26. Chapter 26

Chapter twenty-six

TIA

I can't stop staring at the insane Thanksgiving spread across the kitchen table that is only pulled out during special occasions. My grandparents are joking around with Rhys, Paval's fathers busying themselves with the rest of the dishes while I sit between my boyfriends. None of this feels real. I should be in jail or at the very least kicked out of school but only two weeks later and I'm trying to wrap my head around the fact that Ada is permanently out of my life.

Child endangerment—although we're not really kids, gave her another 20 years without parole. Whoever sentenced her believed she was a danger to everyone around her and I wholeheartedly agree. Ada and her shady tactics are behind me, mostly because I allowed myself to meet her one last time, to tell her what I truly thought of her so that she knew I was never going to return with her.

***

My nose wrinkles at the putrid smell of despair wafting through the jail, my mother's face lighting up as she sees me on the other side of the glass. She jumps onto the stool and grabs the phone, placing her other hand on the glass. I stare at it and just smirk, despite the fear racing through me. This isn't some bittersweet happy ending for the both of us. Ada deserved so much worse than twenty years.

Knowing that she tried to pay off my education so that I would see her as more than an evil person is laughable. Paval told me he's taking on my expenses and I'm only allowed to pay him back once I become a lawyer. He's been very adamant about that, even yelling at me when I give him a little too much for groceries or slip an extra few bucks into his wallet.

I'm her carbon copy but Ada has seen better days, her hair thinning and her eyes sunken in. "You came to see me," Ada muses. "You finally get away from the others? They're poisoning your mind against me—"

Yeah, I'm not doing the villain speech. I pick up the phone, take a deep breath, and give this woman everything I've wanted to say over the last twenty years. "Ada," her nose turns up and I laugh. "You don't get the pleasure of me calling you Mom. The last time I did that was when I was six and didn't fucking know any better. You were my world and although you were strict, you were my mother. But that picture of you, that version of you doesn't exist. It never did. You lied to me every day of my life, used me, nearly had me killed, ripped apart my family, and then expected me to stay at your side? I was six fucking years old when my grandfather stole me away to protect me from you. Six years old, confused, scared, and only Rhys to cling to. Another family member you nearly had killed. You don't deserve my time and definitely not my love."

Ada's face falls as she pulls her hand back from the glass. "Sweetheart, I did this for us. I was going to make you happy. They took you from me and they had no right!"

"No, you had no right to show me that a motherfucking program was more important than my safety. Rhys can't even work with the numbers he's spent his entire life studying because of you. You ruined the one thing he loved more than life. Sure, he still dabbles in the statistical world, but it's not like he used to. I hope you rot in here right alongside Uncle Liam."

Ada's expression hardens as she starts forward and then sits back in her seat. "You are my daughter. You are mine to love and to nurture, Tia."

"I don't need your brand of love. Just because we share blood doesn't mean I have to accept you as my family. Cutting you off will be the easiest thing I've ever done. You've been waiting to have a conversation with me for the last twenty years so this is it and I'm telling you that I never wanted you, never once thought about you, never once in all those years wished that I still had my mother at my side. I don't need you to be happy, Ada." I push to my feet and return the phone, having said mostly everything I had planned. There's a family to get back to and men to love. I also need to check that Paval is taking his medicine and Cairo is letting him rest.

The last time I left the house, I came back to Cairo on his knees, sucking Paval off as he rested in the chair by his bed. Paval tried to muse that his head was propped up on pillows but the doctor said no activity for two weeks.

Ada tries to blow me a kiss and I just don't understand why she believes I will accept it. I do the most adult thing I can think of by catching it in my hand and then slamming it down on the little ledge. My parents might have ended up being terrible people but that doesn't mean I don't have family. I don't need her brand of love.

With a little more confidence than before, I straighten my shoulders and allow the guard to guide me back outside where both Paval and Cairo are waiting. A smile plays on my lips at the way Paval is resting back against Cairo, my fighter's chin resting on Paval's shoulder. They look perfect just like that, my men holding each other, drawing comfort from each other. We haven't all said those three words but we don't need to. I know they're mine.

***

A sigh falls from my lips as I settle in my chair, content with my last conversation with her. There was more I wanted to say and during every shower since, I've reconstructed what I should have said or how I should have delivered it. Regardless, Ada knows where I stand, that family is more than blood and I don't need her love to be happy.

I never watched the trial or listened to any of the news despite the numerous texts from the twins and other classmates wanting information. I all but turned my phone off when it kept vibrating every few seconds because I'll have to face all of that chaos again when we return to campus.

Paval coughs and I turn to him, wide-eyed searching his face for any kind of distress. "Are you feeling okay? What was that?" I place my hand to his forehead, worried that he's fading again. The doctors said he had a mild concussion and any further excitement may deal him permanent damage during this healing period. Paval wasn't excited that he had to forgo certain sexual activities but I made sure he had plenty to watch.

Who knew that Cairo and I were exhibitionists? Because I didn't.

Paval snorts and removes my hand before bringing it to his lips. "I'm fine. It was just a cough. Grams brought over those patchouli jarred things and it makes my nose itch." He's not wrong. I love my grandparents but some of the smells that my grandmother adores make me want to wretch. "What are they even doing? I'm hungry."

Everyone has been cooking all day, the three of us madly studying for finals as the entire semester has been thrown out of whack. When I was sure that my career was in the trash, the dean offered up a statement that I should have seen coming. Apparently, with so many hands in that little underground ring, no one wanted to take the blame for it.

So, they didn't.

I'm still laughing at how awful the wording was. Anyone could see through it, except those who had no idea the fights existed. We were suddenly ‘coerced' into fighting for a ‘traitor of the country', the dean's words, not mine. All of our fragile growing minds had succumbed to the pressure to please and would be allowed to continue our studies so long as nothing else popped up. Security would be strengthened, and we would have to finish the year out with no further incidents.

It also halted all bets, my little black book destroyed by the fire in the pit outside. I made sure to pay out anyone who was due, as some of that was their money but there's no longer any evidence that the book existed. Paval managed to bring the site down as well, nothing left other than the memories of those nights.

With all the excitement of last week, I don't mind nothing happening for a while.

Cairo squeezes my hand under the table and stands, peeking into the kitchen for clues. His eyes widen and then he plops into his seat as everyone files into the room, gazes focused on the three of us. Rhys winks at me, his smile wider than I've seen in a while. "You take after me, Tia. Is it just two or are there more hiding somewhere?"

Both Paval and Cairo growl at me as if they're some kind of wild animals rather than respectable adults. "No more men and please don't set them off. Paval is still healing and Cairo is horrible at letting him rest." I realize what I've said after I said it, my cheeks heating as everyone takes up their places. Rhys is very obviously laughing at me, Paval's other fathers hiding it much better. My grandparents look horrified but that's on them.

The evening delves into conversation and talks about our futures. I have a few firms I'm looking to work with but that all rests on me passing the bar. Paval is going to work with his fathers at their security company which I know is code for something that is a mix of actual work on a computer and handiwork that Rhys doesn't approve of. It'll give Paval the outlet he needs and I know he'll be safe with the original Kolas crew.

Cairo mentioned something about training or a gym but hasn't figured out the details. With the way Paval starts tapping on the table, I already know he's trying to plan for Cairo's future. Discreetly as possible, I reach for their hands and drag them into my lap. Maybe my family is unconventional but they're mine.

A fighter, a statistician, and a lawyer meet on campus… and fall in love. It's just the beginning of our story and I'm ecstatic to see where it goes.

When Paval coughs again, I glare at him but he just shakes his head and points at the little patchouli jar sitting next to the turkey. Then the fucker leans over to me, whispering into my ear so that only I can hear. "I promise you that if I'm still coughing when we leave, it'll be because I'm choking on Cairo's dick."

My face heats, Cairo catches on, and then everyone else starts laughing.

If this is what I have to look forward to, I'm not mad about it.