Chapter 28
Twenty-Eight
Maggie woke to Mitch screaming Brayden’s name.
She shook off the cobwebs and sat up, trying to get her bearings.
Something was wrong. Mitch didn’t yell like that.
She went into the bathroom to get washed and dressed as fast as she could and went out into the kitchen to find Mitch and Derek there, both looking grim.
“What’s wrong?” Part of her didn’t want to know. She didn’t want anything to dim the light that burned so brightly inside her after a magnificent evening with the man she loved.
“Brayden is gone.”
“Gone where?” she asked, confused.
The two men exchanged glances that took Maggie’s nerves to the breaking point. “Will one of you please tell me what the hell is going on?”
“There was stuff online,” Mitch said haltingly, seeming pained by every word. “Someone he was in juvie with recognized him in a photo—”
In two seconds, Maggie put the pieces together. “Where’d he go?”
“Took off on Sunday about ten minutes ago.”
“Derek, help me get Thunder ready. Hurry.” While he headed for the door, Maggie ran back to her apartment and shoved her feet into riding boots, jammed her phone into her back pocket and was running through the kitchen thirty seconds later.
“Be careful, Maggie,” Mitch called after her.
She waved to indicate she’d heard him. Derek, bless him, had Thunder waiting for her in the driveway. He held the reins while she swung up into the saddle.
“He went that way,” Derek said, pointing to the trail behind the stables. “Probably headed for the back road off the property.”
“Thank you.” She directed Thunder and gave him his head, hoping the old guy still had gas in his tank, because they were going to need all the gas they could get, not to mention all the love in the world to get Brayden through this.
And she would get him through it, because there was no way she was going to lose him.
No way in hell.
She rode like her life depended on it, because it did. Life without Brayden was unimaginable after the blissful weeks they’d spent together.
Thunder gave her everything he had and more than she would’ve imagined possible, and within fifteen minutes, she caught sight of Brayden ahead of her, heading toward the property line, where a gate stood between him and freedom.
Thankfully, he had to dismount to open the gate, which gave her the chance to catch up to him. “Brayden, stop.”
He didn’t look at her or in any way acknowledge that she was there or had spoken.
Maggie leaned over and grabbed Sunday’s reins, a risky move that nearly unseated her. She managed to barely escape a bad fall by a matter of inches but held on tight to Brayden’s horse, knowing he’d never leave without Sunday.
An hour ago, she would’ve bet her life he wouldn’t leave without her, either. She would’ve been wrong about that.
“Let her go, Maggie.”
“Not until you talk to me.”
“Nothing to say.” He never looked at her or even glanced in her direction, devastation and heartbreak radiating from him.
“Brayden, please. We can get through this.”
“Are you insane? We cannot ‘get through this.’ My life is ruined, and I’ll be damned if I’ll take you down with me. Now give me my fucking horse and go home. There’s nothing more to say.”
“I have something else to say.” Maggie forced herself to bite back the pain at his harshly spoken words.
“I love you. I’m completely and totally in love with you, and there’s nothing you could want or need that I wouldn’t try to find a way to get for you.
My sister and Buddy will know what to do.
They handle shit like this all the time.
Please don’t go. Let’s fight our way through this.
When people hear your side of the story—”
“No.” He said the single word so emphatically that it reverberated through her like a shotgun blast.
“That’s it? Just no?”
He finally looked at her. “What will your father say when he finds out you’re sleeping with a man who nearly killed someone?”
“When he finds out why, he’ll understand. Everyone will.”
Brayden shook his head and ran a trembling hand over the stubble on his jaw. “They won’t get it, and everything you and your sister and brother-in-law are building here will be ruined, Maggie.”
She took a chance and let go of Sunday before dismounting Thunder, who was still breathing hard and sweating. She’d take care of him as soon as she got through to Brayden. Approaching him the way she would a horse who hadn’t been tamed, she put her hands on his chest and looked up at him.
“I love you.”
He closed his eyes, exhaled and dropped his forehead to rest against hers. “Let me go, Maggie. It’s what’s best for you.”
Relieved to see some of the fight go out of him, she said, “I love you. We’ll figure it out. Stay with me.”
He didn’t say yes, but he didn’t move to leave, either.
Maggie held on to him with one hand while she pulled her phone from her pocket and called Kate.
“Thank God you called. My publicist called me an hour ago. I’ve been trying to reach you ever since.”
“My phone must’ve been on vibrate. I didn’t hear it. We need your help and Buddy’s and anyone else you can rally.”
“Is it true? Did he nearly kill a man?”
“He did, but when you hear the whole story, you’ll know why. Please trust me on this, Kate.”
“I do trust you, and I’ve already asked my publicist and Buddy’s to come here immediately. Buddy and Taylor are coming, too. How soon can you get here?”
“Less than an hour.”
“We’ll be here.”
Maggie remembered her car was at Kate’s and didn’t think Brayden was in any condition to drive them in his truck. “Do me a favor? Send Ashton to get us and tell him to hurry.”
“I will. And, Maggie, you should know. I’ve already heard from Dad. I tried to talk him out of coming here, but you know how he is.”
Maggie closed her eyes, having little doubt her dad was already en route. “Yeah, I do. I’ll see you soon.”
“Your dad is coming here,” Brayden said in a dead-sounding tone. “Because he’s freaking out about your new boyfriend being a violent felon. You don’t need to put yourself through this, Maggie. Let me go. I promised you if it ever got untenable between us, I’d leave. Let me keep my promise to you.”
“No.”
“Just no?”
She looked up at him, hoping he could see how much she loved him. “Just no.” Taking hold of both his hands, she looked into the tortured face of the man who’d become the most important person in her life. “Fight, Brayden. Fight for you, for me. Fight for us.”
He gave the subtlest of reluctant nods, but that was all she needed.
Aware that she’d won the first battle in a war that was only just beginning, she said, “Let’s go home.”
After turning over the horses to Derek to be cared for, they embarked on a tense, silent ride with Ashton in the Mercedes Kate had bought for Jill, which, unlike Ashton’s car, had a backseat.
It was hard to believe that less than twelve hours ago, Brayden and Ashton had been messing with each other the way longtime friends did.
Now they were both rigidly quiet while Maggie sat in the back, trying to stay calm and focused for her sake and Brayden’s.
Judging by the extra cars in the driveway, the people Kate had summoned had already arrived. Maggie also recognized Buddy’s black Escalade.
Her stomach was in her throat as she took hold of Brayden’s hand and followed Ashton inside.
Everyone was in the great room, where Kate sat on the sofa with Poppy while Reid stood behind her, looking every bit as tense as his son. Ashton went to Jill, who’d been pacing the big room, and put his arms around her to keep her still.
Maggie realized her brother-in-law and future brother-in-law had gone into protector mode, looking out for her, even if she didn’t need their protection.
She was one million percent sure she had nothing to fear from Brayden, that no one had anything to fear from him.
Now she just had to convince everyone else of that.
Without her morning jolt of caffeine, she was running on desperation and certainty that fighting for Brayden, his reputation and their relationship was worth any sacrifice she had to make.
“I’ll give you the highlights.” Maggie spoke for him because she sensed he was in no condition to speak for himself after being so blindsided.
“Brayden has always had a special affinity for horses and a natural way with them, dating back to his earliest childhood. He and his mother lived on his grandfather’s ranch.
His grandfather taught him everything he knows about horses and instilled in him a love for them along with a healthy respect for them.
He taught him to trust his instincts and follow his gut when it came to horses and life.
His grandfather died when Brayden was thirteen.
A short time later, his mother fell for and married a former rodeo star and brought him home to live on the ranch, thinking he could help them keep their heads above water.
“Brayden took an immediate dislike to Clive. Every instinct he had told him his stepfather was a bad man, but his mother needed the help and fancied herself in love with the guy, so Brayden made himself scarce around the place, coming home only to care for the horses. When he was fifteen, he came home one day after school to find Clive beating the horses with a bullwhip. He was giving special attention to the horse that had belonged to Brayden’s grandfather because he knew that horse was Brayden’s favorite.
He’d timed his attack for when he knew Brayden would be there to care for the horses and made sure he’d see them suffering. ”
Kate wiped away tears while Jill shook her head in dismay.
Buddy muttered, “Son of a bitch,” under his breath.