Chapter 28
Ian
Two weeks later
“Maggie, are you packed?” I call out as I open Maggie’s apartment door, letting myself in using the key she gave me last week.
“Yes! Well…sort of.” Her voice carries down the hall.
I step into her bedroom, and my eyes rove over her space. There are clothes thrown about, covering half her bed and the chair in the corner. I round the bed, where she’s folding a pair of black pants. Taking the pants from her hands, I set them back on the bed.
“Ian, what are you doing? I was folding those.”
I ignore her, wrapping my arms around her and hugging her. She melts into me, and her arms go around my waist. We stand there for a few minutes without saying a word.
Eventually, I murmur against the top of her head, “Be honest, how are you feeling right now?”
Her deep inhale has her pressing closer. “I guess a lot of things. Stressed. Scared. But unbelievably thankful you’ll be with me so I don’t have to do it alone.”
I kiss her hair. “I am, too.” Letting her go, I sit on the edge of the bed, careful not to sit on any of the clothes. “This will fly by, and it’ll be over before you know it.”
She nods, but looks skeptical. I sit quietly and let her pack up the rest of her outfits, answering the occasional question about whether something looked okay or not. Though I’m the last person she should ask since I think she looks stunning in everything. And nothing.
Maggie finishes zipping up her suitcase and pats it once. “Okay, now I’m packed.”
I stand up, lift her suitcase, and place it on the wheels while keeping any comments about how heavy it is for such a short trip to myself.
Rolling it out to the living room, I place it next to mine.
When I return to the bedroom, I find Maggie frowning down at her phone.
I walk to her side and slip my hand onto her hip. “Everything okay?”
She drops her phone to her side and looks up at me. “Yeah, that was Jenson. He’ll be here in thirty minutes.”
I kiss her forehead before guiding her out of her bedroom and down the hall. “Let’s get you a coffee.”
She sighs, and her shoulders drop an inch. “Yeah, that’ll help.”
I chuckle as I help her onto a barstool, then set about making coffee for her while keeping an eye on her. I’m concerned about her. This is uncharted territory for me, but I’m determined to be the man she needs as she faces these demons. Literally faces them. In court.
She’s sitting silently, doing something on her phone.
I lean against the counter with my arms crossed and just watch her.
The last two weeks have been interesting.
If we weren’t at work, we spent every minute together.
And when I was at work, Jack and Nate worked diligently to ensure that all our employees were aware of the changes in ownership.
They also ensured that I felt they took this seriously by including me in things I usually haven’t been, which I appreciated.
The one thing I wish I could’ve done was talk to Pamela. She’s been out of town, first at a conference, then she and her family took an extended vacation.
All the work she and I have done has helped me handle situations in more productive ways, unlike how I did before, which was generally marked by anger and silence.
But I still have years of unhealthy coping mechanisms to overcome, and a year in therapy isn’t enough to fix them all.
I’ve felt myself slipping back into old habits when the pressure gets too heavy.
Maggie has helped pull me back out, even without realizing she was doing it.
But it isn’t enough, nor can I use her as a crutch.
Especially not right now, while she needs me to be strong for her.
When the coffee is done, I doctor it up the way she likes it and set the cup in front of her. Her tired eyes find mine, and my heart clenches.
“Thanks, babe.”
My lips pull up. No one I’ve ever been with called me anything other than my name. It makes me irrationally happy that Maggie is the first person to use any terms of endearment with me. That’s also a new development that’s occurred over the last two weeks.
“You’re welcome, beautiful.” I take the stool next to her and am about to open my mouth to ask her questions about Chicago, when there’s a knock at the door. Maggie tenses and her features fall. My fingertips graze her back. “I’ll get it.”
Her only response is a jerky nod.
When I pull open the door, I immediately recognize who’s standing outside.
All those times I saw a man coming and going from Maggie’s apartment, thinking it was her boyfriend, and it was this asshole.
My stare hardens for the sheer fact that I hate how he’s treated Maggie and that I ever thought he was with her, even if I was completely incorrect.
He glares right back. As he addresses Maggie, his narrowed eyes stay on me. “Maggie, what the fuck is he doing here?”
“I’m coming.”
“He’s coming.”
Maggie and I speak at the same time.
Jenson pushes past me. “Abso-fucking-lutely not.”
I step to the side and block his path, not wanting him any closer to Maggie. “I’m coming to Chicago. End of story.”
I’ll give it to the idiot. He doesn’t back down, even though I’m significantly bigger than he is. He moves closer until he’s inches from me. “Listen, lover boy, that isn’t how this works. You can’t just come with us. This is confidential official business.”
I smirk. “See, that’s where you’re wrong. Do you know a Ken Simpson?”
Jenson’s eyes widen in surprise, and he takes a step back, but stays quiet.
“Of course, you do. That’s your superior here in Nashville.” I close the distance between us again. “Well, funny story, I know someone who knows him, and I explained the situation, and he got it cleared for me to accompany Maggie to Chicago as her personal security team.”
He scoffs. “Personal security, my ass. Besides, he would have told me if you were.”
I shrug, as if I couldn’t care less, because frankly, I don’t. “Not my problem that your boss didn’t tell you something. I will be on that flight.”
Jenson yanks his phone out of his pocket and storms out the door.
As I pivot back toward the kitchen, Maggie watches me with an indiscernible expression. I’m unsure if she’s mad at me for pushing back with Jenson.
Before I can ask, the corners of her lips pull up in a sexy smirk. “That was kinda hot.”
I bark out a laugh and stalk over to her, placing a loud kiss on her mouth. “Save that thought for later tonight.”
She bites her bottom lip. “I can assure you. I’ll save that thought for tonight and probably for weeks to come.”
I shake my head with a chuckle, picking up her cup. “Do you want some more coffee?”
“No, not right now.”
While we wait for Jenson to return, I start cleaning up the mess I made while making the coffee.
I owe Carlos big time. When he called me with the name and phone number of his marshal contact, I didn’t know what to expect.
But when I spoke to Ken and explained the situation and the company I worked for, he shocked the hell out of me when he said he was familiar with Nash.
He told me he couldn’t guarantee he could get it approved, but said he would try.
And that was more than I could have hoped for.
I was floored when he called back and told me that I would be able to go as Maggie’s security, which was perfectly fine by me since that was what I intended to be anyway.
The most interesting thing he told me was that Jenson lied.
There’s no rule about someone in Witness Protection being able to date.
I’m not sure what I’m going to do with that information, but I do know I’m going to keep a close eye on Jenson.
I trust him even less than before, when I just thought he was a shitty marshal.
The door slams back open, and Jenson reenters, looking more pissed and disgruntled than he did when he got here.
“Get your shit. We have a plane to catch,” he snaps.
Maggie hops off the barstool and holds out her hand for me to take. I waste no time in doing as she silently requested. Grabbing our suitcases, we follow a steaming mad Jenson downstairs and across the parking lot to his blacked-out SUV.
Once I get Maggie buckled in the backseat, I climb in beside her, blowing out a calming breath.
We just have to get through the next few days, then we can focus on figuring out the future for us.
Only a few more days.