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That means I’ve got maybe ten if I’m lucky.
“Don’t speed. I’ll see you when you get here.” I disconnect the call, dropping back onto my bed to shove my feet into my shoes.
“Nicky.” Daph shifts closer to the edge of the bed. “Why’s Maverick coming here?”
“He’s looking for blood. And he’s owed every drop.” Securing my laces, I turn to her, taking her face in my hands. “No matter what happens, do not come outside.”
“Nicky, no.” She grips at the fabric of my shirt, attempting to hold me in place. “She said to wait.”
“Look at me, demon. No matter what.” Pressing a kiss to her downturned lips, I linger briefly to inhale the sweet scent of strawberries before I force myself from the room.
Hurrying down the stairs, I fire off a quick text to the guards on duty that everyone is to abandon their post immediately and vacate the property until further notice. I exit the door just in time to hear the hum of his bike in the distance. The sound grows louder, steadily increasing until he finally comes into view.
“Mav,” I caution when he dismounts the bike and begins his advance toward me.
His face remains stoic, void of any flicker of human emotion as he closes the gap between us, withdrawing his weapon and training it on me.
“Come on, Mav. You’re not gonna shoo— MOTHERFUCKER!” Pain explodes in my shoulder, the momentum of the bullet sending me spinning before dropping me to a knee. Blood seeps through the fabric of my shirt as I apply pressure to the wound, any efforts at first aid promptly abandoned when Mav lines up to take the next shot.
Son of a bitch. My hand shoots up, knocking his arm to the side just as the gun discharges a second time. The bullet goes wide, striking some portion of the house behind me. I drive forward before he has the opportunity to try again, tackling him to the ground. However, somehow in the scuffle he manages to flip our positions, gaining the upper hand.
He straddles my torso, his body shifting off center when his fist cocks back, offering me an opportunity to slip his hold. And yet, as I stare up into his eyes mad with rage, I also catch a glimpse of what lies beneath—devastation.
I did this to him. It was my fears I projected out, inspiring doubt over whether he could keep her safe. It was at my insistence that he’d taken steps to end the relationship, letting her believe he’d cheated with that bitch, Amber. I knew he loved her more than I’d ever believed anyone capable, and I sabotaged them.
And I did it all knowing she was pregnant with his child. A truth he was never informed of. Not even after she lost the baby.
It’s upon that reflection that my body relaxes, forgoing all resistance as I await my fate. Mav’s fist connects with my jaw, hammering me with punches as he unleashes his wrath unto me. Each punch disorients me further until his screams about the life I robbed from him become nothing more than garbled incoherent nonsense.
At some point the hits stop coming, my eyes opening to find Mav’s face within inches of my own.
“You stole everything from me,” he whispers before his skull collides with mine.
My face feels like it shatters. I’m fairly certain my eyes are still open, though I fail to register anything around me. Maverick hops up, his weight vanishing from my body as I’m left praying my sister will forgive me when she learns the extent of my secrets.
“NO!” A scream pierces the air before a much more slender body hurls itself on top of me. Her hair drapes over my face, the scent of strawberries giving her away.
I’m vaguely aware of some exchange occurring between her and Maverick, though I can’t seem to process what either of them are saying. Not until she issues her final response.
“You want him? You put that bullet though me to get him.”
I less than three you.
“MAVERICK!” My sister’s screams alert me to her presence, catapulting the world back into focus.
My vision clears, revealing a distraught looking Daph staring down at me. She helps me up, her worried expression barely able to contain her tears as she gently strokes the hair from my face.
“He didn’t know until after.” I glance over to find my sister explaining to Maverick. “I miscarried right in front of him.”
Lies. Everything I have, everything I am, is built on a lie. It stops now.
“I knew.” Daph’s fingers still in my hair at my confession. “I knew about the baby… before the miscarriage.”
The world seems to grow silent around us as three sets of eyes come to rest upon me, giving way to the truth that spills free. I confess to how I learned of the pregnancy from Tommy while I was torturing him, and how I cut out his tongue to keep the secret.
I grow angry when Mav asks me if I gave Jones something to cause the loss of the baby, only to be devastated when J questions my role in the miscarriage as well. My sister’s pregnancy was a massive complication, but Bishop’s baby or not, that was an extension of Jones, and I would’ve protected it with my life. The fact that she thinks otherwise shows just how badly I’ve fucked everything up.
After Mav broke things off, my sister spent eleven days trying to wrap her head around becoming a single mom, while also anguishing over how she was going to tell me. Most days were a struggle for Daphne to even get her to stop crying long enough to get out of bed and shower. I could have assuaged her fears at any time by assuring her there was nothing she could do to make me hate her. I could have picked up a phone and called Maverick, who would’ve killed anyone who stood in the way of him and his unborn child. Instead, she bled out on the floor of our kitchen as she was trying to break the news to me.
