Chapter 36
thirty-six
JO
The wind was coming in with the tide. Ezra warned me that a storm was coming, but I couldn’t stay in that house for another minute.
More accurately, I couldn’t stand to be around Ezra for another minute.
Every moment he let me in, let me see the Ezra behind the carefully crafted mask, I understood.
Understood what Maverick saw in him and understood that he’s a much better match for Mav than I am.
Not that Maverick ever saw me as an option.
All he ever saw was Ezra. Even in his sleep.
I never told him, but sometimes I would hear him whimpering Ezra’s name in the middle of the night.
“Jo!”
I sigh, ignoring the sting in my eyes and against my cheeks from the cold, wet wind.
“Leave me alone, Ezra! I’ll be up before high tide!” I don’t bother turning around. I hope he trips going back up the nightmare stairs.
“Angel.”
My head whips around at the voice, now much closer.
“Maverick!” I scream, scrambling to my feet and throwing myself into his arms. He catches me easily, and I wrap myself around him. I’m sobbing into his shoulder before I even realize tears have formed. I pull back enough to look at him. There’s just as many tears in his eyes, but he’s smiling.
“Hi, angel,” he says before burying his face in my neck and hugging me tighter. “I missed you. I was so scared.”
“How did you find us?”
“Gavin told me. I kept calling him on the emergency line he gave Kai until he told me where you were.”
My heart sinks a little, knowing he was probably freaking out over losing Ezra for a second time after just finding him again.
But I also know he genuinely cares for me and would have tried to get to me, too.
It’s just going to be really hard to bury my feelings for him while he reconnects with his lost love.
“Wait. If you’re here, does that mean we can leave?” I ask, failing to keep the hope from my voice.
Maverick sighs, releasing his hold on me and letting me slide down his body. He keeps one arm around my waist as he shakes his head.
“Harrison and Gavin found where Patrick was hiding.”
“And he wasn’t there?” I guess.
“He wasn’t but, Jo, you were.”
I frown. “What do you mean by that?”
Maverick takes a deep breath, like he’s trying to calm himself.
“His entire apartment was covered in pictures of you. All of them were taken from a distance and definitely without anyone knowing about it. He had printouts of texts you sent him like he thought they were love letters or something.” He shakes his head again.
“He even had a map with pins in places you’ve lived or traveled to. Harlow confirmed the locations.”
“Why?” I ask, my voice no more than a squeak that would’ve been lost to the wind if Maverick wasn’t so close. I was told Patrick had pictures of me in his apartment before the bomb went off, and I didn’t have time to ask questions.
“Eva’s dead,” he says, but his brows scrunch. “I think.”
At my questioning look, he shrugs. “Sinclair said it had been ‘taken care of’ and winked at me. So she’s whatever that means.”
“How are you feeling about that?” Eva was the only mother he ever knew, even if she was an evil bitch.
“I haven’t really had time to figure that out, honestly. It doesn’t matter right now anyway. We think Patrick has moved his fixation for Eva over to you.”
“Your feelings always matter, Maverick. Don’t do that.”
“Angel, I just told you that a serial killer is fixating on you. My feelings can wait,” he says, looking at me with so much warmth and concern in his gaze that I almost start crying again.
“Don’t worry. G. I. Jackass has been taking good care of me,” I snark. Maverick barks out a laugh.
“We should probably get inside. That looks scary,” Maverick says, nodding towards the nearly black clouds quickly rolling in.
I nod and look up at the house. He’s barely visible at this angle, but I can see Ezra standing by the cliff watching us.
I instantly hug Maverick closer to me. He pulls me tightly against him and kisses the top of my head, not knowing why I was hugging him, but giving me the affection I wanted, anyway.
I know it was selfish of me to do that while Ezra watched, but it won’t have hurt him nearly as much as I’m about to be hurt.
Maverick lets go of me and grabs my hand, pulling me toward the cliff steps.
I let him pull me closer to heartbreak. Closer to being stuck in a house watching the man I love fall back in love with the man he’s always loved.
My time with Maverick is limited, so I’m going to take every moment I can get. Ezra be damned.