Savior

Fifteen: Mia

"Are you trying to ruin your sister's wedding!?"

"This has nothing to do with your precious Gia's wedding!" I shouted. I took a deep breath and glanced through the closed sliding doors to find Wes still curled up in bed, his back now facing me. I couldn't help my eyes tracing the thick chords of muscle and littered tattoos of his back. "This has nothing to do with Gia. This has to do with the fact that Tate O'Connor assaulted my boyfriend..."

"Your WHAT?!"

Well, that just slipped out. Oh well, we were going to roll with it. "You heard me," I replied, blinking my eyes innocently as I sipped the mug of Earl Grey in my hand. "He assaulted my boyfriend."

"That man is not your BOYFRIEND, Mia."

"Says who?" I asked with a chuckle. "I'm fairly certain I'm the only one who makes the decision of who I am or am not dating."

"That man is a tryst. A fun vacation fling. A late night after the club MISTAKE. That man is not boyfriend material."

"Don't you dare speak about Wes as if you know him," I practically hissed. "That man is the kindest, gentlest, most caring human being I have ever met. Don't you dare stand here and attempt to say he's anything other than that."

"Mia, you barely know him!"

"We have spent the last four months together almost every single day. And I knew him in school..."

"Yes, the school you quit because he and his friends tortured you!"

"He wasn't there," I mumbled, turning my gaze to my tea.

"Oh, how convenient." My mother sighed and then sank into the patio chair across from me. "Mia, I'm sure you are reeling after the breakup with Marcus..."

I let out a loud guffaw. "HA! I broke up with HIM, Mother, I'm not reeling from fucking anything. Other than the fact that I wasted four years of my life with him..."

"Watch your language."

I rolled my eyes. "Yes. Sorry I've insulted your delicate sensibilities."

She shook her head and pursed her filler injected, blood red lips. "I don't understand what's going on with you. I don't understand where this attitude of yours is coming from..."

"Really? You don't?" I asked, blinking my eyes repeatedly. "You don't think it's because you and Gia treat me like a child? You don't think it's because nothing I do has ever been or will ever be good enough for you? You don't think that it might just be because you value what the public thinks of you over your relationship with your own daughter?"

"Mia!"

"Oh, Mother, give it a rest," I groaned. "You barged in here, angry because someone who assaulted someone I care about is in jail, where he should've been like fourteen years ago!"

"Tate did NOT ra..."

"Don't. Don't you even finish that sentence," I commanded through gritted teeth. I could feel hot tears burning in my eyes. "I was there that night. I was with her directly after it happened. Don't you dare try to tell me it didn't."

"Mia, please..."

"No. It might be too late for him to pay for what he did to Jen. But I WILL NOT let him get away with hurting Wes. Do you hear me? I will put that man away for as long as legally possible. He could've KILLED him. The only reason it wasn't worse was because David pulled him off. He deserves to rot, Mother. And nothing you can say will convince me otherwise."

She huffed at me and turned her gaze over the beach. "Well, if you're not willing to come to some rational agreement with this, then maybe you shouldn't attend your sister's wedding."