
supposedly wanting to chat it up with his ex-wife. Teresa had always been the
jealous type, which was why Phoenix hadn’t pursued even a casual relationship
with her, nothing more than a couple of nights of fucking.

“Enough
with the bullshit, Teresa,” Phoenix snapped as he thrust his hands into his
pockets. He wasn’t about to let her know that he had no fucking idea what she
was talking about. He’d been so caught up in the shit storm that had erupted
that morning that he hadn’t seen any new articles about her. “That still
doesn’t explain why you’re here.”

Phoenix
shot a glare at Tarik but was met with a shrug. Obviously Tarik didn’t know
what was going on, either. That couldn’t be good.

“Can’t
I just stop by to say hello? Don’t tell me that you’ve developed some sort of
feelings for the timid woman, Phoenix. I mean, seriously, Damien’s told me how
shitty she is in bed. You forget I know you better than that.”

“You
don’t fucking know me at all,” he argued, ignoring the comment about Mia.

“I’m
going to check on her,” Tarik stated.

Phoenix
nodded at him.

When
Teresa reached for Tarik, Phoenix knew she was up to no good. No one touched
Tarik. No one. Not unless he invited them to, and he’d always kept a safe
distance between himself and Teresa.

Tarik
glared at the spot where her hand touched his arm.

“I’d
highly encourage you to move your hand,” Tarik growled.

She
pulled her hand back as though she’d been burned. “I don’t think they want to
be interrupted. Damien called her before he decided to go by. She sounded
upset.”

Phoenix
didn’t believe a word she said, but he didn’t know for certain. He hadn’t had a
chance to speak to Mia yet.

“Go
check on her,” he instructed Tarik, ignoring Teresa’s nonsense. “I’ll take care
of this.”

Tarik
nodded and moved passed Teresa, forcing her to shift out of his path.

“I’m
so glad you—”

“I
don’t want to hear it,” Phoenix said. “Not another word from you until he gets
back.”

And
with that, Phoenix headed back to the kitchen for his coffee.

»»»»»♥«««««

“MIA,
I’M TELLING you. I didn’t see it coming. I was blindsided by it just as much as
you were. Sure, I’d been working with his father on the sale of the team when
he was having financial troubles, and it’s all just snowballed since Sid passed
away.”

“His
father died ten months ago, Damien.” Mia couldn’t hide the incredulity in her
tone. She couldn’t believe Damien was using that as his argument.

“It
saddened me when he passed. We’d become … well, I’d like to say we’d become
friends at the time. I’d talked to him about you a few times. I…” Damien looked
away as though he was ashamed of what he was about to say. “I was asking his
advice. Our marriage was having problems.”

Mia
started to say something but clamped her lips shut. Ten months ago was the same
time she’d asked for a divorce. Right about the time Damien had made her aware
that he’d been cheating. She couldn’t help but wonder whether the two were
related as the article had mentioned, only not in his version of history.

“Our
marriage was only having problems because you were cheating,” Mia huffed out,
unable to keep looking at him. Although that wasn’t necessarily true. Mia had
begun falling out of love with Damien long before that, but she’d been intent
on making things work. Right up to the point when he’d slept with another
woman.

“It
was a setup, Mia. That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you.”

God,
was there no end to his lies? Mia pushed away from the table, wanting to get as
far from him as possible, but Damien grabbed her wrist to keep her in place. He
wasn’t hurting her, but she didn’t want his slimy hands on her.

Glancing
down at the spot where he touched her, she waited until he pulled his hand
back. He finally released her slowly, making sure to rake his thumb over the
back of her hand once. She had the urge to stab his fingers with a fork.

“Hear
me out, Mia.”

“Why?
So you can make up more lies? What the hell is going on with you, Damien?”

Mia
couldn’t believe her ears. For the last fifteen minutes, Damien had been
sitting at her small kitchen table, pleading his heart out — or so he claimed —
trying to convince her that he’d been taken advantage of during this supposed
business deal. Something about Sid wanting to sell and Phoenix trying to put a
stop to it. He was trying to convince her that Phoenix was actually the one who
had set him up, convincing Teresa Somerhaus to seduce Damien. He apparently
would go to the ends of the earth to try to convince her that he still loved
her and that he’d been wrong.

Well,
he’d been wrong, she would agree there. But the rest was… It was bullshit was
what it was.

She
was torn between laughing in his face and shoving him out the front door. How
stupid did he really think she was? Truthfully, she didn’t want to know the
answer to that question or the others she’d asked him. Damien thought she was
clueless, lacking a single brain cell in her entire head. That was one of the
reasons he’d married her. And yes, he’d been inclined to share that revelation
with her at one point during one of their many arguments.

Meeting
his gaze, Mia swallowed hard. “You lied and said that
I
was cheating on
you
.”

“Mia…
I… God, it’s been so hard on me. Losing you… It—”

“You.
Lied,” she exclaimed.

“I
don’t know that…” Damien looked at the table. “I don’t know that it’s a lie.
I’ve seen the pictures, Mia.” He met her stare once more. “I’ve seen them. You
two look mighty damn in love for two people who don’t know each other.”

“I’ve
known them for a month,” she declared, realizing instantly that she’d referred
to both of them. Damien didn’t seem to notice. “How long do you think it takes
to get to know someone?”

Damien
looked at her skeptically.

Oh,
Lord. He was losing his mind. “Look, Damien,” Mia said, trying to regain her
composure. He was the one worked up, and the guilt glittered in his eyes
because of it. There was no reason for her to try to defend herself. He was the
liar. Not her.

“No,
Mia, hear me out.”

“I
thought that’s what I’d been doing, but you don’t seem to have anything to
say,” she snapped. “Everything that’s come out of your mouth has been a lie.”

Hell,
at one point, he’d tried to convince her that, although he’d been unfaithful,
it hadn’t been his fault. Teresa had tricked him because Phoenix had put her up
to it. Something about Phoenix wanting to get to her so that he’d have leverage
against Damien and the lawsuit. Not that Mia understood how any of it would’ve
worked, but okay.

A
knock on her front door had her looking over Damien’s head.

“Don’t
answer that. We need to finish talking first.”

They
were
finished, but she didn’t bother to tell him that. Mia placed her
hands on the table and pushed to her feet, staring at her ex-husband as she
did. “I’ll be right back.”

Leaving
Damien behind in the kitchen, Mia escaped down the narrow hall that led to the
door. She glanced in the security hole to see Tarik standing in the outer
hallway. Instantly opening the door, she hoped he saw the relief in her eyes.
“What are you doing here?” she whispered.

“Are
you okay?” he asked directly, looking past her into her condo.

“I’m…”
Glancing over her shoulder, she shook her head before meeting his gaze once
more. “As good as can be expected, I guess.”

“Landry’s
here?”

“Yeah.”
Mia stepped out into the hall and shut her front door behind her so they could
talk in private. She didn’t particularly like leaving Damien alone in her
condo, but she didn’t have much of a choice. She needed a breather, and he
clearly wasn’t planning to leave. “Wait. How did you know he was here?”

“His
fiancée
stopped by for a visit,” he said, rolling his eyes.

“Really?”
What the hell was Teresa doing there?

“Just
showed up a little while ago. Mentioned Landry was down here talking to you.”

“Well,
he’s talking, all right. He’s not saying anything, but his lips keep moving.
Honestly, I think he’s got a screw loose.” Mia smiled, refusing to think about
Teresa talking to Tarik and Phoenix alone upstairs.

“Yeah,
well, I think there might be a few
missing
, too,” Tarik replied.