Atlanta City's Bad Boy

Chapter 19. Spill

Mia's POV

We pull up into the driveway and walk into the house. We head up the stairs and into Jesse's room. I toss my bag onto his bed and turn to look at him.

"Spill," I tell him.

He sighs heavily. "Bryan was my dad's best friend, they grew up together. Bryan and my dad opened up a business together. When I was about 2 years old, it's a semi company. He's married has a couple of kids." He shrugs.

"Why do I get the feeling you are leaving something out?" I ask him arching an eyebrow.

"I'll take you over to his place later, he can explain things better then I can," He says. I nod in understanding. Jesse grabs my face between his hands. He stares at me for a long moment before smashing his lips to mine. 

We go downstairs into the kitchen where his mom is cooking supper. "Mom," Jesse says. The woman turns around and looks at her son, then curiously looks at me. "This is Mia. Mia this is my mother Maria," Jesse says. He waves a hand between us, introducing us.

The woman walks toward me smiling. "Hello Mia, it's very nice to meet you," She says.

I shake her hand gently. "It's nice to meet you too."

"Mia got into a fight with her mom. She's going to stay here," Jesse tells her.

"What did you do?" Maria asks him accusingly.

"W-what?" Jesse asks in disbelief. I can't stop the giggle that bursts out of me. "Why do you always think I did it?"

"Because you always do it!" Maria points her wooden spoon at Jesse. Jesse smiles innocently at his mom.

"Believe it or not ma, I didn't do anything... this time," He chuckles. "Mia just found out that Bryan Hernandez is her father," He explains.

She gapes at me. "Is that right?" She asks stunned.

"My mother apparently told him she was going to get an abortion. Which clearly she didn't because here I am. She told me that my father knew about me and wanted nothing to do with me," I tell her.

"Oh my.." She trails off looking concerned. "Well, of course, you can stay here. It's not like it's my decision anymore anyways. Which reminds me. Sign these." Maria hands Jesse some papers. I watch confused as Jesse grabs a pen and quickly signs his name across three different sheets of paper.

"I'll take those in tomorrow." She tells him and he nods. I arch an eyebrow at Jesse.

"My mom is moving to Los Angeles with her boyfriend Richard in a few days. She's giving me the ranch," He informs me.

"Oh," I murmur. I don't dare ask any questions. I don't want Maria to think I'm nosy so I just look away.

"Food's done," She says smiling.

We go into the dining room and sit down. I sit beside Jesse and we quietly eat our food.

When we're finished Jesse looks at me. "Ready to go see Bryan?" He asks me.

"Ready," I nod.

Jesse dials a number quickly on his phone. It's silent for a moment. "Hey, Mia and I are on our way up if that's okay?" Jesse asks. There's another silence, Jesse nods. "Sounds good." He says and hangs the phone up. He looks at me. "Let's go," He says.

We head out the back door toward his truck. I get into the passenger seat and he climbs into the driver seat. He starts the truck and pulls it out of the driveway. To my surprise he doesn't go back toward's town, he drives it further up the road past his house. After a few miles up the steep road, we pull into a driveway to another big ranch that looks similar to Jesse's.

"This is Bryan's?" I ask him.

"Yes," He says.

We get out of the truck and he grabs my hand and pulls me toward's the house. My stomach twists into knots in nervousness. Jesse knocks on the door and we hear someone yell come in. We walk into the house and Jesse shut's the door behind us. He kicks his shoes off and waits for me to do the same.

I'm so confused. Jesse seems to know the place well. Jesse pulls me into the front room and to a couch. Bryan walks in with a woman beside him. She has shoulder-length black hair and brown eyes, she smiles warmly at me.

"Mia this is my wife Rachel, Rachel this is Mia," Bryan says.

"You certainly do look like your dad," She says.

"It's nice to meet you," I murmur feeling slightly awkward and shy. Jesse feels my tension and squeezes my hand. Bryan sits down in a chair across from me.

"Mia I don't want to overwhelm you. It's a lot to take in. If I'd known your mom kept you, I would have" He pauses and takes a deep breath. "Things would have been different," Bryan says worriedly. "I don't want to cause problems between your mom and you either. I'd just like to know you," He says softly. The look in his eyes is curious and gentle. He's nothing like my mom made him out to be, which only pisses me off further.

"My mom shouldn't have lied to me.  Even if you two had a falling out she shouldn't have hidden me from you. That's not fair," I mutter.

"I moved to Reidsville for just a couple of months. I was supposed to stay longer but things didn't pan out. So I came back to Atlanta. I tried talking your mom into keeping you. I met your mom at a party the night I moved to Reidsville. Which is the night she must have gotten pregnant with you. I continued to see her, and your grandparents hated me. Six weeks later your mom found out she was pregnant. She hadn't even made it out of high school yet, she was in her senior year. She was scared. I was scared too but was willing to keep you but she wasn't. She said she was getting rid of you. She told me she didn't want to see me again. I was upset about it so I left and she didn't try stopping me. She wanted it to be over between us. When I got back to Atlanta I'd found out my ex-girlfriend was four months pregnant. She carried the baby to term but died giving birth to him," He explains.

I think long and hard about what Bryan is telling me, letting it all sink in.

"I have a brother, who's a few months older is what you are saying?" I ask in confusion.

"Yes," Bryan nods. "Also a sister who is eight years old."

"Where is my brother?" I ask confused.

"Right here." A deep voice answers.

I look up into the doorway of another room.

He's standing there in the door frame with his head down. He lights a cigarette. A baseball cap on. I can't quite make his face out.

He lifts his head and looks directly at me. I gasp in shock. I look at Jesse stunned and Jesse nods. Now it's no wonder how Jesse knew Bryan and the house so well. I look back at Bryan then again at my brother. My stomach twists. "W-what?" I stutter breathlessly.