Chapter 12
MILA
It’s been almost two weeks of staying at Whiskey River Mountain Lodge and for the most part it’s been relaxing.
“Has your boss said anything about you staying an extra week?” Tobias asks as we sit at the table.
Aiden is already filling our plates when he looks up at me. “Right, you were going to contact your boss to see if you could take the third week. I want to know as well.”
I rub the back of my neck. Shit. I knew this was coming.
“He said it was fine,” I reply, keeping my voice calm.
“Did he give you any trouble?” Aiden asks.
I shake my head. “No trouble at all. I think what happened really scared him.”
Shit.
I shouldn’t have brought that up either. Tobias still doesn’t know about it.
“So what exactly happened?” Tobias asks.
My eyes go wide, and I look away. Nope. I’m not going to answer this question right now. Not in front of Aiden when he doesn’t know the full details.
“Mila.” Aiden gives me a pointed look. “You still haven’t told him?”
I shake my head. “No.”
“That’s not right. You promised us both not to keep any secrets,” Aiden says.
“Not the only secret,” I mumble under my breath so quietly no one should be able to hear me.
“That’s not the only secret you are keeping from me or us?” Tobias asks.
“H-how did you know what I said?” I rear back as I look at him in shock. “You shouldn’t hear what I said.”
That didn’t make any sense, but they didn’t seem to mind.
“Mila Grace,” Aiden uses my middle name. “What secret are you keeping from us?”
“Nothing!” I stand up. “I’m not keeping any secrets from you guys.”
Tobias crosses his hands over his chest and stares into my eyes. I look away quickly. Whenever he does that, it makes me want to answer his questions right away and truthfully.
“Tell us what you’re keeping from us,” Tobias says calmly. “We aren’t going to get mad at you.”
I look between both of them. “Are you sure?”
They nod.
“Unless you are lying about your health and something else has happened,” Aiden says. My face drains of color. “Oh, Mila. What are you keeping a secret?”
“I got fired from my job!” I yell, my eyes darting between the both of them. “The doctor said if I don’t lose some of the stress in my life that I could have a heart attack. He told me to stop working and just relax for the rest of my life.”
Both of their mouths are hanging open as they stare at me. I take the opportunity to dash out of the living room and out the front door.
“Mila!” Tobias yells.
But I ignore him and continue to run around the compound.
I need to find a place to hide.
Where can I hide?
Even though I’ve been here for almost two weeks, I haven’t been able to explore. Tobias doesn’t want me to go alone, and I haven’t really met anyone else.
“Mila Grace! Stop right there, or you’re going to be in big trouble!” Tobias yells.
Tears pool in my eyes as I continue to run. If they catch up to me now, then everything is going to be over. I lied about my health and about me being fired.
“Whoa, where do you think you’re going?” a man asks as he catches me and holds me close to his body.
“Please, let me go. I need to go,” I say hysterically.
“Mila Grace!” Aiden yells. “We aren’t mad at you.”
I look up at the man. “Please, let me go. I need to hide.”
He hums but continues to hold me. “I don’t think I should let you go.”
“Mister, please. I need to go.”
He shakes his head and holds me tightly. “Mila is over here!”
Tobias and Aiden look in our direction, and panic courses through my body.
Shit.
They rush over toward us while I kick my legs back and forth, trying to get out.
“Please,” I sob.
Another pair of arms wrap around me. “I’ve got you,” Daddy whispers.
“Tobias, let her down so she can explain what she just told us,” Aiden says.
“When she has calmed down and isn’t going to bolt I’ll set her down, but not a second before.”
“Please,” I breathe as I struggle in his embrace.
“What happened?” the man who caught me asks.
“Thanks for catching her, Dom,” Daddy says. “She ran when she told us the truth about a couple of things.”
“Is she both of yours?” he asks. “I thought she was just staying with Tobias.”
“She’s like an older sister to me,” Aiden replies. “Thank you for catching her. I don’t know what we would have done if she hurt herself.”
“She doesn’t know the lodge very well. I was worried she would get lost and we wouldn’t be able to find her,” Tobias says as he rubs my back. “But thankfully you were here.”
“Daddy.” I push against his chest. “Let me go. Please.”
“No, Little One. We aren’t angry at you… just shocked at what you told us. We want to talk to you,” he replies.
I shake my head, tears running down my face.
These damn tears. Any time Daddy is close, I just seem to be crying.
“It’s not up for discussion. You are going to be coming back with us, and we are going to talk about it.” He gives me a pointed look before he leads me back. “You don’t get to drop two big secrets you’ve been holding and then run away, making us worry.”
It doesn’t take long for us to get back to Daddy’s cabin and sit down in the living room.
“Now, do you want to tell us again and not run away this time?” Aiden asks.
“You heard it the first time,” I whisper.
“And we want to hear it again,” Tobias says. “We want to hear it again and be able to ask questions. We aren’t mad at you.”
Well, I’ve already said it once. But their shocked faces mean they really weren’t expecting those words out of me.
Maybe I shouldn’t say it again.
“Mila,” Aiden murmurs.
“Okay.” I hold my hands up. “Can I sit by myself?”
Tobias shakes his head. “I don’t think so. I don’t want you running off again.”
Nodding, I look down at my hands. “I said that I got fired from my job.”
“And?” Aiden asks.
I barely manage to get the next words out. “That if I don’t take some of the stress out of my life, then I’ll have a heart attack.”
“Thank you for telling us,” Daddy says. “When did you get fired from your job?”
“After I landed myself in the hospital for a couple of days.”
“You were in the hospital?” Daddy asks.
“You haven’t told him?” Aiden asks in shock. “Mila, you can’t keep that from him.”
Tears run down my face and I hide in my hands.
“I didn’t want you to leave me before we even got to know each other. I figured you would when you knew how bad everything was,” I wail.
“Oh, Little One. No matter what, I’m not going to leave you. I’m sorry if I ever made you feel that way. It was not my intention,” he coos at me. “Can you tell me how you ended up in the hospital?”
“Explain everything from beginning to end,” Aiden adds.
I take a deep breath and pull my hands away from my face.
“I passed out at work and hit my head on a desk. They rushed me to the ER. That’s when the doctor called Aiden to let him know that I had passed out but was okay,” I explain.
“When I woke up, the doctor told me that I was exhausted, malnourished, and if I didn’t start taking care of myself, then things were going to get bad.
He said I would have a heart attack and didn’t know if my body was strong enough to handle it. ”
“What else?” Daddy prompts me.
“When I got discharged, I told my boss. He said that he was firing me before anything happened and that they no longer needed me. That’s when Aiden said he wanted me to come visit him.
I agreed and came up with the plan of only staying for two weeks before coming back home and searching for a job,” I say quickly.
“And stress yourself out trying to find a job before landing yourself in the hospital again?” Aiden asks.
“I’ve got a lot of money saved up and I was going to take it real slow, I promise. I haven’t really spent much of it because I’ve been working. So I was going to take some time off so that I wouldn’t be stressed.”
Aiden shakes his head. “You were going to be stressed anyway. You do know that, right?”
“I know.” I sigh. “But it wasn’t going to be as much, and my body wasn’t going to be as stressed. I had it all figured out.”
“You aren’t getting a job,” Daddy declares.
“I’m with Tobias on this one. You are going to stay here for the rest of your life and you aren’t getting a job,” Aiden says.
“But… but… you can’t do that!” I yell.
“We can and we are going to,” Aiden says. “You don’t need to worry about getting a job, and you aren’t going back there.”
“But that’s where I live and where everything I own is!” I say.
“We will break your lease to your apartment, and you can move here,” he declares.
“But—” I take a deep breath. “What about visiting my mother and brother’s graves?”
“Aiden is getting ahead of himself right now. While I do agree with him about you not getting a job, forcing you to move here isn’t something that we can do,” Tobias says calmly. “What we can do is weigh the pros and cons to both staying here and going back home.”
“No,” Aiden growls. “We don’t want her to live there.”
Tobias glares at Aiden. “You don’t get to decide where she lives.”
“Whose side are you on?” he asks. “Do you even want her here or are you trying to push her away?”
I turn my head to look at Tobias, waiting for his response.
“Of course I want her here. I want to tell her she isn’t allowed to go anywhere and has to live here with me for the rest of her life.
That we are going to break her lease and bring her stuff here, but I can’t and I won’t.
As much as I want to, Mila is an adult and she can make her own decisions,” Tobias replies.
“That is unless she allows me to make these decisions for her, and she hasn’t given me that consent. ”
But it’s so tempting to give it to him. To let him control everything because I know no matter what, he’s going to have my best interests at heart.
I feel safe with him.
“So what do you say?” Aiden asks. “What are you thinking?”
I open and close my mouth. He wants me to decide right now?
“Don’t,” Tobias growls. “Don’t force her to make a decision right now. Give her some time and space to think about it all.”
Aiden sighs. “I don’t mean to pressure you, but I don’t want you to die. I’m worried that if you go back there that you aren’t going to take care of yourself. Then I’m going to get a call saying you died. I don’t want that phone call.”
I look down at my hands. I don’t want that to happen either, but I don’t know how I’m going to stay here.
“I just…”