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Did she run from her dad? My veins are on fire with fury, because none of the pieces of the puzzle fit together. Why would he not know where she is? And why the fuck is he digging around in my life?
Turning the shower off, I slide the door open and snatch a towel from the towel rack. Throwing it over my head, I dry my hair quickly and then wrap the towel around my waist.
I’ll get the answers I need no matter who I need to kill to get them.
Chapter seventeen
Aria
“Oh thank you so much for coming sweetheart, I’ve really missed you around here,” Mimi wraps her thin arms around me as I kick my shoes off just inside the front door. Warmth washes over me as I hug her back, and inhale the overwhelming scent of apple pie.
Liam is out of town again, just for two nights. Work sent him away to help with training for a new branch location opening up a few hours away. So I have time to myself again. Two nights where I don’t have to worry if I’m being met with Jekyll or Hyde when he shows up at my place. Two nights where I can just forget. So this is what I chose to do. Come see my second mom, and then go out on the town all by myself.
“I’ve missed you too Mimi, I’m sorry I haven’t made it down to the diner lately,” I lower my head and look at the floor, overcome with guilt, “or here to the house. It’s just been…”
“Oh hush honey, I understand,” Mimi smiles as I walk over to the kitchen table, pulling out a chair at the place she set for me.
Scanning the table, I take in the huge tray of lasagna, the oversized bowl of caesar salad and the warm apple pie; she made all of my favorites, and it makes my eyes burn with unshed tears. I may have a had a fucked up excuse for a father, but my mom was the most amazing human on this earth, and Mimi never tries to replace her, but she treats me like a daughter in a way that fills this gaping hole inside of my chest on even the worst days.
“You made all this food Mimi, and it’s just us. You didn’t have to do all that,” I sigh.
“Girl you look like you need to eat a plate or two these days,” she nods sternly, and I sink inside myself a bit thinking about all the weight I’ve shed the last six months. A combination of stress and trying to please Liam.
“Besides, I am gonna wrap some of this up anyway and send it down to the bar. Rico and Cole need to eat too.”
Grabbing my plate, she loads it up with a heaping pile of lasagna, and sets it down, filling my salad bowl next, always the one to make sure everyone else is taken care of before she sits herself down.
“How’s the diner going Mimi?” I ask, taking a drink of water.
“Oh you know, basically running itself these days. I’m glad I found a good general manager to take over the day to day because I can’t manage all that on my own anymore,” she sighs, busying herself with filling her own plate.
Settling down in her seat, she looks over at me, eyeing me up, waiting for me to take a bite of my food. So I dig in, the hot cheese and tomato sauce burning my tongue in the best way, flooding my senses with deliciousness. Closing my eyes I nearly groan. It feels like it’s been way too long since I’ve had a really good home cooked meal.
“Aria, baby,” she starts. She has that serious look in her eyes and I’m not sure I’m ready for this conversation. “I’m not gonna pussyfoot around it like the boys do. You need to leave that man.”
“Mimi, come on, this isn’t why I came over.”
Clicking her tongue, she holds her hand up, interrupting me.
“Listen here, we both know there’s an elephant in the room and his name is Liam. Rico and Cole love you too much to say anything. They don’t want to drive you away. But I know you better than that baby. I know you ain’t going nowhere. You need to leave him. I won’t pretend I know what goes on behind closed doors, but I have a pretty damn good idea,” she whispers, reaching over to rub her thumb across the cut below my eye.
With a sigh, she drops her hand and picks up her fork, taking a bite of her food, waiting for me to respond. Waiting for me to say anything she deems acceptable. Sweat creeps across my forehead and my skin tingles.
“Mimi, it’s not that simple, I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Well I do,” she interrupts. “And then there’s that man. I seen how he looks at you.”
“What man?” I raise my eyebrow at her, knowing exactly what man, but I need her to say it. Because that man has kept his distance, and I don’t think he feels for me the way he once did. Like I’m the entire universe, holding the galaxy in the palm of my hand.
“Oh you know what man. The one from that night. The one from your past. What’s it he calls you? Spencer?” she shakes her head before giving me a deadpan stare, “You know he beat the shit out of that little pissant Liam the night you went missing?”
Dropping my fork, my jaw drops.
“I - uh, I’m not Spencer anymore Mimi, we can’t…”
“I know, I know. I’m not worried about who you were.”
I sigh, relieved. That’s never something I need to discuss, not with her. Not when it could put her and Rico in so much danger.