Page 3 of Deadly Scandals

Mia

Cold water drenched me, making me gasp for breath. My first vision as I began to regain consciousness was a man cradling me in the bathtub.

Mitch’s face came into focus as he screamed my name.

“Mia, are you okay?”

As my vision improved, I wiped the blood from my nose. God, I was so stupid. What the fuck had I been thinking? Especially when I was this close to finding my child.

“I’m fine. I-I just…” I couldn’t admit to my own stupidity so I waved at my bloody nose.

Mitch carried me to the bedroom, undressed me, and put me in some new clothes. His hands grasped my wrist as he checked my pulse.

“Your heart rate is elevated,” his hand moved to lift my eyelid, “and your pupils are dilated. How do you feel?”

Like a fool. “Like I can’t feel my face and I’m going to throw up.”

“It should pass. How much did you take?”

“I wasn’t trying to overdose. I just wanted to take the edge off.” I knew he wanted to question that but he didn’t.

“I’m going to monitor your breathing. I can’t let something bad happen to Grant’s wife.”

I felt the urge to curl up in a ball and shoo him away from me, but instead I allowed Mitch to take care of me. After twenty minutes of him watching me breathe, he finally gave me a thumbs-up. “You’re good.”

I sat up and exhaled. “Thanks, Mitch. You saved my life.”

“Don’t mention it.”

I turned to him. “Did you know Grant was going to confess?”

“Yeah, he told me his plan yesterday. But he didn’t kill her. I was there that night. He was with Autumn the entire time. And your brother was with Tiffany.” As much as I hated imagining Grant hooking up with Autumn that night, I knew that her alibi would be the key to getting him out of jail. But was she a reliable witness? What if the court didn’t believe her because she was a stripper who had a fling with Grant? What if Grant wasn’t released?

“Hey.” Mitch paused and reached for my hand. “Grant told me he told you what April saw.”

I swallowed. “He did.” It was all I could manage.

“I’m so sorry.”

Yesterday, I would’ve screamed at Mitch for even suggesting Joaquín had raped me. But now everything was making sense. Mitch had told me the night I’d drugged him that the guy he’d found me with had sprinted past him. Joaquín would be out soon, and then I would finally get some answers.

“So, what’s the plan? Am I going pick up Joaquín?”

“No, I will. And I’m not supposed to let him out of my sight. He’ll probably want to be dropped off here, and I’ll be following you two. Grant will join me when, or if, he gets released. Joaquín won’t have a car, so I’ll put a tracking device on yours so we don’t get separated. I’m also going to monitor you on your phone.”

“That sounds intense. Grant thinks my car already has a tracking device on it.” I pursed my lips. “I’ll be honest, Mitch. I’m scared. I’m not sure I can pull this off.”

“You can. You fooled Grant and me. And I have your six.” His brow cocked. “Listen, Mia, I need you to keep your guard up around Joaquín. You have a gun—hell, you pointed it at me. Don’t be afraid to use it if you need to protect yourself.”

I gulped. He didn’t need to elaborate. I knew he was telling me that I might have to kill my brother. “Okay. I’ll be cautious.”

He took my hand. “I’m going to spend the night here, on the sofa. Grant wants me to stay with you until I get Joaquín.”

I nodded. “Okay. That’s fine. I’m going to crash.”

He kissed my forehead. “Night, Mia.”

“Night.”

As I fell into a deep slumber, I dreamt for the first time in a while. But my dream quickly turned into a nightmare. I was back at the frat house the night I had been raped, and I could hear the words, “Mia…Mia, are you okay?” But they weren’t spoken by Mitch.

They were spoken by my brother.