Page 27 of Facing the Music

The pain in Ada’s eyes makes me laugh. She accused Paval of not having feelings or being capable of emotion but I think that it’s just Ada projecting. She’s stunned, about to say something else when two officers crowd her, the woman struggling between them. “Hey! You’re my detail. Back off. I’m not leaving here without my fucking daughter!”

One of Paval’s fathers steps forward, Paval all but trying to dance on stage. “Ada, you’ve tortured enough people with your mind games but that’s all they ever are and money only goes so far when someone else can pay out what you have and then some. Your men aren’t loyal to you because of your ideals or plans or anything else. They’re loyal to you for the green you put in their pockets and when someone offers just a bit more—it’s good to know we had some backup.”

I kind of hoped there would be more chaos and blood and screaming on Ada’s part as they yank her hands behind her to cuff her. She’s still struggling, growling at Paval’s father like an animal. “I’m not done here.”

“You are,” Paval purrs into the microphone. His father doesn’t seem the slightest bit perturbed at Paval’s antics. “You violated a protective order and endangered every last student in this room, using them as pawns to get to a woman you don’t have access to. She also doesn’t need your money, Ada.” I watch in awe as the man unzips one of his pockets and pulls out several bills before throwing them up into the air. He continues as he works through all of his pockets and that has to be a few thousand littering the floor by the time he’s done. “Because Tia has her family and it doesn’t include you.”

Paval drops the mic and turns to Tia before dragging her into a kiss, bending her backward and showing off just how much he loves our woman. I don’t think he meant for the mic drop scene but it’s fucking glorious. Especially when Ada starts screaming obscenities and Paval’s just tasting Tia’s lips, whispering how much he loves her. Everyone else is stunned, torn between cheering for the display and following what just happened with Ada.

In the end, they rush around the stage, grabbing what they can of the money, and then peel out, leaving us up here to fend forourselves. There’s excited shouts and confusion and chaos but the best kind because it’s kind of over, isn’t it?

I’m dragged into the embrace seconds later, Paval nibbling on my ear as he tells me, “See? I made it rain.”

One of Paval’s fathers follows the guards, more of them appearing from places I would have never thought to look. His other father steps into the ring, Paval discarding us to hug him. “I’m so proud of you for protecting them both, Paval and as much as I’d like to officially meet you, Cairo, Paval needs to be checked out. Do not argue with me. You’re leaning to the left and you’re not walking straight.” His father glares at Paval with a look so full of love and concern my heart hurts. I've been wishing from day one that I had a father who cared enough about me like that.

“Is she really gone, Gianni?” Tia asks. Her voice wobbles, her eyes glassy with unshed tears. “It’s never that easy.”

Gianni barks out a laugh, dragging her into the hug as well. “She had an entire corporation behind her last time—resources, true connections, and a lot of money. This time, she mostly had her words and a few extra bucks to her name. She endangered the entire campus with this scheme and don’t worry, we’ll make it known that anyone who participated did so out of obligation, trying to keep their degree rather than of their own free will.”

“But that’s lying,” Paval pushes out.

I can’t help but laugh as Gianni nods to me. “And it’s a lie I’m happy to tell. There’s room for one more, Cairo or are you too grown up for hugs?”

“God, never.” Falling in love with two people wasn’t on my bingo card but finding a father figure or multiple ones? That’s a fucking dream come true.

Chapter twenty-six

TIA

I can’t stop staring at the insane Thanksgiving spread across the kitchen table that is only pulled out during special occasions. My grandparents are joking around with Rhys, Paval’s fathers busying themselves with the rest of the dishes while I sit between my boyfriends. None of this feels real. I should be in jail or at the very least kicked out of school but only two weeks later and I’m trying to wrap my head around the fact that Ada is permanently out of my life.

Child endangerment—although we’re not really kids, gave her another 20 years without parole. Whoever sentenced her believed she was a danger to everyone around her and I wholeheartedly agree. Ada and her shady tactics are behind me, mostly because I allowed myself to meet her one last time, to tell her what I truly thought of her so that she knew I was never going to return with her.

***

My nose wrinkles at the putrid smell of despair wafting through the jail, my mother’s face lighting up as she sees me on the other side of the glass. She jumps onto the stool and grabs the phone, placing her other hand on the glass. I stare at it and just smirk, despite the fear racing through me. This isn’t some bittersweet happy ending for the both of us. Ada deserved so much worse than twenty years.

Knowing that she tried to pay off my education so that I would see her as more than an evil person is laughable. Paval told me he’s taking on my expenses and I’m only allowed to pay him back once I become a lawyer. He’s been very adamant about that, even yelling at me when I give him a little too much for groceries or slip an extra few bucks into his wallet.

I’m her carbon copy but Ada has seen better days, her hair thinning and her eyes sunken in. “You came to see me,” Ada muses. “You finally get away from the others? They’re poisoning your mind against me—”

Yeah, I’m not doing the villain speech. I pick up the phone, take a deep breath, and give this woman everything I’ve wanted to say over the last twenty years. “Ada,” her nose turns up and I laugh. “You don’t get the pleasure of me calling you Mom. The last time I did that was when I was six and didn’t fucking know any better. You were my world and although you were strict, you were my mother. But that picture of you, that version of you doesn’t exist. It never did. You lied to me every day of my life, used me, nearly had me killed, ripped apart my family, and then expected me to stay at your side? I was six fucking years old when my grandfather stole me away to protect me from you. Six years old, confused, scared, and only Rhys to cling to. Another family member you nearly had killed. You don’t deserve my time and definitely not my love.”

Ada’s face falls as she pulls her hand back from the glass. “Sweetheart, I did this for us. I was going to make you happy. They took you from me and they had no right!”

“No, you had no right to show me that a motherfucking program was more important than my safety. Rhys can’t even work with the numbers he’s spent his entire life studying because of you. You ruined the one thing he loved more than life. Sure, he still dabbles in the statistical world, but it’s not like he used to. I hope you rot in here right alongside Uncle Liam.”

Ada’s expression hardens as she starts forward and then sits back in her seat. “You are my daughter. You are mine to love and to nurture, Tia.”

“I don’t need your brand of love. Just because we share blood doesn’t mean I have to accept you as my family. Cutting you off will be the easiest thing I’ve ever done. You’ve been waiting to have a conversation with me for the last twenty years so this is it and I’m telling you that I never wanted you, never once thought about you, never once in all those years wished that I still had my mother at my side. I don’t need you to be happy, Ada.” I push to my feet and return the phone, having said mostly everything I had planned. There’s a family to get back to and men to love. I also need to check that Paval is taking his medicine and Cairo is letting him rest.

The last time I left the house, I came back to Cairo on his knees, sucking Paval off as he rested in the chair by his bed. Paval tried to muse that his head was propped up on pillows but the doctor saidnoactivity for two weeks.

Ada tries to blow me a kiss and I just don’t understand why she believes I will accept it. I do the most adult thing I can think of by catching it in my hand and then slamming it down on the little ledge. My parents might have ended up being terrible people but that doesn’t mean I don’t have family. I don’t need her brand of love.

With a little more confidence than before, I straighten my shoulders and allow the guard to guide me back outside where both Paval and Cairo are waiting. A smile plays on my lips at the way Paval is resting back against Cairo, my fighter’s chin resting on Paval’s shoulder. They look perfect just like that, my men holding each other, drawing comfort from each other. We haven’t all said those three words but we don’t need to. I know they’re mine.

***

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