A Million Tiny Pieces (36 page)

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“THANKS
FOR MEETING me,” Mia told Harrison when they were seated at a small table at
the back of the café. The place was busy with the lunch crowd descending, but
they’d managed to get a table.

“Sure,”
Harrison said, looking around as though someone might be watching him.

That
was quite possible, although Mia doubted they were watching Harrison. She’d
felt eyes on her ever since she’d left campus to meet Harrison. She wasn’t sure
the reporters were lurking, either. However, she had brushed off the notion
that someone would be following her and made her way to the café where Harrison
had agreed to meet.

“What
can I get you to drink?” the harried waitress asked as she came to an abrupt
stop beside their table, a pad and pencil in her hand.

“I’ll
take iced tea,” Mia said, glancing over at Harrison.

“Water’s
fine,” he mumbled.

“Be
right back,” the woman declared as she headed off as fast as she’d come.

“So
what did you want to talk about?” Harrison questioned when they were once again
alone.

Mia
could tell he was nervous. She wanted to assure him that everything would be
fine, but she didn’t have a clue what she was getting herself into. “How are
you?” she asked, hoping to ease into it.

Harrison
looked around once before his weary brown eyes met hers. “Mia, I know you
didn’t just come to check on my well-being.”

“Why
would you think that?” she asked.

His
eyebrow quirked.

“Okay,
fine,” she muttered, looking down at the table. “Do you know who Phoenix Pierce
is?”

Harrison’s
eyes widened, but he didn’t answer her.

“I
take that as a yes. Well, it seems that Damien has an issue with him.”

“The
lawsuit,” Harrison muttered.

“Yeah,”
Mia stated, watching Harrison closely. Clearly he was familiar with what was
going on. At least from a news perspective. “I don’t know exactly what Damien’s
after, or why, but … well … let’s just say he’s been stirring up shit, and he’s
dragged me into the middle of it. I don’t know if it’s relevant or not, but I
thought maybe you could enlighten me on what happened between you and Damien.”

Harrison
immediately shook his head. “Nothing happened. We just had a disagreement, and
I decided to go my own way.”

“Right,”
she said, not believing him for a second. “Look. You don’t have to talk to me
if you don’t want to, Harrison, but I’d appreciate if you didn’t lie to me. We
can sit right here and have a nice lunch just like friends. Or you can help me
out, and maybe, just maybe, you’ll get some closure on whatever happened
between you and Damien.”

The
waitress came by with their drinks and then asked for their order. Mia rattled
off hers and Harrison followed. When she walked away, they sat staring at one
another once again, neither of them saying anything. The normal busy sounds of
the café rang loudly around them, the clank of silverware against glass and the
drone of voices as everyone spoke at once. Every now and then, a loud voice
would call out an order from the kitchen, causing the racket to dim slightly
before it resumed once again.

Mia
took a sip of her tea, wondering if Harrison really was going to avoid her
question. But then, with his hands wrapped around his water glass, he met her
gaze.

“About
a year ago, Damien came to me to talk about an investment opportunity. A casino
in Vegas. He was excited, wanted to pursue it sight unseen.”

Looked
like Tarik was on the right track. Mia nodded, encouraging him to continue.

“He
asked me to go with him to Vegas. Invited my wife, as well. We made a weekend
of it just to check it out. We met with a group who claimed to be leading the
charge. Damien’s excitement intensified.”

Mia
tried to remember when Damien had gone to Las Vegas. He’d gone on plenty of
trips, but never had he mentioned he was going to Vegas. “He was interested?”
Mia asked.

“Highly.
I told him to give me a little time. I wanted to have someone look into the
company’s background, check out their financials. All normal stuff. He insisted
that he’d already done that and this was a gold mine. He wanted to get in on
the ground floor, aiming to take a larger share. He even mentioned moving to
Vegas, resuming his business there.”

Mia
wondered if Damien had gotten caught up in the glitz and glamor associated with
Sin City.

“I
got very little research done. While we were still in Vegas, I reached out to a
couple of people on my staff, had them do some number crunching to see if this
was even a possibility for Damien. At the time, Damien’s company was showing a
continued profit, but when I was reviewing some of the reports, I noticed
something strange. What we thought was continued growth actually wasn’t
correct. There was a glaring error in the numbers that I looked at. Turned out,
DL Properties had a trending loss for a few months.”

“Damien
was losing money?”

“Yeah,”
Harrison confirmed, taking a sip of his water. Mia noticed that he didn’t meet
her eyes when he continued.

“The
falling out happened while we were in Vegas…” Harrison glanced up toward the
door, his eyes widening. Mia turned to see what he was looking at, and that was
when she noticed two incredibly attractive, albeit extremely
determined-looking, men stalking toward them.

Good
grief.
If Harrison hadn’t been on edge before, he certainly would be now. Hell, just
looking at Phoenix made her nervous. He did not appear happy that she was
having lunch with Harrison.

Neither
man bothered to introduce himself as they took seats at the table, their
attention fully directed toward her.

“Hi,”
she said hesitantly, glancing back and forth between Tarik and Phoenix.

“You
forgot to invite us to lunch,” Phoenix said sternly. Only then did his eyes
move to Harrison. “Phoenix Pierce. You must be Harrison.”

Harrison
nodded.

“Please
continue; we didn’t mean to interrupt.”

Mia
laughed. “You didn’t mean to interrupt, huh? Then why are you sitting here?”
she asked, trying to keep her voice down. She’d just been getting somewhere
with Harrison. She doubted he would continue with Tarik and Phoenix now glaring
at him.

“Harrison,
I’d like you to meet Phoenix and Tarik. They’re…” She didn’t know how to finish
that sentence.

“Her
boyfriends,” Phoenix inserted, surprising Mia to the roots of her hair. Had he
really just said that?

Harrison’s
eyes widened, proof that she hadn’t been hearing things.

The
table was silent for a moment, and Mia knew she had better do something or
Harrison was going to bolt. As it was, he looked incredibly uncomfortable.

“Harrison
was explaining how he and Damien had a falling out.”

Tarik
turned his hardened gaze on her at that point, and Mia nodded, letting him know
that his original suspicions had been accurate.

“We
aren’t here to make things difficult for you,” Tarik said, his tone even,
although it held a dangerous edge to it. “As you can imagine, we’re a little
concerned about Mia’s … safety. Please, do continue.”

The
waitress interrupted once more, bringing their food and taking an order from
Phoenix and Tarik as though this were a normal lunch date for the four of them.
Mia wasn’t hungry, but she did want Harrison to continue, so she started
eating, trying to keep things casual. As casual as possible, considering.

“Harrison,”
she said softly, “I really would like to hear what you have to say.”

Harrison
nodded, his eyes dropping to his plate as he opened his mouth, closed it. He
took a deep breath and then cleared his throat. “We were having dinner in
Vegas. My wife was there with me and…” Harrison looked up then, hesitantly
casting a look at Phoenix, then Tarik. “Damien was there with Teresa
Somerhaus.”

Mia’s
harsh intake of breath had all three men looking at her.

“I’m
sorry, Mia. I should’ve told you.”

“Yes,
you should have,” Tarik growled.

“It’s
just… Things weren’t that simple.” Harrison looked at her again, remorse in his
dark brown eyes, and continued, “It was that night that I told Damien to hold
off on pursuing the casino investment and gave him a few details about my
suspicions on
his
financials. I hadn’t even had a chance to look into
the group backing the casino. He got pissed, told me I didn’t know what I was
talking about. It was very volatile. Turned out, Damien had already moved
forward without the consent of those who worked for him. It was an emotional
decision. That I was certain of.”

“Damien
invested in the casino without having all of the details? Or the money?” Mia
asked, surprised. Damien had always been so level-headed.

“Yes.
I tried to encourage him to wait. I even informed him in detail about the
problem, not in so many words. Teresa was paying close attention to everything
I said. Oddly, Damien told me not to worry about it. Told me mistakes happened
and it wasn’t a big deal. He was sure that it could be fixed. I knew
immediately that something was off. First of all, a mistake of that nature
should’ve been grounds for termination. Since I was ultimately responsible for
missing the error, it should’ve been my head on the chopping block.

“Needing
my job, I dismissed Damien’s nonchalant response. He quickly changed the
subject that night. I was already suspicious, but I let it go.”

“So
Damien
was
having financial problems before then?” Phoenix inquired,
sitting back in his chair, looking as though he didn’t have a care in the
world. Mia knew better. He was hanging on Harrison’s every word.

“Looked
that way,” Harrison confirmed, hardening his gaze as he looked at Phoenix. “But
I quickly learned, the following week, that Damien already knew that, which was
how he ended up in bed, so to speak, with Teresa. He was looking to partner
with her father.”

“Because
he lacked the funds?” Tarik questioned.

Harrison
nodded. “Someone was trying to cover it up. He called me into his office that
week and asked for my honest opinion on the Vegas deal. I told him that it
wasn’t a financially sound decision at the moment, considering the errors I’d
found. This time he got really pissed. Told me this was unacceptable, that he
was working with Teresa’s father on the Vegas investment; they were both moving
forward. Informed me that I needed to find a way to fix the problem
immediately. Basically, he asked me to make it go away. Things got tense at
that point.”

“Make
it go away? How is that possible? It’s not like you can just summon money from
the sky. If he didn’t have it, he didn’t have it,” Mia stated. “I don’t
understand.”

“Neither
did I.”

TARIK
SAT BACK and watched the interaction between Harrison and Mia. Although he and
Phoenix had crashed their little lunch date, he was doing his best to pretend
he was invisible. More for Harrison’s sake. The man clearly had some secrets,
and he wasn’t above sharing them with Mia. It was just a damn good thing the
man looked remorseful or Tarik would’ve punched him in the fucking face at this
point.

The
bastard had known that Damien was cheating on Mia from the beginning. He
would’ve been her proof, netting her the additional ten mil that the prenup had
declared was hers in the event Landry was unfaithful. Mia didn’t seem concerned
about the money, though, and that had him paying close attention to her. No,
she seemed more concerned about getting information that would help Phoenix,
although the man she was talking to had known the fate of her marriage long
before she had.

He
wondered if Phoenix noticed. Likely, since the guy was pretty damn perceptive.
However, Phoenix was being equally silent, allowing Harrison to spill his guts.

“So
is that why you no longer work for him?” Mia questioned.

“Damien
became obsessed with the Vegas property. He went off on tangents that this
could be the biggest deal of his lifetime.”

“How
did my father play into this?” Phoenix asked.

Harrison
turned his attention back to Phoenix. “I don’t know exactly. I do know that
Damien mentioned running into Sid at one of the Arrows games. Before the Vegas
deal, he’d had an obsession with hockey. Wanted to own a team. He went on and
on that he’d had a conversation with the Arrows owner. I joked that he should
offer to buy the Arrows and then he wouldn’t need the Vegas investment.”

Phoenix’s
gaze hardened. “Did he or did he not make a deal with my father?”

Tarik
already knew the answer to that question, as did Phoenix. Evidently Phoenix was
looking for confirmation.

“I
have no idea, honestly. Damien’s obsessions multiplied, and for the next few
weeks, while I was still employed, he mentioned wanting to own the team once
again. Said it would be a solid investment. I laughed it off, considering he’d
said the same thing about the Vegas opportunity, but he seemed serious. Then” —
Harrison looked back at Mia — “Mia asked for a divorce, and all hell broke
loose.”

“But
you said Damien was already out of control,” Phoenix mentioned.

“He
was, but when Mia left him, he became someone different. Someone I’d never seen
before. Within a few days, he fired me.”

Tarik
noticed the sadness reflected on Harrison’s face. He only questioned the look
because he couldn’t imagine that he was upset that Damien had let him go after
all the hell he’d been put through. “Did something else happen?” Tarik asked.

“Yes,”
Harrison said, looking up, his eyes hard. “My wife informed me that she’d
cheated. With Damien.”

Mia
gasped and Tarik automatically reached for her hand.

“After
Mia left him?” Phoenix asked, his tone serious.

“No.
She … had apparently been sleeping with him for a while. According to her.”

If
it hadn’t been for the fact that he was holding Mia’s hand, he would’ve balled
up his fist. Not only had Harrison known about Damien and Teresa, but he’d also
known his own wife had had an affair with Damien. “I take it the two of you
weren’t really friends.” Tarik nodded between Harrison and Mia. “If you were,
I’d like to think he would’ve shared this information with you. Before now,”
Tarik said snidely, his eyes locked on Harrison.

“I
confronted Damien about it. Not only did he fire me but he’d been knowingly
screwing my wife,” Harrison retorted angrily. “Damien threatened to announce
that I’d intentionally made the accounting error,” Harrison added quickly. “He
informed me that if I said one word about what had gone down in Vegas, or that
he’d been cheating, I’d lose my CPA license.”

Mia
was silent, as was Phoenix, but Tarik could see that he was fuming. He was
probably trying to keep himself in check the same way Tarik was.

“Is
there anything else I can get you?” the waitress asked as she made a drive-by.

“The
check,” Phoenix said harshly.

The
woman nodded warily, pulling a pad of paper out of her pocket. When she went to
hand it to Phoenix, he pointed to Harrison. “He’ll be picking up the tab
today.”

Harrison
didn’t bother to argue. If Tarik had to guess, the guy felt bad about what he’d
done to Mia; however, that still didn’t make it right, in his opinion.

“Thank
you for the information,” Phoenix said, taking Mia’s hand and helping her up.
She went willingly, her expression sad.

Tarik
allowed them to move away from the table before he leaned in to Harrison. “I’m
sure you’re a nice guy, but you’re damn lucky I haven’t laid you out flat on
that floor for what you did to Mia. It’s in your best interest to find a way to
make amends.” Tarik got to his feet. “And I suggest you fucking do it soon.”

Harrison
nodded his head as Tarik turned and walked away.

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FORTY
FIVE MINUTES later, the three of them were walking into Phoenix’s condo. It
would’ve taken less time, but the stupid elevator had taken its own sweet
fucking time. Apparently, the damn thing wasn’t on the same timeline Phoenix
was. Ever since Harrison’s admissions, he’d been hard-pressed not to punch the
fucking wall. His anger was at a boiling point. He could attribute his ability
to maintain his composure to the fact that Mia was there, seemingly still
processing all that Harrison had told her at lunch.

“Don’t
sit down,” Tarik commanded when Phoenix headed right for the sofa in the living
room. He turned and looked at his lover, trying to figure out just what he had
in mind. He couldn’t quite pinpoint what Tarik was going to do, but right there
in those glittering gold eyes was just what Phoenix needed. There was no
softness there. There wasn’t any fear of hurting Tarik the way he worried with
Mia.

With
a minimum amount of hesitation, knowing his control was about to be stripped
from him and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it, Phoenix remained
on his feet, but he didn’t do anything more.

“Lose
the jacket, shirt, and tie,” Tarik instructed, followed by, “Mia, come here,
love.”

Phoenix
shrugged out of his jacket, loosened his tie, and then unbuttoned his shirt as
he watched Tarik. When he rid himself of the shirt, he tossed it onto the arm
of the sofa with his jacket and then placed his arms down at his sides.

Mia
came to stand in front of Tarik, both of them facing him, Tarik behind her.

“For
the next few minutes, I want you to forget everything that Harrison told you.
Understand?” Tarik asked Mia, his voice soft as he spoke close to her ear.

Mia
nodded, her eyes locked with Phoenix’s.

Tarik’s
hands moved around to Mia’s chest, plucking one button on her white blouse from
its mooring. He continued down her chest, moving slowly as he looked down at
her. Phoenix couldn’t do anything other than watch the show. When she leaned
against Tarik, raising her arms to wrap around behind his neck, causing the
shirt to open, the creamy skin of her stomach coming into view, he found
himself transfixed on her.

Once
all the buttons were released, Tarik easily lifted the cotton up and off her
arms, tossing it away while Mia returned her hands to his neck, still facing
Phoenix.

“Do
you see the way he’s looking at you, Mia?” Tarik asked her.

Mia
nodded.

“That’s
the look of a man who would give anything to be with you.”

Phoenix
instantly realized what Tarik was doing. He was reinforcing for Mia just how
much she was wanted. Just how much they needed her. “I want you more than my
next breath,” Phoenix admitted, his voice coming out laced with the emotion he
felt for her.

Phoenix
wanted to lean forward and place his mouth on her breasts, suck her nipples
between his lips through the sheer white bra that still covered her. He wanted
to wrap her in his arms and never fucking let her go.

All
of the shit he’d listened to from Harrison had reinforced Phoenix’s hatred for
Landry. How the bastard had ever managed to be with Mia was beyond him. Landry
didn’t deserve her, never deserved her.

Tarik’s
big hands slid down her chest, stopping to gently knead the glorious mounds
before continuing lower until he reached the button on her jeans. He quickly
flipped it free and then lowered the zipper, pushing the denim down her hips.
Mia wiggled, causing her jeans to slide down her legs and pool at her feet. She
toed off her shoes and then stepped out of them, kicking them in the direction
of her shirt. Her eyes locked with Phoenix’s as she stood there, nearly naked
and on display for him. He wanted to touch her, but he wasn’t sure he could get
his hands to move. He was lost in her beauty.

Tarik
pressed his mouth to Mia’s neck as he spoke once more. “I dream about this,
Mia. Dream about touching you, tasting you. Feeling your soft skin against my fingers.”

Tarik
cupped Mia’s breasts, hefting them in his hands while Phoenix was helpless to
watch.

“I
dream about watching you take Phoenix’s cock inside you while you ride him. I
crave seeing the pleasure on both of your faces. It’s all I want, all I need.
Do you understand what I’m telling you, Mia?”

Mia
nodded. “I’ve never felt this before,” she admitted, and the words pierced
Phoenix’s heart as he continued to hold her gaze. “I’ve never wanted anything
in my life more than I want the two of you.”

Phoenix
swallowed hard, her words making him feel things he hadn’t ever felt before.

“Kick
off your shoes,” Tarik said, interrupting his thoughts, his eyes meeting
Phoenix’s once more.

He
did as he was told.

“Now
remove your slacks and socks. Leave your boxers on.”

A
few seconds later, Phoenix was mostly naked, save for his boxers, while Tarik
was still completely dressed.

Tarik
must’ve read Phoenix’s mind, because he instructed Mia to face him. While he
proceeded to have her undress him, one article of clothing at a time, starting
with his suit jacket, Phoenix watched, admiring her cute little heart-shaped
ass bisected by the white thong she wore.

“Put
your mouth on me, Mia,” Tarik instructed, cupping Mia’s head in both of his
hands and pulling her forward. Her lips pressed against the hard planes of
Tarik’s chest. “I want to feel you, Mia.”

Mia
kissed Tarik’s chest while Tarik held her head in his hands, his golden eyes
meeting Phoenix’s. Without a single touch, Phoenix could feel Tarik’s need like
a physical caress. He was proving to them both just what this was. It was more
than any of them had anticipated.

While
Phoenix watched Mia, his mouth watered to taste her. He wanted to drop to his
knees and kiss her soft skin, starting with the backs of her thighs and moving
higher. She was so fucking beautiful.

By
the time Tarik had Mia turning back around to face Phoenix, Tarik was down to a
pair of black boxer briefs that did little to hide the massive erection
straining to get free.

“Now
what?” Phoenix asked, the words barely spoken past his dry throat, his anxiety
level ratcheting up a notch.

“Be
patient,” Tarik said, his eyes narrowing as though warning Phoenix not to cross
that line.

Biting
his tongue to keep from lashing out, to keep from begging for something,
anything, Phoenix managed to remain silent.

Tarik
leaned down and pressed his lips to Mia’s ear. Phoenix could hear the muffled
sound of words, but he couldn’t make them out this time. It must’ve been more
instructions, because she moved over to the chair and sat down, primly pulling
her legs up beneath her as though she was about to watch a show.

“Come
here,” Tarik stated firmly.

Phoenix
moved forward, closing the gap between them in two steps. His muscles were
tense, his hands beginning to shake as the adrenaline and need barreled through
him. There was a time for patience, and then there was now. Tarik was pushing
him to his limits, and he was close to snapping.

Tarik’s
hand came up to cup the back of Phoenix’s head, his fingers twining into his
hair and pulling roughly, holding him still.

“I’m
in charge,” Tarik leaned in and whispered against Phoenix’s ear, his voice too
low for Mia to hear. “If you have a problem with that, let me know now.”

Phoenix
considered that for a moment. He wasn’t sure how far Tarik would go. He wasn’t
sure how far he wanted Tarik to go. But he knew he wasn’t going to find out
unless he gave in. “I’m in,” Phoenix answered just as quietly.

“You’re
at my mercy, you know that, right?”

Phoenix
nodded, but no words came out, because Tarik chose that moment to slam his
mouth over Phoenix’s, his tongue driving into his mouth in a kiss so hot, so
fierce, Phoenix was lightheaded. He grabbed for Tarik, his arms going around
him, his fingers digging into the rigid muscles of Tarik’s back as he kissed
him with all the hunger, all the fury that raged inside him.