Page 27 of Bound By Her Shocking Secret

Before he could say anything Mia held up a hand. ‘I’m sorry, that wasn’t fair.’ She lowered her hand. ‘The truth is that my mother always clammed up whenever I asked her about him. She never gave me a name. Didn’t want to talk about him. Ever. It was only after she died that an old friend of hers told me that my mom went to a party after high school graduation. She was drugged and woke up the next morning dishevelled. Not feeling well. Sore. She fell pregnant as a consequence of that night. Her friend told her she should go to the police, tell them that something had happened to her, but my mom was so ashamed that she wouldn’t. Her parents were strict, religious. They would have thrown her out. She moved to California and had me, and brought me up by herself.’

Mia looked at Daniel, expecting to see disgust or horror. But there was an expression she couldn’t read on his face. He said, ‘I’m sorry. That can’t have been easy. For her or for you.’

Mia shrugged. ‘I didn’t know anything else, and she was a good mother. She made up for the lack of a father.’

Until she’d died, and Mia had felt so unmoored that she’d blindly sought out the first port in a grief-stricken storm.

‘Is there a chance your father knows about you?’

‘I guess...whoever he is...he might have heard something... But, given the circumstances, I don’t think he’ll be coming forward, do you?’

The bitterness in Mia’s voice was hard to hide. She wasn’t responsible for her parents’ actions, but she’d always felt a little tainted by what her father had done. How he had violated her mother.

‘That still doesn’t explain why you were always so reluctant to step into my world with me. What was that about, if not fear of the press?’

Mia went cold.

No way was she going to tell Daniel about her ultimate humiliation.

She avoided his eye and shrugged minutely. ‘You were—are—rich and powerful. I just had no interest in that world. It was that simple.’

Daniel made a snorting sound. ‘Things are rarely that simple. It was more than mere lack of interest, Mia.’

Damn him. She glared at him. ‘It’s really none of your business and it has no bearing on anything now.’

Daniel leaned against the back of a couch and crossed one ankle over the other. ‘Now I’m really intrigued.’

Mia wanted to stamp her foot. She recognised the obstinate expression on Daniel’s face all too well. He would push and probe until she gave up all her secrets.

‘Fine. If you must know, it was my first boyfriend. He was rich. Very rich. He came from a family that could date itself back to theMayflower. I worked as a waitress in the local country club and he saw me there...and seduced me. Then he dumped me. It turned out the only reason he’d spoken to me was to get me into bed. He never intended on having a relationship with me because I was, in his words,“trailer trash”.He led me to believe that he wanted me in his world, that he was prepared to introduce me to his family, while at the same time he was getting ready to announce his engagement to a far more suitable woman. The worst thing was that I fell for it. It wasn’t long after my mom had died and he offered a sense of connection. I thought I wanted to be accepted by him and his world.’

‘Are you saying I reminded you of him?’ Daniel’s voice was like steel.

Mia swallowed. She couldn’t in all honesty say that, because at no point had Daniel ever reminded her ofhim. But he had stirred up enough powerful emotions and sensations to make her scared enough to keep him at arm’s length.

‘No, you’re nothing like him. He was a coward. I’m ashamed to admit I allowed him to—’

Daniel stood up and shook his head, cutting her off. ‘No, don’t say it. He took advantage of you, Mia. He saw a beautiful young woman, and maybe a chink of vulnerability, and exploited it.’

Mia hated the emotion that climbed up her chest at Daniel’s perspicacity.

‘Is he also the reason why you don’t like gifts of jewellery?’

She nodded. ‘He gave me what he told me was a diamond necklace, but it was just cubic zirconia. All part of the act to make me think he wanted more than sex.’

Daniel said a rude word in French. To Mia’s surprise, she didn’t feel exposed or newly humiliated after telling Daniel—she felt vindicated. Lighter. But then she’d never told anyone else what had happened to her, and to realise that it was Daniel she’d just confided in...Nowshe felt exposed.

Suddenly eager to move on from the past, Mia asked, ‘This evening...where are we going?’

‘It’s the Paris Ballet’s gala night at the Palais Garnier.’

Mia was immediately intimidated at the thought of the stunning Parisopérabuilding. It was one of the most iconic landmarks of Paris and she’d never been inside.

‘But I couldn’t possibly go—what about Lexi?’

‘Paul’s daughter works as a nanny but she’s between jobs at the moment. She can babysit.’

‘That’s convenient.’ In Daniel’s world, everything fell into place. Mia shouldn’t have forgotten that. She said, ‘I’m not going anywhere until I meet her and feel that I can trust her with Lexi.’

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