Page 64 of Mating Mia
“My adoptive parents were arrested,” I say, the words strange and distant on my tongue. “The adoption agency filed charges.”
Finn’s eyes widen with understanding. “That’s a good thing, Mia.”
I nod, guilt washing over me anew. “Ben’s all alone now. He has to testify against them, Finn. He has to relive all of it because of what I did. I don’t think my other siblings will say anything.”
Finn pulls me into his arms, his solid warmth enveloping me as the oven timer continues its shrill beeping.
“Don’t blame yourself, love,” he says firmly against my hair.
“I should have warned him,” I whisper against Finn’s shirt. “I should have prepared him somehow.”
“Maybe,” Finn concedes, his hand stroking soothingly down my back. “But what’s done is done. All you can do now is be there for him going forward.”
The oven timer finally falls silent, but the smell of slightly overcooked fish begins to permeate the kitchen. Finn reaches past me to turn off the stove under the rice, which has already started to stick to the bottom of the pot.
“I’ve ruined dinner,” I say weakly, wiping at my tears with the back of my hand.
Finn shakes his head, a small smile softening his usually stern features. “We can order pizza. Right now, you need to sit down before you fall.”
He guides me to a chair at the kitchen table, his hand never leaving my back.
As I sink into the seat, I look through the doorway to where Jace is still playing with Ash, both of them oblivious to the drama unfolding in the kitchen.
seventeen
. . .
Mia
After ordering pizza to replace my ruined dinner, I wander into the living room where Kane has returned from his shower, hair still damp at the edges, his strong profile illuminated by the glow of his phone screen.
Something’s off about him—the tense set of his shoulders, the distant look in his eyes as he scrolls through whatever has captured his attention so completely.
Usually, he’d be interrogating me about the phone call, wanting to know every detail about who dared to make me cry. His protective and sometimes overbearing concern is as much a part of him as his alpha strength.
“Kane?” I say, settling beside him on the couch. “Everything okay?”
He looks startled when I address him. Like he’s lost in thought and hasn’t noticed me sitting next to him.
Kane, the most alert alpha caught off guard. It makes me worry, and my chest tightens.
“Everything’s fine,” he says. His smile doesn’t reach his eyes. “Just checking some security updates.”
I don’t believe him for a second. In the months I’ve been with my alphas, I’ve learned to read their emotions.
Kane rubs his thumb against his forefinger when he’s hiding something, a subtle gesture he’s making right now. I glance toward the kitchen, where Finn is cleaning up the mess from my abandoned cooking attempt, then to the play mat where Jace is helping Ash practice standing by holding his tiny hands. Both of them keep shooting concerned glances in our direction, confirming my suspicion that something’s wrong.
“Come with me,” I say, taking Kane’s hand and pulling him to his feet. “We need to talk in the bedroom.”
His eyebrow raises at that, a flicker of his usual self returning in the heat that briefly flares in his eyes. But it’s gone just as quickly, replaced by that same distant worry I can’t decipher.
I lead Kane into our bedroom and close the door behind us. The room is dim, lit only by the fading evening light filtering through half-drawn curtains. The massive bed, which easily fits all four of us, dominates the space, the sheets still rumpled from our hot, passionate sessions.
Kane stands in the center of the room, his powerful body tense as a bowstring as he watches me with those impossibly dark eyes. I move to stand before him, close enough to feel the heat radiating from his skin but not touching him yet.
“What’s going on?” I ask directly, tired of how cagey he’s being. “And don’t tell me ‘nothing’ because I know you better than that.”
He sighs, running a hand through his still-damp hair. “I didn’t want to worry you.”
