24. Mills
Chapter twenty-four
Mills
“Lia!”
She whirls around, her gold hair fanning out around her. For a second, I’m struck by how beautiful she looks, and in the next, I’m wondering what she’s up to.
“Lia?” I repeat, getting close to her.
She shoves something back into a box and turns to me.
“What’s in the box, Lia?”
“What box?”
“Lia,” I say sternly.
She flinches, and her shoulders hunch. It isn’t right how much power this woman has over me. I chide her; she wilts, and I want to go buy her an entire shop of flowers just to see her smile again.
I stiffen my spine, refusing to give in.
“What is it?”
She glances at me and back down at the box, and then pulls it away as if I’m the threat. The first thing I note is there are holes cut into the box.
The second thing is that it’s mewling.
My attention focuses on what’s in her hands, and I have a suspicion I might know.
She wraps her arms around it and glares at me mutinously, as if she expects me to take the box by force.
“Show me what you have, Lia,” I coax.
Lia huffs. “It’s mine.”
“Okay.”
She opens the box, her eyes narrowed in warning, and then she smiles, her entire face transforming. She’s radiantly happy, and she coos into the box as if she’s forgotten I’m even here.
My eyebrows raise, and I get a sinking feeling that I might have another charge to look after.
It’s confirmed a moment later when I look in the box and see a tiny little ball of black and white fluff.
“You found a kitten.” Oh, dear. I am not going to be the one to tell Zaden.
Lia picks her new baby up and coos to it, cuddling it close.
It’s all black except for a white mask on its face and a white streak down its chest like a tiny tie.
But then it starts to rumble, and all I can do is stare at the pair of them in amusement as the tiny kitten lets rip like my damn bike.
“Harley,” I say with a lopsided smile.
Lia looks up, and the colour in her eyes is so vibrant I’m taken aback. They sparkle, they are so light, she’s so happy. And I know that I can’t do anything to make her sad. Not a single thing.
We’re keeping the kitten.
“You can hide him at our place when your mum visits.” I reach out and just manage to save my finger before a hissing, spitting ball of rage takes a chunk out of it. “Oi, you!”
Lia snickers.
“Are you the one who dropped off the bird?” I ask, watching her out of the corner of my eyes.
Lia looks down at the kitten, her cheeks turning rosy.
“Lia? Have you been bringing us injured animals?”
“I don’t like to see them in pain.”
I reach out and cup her cheeks. “Don’t ever change, Lia, you are absolutely perfect the way you are.”
She blinks up at me, and for some reason, my words make her sad. “I’m not perfect.”
I snort and finally get to touch the kitten. Its fur is the softest I’ve ever felt.
“You are to me,” I admit. “Now, what shall we do about this little monster?”
Lia’s expression deflates. “I can’t keep him.”
“Why not?”
Lia’s expression gets guarded. “I can’t have animals. My mother doesn’t approve. ”
I hesitate because there has always been something off and strange about China Raines, other than the fact that she hates us with a passion. I don’t think she’s ever even looked at us with an expression less than ‘I loathe you’.
The only one of us she’s mildly okay with is Ranger, and she openly insults him.
“We’ll sort something out,” I say softly. “How about we go find Valen and send him to intimidate the pet shops?”
Lia’s smile quirks up, and then she hides her face in the kitten’s fur. I love this woman. The thought stuns me, even though I think it’s been true forever. “If you love animals so much, why don’t you do something with them?”
“Like work?”
“Yes, like work,” I tease. “You could do anything you wanted, Lia. You’re so smart.”
She blinks several times. “You think so?”
“I know so. If you wanted to do this, there are courses-”
Her expression drops. “I can’t do that.”
I frown, waiting for her to elaborate.
“My mother wouldn’t approve and-” She bites her words off, her cheeks turning red.
China Raines controls Lia’s income. The surge of dislike borders very closely to hate. And the more I learn about China Raines, the closer I’m getting to doing something that’s going to make her regret her actions.
“We could help you, if you like.”
For a moment, I think she will take me up on it. Her expression is so hungry, but then she shakes her head.
“I can’t.”
So much regret. I make a mental note of it.
“Why aren’t you in music?”
Lia cracks up, laughing. “Me? Oh, hell no. I can’t sing, I can’t carry a note or a tune or even make sense of which end of the guitar is up and which is down. Oh, no, there isn’t any music in me at all. I am the eternal disappointment.” The last two sentences are full of bitter resignation.
I wonder how that would have been growing up, not being able to make music in the home of three of our times most celebrated musicians. Then having Locke and Ryn, who are so musically inclined. Does she compare herself to them? Does she wish she was like them? She must have been so lonely.
“Well, just so you know. We do have a musician in our pack.”
She gives me a wide-eyed look.
I nod very seriously. “Sadly, Ianto sings like a dying cat, no offense, kitty! His vocals are hideous, and he knows it, but he insists on destroying the ears of all the rest of us. I’ve been told art is subjective.”
Lia laughs and leans into my side.
“Thanks, Mills.”
“My pleasure, Lia.” With her pressed up against me, everything is perfect. I love you, my Lia.