If I’m fired—he’ll make the team pick between me and him. A couple guys will stay with me, maybe, but not for long. They all have their own lives. Their own dreams.
If I’m traded, she’ll have to pick between staying here and going with me.
If I’m traded, what the fuck does it even matter?
“I’m getting Ziggy out of here,” Deedee’s saying to Roland. “Go back inside. Pretend everything’s fine. You still have an awards banquet.”
“I’m not awarding this fucker asingle damn thing,” Roland replies.
I squeeze Ziggy’s waist one last time, then straighten. Jaw’s starting to hurt like a bitch.
It’s minor compared to the ache in my heart. “I’m leaving. But only because you need to get a fucking grip on your temper and your attitude.” I jerk my head toward the maze entrance, where Crew and Zander are waiting. “They’re gonna make sure you let Ziggy leave on her own too. To go wherever she wants to go.”
Deedee glares at me. “Iwill make sure my daughter is okay.”
“And they’re gonna make sure you agree with her definition ofokaybecause she gets to choose for herself what she wants.”
Dropping my hand from her is like tearing off a bandage, except it hurts worse in far more places than just my skin.
She does have to decide.
She has to decide what she wants.
Will I fight for her?
Fucking right I will.
But it won’t matter if she decides she doesn’t want to fight for me now that we’ve seen firsthand what we’re truly fighting against.
“Holt,” Ziggy says.
I look at her one more time. She’s no longer between me and her stepfather. He could attack again without hurting her or the baby.
“I’ll be home,” she says.
I start to nod, but Deedee’s hugging her so tight, I don’t think she sees.
“I know, baby,” Deedee croons. “It’s time. It’s time to come home.”
My breath freezes.
Is that what she meant?
That she’d be at her parents’ home?
Or that she’d be at ours?
Roland growls again, and I turn my back on him and stride out of the maze.
Fucking thing.
I circled the whole fucking thing to end up almost back at the beginning again.
“This is bullshit,” Zander mutters to me.
“Life usually is,” I reply.
“We got Ziggy,” Crew tells me.
