I linger in the doorway, staring at her small frame curled under the blanket.My secret.My heart.My everything.And Maverick’s shadow looms closer than ever.
I close the door and head to the kitchen.I pack the dishwasher and pick up Ivy’s crayons and toys in the living room before I have nothing left to do.I head to my room, my phone buzzing.
Ethan:I hope you and Ivy enjoyed dinner last night.I was thinking maybe the three of us could do something this weekend.Just us.A family.
My chest tightens.I stare at the screen until the words blur, but my thumbs won’t move.Because no matter how hard I try, my mind isn’t on Ethan.It’s on Maverick.And the truth that’s clawing its way out of the dark, whether I’m ready or not.
I close my eyes, whispering into the silence, “Please, God.Don’t let him find out.”
But deep down, I already knew.He’s heard enough to start putting the pieces together.And once Maverick Hall started swinging, nothing in the world could stop him.
Chapter Nine
Fatherhood?
Maverick
I don’t sleep.Not one single fucking second.
Every time I shut my eyes, I see her face when Skye said the name.I hear it echoing in my head, over and over.Ivy.And then I remember the car seat, the pink fabric, the crayon.A whole life I’d never been part of.She could be my kid.
I paced my apartment half the night, chain-smoking, clenching and unclenching my fists until they ached.Trying to find some excuse, some reason why it couldn’t be true.But the math was too clean, the timeline too perfect.
She was mine.And Zora kept her from me.
By the time dawn bleeds gray across the sky, I’m done pacing and done wondering.I need answers.
****
I’m at House of Inkbefore the sun is fully up, sitting in the shadows of my booth like a loaded gun, waiting.My stomach churns, my skin buzzing with something I can’t shake.Rage.Fear.Loss.All twisted together.
When the door finally opens, Zora steps inside, camera bag slung over her shoulder, her hair pulled back in a messy knot.She freezes when she sees me.
“Maverick,” she breathes, wary, like I’m a storm she hoped would blow past.
I stand, every muscle coiled tight.“We need to talk.”
