Alexander had opened the car door and was preparing to get in, but when he saw Maverick, he smiled and turned, leaning on the car arrogantly. ‘Look, this is all one big misunder—’
Without a word, Maverick gripped the car door and slammed it violently shut.
Alex screamed as his hand was crushed between the door and the car. ‘Fuck!’ He dropped to his knees, cradling his broken hand against his body.
Maverick took a fistful of Alex’s hair and yanked his head back. He leaned in close, but his words were stated clearly enough that Nina caught them. ‘That’s for touching my woman.’
‘She’s a lying slut!’
Maverick didn’t acknowledge that. ‘If you come here again, I will kill you.’
‘I’m going to sue you for everything that you have!’
Maverick ignored him. In a perfectly calm, quiet voice, he added, ‘I will bury you in a quiet spot somewhere on my acreage. Somewhere nobody would ever think to look.’ He let Alex go with a violent jerk of his hand. ‘Now get the fuck off my land.’
Alex scrambled to get into his car. But it was only once he was safely inside, the motor running, that he rolled down his window – just an inch – and spat, ‘My lawyers will be in touch.’
He sped out, his car kicking up a cloud of dust in its wake.
Nina watched as Maverick pulled out his cell phone. ‘Hey, Sandie. A black BMW is going to be heading out the gates in a few minutes. Take the plate number down. Make sure your team knows not to let it back in.’
Chapter 21
Maverick hung up.
Turned.
Until that moment, Nina hadn’t been certain she would find the strength to speak out. She’d come to Hunt Ranch for the peace and quiet, to recover from her physical injuries. And even though she’d still been reeling from the trauma of the assault, she hadn’t hired security because she’d understood that if she just kept her head down, kept quiet, Alex would never dare touch her again.
But he had made one fatal error: he had come to Hunt Ranch, and he had cornered her in a room with Poppy. And it had been that – the knowledge that one day, it might bePoppyin a room with a man like him – that had sealed his fate. Because how often did Nina think about her own childhood and wish that just one person had cared enough about her to intervene?
Still, she was so glad she’d come. Not only because she’d met Mav, but because she’d needed to rest first, to enjoy those last few weeks of her career without the shame of being a victim.
Because people would question her. Others would call her a liar. She didn’t have many friends in Hollywood, and while she was sure a few women would take her side by default, Alexander was respected and well connected. Lawyers would strip her down to her bones each time they made her relive the attack. And when they locked Alex away, it wouldn’t matter that unquestionable evidence would have put the nail in the coffin, her career, everything she’d worked for, would be in jeopardy. History had told this particular story too many times for her to seek false comfort.
Still, she had expected that if she ever spoke up, she would be called a liar and that she might lose her career. She had expected that she would be terrified and ashamed and devastated.
And while that fear and shame and devastation hovered beneath the surface, they were suppressed beneath a layer of bravery, of strength. Because as she looked at Maverick, standing in his own front yard, attempting to leash his rage before approaching her again, she knew that she had found something that she had never considered she might need: help.
Behind her, Markus had placed one hand on Poppy’s shoulder, keeping her in place so that she couldn’t run towards the trouble. The five-year-old, who had clearly never seen her dad in an outright rage before, was eerily quiet.
Nina wanted to comfort her, but she couldn’t quite manage to look away from Mav. He came to her, each step filled with purpose, deliberation. He drew her face closer using both hands and took her mouth in a fierce kiss right in front of Poppy, who giggled, her shock forgotten.
When he broke away, he didn’t ask her for an explanation or for the whole story. He said, ‘What do you want to do?’
Nina closed her eyes as love and relief welled up inside of her. He would let her decide, always. And once she had decided, he would stand by her. And it was the loveliest thing in the world to take a stand on a foundation that was so solid beneath her feet.
She gripped his wrists with both hands, looked into those familiar blue eyes. ‘I’m going to go back tomorrow. Formally report it.’
‘I’m coming.’
It was not a question or a request for permission. But Nina felt that she had to deter him, ‘Mav—’
Maverick gripped her neck with one hand and brought her forehead to his. He closed his eyes for a moment as if he needed to gather his courage, and he repeated, ‘I’m coming.’
‘Mav—’
He covered her mouth with his, stealing the words, and when he broke away, he said something she hadn’t expected. ‘Please, Nina.’ Her heart swelled, but before she could speak, he added, ‘Don’t ask me to sit here and do nothing while you’re fighting the biggest battle of your life.’
