She didn’t say that.
Instead, she walked into his arms and gave him a hug, trying to impart every thought in her head and feeling in her heart through only that contact.
Mav didn’t shy away. He squeezed her back, and he said, ‘Call if you need me.’
Nina nodded, but the moment he stepped back, severing contact with her, she felt bereft. As if she’d been stuck in a raging river, desperately holding on to a fallen tree branch for days, and she had just willingly let it go, succumbing to the rapids.
He turned to face Markus, and although she couldn’t see his face, she could see her best friend’s, so she saw all the messages passing between them. But when Markus held out his hand for Mav’s, Mav only said, ‘Seriously?’ and pulled Markus into a bone-crushing hug.
And Nina walked away, because she knew that if she didn’t, she would cave.
Markus went to Nina the moment that the door shut behind Maverick. ‘Are you sure about this?’
The words came then. ‘He would have stayed, Markus. He would have put everything on the line for me, and I won’t let him do that. When this is done, when the nightmare is over, I want Hunt Ranch to go back to. I want Poppy to not be traumatized. And—’ she sighed ‘—I guess I want Mav to know that there’s more to that broken woman who showed up in his life in pieces. I am strong. I am brave. And I am independent. Or, at least, I was. I just need to get back there.’
‘I can see that arguing would be futile,’ he said, and although he didn’t agree, there was a part of him that understood too. Because she was right. The court battle would be long and messy, and it would hurt.
‘I’ll listen anyway,’ Nina replied.
So, Markus asked the difficult question. ‘How much of this has to do with Lulu? How much of you is terrified because you’re not comfortable depending on him?’
Nina replied honestly. ‘About thirty per cent. But most of me only wants to save him from himself. Because he thinks in black and white, in right and wrong, and we both know that this entire drama is going to be played out in the grey.
‘I don’t want to hurt them, Markus. I love them.’
His phone vibrated, and when he looked down at the screen and he saw the message from Maverick –
Keep me updated on everything. Please.
– he knew that for the first time since he’d met Nina, his loyalty was split. And he was alarmingly okay with that.
Nina had said that only thirty per cent of her reasoning had to do with her mother, but Markus knew that it was more. Because trust wasn’t something you just learned overnight. It was taught throughyearsof relationships, of friendships and love affairs and familial connections, starting and running their course and ending, and Nina hadn’t had much opportunity to learn that.
Still, he picked his bag up off the floor and tossed it onto the sofa. ‘I see you shovelled out the big bucks?’ he said as he took a turn about the two-bedroom suite.
‘Mav did. I should go down and put the room in my name.’
‘Ah, no. I’ll put it in mine. You need to stay incognito.’
Nina sighed deeply. ‘Can you do something for me?’
‘Always.’
‘Can you help me put my house on the market? Find a realtor, get my things out of it … I’d do it myself, but it’s swarming with media.’
Markus’s eyebrows rose. ‘You want to sell? Are you sure? That’s the first big thing you ever bought for yourself …’ More, he knew she loved that house.
‘I’m sure. It’s not …homeanymore. Since the attack … I only realized yesterday when we drove past it that I’d already let it go.’ She shrugged. ‘I’m going back to the ranch when this is over. If Mav forgives me …’ She didn’t finish the thought. ‘If he doesn’t, I’ll still want a new place. Maybe with some land …’
‘Okay. I have a friend who’s a realtor. I’ll give him a call.’
‘Thank you.’
He could see her exhaustion and, beneath the resolve, her heartbreak. ‘What can I do to help?’
Nina laughed sadly. But there was only one thing that would help, so she said, ‘Play “Run” by George Strait.’
Markus pulled out his phone. He found the song on Spotify and pressed play.
