Getting moved to another city or state never evencrossed my mind as a possibility. The thought makes me lightheaded. “I don’t want to move! Why would I have to move?” I argue, suddenly breathless.
He gives another shrug and opens my door. “Not my rules. I just follow orders. Take it up with someone who cares.”
The clicking of the door shutting behind him is almost drowned out by the myriad thoughts roaring in my mind.
Am I going to get settled into my new life here, only to have it all ripped away from me, just like my old life was?
I rub my forehead and shut my eyes, feeling as stupid and desperate as ever as I try to figure out how to cling to every second of happiness I can before I’m left alone and even more broken than I was before.
26
Ian
Ineed a key.
I knock again and call out, “Maggie, open up.”
It’s a little past seven at night, so she shouldn’t be asleep yet. I’m about to knock again when it opens to Maggie looking much sadder than when I left her this morning, reminding me of showing up at her place not even twenty-four hours prior.
My hand finds her hip as I search her eyes. “Maggie, baby. What’s wrong?”
“Can we go to the couch? I just need you to hold me for a few minutes.” She turns away from me and walks in that direction.
With concern barreling to the surface, I sit down next to her and open my arms. She wiggles over to me and curls into my side, and I hold her tight, my heart beating harder.Pressing a kiss to the top of her hair, I inhale the sweet scent of her shampoo.
“Did something else happen today?”
Her body snuggles closer as she takes a deep breath, then says, “Jenson, the marshal assigned to me, said it’s time for me to testify. The trial starts in two weeks, and I’m one of the first witnesses.”
“Okay, I’m going with you.”
She sniffs, a pout pulling at her lips. “I don’t know if you can.”
“Mags, I can do anything I want. I’m coming with you.” I wrap my arms around her tighter. “Unless you don’t want me, too. Which I won’t like, but I’ll respect.”
She’s quiet for a few breaths, and I’m nervous about what she’ll say. I don’t like the idea of her going without me. It gives me anxiety to think about. I want to be there. I want to support her. To protect her. I don’t want to have to be hundreds of miles away, wondering what she’s doing and if she’s okay.
As she pushes up, her turbulent gaze finds mine. “I want you there more than anything. But Jenson, the agent assigned to me, might be an issue.”
My brow furrows. Reaching out, I grab her waist, and she lets out a surprised yelp when I lift her up so that she’s straddling me. To get her to look at me, my palms go to her cheeks, and I run the sides of my thumbs under her eyes, catching the few stray tears.
“Why would he be an issue?”
Maggie bites her bottom lip, then explains, “Well, he’s told me more than once that I needed to break things off with you.” Her expression turns pleading, emotion making her words come out shaky. “I listened to him the first time. But I can’t do that again.”
I blink a few times. It takes a few moments for my brain to fully process what she’s telling me.She was forced into breaking things off with me?The last tendrils of bitterness I was holding on to dissolve as I fully realize she truly did want to be with me. “He was the reason you said that stuff last year? You were trying to push me away?”
She nods, looking miserable. “He said I needed to do it, or he was going to answer my door and tell you that he was my boyfriend and that I had been cheating on him with you while he was away. He told me I could get removed from Witness Protection and sent back to Chicago if I didn’t.”
My teeth clench in anger, and my jaw muscles twitch. Considering the fury making my vision blurry, my voice is eerily calm when I ask, “That man threatened you?”
Maggie tries to placate me when she rushes out, “I don’t know if it was really a threat. Maybe more of a warning.”
“He fucking threatened to send you straight back to people who want to do you harm with no protection!” Guilt immediately floods me when Maggie winces at my raised tone. My grip on her hips tightens, trying to relay my apology for yelling. I just can’t believe this asshole.
Her gaze turns pleading. “I know you’re right. That isn’t all, though.” Maggie looks even more torn up when she continues, “He said that people shouldn’t get involved with people before the trial because sometimes they have to get moved.” She shakes her head as her expression shatters, a sob catching in her throat. “Ian, I don’t want to leave.”
I smooth her hair away from her face and give her a chaste kiss. “Mags, you aren’t going anywhere. Don’t worry. We’ll work it out.”
