Page 45 of Wicked Proposal
It feels like it costs him to say it—like he just had to swallow a lemon whole. I get the impression that the word “apology” is not usually a part of Yulian Lozhkin’s vocabulary.
“That said,” he adds, cold as ice, “I fail to see how what you’re doing here is smart.”
“What you fail to see,” I retort acidly, “is that I’ve had enough of rich men thinking they can own me.”
“You’re saying you won’t even consider it.”
“I’m saying?—”
Suddenly, my pocket starts vibrating. I pull out my phone, and?—
—and the preschool’s number blinks back at me from it.
“Shit,” I curse. “I have to go.”
“We’re not finished here.”
“Yes, we are.”
“Mia—”
I drop the papers at my feet and rush off.
Yulian’s stare burns holes in my back the whole way.
15
MIA
When I get to the principal’s office, my heart sinks. “Oh my God. What happened?!”
Eli trudges towards me, sporting a fresh black eye. He doesn’t answer—just drops the bag of frozen peas and tucks himself tightly against me.
“Baby?” I get down on his level, stroking his hair and trying to coax words out of him. “Does it hurt?”
He shakes his head, but flinches when I touch the bruise.
My heart breaks in a thousand different places. Here is my son, my world, and I couldn’t protect him.
Again.
Before I can ask anything else, the secretary’s head pops out. “Ms. Winters? Principal Johnson is ready for you.”
“I’ll be right back, okay?”
I squeeze his arms, press a kiss to his head, and duck into the office.
The principal is waiting by the window. “Mia,” she greets without a smile. “Take a seat, please.”
I swallow. Somehow, the Happy Hares Preschool principal always makes me feel like a little kid all over again—one who’s just gotten into huge trouble.
Which makes no sense. It’smykid out there with a black eye, isn’t it? This is probably just an incident report.
Diane sits across from me, massaging her temples with a sigh. She’s a stout woman in her fifties with a gray-streaked afro and a no-nonsense attitude. Despite how uneasy I feel in her presence, I’ve always liked her as a principal. She’s the kind of woman who does no harm but takes no shit.
Unfortunately, her “take no shit” glare is now currently fixed onme.
“There’s no easy way to say this, Mia…”
