Page 83 of Offside Devil

Her green eyes stay wide even after she sees it’s me. They slide over my face, searching for something she isn’t going to find.

I’ve had an hour to lash down the rage that wants to burst through my chest. I’m not going to lose my shit while my son is in the room. My expression is blank. I'm the picture of fucking neutrality.

I reach for Aiden. “I’ll lay him down.”

Mira wordlessly hands him to me, keeping her body as far from mine as possible. This is the closest we’ve been in days, and she’s lucky Aiden is between us.

I start to take him down the hall, but I stop and turn back. Mira hasn’t moved from the door. Her teeth are sunk into her bottom lip and she’s running the hem of her cotton sundress through her fingers nervously.

“Wait here for me,” I growl. “I’ll be back.”

Once Aiden is down and his sound machine is running, I pull his door closed and storm back into the living room.

Mira hasn’t moved.

As I get closer and closer, I feel the point where I should stop walking, but I can’t. The leash on my anger snaps. Blind rage propels me forward until Mira’s back is flat against the door and I’m towering over her.

“No one should come into this house without my permission. You live here, but this is my house,” I remind her. “My son.”

“I know that. I wouldn’t?—”

“Except you did,” I snarl, cutting her off before she can lie to me. “You let Hanna into my house. She told me everything.”

She frowns. “S-she did?”

“What in the hell were you thinking?” I roar. “I’ve made this job easy for you. I moved you in here and gave you clear instructions. Fuck knows I’m paying you enough. So how did you manage to fuck it up?”

How did you manage to fool me?

My radar for this kind of thing is broken. I thought Paige was an exception. I was young and thought I had some kind of clue what love meant. I ignored all of the warning signs and red flags until it was too late…

Until I was sitting by Daniel’s bedside, staring at the stump where his left leg should’ve been.

Now, Aiden is the one in the passenger seat.

I won’t make that same mistake again.

Mira drops her chin. She’s staring down at the floor, not making any attempt to defend herself. A tear rolls down the end of her nose and it’s as good as a confession.

“I dressed you up and brought you to some party, but you aren’t my girlfriend. This isn’t your house. I’m paying you to do a job.” My voice shakes from the effort it’s taking not to scream. “And right now, you aren’t even doing that right.”

Her hands are fisted in her dress so tightly that her knuckles are white, but Mira doesn’t move. She’s holding herself perfectly still like I might forget she’s here.

I’ve seen Mira like this before—cowering and terrified. The difference is, this time around, I’m the one scaring her.

I stumble back and drag a hand through my hair. “One more chance. You get one more chance. If you fuck up again, you’re fired.”

She doesn’t nod. Doesn’t breathe.

Mira stays frozen against the door until I turn and leave.

34

MIRA

It’s been well over a decade since I’ve been in my childhood home. It looks exactly the same.

Tin foil covers the living room windows because Dad doesn’t like reflections on the television. The smell of cigarette smoke is so heavy that I can taste it, but I can’t cover my nose. I can’t move except to walk deeper into the house.

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