Chapter 24
Ian
My hands run up and down Maggie’s back from where she’s half sprawled on top of me.
Her slow, steady breathing has the rage making turbulent waves through my body starting to calm.
After we ate dinner, I convinced her to put the coffee down and have a glass of wine to relax.
Then I turned on a movie, and now I’m unsure if she’s even awake anymore.
Which is perfectly fine with me. Having her against me is precisely what I need.
I wanted to ask her so many questions. But I didn’t.
We have plenty of time for that. She has every reason not to trust men after what her ex put her through, so the fact that she told me about something so shameful and terrifying for her is so precious to me.
I’ll never take for granted that I was the one she trusted with her past. And no matter what else may come out, I’ll still care about her just as much as I do now.
My hand rests on the back of her head, her hair soft on my palm. I press a kiss to the top of her head, and she snuggles into me more with a sigh.
There’s one thing that I need to know.
“Are you awake?” I ask softly.
“Hmm,” is her sleepy confirmation.
“I have a question.”
Her head rises, and her stormy green eyes find mine when she rests her chin on my chest. “What is it?”
“You don’t have to tell me what it is, but is your first name really Maggie?” There’s no way they let her keep her last name, but I’m not sure about her first name.
She gives a soft laugh. “My name is Maggie. They recommended keeping my first name. They said it’s a lot easier that way, so you don’t draw attention to yourself by not answering to your new name.”
“Huh, I never thought about that, but that actually makes a lot of sense.” I scratch my fingers into her hair and caress her scalp. She shifts her head to give me better access, and her eyes close once again. “I can’t even begin to tell you how much it means to me that you trusted me with this.”
When her gaze returns to mine, she has a sad smile that breaks me a little. “I know it’s a lot. And it’s still very much my reality, since it isn’t over, but I’m so glad you’re sticking around.”
“I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”
Maggie’s smile grows. “Can we go to bed?”
“Absolutely.”
She rolls to the side, and we sit up. Before she can move to get off the couch, I pull her onto my lap, holding her close to me and gripping the back of her thighs. “Hold on tight, beautiful.”
When her arms wrap around my shoulders and she’s secure enough, I stand, and her legs tighten around my waist, pressing the heat from her core against my stomach.
A gasp flies past her lips as I jostle her into place, turning into a laugh. “Ian! Put me down! I’m too heavy!”
My hand lands on her ass with a satisfying smack.
“What have I told you about saying shit like that? I can carry you wherever the fuck I want.”
She wiggles against me, and I bite back a groan. I plan on spending the rest of the night showing her exactly how much I want to be with her.
“Ian, you’re going to be late,” Maggie says with a giggle before I capture her lips in one more deep kiss.
She’s still in bed, and I’m sitting next to her with her caged in with my hands on either side of her. After my quick shower, I had to kiss her one more time before I rushed home to change and get to work.
“I don’t care,” I mutter against her lips.
Her palms push at my chest to disengage our mouths. “No, I’m not going to be blamed by your coworkers as the reason you started being a bad employee.”
I sigh as I relent. If I could call out of work, I probably would. The thought of leaving Maggie alone after what she revealed to me gives me a severe level of anxiety.
“Do you have to work today?” I ask as I study her face.
She shakes her head.
“Good, can you do me a favor and stay home today until you hear back from the marshal?”
“I can’t stay home forever.” Her tone is filled with mild frustration.
I give her a quick kiss. “I know. But just today, while they look into the call, and hopefully they’re taking this seriously and will get you a new number quickly.”
“Fine,” she replies petulantly as she pulls the blankets up to her chin. But the softness in her expression puts me at ease.
My phone vibrates in my pocket and interrupts further conversation. I dig it out of my pocket and see Tyler’s name. An annoyed growl rumbles out of me, and I look back at Maggie.
“I have to go. Please call or text me if you need anything. I’ll let you know when I’m done with work tonight. It may be late, but I’m staying with you. Or I can pick you up, and you can stay at my house. I don’t care where we are. But I want you with me.”
The corners of the lips I’m obsessed with pull up in a small smile. “Okay, be careful.”
“Always.”
With one final kiss, I leave her warm in bed. As I trudge out to my car, the sun is already up, since it’s a little past eight, and I squint against its brightness and call Tyler back.
“Hey, Ian.”
“Sorry, I missed your call.”
“It’s all good. I didn’t know if you checked your email or not, but the client changed the location of the meeting this morning.” He names a popular breakfast restaurant.
“I didn’t. Thank you for letting me know. I’ll see you shortly.”
I disconnect and climb inside my Bronco. As soon as I pull out of the parking lot, I make another call.
“Ian. It’s been a while.”
“Carlos, yeah, sorry about that. We all need to get together soon.”
“Let me know when and where, and I’ll be there. I’m assuming you’re not calling me to catch up on this glorious Thursday morning.”
Carlos Martinez is a detective with the Metro Nashville Police Department who’s become a good friend to all of us over the years. We all try to help each other whenever we can. Hopefully, he can do that today.
“Yeah, about that. I have a question for you. Do you have a contact with the US Marshals office here?”
“Uh, I can probably find one. I haven’t worked with them much, just on a couple of cases over the years. But I know a few detectives who would know someone.”
“That would be great if you could.”
“Do I want to ask what this is about?”
I hesitate to answer. I don’t know how this works. The last thing I want is for Maggie to get into trouble for telling me. I go with a half-truth. “It’s kind of a long story. I’ll explain everything later. I’m heading into work, so I don’t have time right now.”
“Gotcha. How urgent is this?”
I know Carlos recognized my answer as an avoidance tactic, but I appreciate that he didn’t push me for more information.
“Somewhat urgent.”
“You got it. I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.”
“Thanks, man. I’ll talk to you later.”
I disconnect the call and drive the rest of the way to my house, lost in thought—the need to find out more about Maggie’s ex’s case nags at me.
I don’t have enough information to look up news articles about it, but maybe I can get some more out of her tonight.
If she chooses to share more, I’ll be there for her, but forcing her just because I want to know what she’s up against seems cruel.
In due time, I’ll find out what I need to know.
There’s nothing that’s going to stop me from finding out as much as I can in order to keep her safe.
Especially since it seems like the person who’s supposed to be doing that is a fucking idiot.
Thirty minutes after getting home, I’m walking into the restaurant where we’re having a breakfast meeting with a client. Tyler stands inside the door, looking at his phone, and I clap him on the shoulder.
“Tyler, is everyone here?”
“No, not yet.”
I glance around the restaurant, trying to get my mind back on work.
“So, uh, I heard you’re seeing Maggie?”
I look back at Tyler. “Yeah, I am.”
He nods thoughtfully. “She’s great. I really like her.”
His tone tells me he has something else he wants to say. I raise my eyebrows in question.
“I hope you treat her right. I don’t want to see her hurt.”
Most people telling me not to hurt Maggie would annoy me because I would cut out my own heart before hurting her, but Tyler caring about Maggie enough to give me an unspoken warning makes me respect him more than I already did.
“You don’t have anything to worry about, Tyler. But if I do, you have my permission to punch me in the face.”
His smug grin grows at my offer. “I’ll do so. Happily.”
I bark out a laugh. “You’re a good kid.”
“I’m not a fucking kid,” he mumbles with a scowl.
At least if I need help keeping Maggie safe, I have one more person I can rely on.