She shook her head. “I want to go home. To my apartment.”

Ash and Jace exchanged quick, worried glances.

When the elevator opened, Jace stalked out, leaving Ash and Mia to follow at a slower pace. By the time they got to the exit, Jace was already back, and as promised, he and Ash hovered so closely around her that it was hard to see who she was or what she was wearing.

They surrounded her as she got into the car and then they quickly climbed in and shut the door behind them.

To Mia’s relief, Jace supplied her address for the driver to take them to her apartment.

“How long has this been going on?” Jace demanded.

“That’s none of your business,” Mia said stonily.

Jace’s expression grew stormy. “The hell it isn’t. That son of a bitch abused you and took advantage of you.”

“Oh for fuck’s sake. He did not. It was a completely consensual relationship, Jace. Get off your holier-than-thou pulpit for a minute. He didn’t do a damn thing that I didn’t want. He was very clear as to what I was agreeing to when we started this relationship. All that bullshit you spouted was crap. I’m an adult whether you want to believe that or not. An adult who knows exactly what she wants, and I wanted Gabe.”

“I can’t believe he did this. I can’t believe he’d want you to think this was normal. What about when you move on to someone else and start looking for the same kind of crap? What if you hook up with some loser who mistreats and abuses you?”

Mia rolled her eyes, irritation seizing her. “You’re both such flaming hypocrites.”

Ash blinked in surprise at being included in her insult.

“Do you want your women thinking it’s normal to be fucking the same two guys, or that you two always want to share the same woman? What about their expectations? What happens when they move on to another relationship? Are they supposed to think it’s okay for two men to want to fuck her at the same time?”

“Jesus Christ, Mia. Where the hell did you hear all of that?” Ash demanded.

She shrugged. “It’s pretty common knowledge around the office. And after the night we had dinner together and the brunette’s claws came out, it was pretty much confirmed.”

“We aren’t talking about me and Ash,” Jace growled. “We’re talking about you and Gabe. He’s fourteen years older than you, Mia. He has every woman he’s with sign a goddamn contract. Is that the kind of relationship you want? Don’t you think you deserve better?”

“Damn right I deserve better,” she said softly, hurt and betrayal crowding in so tight that it was suffocating. Each breath hurt. Every breath felt like she was dying. And she was on the inside. Never had she felt pain like this. It was shattering. She could feel herself breaking into tiny pieces.

She clutched the robe tighter around her body and her lips quivered as she stared at her brother and Ash.

“I deserve a man who will stand up and fight for me, a man who will always have my back. Gabe did none of those things. We were planning to tell you about our relationship when you got back this week. Ironic isn’t it? I wonder how different things would have been if we’d been able to tell you on our terms instead of you bursting into his apartment like that. I guess I’ll never know now.”

Ash looked chagrined, and he grimaced. Jace just looked pissed.

She laughed bitterly. “I guess I’ll be looking for other employment now. Too bad, because I really enjoyed my job.”

“You can work for me,” Jace said tightly. “It’s what you should have done from the beginning.”

She shook her head vehemently. “Oh hell no. I’m not setting foot into HCM. I’m not going to torture myself on a daily basis by having to see Gabe.”

“What will you do then?” Ash asked gently.

Her lips thinned and bitterness crawled into her chest. “I don’t know right now. I guess I have plenty of time to figure it out.”

Chapter thirty-nine

When Mia entered her apartment in just a robe with Ash and Jace both hovering protectively around her, Caroline hurried forward, a worried expression on her face.

“Mia? What happened? Are you all right?”

Mia hugged her friend and to her horror burst into tears, no longer able to maintain her composure.

Caroline held her fiercely and then lit into Ash and Jace, demanding to know what they’d done to her.

“Just make them go away, Caro,” Mia choked out. “I’m fine now that I’m with you.”

Caroline ushered her to the couch, helped her sit down, and then she stood glaring at Jace and Ash.

“You heard her. Out. I’ve got this now.”

Jace scowled and then went to the couch where Mia sat. He stared at her a long moment and then sighed as he pulled her into his arms.

“I’m sorry, baby girl. I know this hurt you. Swear to God we didn’t intend anything. We had no idea you and Gabe were together. He’d texted me and said he had something important to discuss when I got back. That’s why I went by his apartment and let myself in. Ash and I both have key cards to get to his floor. Hell, I assumed it was business. He made it sound urgent, so we went over as soon as we hit town.”

Mia clung to her big brother and let her tears fall. Just as she’d done so many times growing up.

“I’m not angry at you,” she whispered. “I’m furious with him. If he doesn’t have the balls to stand up to you and Ash for me, then I don’t want him. I deserve better.”

Jace stroked his hand down her hair. “You do deserve better, baby girl. Gabe is—or was—my friend, but I don’t make any excuses for him. He does what the hell he wants with regard to women, and it’s his way or the highway.”

“And you’re so different?” Mia said accusingly as she pulled away.

Jace sighed and glanced back at Ash who looked just as uncomfortable.

“I don’t want to get into this with you,” Jace said gently. “It has no relevance to what happened tonight.”

Mia rolled her eyes. Typical guy sidestepping the issue. If it had been any other woman but her that Jace and Ash had walked in on, they would have left quietly, or who knows, they may have even stayed and watched. They wouldn’t have given that woman even a passing thought and would have likely patted Gabe on the back.

But it wasn’t just any woman. It was her. Jace’s sister and, for all practical purposes, Ash’s sister as well. Which meant all the rules were changed.

“You and Ash just go,” she said quietly. “Caro is here and I’ll be fine.”

Jace looked doubtfully between the two women. “I don’t want you to be alone, Mia.”

“She’s not alone,” Caroline said in exasperation. “Do you honestly think I’d leave her right now?”

“You have to work, though,” Ash said with a frown.

Mia shook her head. “For God’s sake. Do you think I’m going to slit my wrists or something? I’m pissed and upset but I’m not stupid or suicidal.”

“I’m going to come by and check on you tomorrow,” Jace said. “And you’re spending Thanksgiving with me and Ash. Understood? You aren’t going to mope around over Gabe.”

Mia sighed. “Whatever. Just go. I want to cry alone and not have you two hovering over me. This is embarrassing enough. I’ve had enough humiliation tonight to last a lifetime.”

Ash winced. “Yeah, I hear you.”

Reluctantly Jace rose from the couch and started for the door. He paused and turned back around. “I’m coming by tomorrow. We’ll have dinner. Ash and I will plan something for Thanksgiving and let you know.”

Mia nodded wearily, just wanting them gone so she could be alone with Caroline to drown her sorrows.

As soon as they walked out, Caroline sat next to Mia on the couch and pulled her into her arms.

Damn if Mia didn’t get all weepy again.

“What happened?” Caroline asked as she rocked Mia back and forth in her arms. “Should I call the girls over?”

Mia sniffed and wiped at her nose as she pulled away. Hell, she was still naked under the robe—Gabe’s robe—and suddenly she wanted nothing more than to get it off.

“Let me go get a shower,” she said. “Then I’ll tell you all about it. I need to get some clothes on, preferably ones that aren’t Gabe’s.”

“I’ll fix us some hot chocolate,” Caroline said, her face creased with pity and concern.

“That sounds great,” Mia said, a wan smile on her face. “Thanks, Caro. You’re the best.”

Mia trudged to the bathroom and peeled off the robe. After a moment’s hesitation, she stuffed it into her closet instead of trashing it. She’d probably do something pathetic like wear it around the apartment since it belonged to Gabe. She couldn’t bring herself to throw it away. Not yet at least.

After a hot shower in which she boiled herself, she put on a pair of pajamas and wrapped a towel atop her hair, not caring if it got tangled.

Caroline was waiting in the living room with two cups of hot chocolate, and Mia flopped onto the couch next to her. Caroline handed her one of the mugs and Mia gratefully embraced it, wrapping her cold hands around the hot cup.

“How are things with you and Brandon?” Mia asked.

She felt terribly guilty because over the last while, she’d spent all her time with Gabe. Every minute. Every hour. She hadn’t even talked to Caroline in a week.

Caroline smiled. “Good. We’re still seeing each other. It’s hard because of our schedules, but we’re trying to make it work.”

“I’m glad,” Mia said.

“What happened, Mia?” Caroline asked softly. “It’s obvious he hurt you a lot. How on earth did Jace and Ash get involved and why the hell did you come home in just a robe?”

Mia blew out her breath. “It’s a long story. I wasn’t completely honest with you about my relationship with Gabe. It’s more complicated than that.”

Caroline’s eyebrows bunched together. “I’m listening.”

Mia poured out the entire story, leaving nothing out. By the time she got to tonight’s debacle, Caroline’s eyes were wide and then they narrowed in disgust.

“Can’t believe he hung you out to dry like that. You were already planning to tell Jace everything.”

Mia slowly nodded. “He stood there and lied to me, Caro. I know he has feelings for me. And he stood there and gave me this bullshit about how I was getting too emotionally invested, blah-blah. I wanted to choke him.”

“Chickenshit,” Caroline said rudely. “You deserve better than that, Mia. You deserve someone who stands up for you and who’ll risk everything just as you have.”

“I agree,” Mia said. “I told him if he ever wakes up and realizes what a mistake he made that he’ll have to crawl to get me back.”

Caroline laughed. “Atta girl. And he should have to grovel.”

Mia raised her mug in a toast. “Damn right.”

Caroline’s expression sobered. “So what do you think is going to happen between Jace and Gabe? They’re business partners as well as best friends. Jace seems pretty pissed.”

“I don’t know,” Mia said honestly. “This is why I never wanted Jace to find out. Maybe I was being too naïve, or maybe I didn’t expect Gabe and I to be so hot and heavy into things. I thought it would be simple to keep it from Jace. I guess I thought Gabe would want me a couple of times a week and the rest of the time I’d carry on as usual. It’s also why we wanted to tell Jace about us, so we wouldn’t have to hide it any longer.”

Fresh anger surged into her blood until she was flushed with it.

“Damn it. Can you believe the timing? All we needed was one more day. If Jace had just called Gabe to let him know he was back in town, we would have told him together and everything would have been fine. Gabe was falling for me, Caro. He was falling and it scared the shit out of him. And then Jace bursting in and saying all those horrible things. I could see the guilt on Gabe’s face. Especially after what happened in Paris.”

Caroline’s face wrinkled in sympathy. “I’m sorry, Mia. It sucks. But you deserve better than Gabe Hamilton.”

“Yeah, I do,” Mia said in a low voice. “I deserve more for sure. But I wanted him so much. I love him, Caro. And there’s not a damn thing I can do about that.”

Chapter forty

Mia left La Patisserie, her heart heavy as sadness crept into every part of her soul. She should be happy. She’d gotten her old job back. Louisa and Greg had been thrilled to see her and had offered her flexible hours. The truth was that she wanted to work as much as possible so she didn’t have time to think. So she didn’t have to spend every minute of her day reliving every moment she’d spent with Gabe.