Page 68 of Discord
“For God’s sake, Mia,” Milo hissed. “You’re too smart to fall for this shit. You have an I.Q. of 155.”
“151,” Mia corrected on cue.
Milo closed his eyes, fingers on his temple. “When did this start?”
“She was the girl I met in Italy,” I replied truthfully.
The temperature in the room dropped by several degrees.
Milo knew only one woman who had meant anything to me. I had hoped it’d count for something.
I was wrong.
Fire blazed behind his eyes as he glared, thunderstruck. “That trip… Mia was only…” Milo temporarily paused to calculate. “Sixteen,” he gritted out, body shaking from anger.
I heard Mia’s hitched breath next to me.
A fleeting look crossed his face as he snapped out of the stupor. “What. The. Fuck.” Milo enunciated each word.
“Brandon didn’t know when we first met,” Mia swiftly interjected before Milo could add more to his musing. “I used a fake ID, and he thought I was someone else. It was my fault. I tricked him.”
I wrapped my hand around her palm, silently communicating with her. This wouldn’t make for the compelling argument she was hoping for. To know our dirty, gritty details would only make matters worse.
Milo’s gaze fixed on the hold I had on Mia. “Step away from her right fucking now before I call the police,” he ground out.
I forced myself to hold back an eye roll. “And tell them what? She is an adult.”
“Not if you claim to have met her in France.”
“Different jurisdiction and different age requirements,” I said dryly.
At 6’3, I had three inches on Milo and towered over him. But the way his face scrunched with red anger, you’d think he was unaware. “You are a sick fuck,” Milo roared, unable to control his temper any longer. “You met her when she was a month old. You babysat her. You took care of her. What the fuck is wrong with you?”
A minute feeling of shame engulfed me, but the rage warred alongside it. I clenched my teeth, screwing my eyes shut. Milo was purposefully hitting below the belt to rouse a reaction out of me, but I owed it to Mia not to retaliate against her family.
Before I pummeled Milo into the ground, I hoped for his reasonable counterpart to impart some words of wisdom. Raven caught my drift and placed her palm on Milo’s bicep. “This isn’t helping. Let’s all take a seat and listen to the whole story.”
Milo stared at her. “How are you so calm about this?” When Raven tensed, understanding seeped through him. “Unbelievable. You knew about this and let it happen?”
“I thought they ended things,” she answered plainly.
Her words did nothing to pacify the situation. “You kept this from me.”
“It wasn’t my secret to tell,” Raven argued gently, but Milo had already moved on from their lover’s spat.
He turned to me, face twisting in disgust. “What the hell is wrong with you? I trusted you.” He nodded at Mia. “Shetrusted you, and all this time, you were busy weaseling your way in. I should have seen it right from the start that you were grooming her. Of course she thinks she is in love with you.”
“That’s sick,” I snarled right as Mia stepped forward.
“Stop it, Milo,” she screamed, starting to get hysterical. “I get why you are angry, but you’re way out of line. I’m sorry for hurting you, but please try to understand.”
Tears stung her eyes. At this rate, she’d work herself into another fit. I pulled her close, circling my thumb over her back. “Breathe, baby,” I whispered in her ear.
Milo turned to Mia as if just realizing she was also part of the conversation. However, finding us in such an intimate huddle did nothing to alleviate the tension.
“Mia,” he said sternly, offering his hand out for her like she was a little kid. “Come here.”
I didn’t believe Mia would take it, but I interlaced our fingers for good measure. The slight movement caught Milo’s eyes, and by the looks of it, he didn’t appreciate it. The word anger wouldn’t describe Milo’s expression. It was something far more unleashed.
