“Only in the biological sense. Maia has no contact with her.”
The gaffer sighed. “I know it’s not her fault. But I warned you that you were on your last life with Fred. This is it. He’s done. He wants you to end your engagement to Maia, end this campaign immediately, or … fuck … we’ll have to reconsider your place at this club.”
Boiling rage flooded through me so fast and furious, I hung up before I said something I might regret.
“Fuck!” I gripped my hair in my hands, lowering to my haunches, taking in deep breaths to try to calm the hell down before I jumped in my car to annihilate someone. I just wasnae sure who I’d kill first—Maryanne, Craig Bennet, or Fred Fucking Burbank.
The hitch of a breath had me launching to my feet and whirling around.
Maia stood in the doorway, violet eyes shimmering with tears. A sob caught in her throat, and she forced out hoarsely, “I heard. And I won’t let you lose everything because of this.”
My heart lurched. “My?—”
“Call him back. Tell him it’s over between us. This campaign has done enough damage. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Bear.” Her voice broke on the last word as she swung the door shut in my face, the lock sliding aggressively into place.
It happened so fast, I didn’t have time to react.
No.
Fucking no way!
“Maia!” I jiggled the door handle, but it didn’t budge. “Maia, don’t! I’m not losing you over this!”
I heard her sob on the other side of the door and tears thickened in my throat. “Maia, open the door. Let me in. We can fix this.”
“I—I a-am fixing i-it. You-you d-deserve better t-than this. Than me.” She sobbed harder, and the sharp ache in my chest made me breathless.
Tears burned my eyes as I banged on the door. “Maia.” Her name caught on a sob, and I didn’t care if she could hear me crying. “Maia, I love you. Don’t do this. Don’t fuck this up and twist it in your head, baby. Don’t let her win.”
In answer, her crying grew quieter as she moved away from the door.
Panic suffused me. “Maia! Maia!” I pounded on the door, begging her to open up. I didn’t know how long I slammed on her front door before a voice cut through mine.
“Right, that’s enough!”
I whirled to find an older woman I’d never seen before standing in the doorway of the flat opposite.
Her hard expression softened at the sight of me with tears on my fucking cheeks. “Och, I see. Well, I’m sorry, lad, but if the lass doesn’t want you at her door, then you need to leave. Or I will call the police.” She pointedly had her mobile ready to go in her hand.
Wrath at her, at the whole fucking world, threatened toconsume me. I wiped at my cheeks and forced myself to walk away.
Temporarily.
This wasn’t it.
There was no way a bunch of arseholes would interfere in our relationship.
But it wasn’t really them I was afraid of.
It was Maia’s demons.
That seed her mum planted in her mind all those years ago, the one she’d worked so hard to get over … only for this to happen and prove that bullshit was rooted deep.
Deep enough to stop what was growing between me and her.
My chest felt tight at the thought, even as I tried to convince myself that in twenty-four hours, once she’d calmed down, Maia would come back to me.
She had to.
