Page 73 of Discord
Raven had always been part of our family. When they transitioned into something more, there hadn’t been a need to change labels on that front. It never dawned on Milo that I might want a family separate from this one.
However, there was nothing more I could say to help Milo understand, nor would I sit here and listen to him derail Brandon. I stood on heavy legs. “I should get going. I have a terrible headache. I’ll talk to you later.”
Milo opened his mouth in protest, but I didn’t give him a chance to respond. I spun on my heels and rushed out of the restaurant, feeling utterly deflated.
Brandon
I wasin the process of carrying a heavy cardboard box when I heard the door fly open. No one should be here. Guess I was wrong in expecting the office to be empty on a Saturday. I was facing my desk and turned away from the door but could make out Milo’s rigid form from my peripheral.
Last night’s dinner between Milo and Mia did not go well. She asked him to drop the lawsuit while Milo thought I was deranged for pursuing his teenage sister.
Whatever.
I expected Milo to believe the worst of me. But Mia grew tired of Milo’s interrogations about foul play in our relationship and cut the meal short. Milo wasn’t happy about the night ending abruptly. He likely saw me this morning through the cameras from the office security feed this morning and came here looking for a fight. The initial shock had subsided, and there was no one standing between us today.
Fully prepared for Milo to swing his fist, I dropped the brown box on my desk with a thud and whirled around. To my surprise, he stood placid with a book in his hand. I recognized the cover.
“That’s Mia’s book,” I said somewhat possessively. Between the layers of cynicism, part of me felt protective over it, just as Mia once had. It held morsels of our story from the beginning, though we had yet to write the ending.
Milo stared at me impassively. “I know. Came to return it.”
I raised my brows at Milo, disbelieving he’d come here for the sole purpose of returning a book.
“Raven showed it to me last night.” He held up the book. “I was pissed at first when she forced me to read it, but she was adamant we were making things sound worse than it was.”
Milo might not believe me, but this book was proof we stemmed from an innocent place. I treated Mia differently even before I knew she was mine. In turn, she threaded herself into every fiber of my being from an early age.
“We didn’t intend for this to happen,” I said reluctantly.
Milo crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the wall next to the door. “As much as I hate this, Raven does have a way of pestering me into seeing the other side.”
“Am I to understand you are not here for a fight?”
Milo blew out an exasperated breath. “I want my sister back in my life much more than I want to kill you. After last night’s dinner, it’s become apparent I can’t have it both ways.”
It was a peace offering. Fine by me. I’d maintain my distance from Milo if he planned to work shit out with Mia.
I nodded slowly. “Good to know. I need thirty more minutes to pack up.” I returned to the box on my table without sparing Milo another glance.
Milo’s eyes drifted over the boxes. “What the hell are you doing?”
“What does it look like I’m doing?” I retorted. “I’m packing.”
Not wanting to create a spectacle in front of our other partners, I had planned to clear out my personal belongings by the end of the weekend and told the lawyer to pass my shares of the company to Milo. He didn’t have to buy them. I chalked it off to a down payment toward my future with Mia. One I couldn’t start without packing up here. Although we had downsized our office to only house tech equipment, this space was littered with my belongings.
“Christ. Were you always this dramatic?”
“No, but I do remember the theatrics from the last time you kicked someone out of the company. Just saving you the effort.”
“For fuck’s sake,” Milo muttered under his breath. “How are you not getting this? I’m not losing my only sister by killing you OR forcing you out of this company by suing you. She won’t stay in our lives if we do anything to you. It doesn’t leave me with a whole lot of choices other than getting over it, now does it?”
I froze, my hand halting midair of stuffing a stapler into the box. “You’re giving us your blessing?”
Milo visibly stiffened. “You can’t marry her,” he said instantaneously and much too firmly. “She is too young.”
My head reeled back. How in the hell did he figure it out?
“It’s obvious,” he chewed out to answer my silent inquiry. “I saw how you reacted in Italy. I knew if you found that girl, you’d drag her to the altar. I’ve known you my whole life. You like guarantees.”
