A Million Tiny Pieces (34 page)

Tarik
automatically pulled her into his arms and hugged her. Without releasing her,
he slid his hands into her hair and pulled, tilting her head back so that she
was forced to look up at him. She had to crane her neck to meet his gaze, but
she didn’t mind. And she certainly didn’t have any issues when he leaned in and
placed his mouth on hers. God, she’d missed him. Both of them. After spending
most of the weekend with them, being alone in her bed last night had been hell.
And with everything Phoenix was dealing with, she hadn’t been sure she was
going to get the chance to see them today, either. Tarik’s arrival was
certainly a nice surprise.

“So
what does Teresa want?” Mia asked when Tarik released her lips and her hair,
allowing her to take a step back so she could see him better.

“Don’t
know for sure, but I know they’re up to something. She mentioned Landry was
down here paying you a visit because you were upset.”

Mia
noticed the way Tarik continued to stare at the front door as though he had
x-ray vision and could see through it. If that were the case, Damien would
probably be burned to a crisp at the moment.

She
suddenly wished superpowers were real.

“Yeah,
well, he’s talking nonsense, and if I’m upset, it’s only because he’s here,”
Mia explained.

“Speaking
of nonsense,” Tarik muttered, and a cold chill raced down Mia’s spine. “His
lawyer hasn’t been able to produce anything yet, so I still think he’s lying,
but he claims Sid actually moved forward with the sale. The question is why
wait till now?”

“Lying
is second nature to him,” she said. “But I’m with you. This seems farfetched,
even for Damien. What he’s really after, I don’t know.”

“Just
whatever you do, don’t let him get you talking about Phoenix.”

Nodding
her head, she didn’t know what to say to that.

Tarik
cupped her face in his big, warm hands. “Do you trust us, Mia?”

“Yes,”
she said, surprising herself by the truth in that single word. She did trust
them, even though everything that Damien had said about Phoenix so far
should’ve made her think otherwise. Then again, she’d have to dig through the
blatant lies to possibly decipher even an ounce of truth.

Just
as Tarik opened his mouth to say something more, Mia’s front door opened, and
Damien loomed over her. Turning to face him, Mia welcomed the warmth of Tarik’s
arms when he pulled her in against him.

“What
are you doing here?” Damien asked Tarik as though he had every right to
question her visitors.

“He
came to see me,” Mia responded. “I’ll be inside in a minute, Damien.”

Her
ex-husband nodded but didn’t hurry to close the door. He continued to watch
Tarik. A strange expression crossed his face, but Mia couldn’t place it.

Once
the door closed, she turned back to Tarik.

“Do
you want me to come in?” he asked.

“No.
I need to handle this on my own,” she explained.

“Call
me when you’re finished,” Tarik told her.

“I
will.” Mia took a deep breath and turned back to her front door. Looking back
with her hand on the knob, she said, “Oh, and do me a favor, would you?”

“Anything,”
Tarik said.

“Get
Teresa Somerhaus away from Phoenix. I don’t want her near either one of you.”

The
knowing smirk that tilted his lips said he approved of her possessiveness, and
that made Mia feel good.

The
feeling didn’t last long when she pushed open the door. She didn’t want to talk
to Damien any longer. She knew what he was trying to do, but she didn’t see any
way to avoid it aside from not going back home. And that wasn’t an option.

The
moment she stepped inside, Damien was right there, reaching for her.

Mia
had to jerk away to keep him from touching her. “What are you doing?” she
asked, suspicious.

“Are
you okay? He didn’t hurt you, did he?”

“What
the hell are you talking about?” she asked. She wanted to ask him whether he
was taking any new medication, something that could possibly throw off his
brain function, because he was certainly acting strange.

“I
just wanted to make sure. It’s just like Phoenix to send his lackey to do his
dirty work.”

“He’s
not Phoenix’s lackey,” she snapped.

Damien
stared down at her for a minute before he finally spoke. “I thought you were
seeing Phoenix. Are you…” Damien glanced over her head toward the front door
before he continued, “You’re not seeing
him
, are you?”

Mia
sighed heavily. She did not have any intention of going into details about her
personal life with him. He’d given up all right to ask her questions when he’d
started sleeping with other women. The best thing to do was to get him out the
door. It was that or scratch his eyes out. He was obviously doing his best to
upset her. “Damien, it’s not gonna work.”

His
blond eyebrows lifted in question.

“I’m
not interested in telling you anything more. And I’m done listening. Now, if
you don’t mind, I really do have things to do today.” Motioning toward the
door, Mia prayed that he would leave.

“I
came to tell you that I’m sorry, Mia. I’m so sorry for hurting you. Is there
any possibility that you’ll give me another chance? Give
us
another
chance?”

Mia’s
eyebrows furrowed. “
Us?
Are you serious? Don’t you have a fiancée
waiting for you upstairs in Phoenix’s penthouse?”

The
guilt returned to Damien’s eyes, something she was all too familiar with. She
waited for him to lie, to tell her some other bullshit story about how he’d been
duped into something he didn’t want. There had been a time in her life when she
might’ve believed him, but not today. Not ever again.

The
first thing she’d done when she’d woken up, the same as she’d done since she’d
stumbled upon the last article that had mentioned her name, was check the
Internet.

She’d
become a pawn for Damien, and based on what she’d read that morning, he wasn’t
relenting, even though he pretended to want to make amends. What she’d found
online had surprised her. Damien’s name, as well as Phoenix’s, was everywhere.
Everyone was talking about both of them at the moment, and she’d been curious
as to what had spurred the sudden intense interest. A lawsuit alone wouldn’t
incite the press that much.

What
she’d found hadn’t been surprising. Someone was trying to dig up dirt on
Phoenix. It always worked that way, and since she’d been hounded by a couple of
reporters on her way home from school last week — something she hadn’t bothered
to tell Tarik or Phoenix because they had enough to worry about — she’d been
expecting it.

Of
all the things the media could’ve said, Mia probably would’ve believed anything
other than Phoenix was after her to get Damien off his back. It sort of negated
all of the other nonsense. First of all, she knew Phoenix hadn’t been hurting
for female companionship when she had met him. She’d read more than her fair
share of articles from his past about the women he’d been seen with. He’d been
with some incredibly beautiful women. She was nothing compared to them. Phoenix
didn’t need to use her. She truly believed that.

The
fact of the matter was, someone was trying to use
her
to get to Phoenix.
The question was why.

“Look,
I’ve got things to do, so if you don’t mind,” Mia repeated. Holding out her
arm, she reached for the doorknob.

“Mia,
please.”

“I
know what you’re doing, Damien. And it’s not gonna work.”

And
just like that, the pleading tone and the sad eyes were gone, and in their
place was the crude businessman she knew so well. The one who didn’t do
anything for anyone other than himself. Whatever he was up to, Mia knew she
needed to be cautious. He was looking for something. Likely details on Phoenix,
as Tarik had suggested, although she truly didn’t understand why. Or why he
thought she would give him any information.

It
was a little ridiculous, even for Damien. Not to mention, he was rich in his
own right, and his business was thriving, so why was he putting so much effort
into getting money from Phoenix?

Making
a mental note to do a little digging, Mia turned her attention back to Damien
and opened the door. Just as she did, the elevator in the hall dinged, and the
doors slid open. Out walked Phoenix, looking incredibly handsome in a pair of
jeans and a navy polo. His hair was haphazardly sexy, a look she wasn’t used to
seeing on him. He was usually so well put together, his hair generally styled
to perfection. She decided she liked this look on him. Immensely.

Teresa
was beside him, glaring at her, and Tarik followed behind them.

“I
think this belongs to you,” Phoenix told Damien as he nudged Teresa toward him.

The
couple glanced at one another, a scheming look passing between them. What the
hell were they really up to?

Phoenix
moved to her side just inside her condo while Tarik moved past and came to stop
behind her. She had no idea what Damien was thinking as he looked at the three
of them, and quite frankly, she didn’t care.

“Thanks
for stopping by,” Tarik said gruffly before taking a step back and gently
urging Mia to move so he could close the door.

Damien
didn’t say another word, but the look on his face would likely be something
that would haunt Mia for days to come.

She
didn’t know what he was after, but she’d somehow been trapped in his crosshairs
yet again, and that was really beginning to piss her off.

“THAT
WENT WAY too well,” Mia said offhandedly as the door closed behind her and she
leaned against it to stare at Tarik and Phoenix.

On
one hand, at least Mia was calm. On the other, Tarik wasn’t so sure whether
that was a good thing or a bad thing.

However,
Tarik knew just what she was saying. According to what the most recent article
had said — Landry’s story shifting from Sid being the one to back out of the
deal to basically Phoenix setting up the entire thing in order to bring Damien
to his knees, which was horseshit all on its own — and knowing the shit that
was going down with the legal team for the Austin Arrows … that
had been
far too easy. There was no doubt that Damien Landry was only there to stir up
more shit. He probably wanted more attention than he was getting.

“What’re
you thinking?” Mia asked Phoenix as he turned and walked into Mia’s living
room. She shot Tarik a concerned glance before following.

Tarik
took a minute to look around. The last time he’d been there, he hadn’t spent
much time checking things out. Other than noting how bright the space was and
how it suited Mia perfectly, he hadn’t paid much attention to the little
things. He’d been more interested in
other
things. Now that it looked
like they might be there for a little while, he took the time to admire what
she’d done to the place.

It
felt like her in every way. Light and airy, lots of color and life. It felt
like a home.

Tarik
knew his own condo would not make the pages of any designer magazines. He had
little to nothing in his place, just enough to get by. Not that Tarik minded
the extremely masculine decor of Phoenix’s place, either, which was where he
spent most of his time. It’d been that way since the first time Tarik had been
there. Not much had changed, other than a trinket or two here and there — added
by Ellen because Phoenix wasn’t one for knickknacks and shit. It still made his
place look like a room with walls and little else.

Even
with the lack of color and furniture and knickknacks, it was a far cry from
where Tarik had grown up. His parents had never owned a house, but they had
rented plenty, usually skipping out without paying more than a couple months at
a time. If that. Just as he’d told Mia, Tarik had changed schools more times
than he could count, never settling into one place for too long. Grades had
been the only thing he had focused on, and it wasn’t until he was a freshman in
high school that he didn’t move around anymore.

His
parents had had an unstable relationship from the get-go; neither of them had
ever tried to deny that. In fact, there were plenty of nights he’d gone to
sleep wondering why they were even together. They had hated each other, and the
verbal and physical abuse — doled out by both of them — had been brutal. But
then one day it had all stopped.

And
so had the moving, but it wasn’t until he’d graduated from high school that
he’d gotten his own bedroom. College hadn’t been an option, because Tarik had
been tossed into the system without any family to take him in after they’d
carted his father off. And maybe that was the real reason he was grateful for
the security he felt with Phoenix. The lack of change didn’t bother him in the
least.

Unlike
the bright, cheery room Mia slept in, Tarik’s bedroom was just as monochromatic
as the rest of his place, with black furniture, black sheets, and a
black-and-gray comforter. Nothing fancy, just a place to sleep at night. A place
he’d hoped to be sleeping less after the first night he’d spent with Phoenix
and Mia, but as of yet, little had changed. He’d suspected Phoenix had needed
space afterward, and that was exactly what he’d given him.

He
was quickly growing tired of the space between them. All three of them. He
wanted to eliminate it permanently, although he wasn’t about to tell Mia or
Phoenix that.

“Can
I get you something to drink?” Mia offered as Phoenix took a seat on the
cream-colored sofa with the brightly colored pillows.

“It’s
too early for what I’m thinking,” Phoenix muttered as he rested his head in his
hands while propping his elbows on his knees.

“Not
if we put it in coffee,” Mia teased. “Then it’s fine.”

Phoenix
looked up at her to see if she was serious, and a smile tilted his lips for the
first time since Tarik had walked out of Phoenix’s office to find Teresa
Somerhaus decorating the entryway with her too-fake appearance and her
overabundance of perfume.

“Want
to tell me what’s going on?” Mia asked. “And yes, I’ve read all of the
articles, I’ve watched the news, and I’ve listened to Damien’s crap. For the
record, I’m not buying any of it. It just doesn’t make sense to me.”

“It’s
all bullshit,” Tarik assured her, glancing over at Phoenix to see if he was
going to explain. He didn’t look in any mood to talk, so Tarik continued. “No
matter what Landry claims, Sid did not back out of any deal. There
wasn’t
a deal. Ever. The man died nearly ten months ago, and this is way too fucking
convenient. The question is why Landry is pulling this shit now. What prompted
him to bring it up and try to push it?”

“It
just seems too coincidental,” Mia mentioned. “My marriage fell apart about the
same time that your father passed,” Mia told Phoenix. “Well, that’s not
coincidental. I think what happened with Damien and me is, though. He came home
one night smelling like cheap perfume knowing that I would smell him. That was
it for me. And now this. It just seems like he had a hand in moving things
forward, so to speak. Did he set it up on purpose? Or is he using me? Or hell,
is it
because
of me?”

Her
questions were riddled with the same confusion Tarik felt when he tried to wrap
his mind around what Landry was after.

“I
don’t know what he’s after, but I know that it isn’t
because
of you,”
Phoenix inserted. “Regardless, I’m not worried about it. He wants money. And if
I have a say in the matter, he’s not going to get a fucking penny from me.”

Mia
perched on the arm of the sofa and glanced between the two of them. “Do you
know when Damien claims to have made this agreement with your father?”

“He
hasn’t been specific. I’ve heard a couple of months before my father died.”

“So,
again, it’s convenient. Your father isn’t here to deny Damien’s claim.”

“Correct.
Landry’s a fucking moron,” Phoenix snapped as he got to his feet. “Even before
my father died, I was a minority shareholder. I would’ve had a say in the
matter. My father would’ve told me.”

“So
I don’t understand what he could possibly think he can get out of this.” Mia
looked just as confused as Tarik felt.

“Do
you think he’s looking to get Mia back?” Tarik asked, sliding his hands into
his pockets as he leaned against the wall, keeping his eye on the two of them.
Mia was right, it was too coincidental. When Tarik and Damien had come
face-to-face at the charity ball when he’d been dancing with Mia, the shit
storm had begun.

“Why
would he?” Mia questioned. “Honest to God, he’s the one who wanted the divorce.
Well, technically, I’m the one who filed, but I’d told him in the beginning that
I didn’t tolerate cheating. He cheated; he had to have seen it coming.”

“If
you don’t mind me asking,” Tarik said to Mia, “were things good before you
found out he was cheating?”

“No,”
she said sadly. “Things started deteriorating long before that. We hardly spoke
to one another. He would stay away on business, probably so he didn’t have to
see me.”

Tarik
frowned at Mia’s admission. He hated that Damien would’ve treated her that way.
If she belonged to him, Tarik would make sure she knew just how much she was
wanted. Every damn day.

“I
just don’t understand what’s spurring this,” Phoenix commented. “Is he hurting
for money?”

“That’s
a good question,” Mia stated, causing them to both look her way. “Maybe he is.
And I’m just speculating here. Damien never allowed me to know anything about
his business. He claimed I didn’t have the wherewithal to understand it, and I
didn’t argue with him. It was pointless. So, I honestly don’t know, but it
seems logical.”

Tarik
didn’t know what seemed logical anymore. It was all fucked up, and he couldn’t
wrap his head around it.

“You
know what?” Phoenix said, pacing toward them. “I just want to forget this even
happened. For a little while.”

“What’d
you have in mind?” Mia asked, watching Phoenix as he moved closer.

Tarik
didn’t take his eyes off Phoenix as Phoenix stalked toward Mia, a determined
expression on his face.

“Something
that involves you naked.”

Tarik’s
eyes darted to Mia to see her reaction. The sharp intake of breath was telling.
She was probably thinking about what had happened between them a few nights
ago, starting in this very room, and based on that expression, a replay wasn’t
a bad idea. Tarik had wanted a replay on Sunday, but with Phoenix gone, one
thing had led to another and then… Tarik wouldn’t trade that night for anything
in the world.

Pushing
off the wall, Tarik moved toward them.

“You’re
not gonna buy me lunch first?” Mia asked, breathless and not moving from her
spot.

“If
that’s what it’ll take,” Phoenix said, grinning.

Mia
shook her head. “I’m suddenly not hungry. Not for food, anyway.”

Phoenix
lowered himself to the couch and pulled Mia to him. She tumbled on top of him,
straddling his hips as their mouths met. Tarik could see the pent-up energy
that Phoenix was working to hold back as his eager hands slid beneath her
shirt, caressing the smooth expanse of her back. Phoenix might claim he wasn’t
worried about Landry, but the proof was in the way he was holding himself.

And
Tarik knew just what to do to take his mind off of it.

»»»»»♥«««««

PHOENIX
COULD FEEL the tension coursing just beneath his skin. Touching Mia was about
the only thing that had come close to calming him in the last hour, but even
then, it was a different type of calm. He wasn’t sure he could be gentle with
Mia, but he damn sure was willing to try. If he didn’t find a way to release
some of the frustration that the morning’s events had brought on, he was going
to implode.

“Quit
thinking,” Mia said, cupping his face and pulling her lips from his. She stared
back at him, studying him.

“I’m
trying,” he said honestly. He didn’t want to think. At the moment, he just
wanted to feel.

“I
need to take care of something,” Tarik said, drawing Phoenix’s gaze to him.

Mia
twisted to look at him as well.

“What?”

“Don’t
worry. I’ll be back. You two have fun.” With that, Tarik leaned over and kissed
Mia. It wasn’t just an innocent peck on the lips, either, but Tarik didn’t
linger for too long.

Meeting
Tarik’s hard gaze, Phoenix tried to figure out what his angle was but then gave
up. He didn’t have the brainpower at the moment, and if Tarik wanted to excuse
himself and leave Mia all for Phoenix, then so be it.

Tarik
left without another word, leaving Phoenix alone with Mia, something he’d been
longing for. After he’d learned that Mia and Tarik had made love on his sofa on
Sunday evening while he’d been occupied conversing with his mother, he’d been
anxious to get Mia alone. Not because he was jealous but because he wanted to
have her all to himself for a little while. Something had changed in Tarik
since that night, and Phoenix wanted to know why.

Secretly,
he wanted a little piece of it for himself.

“Why
are you looking at me like that?” Mia asked, her voice soft and sweet.

“Because
you’re so easy to look at,” he told her sincerely.

Her
cheeks turned a soft rosy color before she leaned forward and pressed her lips
to his. Phoenix got lost in her kiss, the gentle way she moved against him, the
urgent feel of her tongue against his. And then it dawned on him as he pulled
back, cradling Mia’s face in his hands and staring back at her … Tarik had left
them alone on purpose.

Phoenix
would have to thank him for that.

“Now
where were we?” Phoenix cupped the back of Mia’s head, bringing her lips to his
once more. She opened for him easily, a slow, gentle glide of her tongue
against his. He lingered there, sliding his fingers through the cool silk of
her hair, brushing his thumb over her jaw, tasting the sweetness of her mouth.
He felt a calm wash over him, but that didn’t last long when Mia inched closer,
rubbing the heat of her pussy against the rigid length of his cock.

Without
asking questions, Phoenix let his hands slide down her chest, easing between
them, pushing his hand into the stretchy material of her yoga pants. God bless
spandex. He needed to feel her slick heat against his fingers, his mouth, his
cock. He wanted to spend the next hour making her beg and plead for him to let
her come.

A
heavy exhale escaped her when his fingers dipped into her pants, finding her
warm and wet and ready for him.