“That’s what I hear.”
“Not that it would matter anyway if you had it your way.”
Richard sighed. “I don’t know how to do this, you know? I’ve never had the luxury of just…letting go and having a good time.”
“Seems like you were doing that pretty well while you were with Ava.”
A chuckle sounded at Richard’s throat, taking even him by surprise. “You’re right. But…even when Mom and Dad were alive, I felt this odd need to, I don’t know, balance things out. All I mean is that, I knew enough about life to know that ours wasn’t normal. I felt like I had to push Mom and Dad to lay off the work and the nannies and just spend time with us, like a real family. It’s a pressure I put on myself, I know that, but that doesn’t change how intense it was. And then when they died…”
Now it was something else getting caught in his throat. Emotions that he hadn’t let himself dwell on. Even when Ava rushed out of his life three days ago. Well, that wasn’t exactly true; he’d channeled enough anger to last him years. But the sorrow, the grief, the loss…he hadn’t dived into those yet.
A vision of the caskets came to mind: his and hers, side by side. “I never imagined losing them at the same time, and definitely not while they were so young. Dad hadn’t even retired yet. I vowed to keep the whole family together during the funeral. But I didn’t know how hard that would be. We were all grieving in our own way, trying to fill this giant hole of a void withthings.New penthouses, fast cars, different jobs. Anything but each other. Anything but memories we didn’t know what to do with.
“And then one day it all blew up. We got shoved into hiding, you guys opted out, and I was certain that you were going to meet your death. Either way I had to come to grips with…” A flare of heat filled his chest. His bottom lip quivered the slightest bit. “I had to bury you in my mind. You and Memphis both. Whether you survived or not, we’d never be able to see or talk to you again.” He fixed his gaze on him as tears pricked his eyes. “How could you do that? How could you pick that frivolous lifestyle over your only surviving family?”
“I had Memphis,” he said.
Richard shook his head. “I haven’t forgiven you for that yet.”
Maverick’s face went sour. “Youhaven’t forgivenme?”
“It’s probably why I’ve been so cold to you.”
“Huh.” Maverick stared at him for a long while. “I was stupid,” he said. “I know I came in here acting all cool and like it was no big deal that those guys came after us. But dude, that shook. Me. Up.”
“Good,” Richard said.
“I mean, Memphis didn’t want to go off on our own. He tried forever to talk me out of it. And then we get Ava to come along with us, and I thought I was invincible or something.” He paused there and scratched at his jaw. “And then I almost got everyone killed. Do you know what was going through my mind as I sped away from those guys?”
Richard shook his head.
“A prayer. A desperate one. God, don’t letmebe the reason these guys die. That’s all I could think. Because it was in that moment that I realized that they were all in that place at that time because of me.”
A deep sense of relief fell over Richard as he took it all in. Hehadcome to his senses after all. “It’s a heavy feeling.”
“You said it,” Maverick added with a nod. He cleared his throat. “When did you know you were falling for her?”
Richard cringed. “Probably back on day two, when I found out that she was not only beautiful beyond belief but she was also an accountant.”
“I knew you’d find that sexy,” Maverick grumbled.
“In my defense, I was prepared to…to step back if you wanted me to. I was going to see if you wanted to take her into town to get the supplies she needed and to look at apartments. But then you got bucked off the horse, wound up in bed, and—”
“And you swept in and took the girl.”
“Woman,” Richard corrected.
Maverick nodded. “Woman. But, uh, I don’t know why I’m so salty. She never liked me like that. In fact, she wouldn’t so much as let me touch her. Not even like a friend, you know? A back pat or an elbow nudge. It was like I repulsed her or something. Had she not been so reassuring inotherways, I might have really thought I did.”
“Yeah,” Richard said. “I actually noticed that she was that way at first too. Unusually so.” It got him thinking. “What was she like with you guys at the transition facility? She never once mentioned that she had a boyfriend?”
“No.” Maverick shook his head. “But she was…” His face pinched as he considered. “Guarded. Quiet. Scared.”
“Scared?” Richard gave that some thought. “I mean, the mafia…having to start life over. Yeah, that makes sense.”
“I tried to see if I could pry a little something from the counselor she was always talking to, but no bueno.”
“The counselor?” Richard lifted a brow.
