Chapter 21
Maverick hung up.
Turned.
Until that moment, Nina hadn’t been certain she would find the strength to speak out.
She’d come to Hunt Ranch for the peace and quiet, to recover from her physical injuries.
And even though she’d still been reeling from the trauma of the assault, she hadn’t hired security because she’d understood that if she just kept her head down, kept quiet, Alex would never dare touch her again.
But he had made one fatal error: he had come to Hunt Ranch, and he had cornered her in a room with Poppy.
And it had been that – the knowledge that one day, it might be Poppy in a room with a man like him – that had sealed his fate.
Because how often did Nina think about her own childhood and wish that just one person had cared enough about her to intervene?
Still, she was so glad she’d come. Not only because she’d met Mav, but because she’d needed to rest first, to enjoy those last few weeks of her career without the shame of being a victim.
Because people would question her. Others would call her a liar.
She didn’t have many friends in Hollywood, and while she was sure a few women would take her side by default, Alexander was respected and well connected.
Lawyers would strip her down to her bones each time they made her relive the attack.
And when they locked Alex away, it wouldn’t matter that unquestionable evidence would have put the nail in the coffin, her career, everything she’d worked for, would be in jeopardy.
History had told this particular story too many times for her to seek false comfort.
Still, she had expected that if she ever spoke up, she would be called a liar and that she might lose her career. She had expected that she would be terrified and ashamed and devastated.
And while that fear and shame and devastation hovered beneath the surface, they were suppressed beneath a layer of bravery, of strength.
Because as she looked at Maverick, standing in his own front yard, attempting to leash his rage before approaching her again, she knew that she had found something that she had never considered she might need: help.
Behind her, Markus had placed one hand on Poppy’s shoulder, keeping her in place so that she couldn’t run towards the trouble. The five-year-old, who had clearly never seen her dad in an outright rage before, was eerily quiet.
Nina wanted to comfort her, but she couldn’t quite manage to look away from Mav. He came to her, each step filled with purpose, deliberation. He drew her face closer using both hands and took her mouth in a fierce kiss right in front of Poppy, who giggled, her shock forgotten.
When he broke away, he didn’t ask her for an explanation or for the whole story. He said, ‘What do you want to do?’
Nina closed her eyes as love and relief welled up inside of her. He would let her decide, always. And once she had decided, he would stand by her. And it was the loveliest thing in the world to take a stand on a foundation that was so solid beneath her feet.
She gripped his wrists with both hands, looked into those familiar blue eyes. ‘I’m going to go back tomorrow. Formally report it.’
‘I’m coming.’
It was not a question or a request for permission. But Nina felt that she had to deter him, ‘Mav—’
Maverick gripped her neck with one hand and brought her forehead to his. He closed his eyes for a moment as if he needed to gather his courage, and he repeated, ‘I’m coming.’
‘Mav—’
He covered her mouth with his, stealing the words, and when he broke away, he said something she hadn’t expected. ‘Please, Nina.’ Her heart swelled, but before she could speak, he added, ‘Don’t ask me to sit here and do nothing while you’re fighting the biggest battle of your life.’
And even though she wasn’t comfortable with it, even though she knew it was a mistake, in that moment, with Alexander so fresh on her mind, Nina didn’t have the strength to fight him.
She held out one hand for Poppy, and when the five-year-old left Markus’s side and took it, Markus turned around and walked inside without a word.
Nina sighed. Markus would be shocked and hurt.
She knew it. She even understood why. She’d lied to him, her best friend.
She’d let him worry about some deranged stalker when she’d known her attacker the entire time.
She’d betrayed his trust. But she pushed all that aside for a minute to squeeze Poppy’s little hand and say to Mav, ‘Before you got back. Before …’ She didn’t finish the thought, pushed all thoughts of Alex from her mind. ‘Poppy and I were actually chatting.’
‘Nina likes you, Dad!’
‘I really do,’ she laughingly added. ‘We were going to ask you out on a date.’ She tipped her shoulders anxiously when he only stared at her. ‘We decided it would be more fun if all three of us went on one. Together.’
Poppy nodded solemnly. ‘Pizza and movies.’
Mav paused for a moment as if he was unsure, or maybe stunned. He rubbed his chest over his heart before crouching down to Poppy’s level. ‘You want me to take you and Nina on a date?’ he clarified.
‘Yeah! A pizza and movie date.’
‘Am I allowed to kiss Nina on this date?’ he asked seriously.
‘Yeah, but you have to kiss me too,’ Poppy replied.
‘Oh, okay.’ Maverick tugged Poppy forward and placed a kiss on her lips. He wrapped his arms around her and then looked up at Nina, his blue eyes glassy. ‘Thank you – for getting her out.’
‘Nina likes me too!’ Poppy offered happily, unaware of the current swarming around her. She stepped back from her dad and took Nina’s hand. ‘Can we finish the cookies now?’
‘Yeah.’ Nina gave Poppy’s hand a squeeze. ‘Why don’t you go show your dad and I’ll run upstairs and get Markus.’
‘Okay! Come on, Daddy!’ Poppy ran ahead without waiting.
Mav lingered. ‘You okay?’
‘Not really.’ She felt the tears claw up her throat then but refused to give in to them. ‘I’m so sorry, Mav – for bringing him here.’
‘No.’ He shook his head. ‘You’re not doing that. You’re not taking any blame – any shame – for any of this.
‘He came here of his own volition, just like he broke into your house and hurt you of his own volition.’ Roping his hands around her waist, he drew her close, kissed one cheek and then the other.
‘You fought him off. You took measures to protect yourself while you rested. You kept my little girl away from him and forced her to leave the room. You are risking everything to speak out against a man who has considerable weight in your industry when nobody would blame you for keeping quiet.’
When she dropped her head to his shoulder, exhausted at only the thought of the impending battle, he raised one big hand to the back of her head and sighed deeply. ‘You’re so strong, Nina.’
Nina’s heart swelled. ‘You make me feel brave.’
‘No, I make you feel safe. You’re brave all on your own.’ He kissed the side of her head, stepped back.
‘I have to go speak to Markus …’
‘I’m calling Sierra in. And Benji,’ Mav said. Nina’s first thought was to object, but Mav caught the look of panic. He took her hand, raised it to his lips, and kissed her palm. ‘They’re family. We do this as a family.’
She knew what he was offering her, and she couldn’t turn away from it even though she knew she should. She nodded, but only because she couldn’t find the right words to promise him anything amidst her turmoil.
Mav opened the door for her. He waited for her to go in ahead of him, and Nina saw when he glanced back as if making sure that Alex was truly gone. She hated herself for that – for bringing that danger here, to this beautiful place.
She looked towards the stairs, took one steadying breath before going to look for Markus.
She found him sitting on his bed, his head in his hands. She didn’t knock, just walked in and sat beside him. She rested against him, placing her head on his upper arm, and she waited for him to speak.
It took him minutes. But when he looked up, his eyes were devastated. ‘I’m going to hug you before I let my mad out.’ So saying, he gave her a bone-crushing hug.
Nina returned the hug. Tears burned her eyes. ‘I wanted to tell you. So many times.’
He pushed to his feet then, breaking all contact. That little distance hurt. But Nina didn’t try to bridge it.
‘Why didn’t you?’ he asked, eyes flashing. ‘Christ, Nina. I would have been shocked. Of course, I would have. But I would have believed you. Me.’ He slammed both hands to his chest. ‘I would have believed you one hundred per cent.’
‘I know.’
That seemed to take the wind out of his sails. ‘What?’
‘I never – not for one moment – doubted you, Markus. That’s why I didn’t tell you.
Because you might have had my back, but your mama bear would have taken over.
’ She looked into his eyes. ‘You would have tried to keep quiet if I’d asked, but eventually you would have snapped.
You would have confronted him or made up a rumour that he had—’ she waved one hand ‘—gonorrhoea or syphilis. And I wasn’t ready. ’
‘Baby girl, if I’d known it had been Alex, I would have invited him over for a drink – and then castrated him with my nail file. Sloppily. Slowly.’
‘I know.’
‘Shit.’ He sat down heavily again. Repeated, ‘Shit.’
‘Keeping it from you has almost been harder than dealing with it. I wanted to tell you so many times, Markus,’ she repeated.
The tears came then, each one falling from her and taking some of that guilt and shame away with it.
‘But I … I wasn’t ready to face it. I wasn’t ready to fight, and Alex came,’ she rambled, ‘to the hospital. He told me that it was in both our best interests to forget what had happened, and I knew.’ She exhaled a huge breath, closed her eyes momentarily.
‘I knew that if I just kept quiet, he wouldn’t hurt me again. ’
‘I should have known,’ Markus stated. ‘When you refused to bring security, I should have put the pieces together.’