Page 90 of Save Your Breath

I barely had my hands on the toilet seat before I gagged.

And I stared at that ring on my finger the entire time I retched.

Got the Shot

Aleks

Mia could barely look at me.

She canceled the “surprise” engagement party we were supposed to have when we got back to shore, claiming she had an upset stomach. We all heard her throwing up on the boat, so it shouldn’t have felt like a lie.

But it did.

I held fast to her hand when we got to the marina, and she pulled off her dazzling smile enough to finish the show for the paparazzi waiting for us. She waved at some of the fans gathered, holding up her ring finger as they all screamed with delight. As soon as we ducked into the black SUV, though, she instantly paled.

She scooted away from me, all the way to the other side of the car.

She looked out the window.

She folded in on herself.

Isabella and Giana filed into the car with us, James taking the front seat next to the driver. Giana was bouncing in her seat showing Isabella the video she’d captured of the proposal as we started to drive. They were creating a burner account to post it from, and then Isabella was going to tip off some of Mia’s super fans so they’d share it and make it blow up.

They both seemed oblivious to the fact that the star of this whole show was breaking down right in front of us.

I sniffed, scooting over slowly and carefully until I was right next to Mia. I didn’t touch her, but I leaned forward to block her from where G and Isabella were sitting, hoping I could serve as some sort of shield and get the truth out of her.

“Mia.”

“Please, just leave me alone,” she whispered.

The way she pleaded those words felt like a thousand paper cuts to my chest.

When I didn’t move, she sniffed, looking past me to her publicist. “I want to go home.”

The car quieted. “Tonight?” Isabella asked.

“Right now. I want to pack my shit and go to the airport and go home.”

Isabella was quiet for only a split second before she nodded. “Of course. I’ll arrange the plane.”

I knew the friend part of her wanted to ask Mia what was wrong, but the business side of her reminded her that, in that moment? Mia was her boss. She immediately got to work texting and calling whoever she needed to make it all happen, and I swallowed, creating that barrier with my body even more so and trying to get Mia to look at me.

“You’re going home?”

“Yep.”

“Right now?”

“I have a tour starting soon, in case you forgot.”

I frowned, dodging her acid-soaked arrows all while wondering why the hell they were pointed at me.

“It’s already late,” I tried. “Just… stay tonight, and then—”

“I’m going,” she interrupted, her eyes hard when they snapped to mine. “And I would really appreciate if you could just give me some fucking space right now.”

Damn it, it pissed me off that she was doing this, that she was pushing me away when I had no fucking idea what I’d done wrong. But I didn’t want to upset her any more than I apparently had, so I backed up, sliding over to the opposite window and watching as the lights of the bridge passed by on our way back to Tampa.