And knowing it gave her the courage to demand, again, ‘What do you want, Alex?’
‘I just thought I’d stop by.’ His voice wassofriendly,socasual. But Nina knew the monster that suave façade hid. ‘We’re waiting to film your last scene before wrapping.’ His eyes flicked over her. ‘You look good, Nina.’
Bile rushed her throat at the casual compliment. Considering he’d torn her clothes and forced his fingers inside of her, she knew as well as he did that the words were meant to fuck with her head.
Her entire body trembled with the force of her humiliation. And shame. Because this man had violated her, and instead of fighting back, she’d run.
Maverick placed one of his heavy hands on her shoulder, and Nina hated that she flinched against the contact.
He didn’t move it as her breath rushed out of her.
‘Get out.’ The words from Nina, the cold tone they were delivered in, surprised everyone, including herself.
‘Nina …’ Alex tried for shocked hurt.
His act didn’t fool her.
And it didn’t fool Maverick either. He took one step in Alex’s direction, moving in front of her completely. ‘Now.’
Alex’s eyes clouded with well-practised confusion. ‘I don’t understand.’
Because she needed to face Alex herself, because she wouldn’t let Mav take the weight of her past in addition to everything else he carried, she stepped to his side again and took his hand. She stared down at their connected fingers when she felt the tremors of rage passing through him and into her. He was literally vibrating with it.
His anger gave her courage, each ripple of it that passed from him through her fingers charging her with strength. She forced her eyes to Alex’s. She wanted him to see her vindication when she said, ‘I’m going to the police.’
Alex frowned quizzically, a born actor, a practised liar. ‘I’m not sure what you’re on about, Nina,’ he said in a quiet, coaxing voice. ‘If the strain of filming has been too hard on you, on your mental health, we’ll understand. Take more time to rest and think it through.’
His threat was clear, his use of ‘we’ pointed. But this time, Nina didn’t let it sway her. ‘When I tell everyone what happened, they’re going to want to see that scar from where I cut you, and then they’re going to match your blood to the blood on the knife currently in their evidence.
‘And when the media frenzy starts and the facts come to light, how many people do you think will stand by you?’
The shift happened so quickly. Alex’s green eyes turned hard and flinty. ‘I’ll ruin you for libel.’
‘We’ll probably ruin each other,’ she agreed. ‘But that doesn’t mean I’m going to keep quiet. And it doesn’t mean I’m going to settle either, so don’t bother having your lawyer contact me. No amount of money is going to keep you out of prison.’
He took a step towards her.
Maverick didn’t even move. He said, ‘You’re in my house, and I’ve just found out you’re the one who assaulted my woman. If you take one more step in her direction, Iwillkill you. And I will enjoy it.’
Maverick’s tone had a streak of fear gripping Nina’s spine, and when she angled her face up to look at him, her fear turned to pure terror. He would do it. She could see the barely contained violence in his eyes, hear the cold, almost eager fury in his tone. And because she was scared, not of him, butforhim, for Poppy, she stepped in front of him, physically preventing him from taking a single step.
Clearly sensing that he was playing in dangerous territory, Alex held both hands up and backed away. ‘You know how this ends, Nina,’ he said.
And he smiled at her.
Nina’s spine locked with momentary terror even as her skin crawled like liquid in motion.
Alex turned, but it was only once the front door slammed shut that Maverick slipped around her and charged after him.
‘Mav!’ Nina ran after him, terrified of what he might do.
Markus was coming down the stairs, Poppy close behind him. ‘What on earth—’
She didn’t stop to explain. She opened the front door and stumbled onto the porch as Maverick strode towards the sleek black BMW that Alex had arrived in.
‘Is that Alex?’ Markus asked as he followed her onto the porch, his confusion clear.
Nina could only nod.
