Page 11 of Carnal

6

Grant

I checkedmy phone again to see if the DNA results of my hair against Julián’s straw had come in—nothing. I still couldn’t believe I had even submitted the damn DNA test, but there were too many coincidences for me to ignore. Julián was probably conceived around the time I was in the hospital, Mia gave birth to a son she thought was dead, and the kid looked just like us. But it made more sense that he was Joaquín and Tiffany’s son. That would have meant Joaquín met her around the time we came back from deployment, which was within the realm of possibilities. The rational part of my brain knew that there were hundreds of kids born a day, and the odds that Tiffany’s son was really my and Mia’s son were astronomically slim. I felt like a fool for even considering it. But astronomically slim didn’t mean nonexistent, and as long as there was a small chance, then I would keep asking questions. It absolutely slayed me that I could have a living child out there and not know about it.

I left the base and headed back to my apartment, finding Mia still there sitting on my sofa. She was wearing nothing but one of my old T-shirts and was watching some trashy television show. For a second, it almost seemed normal—like a flashback to another time when Grant and Mia were solid, unbreakable. But one glance at her implants, her platinum hair, and her trout pout, shattered that image.

“Hey.” She brightened when she saw me.

“So, I talked to Mitch. Seems you omitted parts from your story about why you told him who you were. You pointed a gun at his head? You thought he raped you?”

She cast a downward glance. “Yeah, it wasn’t a big deal. I don’t think he raped me anymore. I kind of . . . lost it.”

Understatement of the year. “No shit. Do you know how betrayed I feel? You not only didn’t tell me you were raped, but my friends knew and didn’t tell me either? Joaquín knew?”

Her jaw dropped. “What are you talking about? Joaquín doesn’t know. I never told him. I swear!”

“Yeah, but Mitch told him. I’m just trying to figure out why Joaquín never told me.”

She shook her head rapidly. “No, you must be wrong. Joaquín doesn’t know. He couldn’t have. If he knew, he would’ve asked me about it. He would have fucking killed the guy.”

“Why are you so shocked? Do you really think there were never secrets between you two? You didn’t tell him you were raped—that was a secret. You didn’t tell him you were pregnant—that was another. It makes me wonder how many more secrets and lies you’re hiding.”

Her voice grew shaky and her bottom lip trembled as she spoke, “How could I possibly tell you that I’d been raped when you were recovering in the hospital? You almost died, Grant.”

I took a deep breath and sat next to her, caressed her hair, and inhaled her scent. I wanted to hold her and tell her that being raped wasn’t her fault and it didn’t change the way I felt about her. “That’s the thing. It was never your problem; it was our problem. You were mine.”

I leaned in and kissed her like I used to. Her lips were sweet and soft, and I could almost taste her love for me in them. Emotion flooded my body, and I had to break the kiss before I lost my resolve to stay away from her. Sex was one thing. But loving kisses with Mia were too intimate, too painful.

I wasn’t her boyfriend any more. I refused to comfort her or allow her to soothe me. She’d lost that right. I stood up and put some distance between us.

“We’re meeting Mitch at The Pickled Frog tonight.”

Her brow furrowed, and she let out a deep sigh, obviously upset that I had closed the door on whatever was almost happening between us. “Okay. Does Mitch have any leads about Tiffany’s murder?”

“Maybe.” I paused, refusing to tell her that he was bringing Joaquín’s dealer. She was such a loose cannon at this point that she would probably blab to Joaquín. And Mia wasn’t aware that Joaquín did drugs. Hell, I wasn’t aware until tonight.

“Maybe?” She stood up and walked over to me. “What are you keeping from me? I’m trying to free him. I ruined my life to help him. What do you know?”

“I know that Mitch is meeting us at Picked Frog tonight, and that’s all you need to know. Now, go take a shower and get the fuck out of my clothes.”

I leashed up Hero and left her standing alone in my apartment. It had only been fifteen minutes since the last time I checked my phone, but I did again for the DNA results. Where were they? I wanted answers so I could make a plan.

A plan to get the boy I thought was my son back.