Chapter 37 #2
I pound on the door to Maggie’s apartment. “Maggie! Please come talk to me. I need to tell you something important, and then I promise I’ll leave you alone.”
I raise my hand to knock again, but the door opens. Only it isn’t Maggie standing there. It’s Liam.
He looks up at me, eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Why are you here?”
Swallowing hard, I try my best to offer him a smile, though it’s difficult given the fact that I want to rip the door off its hinges and tear the place apart to get to Maggie.
I know that won’t end well, though, so I stuff my shaking hands into my pockets and clear my throat. “I need to talk to your mom.”
He shakes his head slowly. “I’m not sure she wants to talk to you.
She told me we wouldn’t be seeing you anymore.
And even though she thought she was being quiet, I heard her on the phone telling you she can’t see you anymore.
” His eyes narrow more, and he crosses his arms over his chest. “I know you were dating my mom.” He lifts his chin like he’s daring me to contradict him.
I rub the back of my neck, mind racing as I try to figure out the best way to respond to this. “Do you?”
He nods emphatically. “I saw the video of you kissing her on the cheek at the baseball game. And I saw you kiss at that barbecue you took me to.” He shrugs one shoulder.
“Plus, my dad told me.” Shaking his head, he lets his arms drop.
“I didn’t care. You seem nice. And you brought her to pick me up that one time so I wouldn’t be left waiting by myself at my dad’s house. ”
My throat seizes at the forlorn quality in his voice as he says that. “Your mom didn’t want you to feel abandoned,” I tell him. “We were together, and it was important to her that she get to you as quickly as possible. I wanted to make that happen.”
His eyes narrow again. “Why?”
“Because your mom’s important to me. And you’re important to her. So making sure she can take care of you is also important to me.”
That seems to be the right answer because he finally relaxes out of the suspicious stare. “I dunno why she didn’t just tell me you were her boyfriend,” he grumbles. “I’m not a baby.”
Taking a deep breath, I rub the stubble on my face.
“I think she wanted to be sure you felt okay about me as a person before telling you that. Not because she thinks you’re a baby, but to give you the space to decide what you think for yourself without being worried you’d upset her if you didn’t like me very much. ”
He tilts his head to the side, thinking that over, then shrugs. “I dunno why she thought that would matter. You seem nice, though. You took us to the movies. And you drive a cool car.”
I can’t help grinning at that. “Thanks. I’m glad you think so.” But my smile falls when I glance at my phone and see that Liam and I have been talking for several minutes. It’s not like Maggie to let Liam answer the door and talk to some random person for this long. “Where’s your mom?”
Shifting on his feet, he pulls a guilty face.
“She’s been crying in her bathroom for a while.
When I asked her why, she just said she was sad.
But it was after she said we wouldn’t be seeing you anymore.
” He frowns, confusion pulling at his features.
“I thought you must’ve said you didn’t want to see her anymore. But then why are you here?”
Swallowing hard, I shake my head. “Something happened, and I’m not sure what. I think it has to do with her job. Can you go get her for me? I just want to make sure she’s okay.”
The kid must be pretty concerned too because he doesn’t hesitate. “brB.” And then he disappears, leaving the door cracked behind him.
I’m tempted to step inside, but I stop myself. I’ll save that for if she refuses to leave her bathroom.
Fortunately, I don’t have to wait long. Maggie steps outside sniffling and red eyed, but with her chin raised, her back against the door like she’s barricading her home with her body, her arms crossed, and a tissue clutched in her fist. “I think I was pretty clear on the phone.” Her voice is quiet but firm, no hint of shaking.
God, this woman kills me. Her strength is admirable, and all I want to do is wrap her in my arms and take care of her forever.
“Please tell me what’s going on,” I beg, my voice just as quiet, just as steady.
Her eyes close for a moment, and she exhales softly. “Jack …” This time her voice cracks, and that almost unmans me.
“Maggie,” I whisper. “Please. Did your ex threaten to take away Liam because you have a boyfriend? Because surely no judge would give him more custody considering he doesn’t even use what he gets.
And he can’t make any kind of reasonable case that you’re refusing to give him access when you’re the one filing and the one with all the receipts.
” The shake of her head is almost imperceptible. “Then what is it?”
“Jack, please, I just …”
“What, Maggie? I love you, and I know you feel the same way. So what happened? Is it your job?” She doesn’t answer, though her lips tremble, and that makes me think I’m on the right track.
“What did he do?” I do my best to keep my voice soft and steady like before, but there’s a harshness to the question that I can’t help.
She closes her eyes again, tears escaping down her cheeks, and I can’t hold myself back anymore.
Closing the distance between us, I wrap her in my arms, and thank god, she lets me.
She collapses against my chest, arms unwinding from around herself, fingers clutching my shirt that’s rapidly growing damp with her tears.
I stroke her hair, her back, and make soft shushing noises.
I hate seeing her like this, and I’m already planning how to find her boss and eviscerate him.
Or at least punch a few of his teeth out.
Maggie’s mentioned that he has dreams of getting picked up by a network like her ex.
Somehow I don’t think a broken nose and missing teeth will help with that.
“What did he do?” I repeat, this time more gently.
Sniffing, she pulls away, wiping her nose with the tissue in her hand. “He found out about us.”
That’s not really surprising. He must keep tabs on gossip about players as much as he does games, and we’ve been photographed together several times now. But she knew that was going to happen all along. “Okay,” I say slowly, hoping she fills in exactly why that’s bad.
“He wants me to use my connection to you to feed him gossip about your team. About you, your teammates, their families. Anything. Everything. Anything he can blow out of proportion and use to make you look like shit. He’s pissed your PR office strong-armed him into taking down your interview—if you can even call it that.
Yeah, they paid him, but he’s convinced that piece would’ve gotten him bigger and better deals. ”
I snort. “Fat chance of that. No organization would go anywhere near him. The Emeralds did him a favor.”
She dips her head in a nod. “Try convincing him of that.” She sucks in a shaky breath.
“I’ve been looking for another job for months, but between the rumors Kyle spread about me and the taint from Brock’s show …
” She shakes her head. “No one wants me,” she whispers.
“And if I don’t tell Brock what he wants to hear, he’ll fire me. ”
“So you broke up with me because then you wouldn’t have a source of information, and your job would be safe.” It all makes sense now.
Nodding, she spreads her hands. “I didn’t know what else to do.”
The fucked up thing is, I can totally see him firing her for breaking up with me. Even if she lies and says I dumped her, the fact that she doesn’t have access to me anymore could be enough for a fucker like that.
“I’m gonna sue him. I’m going to go after him for everything I can. And I’m going to have my legal team dig up every slightly inaccurate piece of reporting he’s ever done and convince all those people to sue him too. When I’m done with him, there won’t be anything left.”