Page 38 of Possessive

"We all missed the signs he was up to shady shit," Ric said. "Until we figured it out and got Mina out of there."

"We?" Gianni asked.

Ric shrugged. "I was the one who told you he was up to something. If I hadn't, my cousin wouldn't have been found. So yeah, we."

"Touché." Gianni smirked. "You're a DiMarco all right."

Ric grinned. "We're all known for our awesomeness, right Mina?"

I wasn't sure about that, but I managed a small smile in return. "Absolutely. We're amazing."

"You definitely are," Gianni said. "More than amazing."

I wished I felt that way about myself, but it felt good to spend a little time with family. A little piece of normal would go a long way towards helping me heal.

CHAPTER 15

MINA

"You can tell me to fuck off if you want to," Daisy said. She followed me out into the back garden, leaving Ric inside to talk to the other men. "I just thought you might like to have another woman to talk to. Men can be so testosterone-y sometimes."

I glanced over to the vegetable garden where Terry was tending to the plants, clearly not paying any attention to us.

Feet bare, I walked across the neat lawn to the back of the garden where the roses grew. Amongst the trees and fragrant bushes were a pair of stone benches.

I lowered myself down onto one of them. "Yes, they can. I appreciate it, but if you came to apologise again for—" She'd done enough of that as far as I was concerned.

There was nothing to forgive her for, therefore no need to keep saying sorry.

She sat on the other bench. "No. I mean, I won't now. You looked like you could use a friend. Someone who understands what this crazy life is like." She plucked a half-dead rose off one of the bushes and started to pull off the petals and scatter them on the ground.

"I tried to get away from all of this. To live a normal life away from crime, violence and death. Turns out, I kinda like those things." She glanced over at me and grinned. "The moment I saw Ric again, I was done for. I think I was in denial for all those years."

"So you went back," I said. I never considered walking away. I didn't know anyone who had done it successfully, unless you counted my brother, Asher. He seemed to be living his best life away from the craziness.

"I didn't just go back, I brought my daughter with me," she said. "Ric's daughter. I wanted to keep her out of it, but it's in her blood as much as it is in mine. I'm guessing it's in yours too."

I wondered how much she knew about me. Probably not everything. If she did, she probably wouldn't ask me that question.

"I can't imagine living any other way." I watched the petals drop from her hand and flutter to the ground. "I killed a woman the other day." I told Daisy about her.

She nodded and dropped another couple of petals. "Good for you. No one messes with women like us." She closed her hand over the last few petals. "I'm?—"

"Don't say sorry," I interrupted. "You're absolutely right. No one will ever mess with me again. They'd have to kill me first."

"I wouldn't envy them if they did that. Reuben would rip them apart. I saw the way he looks at you. Like he'd go to the centre of hell for you. I've never seen him look at anyone like that. If I'm honest, I'd say I didn't think he was capable of those kinds of emotions. Men like him are— I don't know, they don't like being vulnerable." She opened her hand, turned it around and let the rest of the squashed flower fall to the grass.

"You think caring about someone makes him vulnerable?" I asked.

She glanced over and laughed once. "No, I don't. I just think that's how they see it. That if a big, bad man gives his heart to anyone, they might break it. All of my guys would have thought exactly that. Turns out, loving people makes us stronger and braver. And they get the added bonus of being with me." She grinned.

It was hard not to like her. She was strong and outspoken without needing to be nasty. Ric clearly adored her and the feeling was obviously mutual.

She was right, I needed another woman to talk to. Reuben and Gianni were attentive, but after last night things were different. Reuben and I went past friendship. Whatever this was between us, we couldn't go back to that.

With Daisy, there was no such expectation. We could talk and share things we wouldn't share with any man. Experiences women had that men didn't. Fears and vulnerabilities. The need for constant vigilance against attacks from men like Kurt.

The fact she hadn't seen me in that cage, ragged and filthy, went some way to making me feel more comfortable with her. The woman sitting here now was the only one she'd seen, otherwise she might look at me with more pity than she had. Of all the things I might want from her, pity wasn't one of them.