CHAPTER FOUR
MADDIE
“Y ou don’t have to agree to this,” Troy started as he backed out of the parking spot, “but I’d like to personally escort you to your parents’ house so you can pack some things for a little trip. Grace, too.”
“A trip ?” Now hardly seemed like the time for a vacation.
“After what I’ve seen, I don’t think you’re safe staying without personal protection.” He paused in the parking lot as he switched to drive, but he didn’t move forward. Instead, he looked over at me. “It’s your choice. But I’m recommending three thousand percent that you get out of town so we can develop a security plan without him on our asses. A friend of mine has a cabin just outside of town that we can use. It’s far enough away that he won’t be able to find us. There’s no risk of him ruining another meal.”
My head spun. I’d gone from normal divorcee to the subject in a bad breakup film. Jericho’s friends were busting people with baseball bats now? Nothing made sense. Except for Troy.
He made a lot of sense. His even-keeled, calm demeanor, even in the face of danger, felt like a warm, flickering fire in the middle of a cold night. I wanted to cozy up next to him and stay as long as he’d let me.
“I-I can’t just up and leave…”
He nodded, the first flash of doubt crossing his face. He looked genuinely torn as he studied the other cars in the parking lot.
“Do your parents have a spare room?” he asked.
I laughed, but I could tell he wasn’t joking.
“I’ve seen a lot, Maddie.” His throat bobbed as he looked over at me. The dim glow from the lights in the parking lot illuminated the handsome features of his face. His dark eyes drank me in, and for a moment the rest of the world fell away. “He’s upgraded to leaving marks on you. He showed up at a restaurant with friends ready to beat somebody down. And they tried. If I’d been anyone else who didn’t know how to handle the situation, I’d probably be headed to the ER right now. Based on his current behavior, I wouldn’t put it past him to hurt you—or Grace—next.”
His words sank into me, bringing the fear back to the forefront. I’d never worried that he’d hurt me, or Grace. But now? After tonight? I could see it happening. Even though I wanted to believe that he was ready to quietly accept the divorce and move on with his life.
“I’m sorry,” he said quietly, reaching for my hand again. He stroked it like we’d been together for years—not like we were two technical strangers. That was the dizzying affect Troy had on me. “I don’t mean to upset you. But this is the reality of the situation, and you need to know. This is part of my job.”
I nodded, allowing the truth to settle inside me. I was no longer in normal breakup territory with Jericho. He’d pushed it into something sinister and scary. “You’re right. I’ll go back to my parents’ house and get things packed up.” I reached for the door handle, but he grabbed my wrist.
“I’ll drive. I don’t want you out of my sight right now.”
I sank back into the seat, his words warming me. He rolled into motion, and I gave him directions on how to maneuver through Louisville to my parents’ house. I had him wait in the car in the driveway, partly as a way so I could get my bearings. Was I really about to run away with this man I hardly knew? Surely I would be fine here with my mom and dad.
But maybe I didn’t want to spend the next few days without Troy.
I called Mercedes as I hurriedly packed my and Grace’s things. She answered on the third ring.
“Is everything okay?” she asked.
“As okay as it can be, considering your unhinged brother.” We tried to make it a joke that she was related to him, but the soft sigh told me the joke hadn’t landed like it normally did.
“I was worried about that. Is Trojan there with you?”
“He is. He intercepted Jericho and Caleb and two of their friends in the parking lot outside the restaurant. They brought a baseball bat and Troy took a couple blows. But he scared them off and now we’re heading out of town.”
“Oh my God. You were right about the unhinged part. Where are you guys heading?”
“I don’t know yet. It’s some place Troy suggested.” I nibbled on my lip as I assessed the quick suitcase I’d thrown together. “Am I crazy to go with him? We’re going to pick up Grace once I get everything packed.”
“Honestly? No. I’d trust that man with my life. He and Seven are the smartest, most trustworthy men I’ve ever met.” Mercedes added off to the side, “Of course except for you , Bear. I’m talking to Maddie about bodyguards.”
I laughed softly. “Tell him not to worry, we all know he’s your number one.”
“Now that I’m pregnant he’s extra territorial,” she said with a little giggle.
“Believe me, I noticed.” I zipped my suitcase, cradling the phone between my ear and shoulder. “Well, as long as you don’t think I’m crazy for running off into the night with a man like Troy, then I think that’s what I’m about to do.”
“That man helped save Trace and his brothers from prison time. Trust me when I say: you have the green light, from all of us here in New York.”
I hung up the phone and pocketed it, feeling a particular sort of sadness. Part of me wanted to be back in New York too. But it just didn’t seem possible. My entire life was in Kentucky. What reason would I have for moving to New York that made any ounce of sense?
Maybe just because you want to.
I pushed the thoughts away, checking the bedroom one final time to make sure I hadn’t forgotten anything important for Grace or myself. As soon as I stepped out the front door, Troy practically tumbled out of the car to relieve me from the hassle of the suitcase.
“I’ll take this,” he said, easily plucking it from me.
I thanked him and slipped into the passenger side of the Jeep, thinking about our next steps when I realized something important: we didn’t have Grace’s booster seat. It was still in my car at the restaurant. Once Troy was back in the driver’s seat, I told him, “I made a major mistake. I forgot to grab Grace’s booster, and we need it for her to ride in the car. Can we go back?”
My insides clenched waiting for his response. All I could hear was Jericho’s voice in my head: what a fucking waste of time! Why didn’t you think of this before? You couldn’t have told me before?
Instead of echoing what I heard in my head, Troy just nodded.
“Of course. That’s easy.”
I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. Such simple words that dissolved my anxiety. Did he realize how helpful he was?
I looked over at him, watching the shadows shift across his face as we drove through traffic. “Thanks, Troy.” Thanks wasn’t strong enough of a word, but I wasn’t sure how to convey to him just how grateful I was.
He cast me an easy grin. “It’s my pleasure, Maddie.”
The drive back to the restaurant was unnaturally quick, likely due to all the thoughts careening through my head. When we pulled into the parking lot, he swore under his breath as he slowed to a stop behind my car.
“That fucker,” he muttered.
“What?”
“Look at your tires.”
I connected the dots as he was saying the words. My car sat lower than normal, thanks to the four slashed tires it now sported. I covered my mouth as I stared out the window.
“He’s never gone this far before,” I whispered.
“Even more reason for you and Grace to not to be anywhere he might be able to find you.” He sighed heavily, putting the car into park. “Is the booster in the back seat? I’ll go grab it, just unlock the door for me.”
“I can get it—”
“Maddie.” He sent me a stern look, but the corners of his lips curled. “You gotta know by now that while you’re with me, you’re not lifting a finger.”
I fished my keys out of my purse and clicked the car to unlock, biting back a little smile as he headed for the backseat and tugged the booster out. Something in his gait looked off; I studied him as closely as I could but he was back to the Jeep before I could make a determination.
“You ready for this jelly?”
“If the jelly is runaway-flavored, I guess so.”
He cracked a heartbreaker grin as he rolled into motion. “I’ll be honest, I wasn’t expecting you to make a jelly flavor joke like that, and I’m not prepared with a good comeback. But just know, I’m much wittier in usual circumstances.”
And just like that, even more of the tension of the night snapped. I grinned over at him, remembering how easily that night at Seven and Jordan’s had disappeared for us. Like this.
“If you can’t be level ten witty in the wake of being attacked by a guy with a baseball bat, then…” I drifted off, shaking my head. He looked like he was holding in laughter. “Then I think I’m going to have to runaway to someone else’s cabin.”
His shoulders shook with laughter. “Okay. I’ll drop you off at another bodyguard’s house.”
Poking fun at the situation really helped to lessen some of the anxiety. The car ride progressed like that—banter tempered with questions from Grace and the occasional moments of easygoing silence.
“How does your leg feel?” I asked him.
He shrugged. “Fine. Why do you ask?”
“You took a baseball bat to the knee.”
“Nah, I’m good.”
“I don’t believe you.” That would explain the hint of a limp I’d seen. Or maybe I’d only thought I’d seen it. “That had to have hurt.”
“I’ve experienced worse, I promise.” He flashed me a smile that told me to drop it, because I wouldn’t get the answer I wanted out of him. “You don’t have to worry about me, Maddie.”
“But maybe I want to?”
He looked over at me, and even in the darkness I could see the question marks in his gaze. There was something heavy behind my words that even I wasn’t sure I’d intended. But there it was.
The truth of the matter.
If he’d chosen me to protect…then I could choose him to worry about.
Even though I wanted to do a lot more with him than just worry.