Thirty
MIA
Ishuffle backwards so my body is lined up with Oliver’s.
I only put myself between them because I know Oliver’s blood is probably boiling right now.
And his emotions are already so high because he feels like I personally hid this from him when we’ve had so many intimate conversations while working on his mom’s house.
I’ve had every opportunity to just tell him who my parents are and how they have taken over the real estate business that my grandma built from the ground up.
Gigi only kept the pieces of the business she felt the most passionate about.
There’s a lot of money in owning property and moving it around.
You can build an empire with it. And that’s exactly what my family has.
I’m set to inherit it all as the only child and the only grandchild, but I could care less about buying up property and building money making monstrosities.
That’s all for my parents. I want to make a difference. I need to make a difference.
No kid deserves to have a failing start at life simply because they don’t have access to the same resources.
And they need genuine and unconditional love.
Even with everything that I have at the tips of my fingers, my grandmother is the only one to show me unconditional love.
But I wasn’t always able to be around her.
“What did you call her?” Oliver’s voice comes over my shoulder, his hand firmly plants on the open skin of hip. At this moment we are back in the same corner, not lost in the chaos that just unfolded only minutes ago.
“I called her what I always call her. Do I know you?” He raises an eyebrow at Oliver as he moves in to hug Gigi.
She’s only ever tolerated Adam because she thought I was happy with him.
And for a long time, I was. Adam’s mom is best friends with my mom.
And if they had their way, we would already be married.
Thankfully, I’ve never enjoyed making my mother proud.
I watch Gigi casually shrug Adam’s hug off as she smiles at Oliver.
“Adam and Mia used to date.” My eyes snap to her and my breath falters.
“Sometimes I think Adam forgets that they aren’t still together because they’ve known each other their whole lives.
” What the fuck is she doing? She pats Adam on the back and winks at Oliver, “Thanks for taking such good care of our girl. I have to go say hi to everyone.” She blows me a kiss and her smile is diabolical.
She knows exactly what kind of shit she just stirred up.
Adam straightens out as we watch my grandmother float into the crowd like she didn’t just light a match.
Adam takes a sip of his drink, a brandy old fashioned.
The same drink he’s been drinking since he was seventeen years old.
He takes me in like he always does. And I’ve never been more thankful to have Oliver so near me.
I watch Adam study Oliver and watch his eyes flash when he puts together where he’s seen Oliver before.
He points at him with the same hand that is holding his drink, “Is this one of the sponsorships my family helped pay for?” Adam wasn’t at the dinner that night, but I know that his dumb little goons definitely fed back information.
He has always kept tabs on me. It’s one of the reasons why my dad likes him so much.
The odds of Adam knowing exactly who Oliver is are high.
Oliver steps slightly in front of me and holds out his hand, “I’m Oliver West. My family actually owns the gym.
” I can tell how much Oliver hates this whole situation by the way his back muscles pinch together under his suit jacket.
“Don’t fucking call her princess again.” He warns Adam as he is still shaking his hand.
“I can do whatever the fuck I want.” Adam drops his hand and grits his teeth.
“Not with her.” Oliver says simply, taking a step back to stand next to me. Adams moves forward and starts to get in Oliver’s face. “You don’t want to do this.”
“Looks like you already got your ass kicked once recently, shouldn’t be hard to make it twice. You think you can just come in here after knowing her for a few months and make the rules?”
“You really want to fight in the middle of her birthday gala? No wonder she dumped your ass.” Oliver chuckles and I just wish Adam would walk away.
A big reason I want to get away from my dad and his business is so I don’t have to deal with guys like Adam for the rest of my life.
They think that they are entitled to their bad decisions and blatantly disrespect because their life is bought and paid for with money that they don’t even know how to earn.
Adam ignores Oliver and steps closer to me.
“You can be done playing now. Come back home, we can forget it all happened. I promise to be better.” I’ve heard this same speech for years.
And for years, I listened. Being a part of West Haven has given me the assurance to walk in the confidence that I love.
They have taught me to fight for who I am first, even if they don’t realize it.
“We’re never going back to how things were, Adam.
” I say firmly. Oliver’s hand finds mine, and I’m thankful for the grounding effect it has on me.
He knows me as self assured and always ready for whatever may happen.
But I’ve had to work hard to be like that.
And standing in front of Adam, someone I allowed to hurt me repeatedly, cracks that strength a little.
“I’ve apologized in every possible way. I was just having fun.
I know I messed up.” Adam is already a little tipsy.
I can tell by the way his words are drawn out a little bit more.
“There’s no way that this guy is a better option for you.
You had your fun too now. All is fair.” I feel Oliver’s body start to move forward and I grip his hand tighter.
“How about we don’t make bad decisions tonight.
” Eddie’s deep voice breaks through the moment at the perfect time.
I forgot that he was still here but Oliver doesn’t even flinch at the sound of his dad speaking.
He keeps his gaze fixed on Adam. Eddie nods to me before he steps in front of Adam and I take the opportunity given to pull Oliver to a side room that I know is down a hall to the left.
This is Gigi’s favorite home to throw parties in and I could probably draw the blueprint from memory.
I pull him through the back room that I’ve hid out in at nearly every party growing up.
I shut the door and lean up against it. Closing my eyes, I try to just take a minute to make everything quiet again.
I should have told him. I shouldn’t have let him come here not knowing who my family is.
I know that. “I’m sorry.” I whisper, still keeping my eyes closed.
“What did he do to you?” Oliver’s voice is calm but that’s how I know how upset he actually is. All the West men are the same in that aspect. Their calm is dangerous.
“You don’t have to worry about him.”
I feel his strong hands cup my face and I lift my eyes to see him staring down at me gently, “I’m worried about you.” His thumb massages my cheek.
“I let you walk into a lion's den tonight, and you’re worried about me?” A small tear manages to escape and his thumb is there to catch it, softly wiping it away.
“You’re always the smartest person in the room, Mia. Don’t pretend you don’t know how much I care about you.” There’s hurt in his eyes but he doesn’t pull away.
“The first time I caught him cheating, I was fifteen. He invited me to a party and I showed up late because my mom needed me to go with her to some dinner. I finally made it to the party and some girl was in his lap sucking his neck. I walked right back out and he never even realized I didn’t show up.
” I blink hard before continuing. “A few months later, I came over to his house and a girl was in his kitchen getting something. He pretended they were studying. I told him we were done. A few days later, he showed up and begged for forgiveness and I gave it to him because I didn’t want to make problems with our families and boys are dumb.
” A humorless laugh escapes my lungs. “How dumb is that?” More tears threaten to come down but I swallow thickly and take a deep breath.
“It just became a repeating affair after that. For years. We were together and he would find someone else when he got bored. Or because he was drunk.” I reach up and wrap my hand around his wrist at the same time that his lips find my forehead.
“He never deserved your heart.” He speaks so low that I barely make out the words.
“Our moms are best friends and our dad’s own businesses together.
” I explain, “He is part of the design that my parents have laid out. When I told them that I wanted nothing to do with him anymore because of everything that he’s put me through…
they were disappointed in me.” I watch his jaw flex as he tries to hold in his anger.
“They only care about what benefits them and their lifestyle. It’s why they aren’t here yet.
They get nothing out of this party.” I close my eyes again and feel him exhale before his hands leave my face.
“This is what we are going to do.” He clears his throat and pulls me to stand up from where I am leaning on the door.
“You’re going to go out there and be the strong girl I know you are.
You aren’t going to let anything take away the light you walk around with.
I’m going to behave myself.” I laugh at that part.
“And if it becomes too much, for either of us, we will just flip each other off. Our smoke signal.” I nod my head at his ridiculousness because it is exactly what I need right now.
He takes my hand and leads my back out into the hallway. I nearly run into his back when he stops abruptly though.