Page 45 of Deadly Scandals

How could Agent Meeks possibly put me in this situation? Working with a psycho. How had she passed her psych evaluation?

I dropped the Joaquín questions for now. Mia paced around the room. “So, are we going to work on a case or just fight?”

“I think today we’re supposed to bond or something. Maybe you could fall, and we’ll see if I catch you.”

She laughed. “Ha. I’m pretty sure you would drop me. Come on, girl. I liked you once when you were Autumn. You were the only nice person when I was Ksenya. I’m really a nice, normal person, I swear. Can’t you give me a chance?”

I exhaled. I had to try. “I was only nice to you because I was undercover. But I can see we have some common ground. Clearly, we are attracted to the same kind of men.”

“For real. Though I got the better one. But tell me, how is Mitch in bed? I bet he’s a serious dirty talker.”

Damn, she wasn’t shy. She was talking about her husband’s best friend. And I had pictures of her and Mitch kissing. Pictures I’d shown Grant. But that fool had still married her.

Well, I might as well have some fun.

“He’s incredible in bed. A fucking beast. Tore me up and ate my pussy like he was starving, and I was his own personal buffet. Dirty as all hell. You really missed out. You should’ve fucked him when you had a chance.”

She exhaled. “Don’t get me wrong. Mitch is fucking beautiful. But I can’t imagine sleeping with another man. I’ve only ever slept with Grant. I love him. He’s it for me. Always has been.”

I winced. I was such a bitch. I didn’t know that Mia had only been with Grant. Though, she had been raped. By her own brother, nonetheless. And she still spoke to him. Harbored some delusion that he was innocent. She was clearly seriously fucked up and not qualified to be an agent. Even so, I needed to cut her some slack and try to be nice.

I took another deep breath. “So, back to this picture. Tell me about your father. Did you know he used to live down here?”

She shook her head. “No, not at all. I’m super shocked. And I don’t have a clue about my biological mother’s identity. So he must’ve been with her when this picture was taken. Based on the timestamp and other pictures I have of me as a baby, shortly after this picture was taken, my father took me and moved to San Francisco. Then he met Joaquín’s mom, and they got married. This was all news to me, because until I did the DNA test on Julián, I didn’t know that Joaquín and I weren’t related. So, your guess is as good as mine.”

Wait—what?!

My vision blurred and heat rose to my chest.

I stared at the picture closely, studying every detail of Mia’s father.

I closed my eyes, grasping for memories that had long since vanished.

And then I remembered something.

The gardener.

I studied the picture again. Was the gardener Mia’s father? He had thick black hair, long eyelashes, and almond-shaped eyes.

Just like Mia.

And just like her little boy.

When my father had deployed, that same gardener had taken care of the yard. He had even brought me candy.

And it wasn’t just any candy. It was Mexican candy. To this day, I still craved de la Rosa Marzipan Peanut candy. I loved the way that crumbly, grainy candy melted in my mouth.

But that wasn’t all. Sometimes, he would talk to my mom.

And other times, he would spend the night.

Oh my God.

Years later, right before my father had left, I remember he had yelled at my mom. “She’s not even my daughter!” I wasn’t sure if it was about my sister or me.

My mother would weep, and my father would run off and not come home for days.

And then one day, he left and never came back.