31
K nox was scrolling through the pictures they’d taken on vacation. The week had been filled with taking in the park, shows, and anything else they could think of. He’d had fun spending the week with Yasmine and Aiva and watching them get along and bond. At one point, he was surprised that he hadn’t felt like a third wheel.
They’d been back for a couple of days, and his mother had been excited to visit and ask how it went and how Yasmine and Aiva got on. He hadn’t had time to answer her because Yasmine had been too excited to do so herself.
Once she’d finished telling her grandmother everything they did and all the fun she had, his mother asked if Yasmine wanted to go with her to shop for new plants for her garden.
They’d left half an hour ago, and Knox folded and put up laundry. He’d washed and dried it the day after they returned, but he’d put off folding and putting it up. He knew his mother well enough to know that she would have Yasmine for at least a few hours. So, he’d go to the grocery store once he finished with the laundry. He’d thrown out everything that would go bad while they were away before they left.
Knox had just finished folding the clothes when there was a knock on his door. He furrowed his brow because he knew it couldn’t be his mother and Yasmine, and he wasn’t expecting anyone else.
He looked through the peephole and fought back a groan, seeing the person on the other side. He had no idea what Mia could want, but whatever it was, Knox knew he wasn’t in the mood to put up with it. He’d been fine not seeing her outside of dropping Yasmine off for scheduled visits.
There was a momentary debate about whether he would answer the door. However, he figured she’d popped by to see Yasmine since they’d recently returned from vacation. There would be no harm in opening the door and telling her that their daughter wasn’t there, but he would make sure she called her before bed.
That had been the plan, at least, until he opened the door and realized seeing Yasmine was not the reason she’d come by.
“Are you fucking kidding me, Knox?” Mia asked through gritted teeth as she held her phone up in his face.
He looked at the picture on the screen before turning his attention back to her. He regretted opening the door, giving her the benefit of thinking she was there to be a parent. When in reality, she was there to meddle in his personal life. One that no longer concerned her and hadn’t for over a year.
“Is that all you came by for, Mia?” he inquired, tone bored.
“What the fuck do you mean? Is that all? We’ve only been divorced for a few months, and you’re running off taking vacations with another woman and your lawyer, no less.”
“The key word in that sentence is divorced.”
“Do you know how this makes me look?!” she screeched, and Knox tilted his head. “My friends, and anyone else who sees this, will think I was being cheated on. That I wasn’t good enough for you.”
Knox sighed. “That sounds like a you problem.”
No one was going to think that hard about it. Hell, when they separated, that news was all over within a few weeks of it happening, and now that they were divorced, those with common sense could put two and two together. However, Mia’s friends weren’t among those people.
She was mad about the wrong thing, in his opinion. Not that she had a reason to be, but he wouldn’t point that out. She would use it as flimsy fuel for the fire she’d worked herself into.
“Do you know how many of these pictures are circulating?”
Knox shrugged. “No, and I don’t care. My personal life has nothing to do with you, Mia. Why are you here?”
“It has everything to do with me when you’re trying to make me look stupid!”
“You’re doing that to yourself, showing up here and yelling as if you have no common sense. Besides, I don’t ask what you do with your personal time. Don’t come here worried about mine.”
Before she could respond, Knox closed and locked the door. He’d been correct. He hadn’t been in the mood for what Mia had shown up for.
She banged on his door, but Knox ignored her as he grabbed the laundry basket and went down the hall to put the clothes away. The banging continued for several minutes until she got fed up with him ignoring her. She let out a noise that floated through the door, reminiscent of a banshee, and then she was gone.
Knox shook his head. He wasn’t supposed to have to deal with this shit. He guessed that was wishful thinking because it seemed she would still show up at his place for bullshit. The only difference now was that she didn’t have their daughter to use against him, and he didn’t have to talk to her when she showed up unannounced.
Knox walked into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. He pulled out his phone and began making a list of things he needed from the grocery store. He would wait several more minutes before he left. He wouldn’t put it past Mia to be waiting in the parking lot to continue to vent her unwarranted frustrations to him.
When fifteen minutes passed, he texted his mother, letting her know he was going to the store but should be home within an hour. That way, if they cut their outing short, she wouldn’t be surprised if he wasn’t at home.
A iva sat at her desk, going over a few emails. She’d taken off the Monday after they’d returned from vacation to prepare herself for the upcoming work week. She was able to push off several of her meetings, and she’d had no mediations or court dates scheduled for the previous week. Now, she was playing catch-up. She had several clients she needed to meet with before the week was out because she planned to schedule mediations over the next two weeks.
She knew things would be hectic when she returned to work, but it was worth it. She’d had fun spending the week with Knox and Yasmine, getting to know him better and getting to know Yasmine. She was happy that the little girl seemed to like her.
Knox was the first man Aiva had dated with a child, and she knew that as close as they were, if she and Yasmine didn’t get along, it would spell disaster for her relationship. Honestly, Aiva would have ended it because she wouldn’t want to put a child in that situation, to have them be around someone they didn’t like. She was glad that hadn’t been the case.
She liked Knox, enjoyed spending time with him, and their relationship had been great over the past few months. The last thing she wanted was to stop seeing him, but she would have because Yasmine’s well-being came first, and Aiva would not force a relationship with her. If it didn’t build organically, it wouldn’t be worth it. Luckily, she didn’t have to deal with that.
Aiva was meeting up with Knox and Yasmine on Saturday afternoon so they could go to the craft store to get materials to scrapbook their vacation. She’d told Yasmine they could and planned on keeping her word. Then she was meeting with her sisters on Sunday for brunch, and she was sure they would ask her how everything went. She was grateful they hadn’t bombarded her with calls, but she knew it was because they were waiting to see her in person.
Aiva was replying to an email when she heard Finx’s voice approaching her office.
“You can’t just barge in,” he stated, and a second later, Mia was standing in her doorway. “Ms. Neel, I apologize. I tried to tell her—”
“It’s fine, Finx,” Aiva stated, cutting him off. “Close the door for us, please.” She turned her attention back to Mia. “Have a seat.” She gestured to the two chairs in front of her desk.
Mia plopped down in one, crossing one leg over the other. “Look, I’m not here for pleasantries.”
“I didn’t think you were.”
Aiva had a good idea why Mia forwent any manners she may have had and stormed into her place of business. Marreigh sent Aiva a text last night containing images of her, Knox, and Yasmine on vacation. The pictures weren’t intimate per se, but it was clear they were more than friends.
“You need to stay away from my husband.”
“Your ex-husband,” Aiva corrected. “And I won’t do that.”
“Excuse you? I don’t think you understand how your little tryst will make me look, how it will affect me.”
“You are absolutely correct, and I don’t care. How you look is the least of my worries. Honestly, once your divorce was final, I forgot you existed.”
It wasn’t a complete lie. Unless Yasmine brought up her mother, Aiva didn’t think about the other woman or that she was now dating her ex-husband. Mia didn’t take up space in her mind, and she didn’t allow her to take up space in her relationship.
Mia glared at her, nostrils flaring, and Aiva cocked a brow at her. “You were fucking my husband while representing him, weren’t you?”
“Ex-husband, and no. I wasn’t. Not that it’s any of your business.”
“I don’t believe you!”
Aiva shrugged. “I don’t care what you believe. That’s your prerogative.”
Mia made a noise that Aiva would associate with an angry badger. “My husband and I could have—”
“Ex-husband,” Aiva cut her off, and Mia made that noise again. It seemed she didn’t like being reminded she was no longer married to Knox. “The only thing you and Knox could have done amicably, if not for your greed, is co-parenting your daughter.” Aiva leaned forward, lacing her fingers and propping her chin on them. “You know, the same daughter that should have been your reason for walking in here. I could have almost allowed your teenage tantrum if you’d come in here concerned about someone you only know in passing being around your daughter, but you focused on how Knox being in a new relationship made you look, not how it could have possibly made Yas feel.”
Mia gritted her teeth, and Aiva knew she’d hit a nerve. She assumed the other woman hadn’t thought of her daughter’s well-being once in the situation. Not that Aiva would ever do anything to hurt the child or make her uncomfortable.
“I do—”
“Be quiet. I’m still speaking. Your priorities are so screwed up that I’m sure your daughter wasn’t a factor in your anger. Your focus is on your image and claiming a man you treated like shit for no apparent reason other than being a spoiled brat. I would say it baffles me how you think you still hold claim to him, but it doesn’t.” Aiva leaned back in her seat. “So, let me be clear. That man you keep claiming is mine. Now and for the foreseeable future. You screwed that up. Now you get the honor of living with it, of seeing him happy, and I hope every picture that’s ever taken of us ends up being the first thing you see each morning and the last thing you see each night.”
Aiva allowed her words to sink in, and the disbelief and anger she saw spark in Mia’s eyes were confirmation that her words had their desired effort.
“I play chess, not checkers. So, the next time you try and fail to come at me, please know it’ll be the last.” Check . “Goodbye, Mia.”
Aiva turned her attention to her computer screen. An outright dismissal. A few seconds later Mia stormed out the door, slamming it shut behind her. Not a minute later, Finx and Meila walked into her office.
“Say the word, and we can jump that bitch,” Meila stated, taking a seat. Finx nodded his agreement as he took the other.
Aiva laughed. “No need. That tiny chihuahua just wanted to yap. The annoying little things.”
Meila laughed. “I looked out of my office when I heard Finx earlier, and as soon as I saw it was her, I knew she was here on some shit.”
“I did, too, when she walked in. A blog I like to follow wrote about the three of you being on vacation, and the post included a few pictures. Mia struck me as the type to get mad that her ex moved on from her, and it seems I was correct,” Finx stated.
“Well, she chose the right one on the right day. But the next time she comes at me with some bullshit, she’s going to realize that fuck around equals find out.”