Beat of the Heart (Runaway Train #2)(57)

“What did Duke say?”

“He didn’t know,” she murmured softly.

“But how?”

“The more violent Jason became, the more I started to retreat from my family. I was finishing up nursing school then, busy with my clinicals, so it was easy to lie.” With her hands empty of stones, Mia crossed her arms over her chest, hugging herself. “But then it all fell apart around the time my cousin, Nicki, was getting married. She was like a sister to me, and as the maid of honor, I was spending a lot of time with her, which pissed Jason off. I wasn’t supposed to be with anyone but him. One day we were out shopping together for wedding stuff before I had to go into work. Jason kept calling me constantly, and I could tell it was pissing Nicki off. She’s the kind of girl who would answer my phone and tell Jason to go f*ck himself.”

“Sounds like my kind of girl.”

Mia gave me a small smile. “Finally, I just turned my phone off. I was working nights, so I had to go by the house to change for my shift. Jason was waiting for me when I got home.” Mia shivered violently, and I fought the urge to wrap my arms around her. “In the foyer, we had this giant, round mirror. I’d barely gotten through the front door when he came at me. I’d never seen him so enraged. Of course, he reeked of alcohol, so I don’t know why I was so surprised. The next thing I knew he had grabbed the nape of my neck and shoved me with all his might into the mirror.” Mia turned to me and pulled back some of her hair on the right side of her face. I’d never noticed it before, but in her hairline, there was a faint scar running from her temple, down to her ear. “My head crashed against the mirror so hard, it cracked the glass. Jason kept ramming me into it until shards fell to the floor.” As she relived the horrific memories, her chest began to rise and fall with her heaving breaths.

Tentatively, I reached out to touch her shoulder. “You don’t have to do this.”

“No, I need to—not just for me, but for you. When it’s all said and done, you need to know everything—to understand why I am the way I am with men.” Tears pooled in her eyes. “More than anything, I trust you enough to be honest with you, AJ.”

My heart ached for her. “I’m here, amorcito mio.”

She drew in a ragged breath. “Do you remember that night when you asked me about the tattoo?”

I bobbed my head.

“You asked if I’d gotten it to cover the scars left by an accident. Well, that’s partly true.”

“What do you mean?”

Mia closed her eyes, letting tears trickle down her cheeks. “After the mirror shattered, Jason picked up one of the broken shards. He first brought it to my neck—told me if I ever didn’t call him again, he would kill me. Then he said he wanted to leave me something physical to remind me of my mistake. It was summer, and I was wearing a tank top with spaghetti straps, which he said made me look like a whore.” Opening her eyes, Mia stared out at the water. “He said he was going to cut me for every time he called me, and I ignored him.” She glanced over at me. “That’s where the five lines came from.”

Rage burned through me, causing me to shudder from head to toe. My fists clenched involuntarily. “Give me his name. That’s all I need. Not an address or a phone number. Just his name,” I demanded.

“AJ,” Mia protested.

“I mean it. I don’t think I can rest until I track down that low-life piece of shit and take a piece out of his worthless hide for every time he hurt you.”

“You don’t need to do that.”

“Yes, I—”

Mia held her up hand. “AJ, trust me when I say this. Jason got what was coming to him.”

“What do you mean?”

She gave me a tight smile. “I’m Sicilian, remember? After my dad calmed down enough to speak and think somewhat coherently, he called some of his buddies from his old neighborhood back in Jersey.”

“You’re telling me that they made Jason an offer he couldn’t refuse?”

“To the tune of beating him so badly he was hospitalized in a full body cast.”

“Good for your dad. Of course, I would have preferred they render him dickless as well.”

Mia chuckled. “Don’t think Daddy didn’t contemplate having his associates take care of that.”

“Hell, I admired him before, but now I admire him even more.”

“Yeah, well, nobody hurts his little girl.”

“I’ll remember to never piss off your dad, because I sure as hell don’t want to end up sleeping with the fishes.”

Mia’s expression lightened, and I could tell she was fighting hard not to smile. “For you, being dickless would be a fate worse than death.”

Wincing, I cupped my crotch. “I gotta agree with you on that one.”

This time she did smile, and I was so f*cking glad to see her smiling again. It was timid—one I had never seen on her face before. Normally, she is so confident, strong. I closed the gap between us. “I’m so sorry you had to go through all that shit.”

“Thank you. But I’m the one who should be sorry.”

“Why?” I demanded.

“Because my past keeps f*cking things up for us. I mean, I just had a major freak-out back there when you were only teasing me. As hard as I try, I can’t seem to put what happened with Jason or Dev to rest.” She gave me a sad smile. “You’re too good for all my bullshit, AJ.”