“Anyway,” Mia said as she put her arm through mine and we started walking again. “I thought maybe Barrick and I could do a cute little baby announcement for Daddy. Maybe a Christmas present or something that announces his impending grandfatherhood.”
“Yeah, that would be nice,” I agreed.
For the next two hours, we shopped and had lunch in the food court. Mia tried to eat a slice of pizza, but two bites in, she had to excuse herself. Thankfully, the bathrooms were close by because she had to make a run for it.
All the moms at the table shared a look with Aunt Emmie, who grinned and nodded her head. But no one said anything about it. Not even when Mia returned from the bathroom fifteen minutes later, looking less green but sweaty. They all pretended nothing out of the ordinary had happened.
“Well, we should get going,” Aunt Emmie announced as she got to her feet. “I have a few things to pick up before the party tonight.” She kissed the top of Arella’s head then gave me a hug. “Enjoy the rest of your afternoon, babes.”
Mia gave me a wave, wiping at the perspiration on her upper lip as she walked with her mom and the two bodyguards toward the escalators.
“Mom,” Arella said as she pushed away her plate of half-eaten Japanese. “Palmer is downstairs. Can I go with her? She’ll drop me off, and I promise I’ll be home in time for the party.”
Without hesitating, Mom nodded. “But if you’re late, you’re grounded. I mean it, Arella.”
She made an X on her chest. “I promise.” Jumping up, she kissed Mom’s cheek and skipped off toward the escalators as well.
“That girl is going to get in trouble, Lana,” Aunt Layla said with a laugh.
Mom snorted. “When isn’t she getting in trouble? Drake put an extra tracker on her phone, though. Seeing as she disabled the first one so she could go to some party a few weeks ago.”
I wasn’t surprised by my sister’s antics. She was born to cause trouble. Of the five of us, Arella was the wildest, and I knew the majority of Daddy’s gray hair was because of her.
Half listening to the others talking, I pulled out my phone to see if I had a text from Braxton. There was nothing, and I tried to push down my disappointment. I’d already texted him twice, even snapped a picture of myself in the changing room trying on the new dress I’d picked out for the party in the hope of getting a flirty response. I should have known I wouldn’t; Braxton had never flirted before, but a girl could dream, damn it.
“Four of the most beautiful women I have ever seen are sitting here with no man in sight,” a deep voice I knew well announced, making everyone at the table but me laugh as Jordan Moreitti appeared at the end of the table. “I knew this was my lucky day, but damn, ladies.”
I rolled my eyes so hard, his dark eyes landed on me, and I stuck my tongue out at him before flipping him off. He was Mia’s best friend, so we saw him a lot back in Virginia. Probably more often than his parents did since he spent his time either in Italy working in his father’s company or visiting Mia.
“What are you doing in this part of the country?” I asked. “Last time I saw you, you were trying your hardest to avoid this place.”
“Needed to see Mia, and lo and behold, she was in this godforsaken dump.”
“Yeah, California is a cesspool.” Rolling my eyes again, I tossed my napkin at him. “You just missed her.”
He shrugged. “I’ll catch her later. It’s your birthday, right?” I nodded. “Maybe your mom would be okay if I took you shopping for a present.”
“Mom would be fine with that,” she said with a wink as she and my aunts stood and gathered their bags. “Party starts at seven. Don’t be late.” She patted Jordan on the arm. “And you are more than welcome to join us, sweetie.”
“I would love to, Mrs. Stevenson,” he told her before accepting a hug from Aunt Layla.
“Perfect. See you two tonight, then.”
I watched them go until they were on the escalator, then turned back to Jordan. “What are you really doing in California?”
His mouth thinned, and he mumbled, “Hiding out.”
That made me crack up. “Figures. You’re such a manwhore, Moreitti.”
“Hey, can I help it that the ladies want a taste of me?” He smirked then winked down at me. “So, how about that shopping? What would you like? Any store in this joint, price doesn’t matter.”
I was going to get a headache from all the eye-rolling I was doing because of him. “You’re an idiot, you know that, right?”
“Compared to you, Einstein was an idiot too, so your insult can’t really hurt me, sweetheart.” Putting his hand at the small of my back, he guided me away from the food court and toward the third-floor entrance into Nordstrom.
“Why are we going in here?” I complained, digging in my heels.
“Don’t they have a little bit of everything? Figured we couldn’t go wrong in here.”
“Yeah, no.” I grabbed his wrist and tugged him toward the escalators. “Do I look like I normally shop in places like that? No thanks. And besides, I’m not letting you buy something expensive. Not how I work, Moreitti.”
“Anyone ever tell you that you are a pain in the ass?” he grumbled.
I grinned. “You’re the first, actually.”
Chapter 8
Braxton
I followed Barrick off the plane and into the airport. Some guy on his cell got in my way as we were on our way out, and I bared my teeth at him, not in the mood to be the least bit understanding when he should have been watching what he was doing in the first place.
My face must have shown just what kind of mood I was in, because the guy hastily got out of my way, muttering a quick apology. I saw Barrick glance at me out of the corner of my eye, but he stayed quiet even as I felt his concern.
I didn’t sleep last night. Instead, I’d been trying to get the story of my engagement to Darcy taken down from all the sites that were gushing over the wedding and alleged baby we were having. Fucking hell, like I would subject a poor defenseless child to a mother like that bitch. Some people shouldn’t ever have kids, and Darcy was definitely one of them.
It wasn’t that I cared if the world thought I was going to marry her and we were starting a family. No, fuck them. I didn’t give two shits what they thought because there was no way in hell it was happening. Ever.
It was Nevaeh I didn’t want to have to see that trash all over social media and tabloids and fuck knows what else. Not until I could explain everything to her. In the past two years, we had become close. She was my best friend, and I’d confided a lot of my secrets in her.
But I’d never told her about Darcy and that I’d gotten engaged to her right out of high school. I didn’t know how Neveah would take my one and only past relationship, or what she would think if she saw all the articles and social media posts about the bogus wedding and my allegedly impending fatherhood.
Earlier that morning, I’d decided I couldn’t chance her finding out over the weekend and knew I needed to see her and explain. Barrick had jumped at the idea of going to California, and we were in the last two seats on a plane bound for LAX two hours later.
“Barrick!”
The sound of Mia’s voice had both our heads snapping up. There, standing beside a blacked-out SUV, was Mia. She sprinted toward us. More than three feet away, she jumped, knowing Barrick would catch her. She wrapped her legs around his waist, and he kissed her like they hadn’t seen each other in weeks instead of less than twenty-four hours.
“Is your leg okay?” he asked when he pulled back, one of his hands rubbing at her braced knee.
“It’s fine. And now that you two are here, everything is perfect.” She glanced over at me after kissing him again. “Hey, stranger.”
Seeing her, some of the dark clouds hanging over my head dissipated. Nevaeh was my best friend, but Mia was a close second. I loved her like a sister, but I needed her just as much as I needed my little kitten.
Barrick placed her carefully on her feet, and she put her arm through mine, walking us toward her mother’s vehicle where two large bodyguards were waiting. “I knew you wouldn’t be able to stay away,” she said quietly, her big green eyes sparkling with amusement.
“That’s not why I’m here, Mia,” I told her as we reached the SUV. Her mother was already sitting inside, her phone—which seemed to be permanently attached to her hand—out while she typed away one-handed and drank her coffee with the other. “My parents fucked me over last night.”
Mia’s eyes widened, and she turned to face me fully, concern on her face. “What happened?”
“Apparently Brax is getting a wife and a kid all in one,” Barrick commented as he tossed his stuff in the back then walked around to where we were standing.
“What the hell are you talking about?” she demanded, putting her hands on her hips as she glared from him to me. “You aren’t even dating anyone, and if you tell me you’ve been meeting some chick in secret while Nev has been—” She broke off, sucking in a deep breath. Sweat beaded on her upper lip, and I swear she turned green right before my eyes. “Fuck. Why does this shit happen when I get pissed?” she moaned.