Page 84 of Bad Men

“What the fuck?”

The humor died on Nero’s face as he stared from me to the device in my hand. “What?” He reached for his own phone. He must have received the same message because he recoiled with a sharp, “What the fuck?”

“Am I … are you reading this?” I snapped, outrage and a new sort of panic crawling up my spine.

“Yeah, I’m reading it. Come on.”

Nero shoved his free hand into the pocket of his jeans and fished out a handful of crumpled bills that was probably way more than our bill and tossed it on the table. I didn’t bother point it out when I scrambled out of my booth, nearly upending the table in my haste. The bell above the door jangled wildly with our exit.

“Call her!” Nero growled, his own thumbs flying over the keypad of his phone.

I already was. I hit the speaker button.

“Hey, this is Mia. I’m not—” the voicemail was immediate and jarring.

I hung up and tried again, then again with the same results.

“She’s not answering my texts either.” Nero shoved his phone into his back pocket. “Okay, we’re going over there.”

I didn’t ask where. My hand was already digging for my keys. They were fisted in my palm by the time we reached the car. Nero dove into the passenger’s side.

Her message twisted through my mind, a barbed wire twining around my thoughts. They’d been so short and simple, yet held the weight and viciousness of a bomb.

“Why?” I heard myself blurt, foot stomping hard on the gas, making the tires spin and fire gravel like bullets. “Why would she…?”

“Her parents, if I had to guess,” Nero growled, head bent over his screen, fingers nearly a blur. “She wouldn’t just leave.”

Of course it was her parents.

We knew firsthand the lengths she would go for them, the sacrifices she would make. It infuriated me even while I admired her loyalty and love, but this was the last straw. I wasn’t about to let this shit slide.

“I’m going to hit him,” I decided, fingers tight around the wheel.

“You’re not hitting anyone,” Nero muttered. “Least of all Mia’s father.”

“He’s the one doing this,” I snapped. “He’s sending her away to keep her from us.”

“You don’t know that,” he retorted, lifting his face at last. “Her message is vague at best.”

I dared a quick sidelong glance at my best friend, contemplating if he’d hit his head at some point that morning. “Please don’t be upset. I’m trying to do the right thing. I’m trying to make things easier. I need to go away for a little while and it’s not because of anything you did. It was me. I made a mistake. You warned me. You both did, but I didn’t listen. I thought maybe I could change your minds. Maybe convince you that we could be together, that I accept you, all of you as you are. I always have. I’ve been in love with you both since I was sixteen. That never changed. I don’t think it ever will. But I can’t be selfish, and I can’t stand to tell you this to your faces and have you tell me I’m an idiot. So, like a true coward, I’m saying it over text. I love you. I’m sorry if that goes against your rules, but I do. I also know what it means so I’m breaking up with you first. Thank you for giving me the last few days. I will never forget them. Love always, Mia.”

Nero eyed me warily. “You memorized it?”

I scoffed and rolled my own eyes. “It’s not vague. It’s very clear. I don’t think I’ve read anything clearer.”

Nero went back to his phone and the message I knew was from Mia. “But I don’t get it,” he said at long last. “What does she mean, she knows what that means?”

“Our rules,” I mumbled. “She thinks…” I broke off to scrub a hand over my face. “She thinks we’re still following the fucking things. She thinks we’ll shut her down.”

“She could have at least given us a chance!” Nero snapped. “She could have talked to us. How could she not know?”

I shrugged, my fury dissolving into my gut, burning like acid upon contact. “Because we never told her.”

When Nero didn’t argue my logic, I knew I was right. This was on us. Mia was running because we never made it clear we wanted her to stay. We let doubt make a home inside her and drive a wedge between us. Her leaving was our fault. We lost her because we were idiots.

No.

We hadn’t.

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