‘I know. I told you that.’
‘No. Neens, he came that night too.’
‘What?’ Maverick and Sierra said at the same time.
‘When you were still out of it … He came while you were still being checked over.’ Markus swore. ‘He reeked of alcohol. He looked deranged. And I thought: What a good friend, coming straight from some A-list party as soon as he heard the news.’ He tapped his forehead hard with the base of his palm. ‘And I’m only just realizing that he had no way of knowing about the assault unless …’
Nina was silent, her eyes downcast.
Mav reached for her hand and linked his fingers with hers.
She sent him a fleeting smile that didn’t reach her eyes, but finally said, ‘When he came the next day, once the nurses forced you to go home—’
‘I’m going to kill him.’ Markus’s face was completely serious.
Maverick agreed with the sentiment. But he gently pushed Nina to tell the rest of the story so that he could help her if she struggled recounting it to the police. ‘What did he say?’
‘He apologized at first. He said that he had a substance abuse issue and that he was going to seek help for it.’ Nina laughed mirthlessly. ‘My heart rate was so high, one of the nurses came to check on me.
‘But once she left, Alex said, “I think it would be in both of our best interests if we just forgot about this.” And when I had nothing to say to that, he said, “It would be a shame if we lost our chance at an Oscar because of a misunderstanding.” He kept using that word –misunderstanding.
‘I panicked. It felt like I had spent years training for this marathon, only to have someone tackle me two feet from the finish line. And all I could think, as I lay there, unable to move while my attacker sat at my bedside, was that my mother’s prophecy had come true. I had ended up on my back – just not in the way I’d always feared.’
Markus scoffed. ‘Fuck Lulu!’
Calmer now, having recounted the worst of it, Nina sat back in her chair. ‘I believed him. I knew he wouldn’t risk hurting me again or ruining my career if I kept quiet, so when the cops came, I said I didn’t see his face,’ she continued. ‘I let him win because I was afraid. And I still haven’t forgiven myself for that. I’m not sure that I ever will.’
‘Don’t do that to yourself,’ Sierra said before Mav could interject. ‘Being a woman is hard enough. Don’t carry his guilt for him.’
‘You’re speaking out now,’ Mav reminded her. ‘You’re risking everything you’ve worked for so that a monster is caught and caged.’ Afraid of the immensity of emotion coursing through him, he didn’t pull her into his arms as he wanted to. He just gently tugged a strand of her long hair. ‘It’s the most unfair thing in the world to expect a victim – a survivor – to stand up against their perpetrator, to expect them to be brave when we as a society have failed them already, to expect them to publicize their trauma and fear even though nothing might come of it.’
‘But I need to,’ Nina said. ‘Because if I don’t, one day it’ll be another woman getting hurt. It’ll be someone else’s mother or daughter or sister or friend. And she might not be as lucky as I was.’
Her tone was hot with rage, but Maverick welcomed it because seeing her angry was so much better than seeing her sad or scared or ashamed.
‘I need to do it because hedeservesto suffer the consequences of his actions. I need to do it because I want to see the fear in his eyes when he realizes that I’m not just going to go away.’
‘So, we go.’ He nodded. ‘Together.’
Nina looked at him. ‘I don’t want this to ruin you, Mav. You’ve worked so hard …’
‘You’ve kinda ruined me all by yourself already.’
He didn’t care that everyone was listening. She had destroyed him in the best way possible, and Mav knew that whatever came, they would face it together. And once the storm had passed, they would rebuild together too. He didn’t know how they would make it work. Only that they had to try.
He wanted this soft-hearted, brave woman to be his.
Officially.
Permanently.
He could only hope that after the storm she wanted him as much too.
Chapter 23
‘How are you holding up?’ Markus asked Nina as soon as Mav, Sierra and Benji left for the weekly staff meeting.
Nina didn’t tear up. She was too tired to even cry. But she replied honestly. ‘Not great.’ She rested both arms on the kitchen table. ‘I’m scared. And angry. And in love for the first time. But, mostly, I’m exhausted.’
