"Let me talk to Dom about him, alright?" Vince was processing what she had told him. She could see his jaw line tightening as he let a moment of anger pass through him. She wasn't sure if he was angry because of The Buster's lie or the fact that she hadn't come to him with it sooner.
Brian had been over for dinner every night that week. He even helped clean up, something none of the guys really did, and Mia was in love. He had been so bold as to ask her out, causing a rift between him and Vince, Leon angry too but not nearly as explosive. Dom was the only one that didn't seem upset.
She had meant to tell Vince about the lie Brian had given her so easily, the night of the BBQ. She had meant to explain to him in full once again her concerns but she got distracted. And when she woke up at 2 AM to pee she found her shared bed empty, the space beside her still residually warm from where he had been. And she never considered herself a petty person in the past, always the one to confront in private her issues, but as she reached out for him and didn't find him she decided she wasn't going to say anything.
In the morning he crawled back into bed like he hadn't been gone and Myra found herself frowning, cursing, and scowling her way through her morning.
The process repeated almost every night that week and she continued to bite her tongue, her attitude getting in the way.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier." She was pleading with him for forgiveness and kicking herself at the same time. She didn't take years of boxing to be this weak mild tempered woman but here she was, trying to make him happy.
"It's fine."
"No it's not, but I commend you for trying to make it seem as such." She sighed, dropping down and sitting beside him on the edge of the bed. He was tense; she could feel his strength just from the brush of his side. It wouldn't be a good time, most certainly not a good time to bring up something that could make him angrier. Not when she wasn't sure either; maybe it was nothing.
But it didn't feel like nothing. Her insides were flopping as she debated bringing up the conversation she had heard at the races over a week ago, or bringing up the nights he slipped out of bed when he was sure she was asleep. But the words wouldn't come to her mouth, and she looked down at her hands, putting her argument into the back of her mind to bring up on a rainy day when she could deal with it then.
"I'll make it up to you."
"Don't worry about it. It's ok, really." He reached a hand out and took hers in his, giving it a soft squeeze before getting up and slipping on his shoes. She watched him retreat out of the basement, his shadow following after him. She'd ask him another time, bother him with her worries another day. Like he said, it was ok.
"Myra did you place that order?" Dom popped his head into the office, a smile softening his face. It was a good day. The parts for Brian's new car had come in on overnight and the Supra was getting a bath just down the street before coming back for its first coat of paint.
"Yeah, Harry said next week."
"I'll let Mr. Hinders know." He stepped in and sank into the chair across from her, his weight filling in the silent space around her. He never sat, he never waited.
"I already called him this morning." Myra peered up from the paperwork in her hands and looked at Dom. He was clean, which was strange for 3 in the afternoon. His grin was big and plastered all over his features, and the sun had been getting to work in the last couple of weeks, a tan already present. He didn't look anything like the man she had picked up outside that prison a month ago. "Something you need?"
"I'm feeling generous today." He chuckled, leaning forward and leveling his eyes with hers. Myra quirked an eyebrow, dropping the pages in her hand, waiting. "I want to thank you."
"I file paperwork all the time Dom, whats the difference between those days and today?"
"This ain't about that shit. Not entirely." He waved his hand at the desk, his smile faltering a little, turning into a soft grin. "I feel as though credit is due, you kept this all going in my absence. I couldn't be where I am now if it wasn't for you."
Myra's heart leapt into her throat as his words came at her. She should feel proud, she should feel elated, anything but terrified. But his grin, and his posture, and his words, they all swirled together and her anxiety got the best of her as she shrank back in the office chair.
"Are you dying or something?"
He chuckled. "No. My father saw in you something that the rest of us were too young to see at the time. A drive, a commitment. Whatever. But he saw it." Dom sighed, his dad still a sore subject. "And this might come as a shock to you but you've been more family to me than people that are actually blood. You've done more for this family than anyone else and I can only think of one way to thank you." He sighed but it was light and airy, a smile on his lips as he peered across the table at her. "I would like to put the house and this business in your name."
"What?"
"You heard me. I'm getting the proper paperwork in order. We'll have to go to a meeting and sit down and go over it all, but I want this." He leaned back in the chair and crossed his arms; that grin returning in full swing.
"I don't understand."
"What's there to understand? I'm giving you a part of my family in return for you giving us yourself."
"I haven't been on a date in ages." Mia beamed in the mirror, watching Myra's reflection as she fiddled with her earrings. The summer night was cooling down quickly.
Myra laughed, collapsing back in Mia's blankets and pillows, the soft chilly wind of California crawling in from the cracked window just behind her. Her conversation with Vince that morning had been washed away with paperwork but it was making its way back up into her mind.
"Should be fun." She didn't know if Vince had said anything, but the Buster was still around, so maybe not. As she watched Mia fret over three different shirts she debated telling her to let it go, move on, not go out; but she couldn't take away her fun. And maybe her concerns were pointless; maybe in the end there was an explanation.
"You ok Myra?"
"I think Vince is sleeping with someone else." The words just tumbled out. Mia snapped her attention away from her clothes quickly and crowded Myra on the bed, a look of concern on her face.
"What?"
"It's just a feeling. I don't know." Myra sighed, sitting up and running her fingers through her hair. "We've never had labels, so it really wouldn't be a problem I suppose. But he's been going out at night, thinks I'm asleep. He's having secret conversations and I don't know. It's just a feeling." She fiddled with the comforter on the bed, giving Mia a reassuring smile as she bit back her own tears. "Don't worry about it, it's stupid."
"It's not stupid Myra, not stupid at all. I'll call Brian and can-"
"Don't you dare." Myra quickly picked herself up off the bed and placed the best smile she could muster on her face. "You go out, you have fun, and don't you dare worry about me. I'll be ok."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes Mia." Reaching out she gave her shoulder a soft squeeze before making her way out of the room. Turning the handle she gave Mia one last glance and smile. "Wear the floral top, with the black spaghetti straps. You look amazing in that." She left the younger girl to get herself put together.
Quietly she headed downstairs, by passing the living room where Leon and Jesse were in a heated debate over which female celebrity in Charles Angel's was the hottest. Heading down into the basement Myra found Vince asleep in the bed, clothes still on, shoes still on his feet. She sighed, quickly removing his shoes from his feet and tugging on his pants.
He grunted, rolling over suddenly and catching her off guard. She tumbled to the floor and groaned, staring up at the ceiling as Vince's snores filled in the silence. Closing her eyes she thought about the whirlwind shit that the day had given her.
When Dom had been locked up everything had moved so quickly then, but over the years it slowed down. But this wasn't slow; this wasn't even remotely close. She thought of the gift Dom was giving her, her eyes bouncing around the room that was not only going to be spatially hers but legally too. The whole house, the whole yard, everything.
Hers.
She couldn't help but frown as she sat up and untangled herself from the sheets and Vince's pants that had tumbled with her. Peering down at him she rolled her eyes, tossing the sheet over him before sinking into the couch just a few feet away. Maybe she would wake up tomorrow and it would be today again and she could relive everything with a different head on her shoulders. A different attitude to access it all.
When she heard Brian's knock on the door she knew though that nothing was going to be relived tomorrow. It was all going to continue on as today had and she would have to process it all quickly if she wanted to stay caught up.