Chapter 2

Landon’s face shifted — guilt crossing it for half a second before Sienna turned to me with a bright, cutting smile.

"Mia, he barely grazed you. Did you fall on purpose? Are you this upset that I asked him to come with me?"

She gave him a light nudge. "Go on. Go say sorry to her."

Landon’s hand, already extended to help me up, went still. He looked at me with a frown.

"Yeah, Mia. I barely touched you. And you’re still going on about the five hundred thousand."

Something in my chest turned to ice. I braced against the wall and pulled myself upright on shaking legs. I stumbled — falling toward Sienna.

She stepped back. Pinched her nose.

"God, what is that smell?"

"Landon is a doctor with a reputation, Mia. Look at yourself."

Landon’s expression soured too. "Mia, you’re a mess. You smell. Is it too much to ask that you shower and get some rest?"

After Finn died I had held him until his body began to change.

The hatred in me boiled over. I wanted to scream it at him.

"That’s your son’s smell."

A nurse walked by and lit up when she spotted Landon.

"Dr. Graves, you’re on leave today — what brings you in?"

Her eyes traveled curiously between the three of us before settling on me. "And this is?"

For years, Landon had said doctors needed to be careful about public perception. That people would gossip if they knew he had a son and still spent this much time at Sienna’s side.

So he had never told anyone at the hospital about Finn. About me.

A flicker of panic crossed his face.

"Oh, she’s — she’s a caregiver. For my friend."

I stood there with all the words I would never say jammed in my throat.

Once the nurse moved on, Landon exhaled and reached for me. "Mia, I didn’t mean it. It’s just — I have a professional image to maintain here."

I laughed. It came out sharp. "An image."

Sienna clicked her tongue. "Mia, Landon is a respected physician. You show up looking like you crawled out of a dumpster and you want him to claim you? Give him a break."

Landon said nothing. He agreed by staying silent.

I gripped my washed-out shirt in both fists and looked at the necklace blazing at Sienna’s throat.

That necklace. Bought with my broken body. Bought with my son’s life.

The rage came out of me before I could stop it. I swung.

I never made contact.

Sienna screamed before my fist came anywhere near her.

"Landon — my chest — don’t let her hurt me!"

The slap split my vision in half.

Landon hit me so hard my knees buckled. Copper filled my mouth.

He gathered Sienna against his chest.

"Mia, do you have any idea how weak her heart is? And you try to attack her?"

I pressed my hand over my bleeding nose and looked up at him.

"Her heart is weak? And Finn’s wasn’t?"

"I wish I’d hit her harder."

Sienna whimpered, clutching her chest harder.

Landon’s face went to stone. His fingers closed in my hair.

"Don’t you dare."

My scalp tore. I felt something wet.

My phone slipped from my pocket. Landon’s eyes caught the notification on the screen — the cemetery’s deposit confirmation.

His brow creased. He shoved me back against the wall.

"What is this, Mia? You’re so desperate to make me feel guilty you’re dragging our son into it too?"