Page 77 of Bad Men

“Your mother and I decided you needed a little time away from here to get your head clear. Aunt Victoria offered to let you stay with her and Liana for a little bit.”

“You decided?” I cried, shocked, outraged, and furious all in one roll. “What about what I decide?”

Thick brows pulled low over his eyes, creating creases across his forehead and around his pursed mouth. “We have all seen how you decide things, Mia.” He didn’t wait for me to recover from the wounding jab. “This will be good for you. You need space and time to really think about what you need for your future, and it’s not far. We can come visit.”

“I have a job,” I reminded him, desperate to cling to something. “I have friends and—”

“They will be here when you return,” he cut me off smoothly. “And I talked to Nestor. I told him you needed some time off. He’s agreed to give you two months.”

He was talking too fast, throwing too much at me all at once. My brain couldn’t keep up. It had so many questions like, when had they had the time to do all this? When had they talked to Nestor? To Aunt Victoria? When had they had time to rearrange my entire life in a single night?

“No,” I blurted, cutting my father off. “I love you, but no.”

“Staying here, in this situation is not going to help you,” he argued. “You need to clear your head and think, really think. If you come back in two months and still want this…” a muscle flexed in his jaw, “I will support you, but only if they too can prove that you are as important to them as they are to you.”

That stopped me.

I never would have expected such a compromise from my father of all people, yet the earnest way he watched me, waiting for my response…

“You mean it?”

He hesitated, but gradually nodded. “I don’t like it. I will never understand it, but I love you and I know your mother and I raised a smart woman.”

“Papa…”

His frown was followed by a hard shake of his head. “Do not thank me. I have told you my conditions. You will leave for two months. You will have no contact with them in that time. You will live a life away from all of this. You will experience life the way you were always supposed to. In the meantime, I will determine if they truly deserve you.”

The rising plummet of my heart sent conflicting sensation coursing through me. On the one hand, having my parent’s blessing meant I didn’t have to hide how I felt being with Nero and Davien. On the other, I had no idea if they actually wanted me at all. At least, not the way I wanted them. Maybe this was a good thing. Maybe a little time away might clear my head, but more importantly, it might shed some light on where I stood.

“Do you promise to give them a fair chance?”

My father inclined his head. “I will give them only what they deserve.”

It seemed like a shady way of agreeing, but I knew it was the best I could ask for.

“Okay,” I accepted. “I will stay with Aunt Victoria for two months.”

He offered me the first real smile that day. “That’s my girl. I knew you would do the right thing.” He reached over and lightly patted my knee. “Now, go get your things packed. You know your aunt doesn’t like to wait.”

Grateful for the excuse to leave, I pushed to my feet and started in the direction of the stairs. My hand dug my phone out of my back pocket.

“¿Niña?” He waited until I had turned to face him before continuing. “No contact. You can send them a message that you will be away, but not how long or where you will be going.”

I blinked, my fingers stilling on the screen. “What? Why? They’ll be so worried.”

He braced his palms on his knees and heaved his thin frame upright. “That is the point. If they worry, I will know they care. If they don’t…” he let the comment trail off, but I understood the implication; If they didn’t, they never cared.

I sucked in a breath and stowed my phone away once more.

A part of me knew I was being childish and naive. I was letting my parents dictate my life. I knew a mature person would text the boys and just ask them if they wanted me, if they cared, if I meant anything to them, but I was terrified. Of all the relationships I’d had over the years, all the boys I’d walked away from without looking back, Davien and Nero were it for me. I’d been waiting for them for seven years. I’d been in love with them for just as long. If — after only a few days — I started asking them for a relationship and they turned me down, especially after they’d been more than clear that they were not interested, I would be devastated.

But my father was right about one thing, I deserved better than what Davien and Nero were offering me. I deserved men who wanted me as much as I wanted them, men who weren’t afraid to hold me at night, men who didn’t pretend I was some whore they picked up just to protect me. I deserved respect.

So, I would give myself — and them — two months, but I wouldn’t disappear off the face of the earth. I wasn’t going to manipulate them into caring for me. I would be honest and upfront. If they were interested, if they cared, they would take the next step. If they didn’t, well, I would have my answer.

I nearly made it the entire way to the top of the stairs when the doorbell rang. My heart leaped in my chest, an excited flutter over the possibility that the boys had changed their minds, that they had decided to be there with me to face my parents. I almost tripped in my haste to turn. I was beaming even as my father reached the door and yanked it open.

My smile plummeted.

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