Page 9 of Rough Night

"Why do you love her?" Laura asked as we sat on a bench looking out at a lake.

"Why do you ask me such weird questions?" he asked with a laugh. His dreams with Laura had picked up but he was grateful because they were all pleasant dreams. She seemed to be at peace in his dreams and he hoped she was at peace.

"I'm just curious," she said. "You're not the type of person who just falls in love with just anyone."

Sage knew she was right, he didn't just fall in love with anyone. He had never been the type of man who wore his heart on his sleeve. He was protective of himself, more so after he had lost Laura.

"You do have a point there,” he said. He wasn't sure if he wanted to answer her question though. He didn't feel comfortable telling his ex-partner why he loved someone new.

"You can tell me, you know. There’s nothing I can do about it and we're at peace with each other now. Think of me as a friend,” she laughed. It was hard to picture her as just a friend. After all, she was dead.

"Would it make you feel better if you knew why I loved her?" he asked.

"I wouldn't say that. She’s just not like me, is she?" she asked. She was right. Laura and Mia were completely different people. They were both strong but personality-wise they were two different types of women.

"I don't know if you need to know why I love her. I don't want to hurt you,” he said.

"You're not hurting me,” she stated. It was unnerving just how persistent she was about it. Sage didn't see the point in sharing that with her, even if it was all in his subconscious.

"I don't want to share that stuff with you. Why can't we just sit here in each other's company?" he asked. He knew when his dream was over, he'd feel as if he really spoke to her and he thought it was his way of still having her near. She would always be a part of him.

"Okay, let's just sit in silence and watch the birds,” she said. They faced the birds and watched as they flew higher and higher into the sky, disappearing into the light.

Sage sat in his office and thought about the dream he had had the night before. The dream had again left him with a sense of peace when he had woken up. He and Laura were having a chance to talk and even if it wasn't real, he still believed it was a good sign.

His mind went to the new woman who had popped up in the area. He didn’t like the unknown woman. When they had asked her who she was, she didn’t give much information away which irritated him. Anyone would agree that when someone new arrives, everyone wants to know about them. That was just how it worked but this woman didn't want to give too much away and that didn't seem right to Sage. Why was she so hesitant to share who she was with people? What is she hiding, Sage thought. He was also extremely wary of new people, as was everyone else in the club. They were all tighter than ever now that Sage was back and no one would risk someone breaking that up.

She didn’t come off as very smart either and the way she presented herself was peculiar. She talked without a filter, without an awareness that most people carried about themselves. He didn't know the woman but something about her didn't sit well with him. He had zoned in on his computer and hadn't paid attention to his surroundings until Mia waved her hand in front of his face, bringing him back to reality.

"Earth to Sage,” she said as she saw his eyes focus on her hand. Mia remembered her dream from the other night as Sage stared vacantly into nothing. She couldn't imagine what he was thinking about but part of her hoped he could be thinking about her like he had been in her dream but she knew that was wishful thinking.

He smiled at her, gently batting her hand away as he focused on her. She was standing in front of him dressed in all black, looking sexy as hell and ready to kick some ass.

"I'm here," he said with a chuckle.

"I'm glad to hear it. I thought I had lost you there for a second,” she replied with a laugh.

Sage brought his thoughts back to the present as he focused on some of the freckles across Mia’s face. Man, she's beautiful, he thought as he almost got distracted by her face being so close to his.

"What can I do for you?" he asked. He knew she must've come to him for a reason. She had kept her distance whenever he went into the office. Not like when he had kicked her out before but out of respect, she didn't enter unless necessary.

“Well, I wanted to come in and share some news with you about the new chick,” Mia said as she sat in the chair that was placed across from Sage and his desk. She made herself comfortable as she stared at him, wanting some sort of interest from him. It didn't take long for him to cave; his interest was peaked.

"What's the news?" he asked interested.

He hoped it was that she had already left and wasn't even a problem anymore but that would be wishful thinking. After all, she had only just shown up.

"It seems that one of the girls got their phone stolen and although they can't prove it, they suspect it was this new woman,” Mia said. It didn't make any sense. Why would she steal a Hell Kat's phone? It wasn’t like they would have any valuable information on it.

"Why would she steal a phone?" Sage asked.

“Well, that's just it. We don't know why. None of the Hell Kats keep important information on them, that all stays here with us,” Mia replied. Sage nodded in agreement. Everything was kept between them, no one knew much of anything.

"How can we be sure it's her?" Sage asked. It wasn’t that he didn't believe the story. He just wanted to be sure that whatever move they made next was the right move for the club.

"There's no evidence that is was her but that's where the story takes a turn,” she replied. Mia knew that the minute she told Sage about what had happened, he’d want the woman out and luckily Mia had her own plan when it came to that. She enjoyed who she was when it came to threatening people. It was weird but she felt so powerful and strong in those moments that she almost fed off the power she felt. It made her feel like a bigger version of herself and no one could say that was something bad. She knew Sage would also want a part in taking care of business but she knew it was something she had to do on her own. Woman to woman.

"What's the rest of the story?" Sage asked. The suspense was killing him.

"She tried to break into the office at the club, and when one of the Hell Kats caught her, she tried to hit on her as a distraction,” she said.

The hitting on the Hell Kat part wasn't the problem but the fact that she was trying to break into the office was a big red flag. What could she be looking for, Sage wondered.

"We can't let this go any further. We literally just got out of some serious shit and this doesn't sound any better to me,” he replied.

"I'm already on it. I'll be back once I've taken care of business,” Mia replied with a cheeky grin.

"Are you sure you don't want me to come with? I can help,” he said.

"I'll be fine, Sage, trust me. I've handled worse,” she replied. Sage knew she was talking about the Omens. He had gotten more information about that and it was amazing to hear how strong Mia had been. She had placed herself in a situation and had shown she wasn't someone to mess with.

"Be careful,” Sage called as Mia stood to leave.

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine,” she replied as she left the office.

The problem was that Sage would worry, he knew Mia was strong and at this point, she was capable of anything, things he hadn't seen yet. He had heard about what she did when she was interrogating the Omens so he knew she was feisty when necessary but since he hadn't exactly been able to tell her how he felt about her, he worried about anything that could bring her danger. He knew he wasn't ready to utter those three words yet but whenever Mia was apart from him he worried that, like in the well, maybe he wouldn't get the chance.

He thought about the woman who had just threatened the peace they had just gotten back and something in the back of his mind set off an alarm bell. There was something about her that seemed familiar, he just didn't know what. He knew he would have to do more research on her once he got her name. She hadn't told them when they had tried to ask her who she was which made her even stranger. It didn't make sense that someone would be that secretive about their identity unless they were hiding something and hiding something huge. Sage didn't like the idea of there being a new threat to him and Mia. He had to think about her more now because he wanted to protect her no matter what.