Chapter 38
M atthieu didn’t want her to do this.
She was so pale, she looked ill. Exhaustion had her dragging her feet. All he wanted was to wrap her up in his arms and hold her tight.
Tonight had been full-on, starting with the ‘puppy rescue’ and finishing with a visit to her father that he couldn’t imagine going well.
They pulled into the driveway of her family home, behind her brother and Reeves.
“Are you sure about this?” he asked. “We can leave. You don’t have to do this.”
“I know . . . but I just feel like I have to.”
“You need to stay by my side the entire time,” he warned her. “I do not want you more than an arm’s length away at any time.”
He’d already gone through this with her, but he thought it bore saying again.
“I won’t. I promise.” She’d left all of her animals except for Tank and Big B behind with Captain and Brody. They were settling into the safe room at Callahan Security.
Princess Priss had still been sleeping. Gummy and Dougie had been pleased to get treats from Brody while Marshmallow was, well, just like he normally was.
“I want to do this. I have to see his reaction. I have to know. I promise, I will do everything you say.”
“You better. Remember, you’re still in trouble for not telling me about the puppy rescue plans you had made with Millie and Livvy.”
“What?” she cried. “I think you could let that pass, don’t you? After everything I’ve been through?”
“I think not.”
“But I didn’t do anything. I didn’t try to sneak away or anything.”
“And that’s just as well because your punishment would be far worse. But you didn’t tell me what was going on. You made these plans with Millie and Livvy behind my back. That deserves some lines. Wait there.”
She couldn’t believe this!
Punishment? She didn’t deserve to write lines. Sure, she’d come up with a plan to help those puppies without telling him. But did he really need to know everything going on in her life?
Well, sort of. At the moment, anyway.
He walked around and let out Tank and Big B first. Her stepmother was going to have a fit when she walked in with a dog and a pig.
Which was an absolute bonus. Then he came to her door to open it. She noticed that her brother and Reeves hadn’t gone in yet, they were waiting several feet away, their gazes roaming their surroundings.
Were they worried about Vince trying to get to her still? She knew that Butch was going to keep an eye on the place from the outside.
Matthieu opened her door and she climbed out, taking hold of both leads. Matthieu needed his hands free in case anything happened.
They headed inside. Her brother didn’t even knock, just walked in. She tensed. She couldn’t help it. Kathryn was going to find some way to get back at her for that.
That isn’t your problem.
What can she do? You’re an adult. And this is your family home.
They walked into the living room where her father was pacing back and forth. His hair was sticking up on end like he’d been running his fingers through it. He was wearing a crinkled shirt and pants. As though he’d just picked them up off the floor and put them on.
His face was red and sweaty. She actually felt sorry for him.
No, no, you can’t feel sorry for him.
He’d brought this all on himself. He doesn’t deserve pity when he’s a bad person.
Still. Her stomach was tight as she watched him. He should be careful of his blood pressure. He didn’t want to have a heart attack.
Maya found herself moving closer to Matthieu as her father turned to them and Kathryn stood up from where she’d been sitting on the floral sofa.
Kathryn put her phone down and straightened her skirt. She looked perfect as usual. Wrinkles wouldn’t dare appear on her clothes.
The other woman’s gaze narrowed in on Maya, then moved to Tank and Big Berry.
“What on earth are you doing here, Maya?” she asked. “And why would you bring those two beasts with you? A pig? Are you serious? Get it out now!”
Kathryn stomped toward her and she suddenly found herself facing Matthieu’s back.
“Stay back,” he warned.
“What are you doing?” Kathryn demanded shrilly.
“Stay away from Maya and her pets,” Matthieu warned.
Tank leaned into her leg and Big Berry stood on her other side. Flanking her, defending her.
She’d never felt so protected. She’d never had people stand up to Kathryn for her.
“This is my home. You all are here as interlopers and I will go where I like. I do not want those beasts in my house!”
“It was Maya’s house before it was your house,” Matthieu said. “And I believe this was actually her mother’s family home, was it not? So I would think it makes this house more her home than yours.”
Under other circumstances that might have sounded harsh, bordering on cruel. But Kathryn had done her best to ostracize Maya from her family home.
And she wasn’t going anywhere.
“Kathryn, sit down and leave Maya alone,” her father said, surprising her.
“She has a dog and pig with her. A pig should not be indoors!” Kathryn cried.
“We have other things to worry about right now,” her father snapped. “I just heard that you’ve put an APB out on Vince! Why? He cannot possibly have been the person who threw a fire bomb at my daughter’s house!”
She moved up next to Matthieu. He put an arm out to stop her going any further, but she hadn’t intended to.
Kathryn sat but still sent daggers at Maya with her eyes.
She really didn’t seem too alarmed by the fact that Vince had tried to kill her stepdaughter, did she?
“There’s no denying video footage as proof,” her brother said grimly. “I have it on my laptop.”
She hadn’t noticed that Marlin was even carrying a laptop. He set it up on the coffee table and her father sat down next to Kathryn as they watched it.
“This . . . this is insane!” Kathryn said. “Vince wouldn’t do this. Perhaps it’s someone that looks like him.”
“As far as I know, Vince doesn’t have a twin,” her brother said dryly.
Maya was watching her father. He seemed frozen, his gaze locked on the screen. If he was pretending to be shocked, then he was a very, very good actor.
“You need to get out there and find the real criminal,” Kathryn said. “Darling, get Robert and Malcolm onto it. They will get to the bottom of this.”
“I can assure you that we are working hard to find the actual perpetrator,” Detective Reeves said smoothly. “That person being Vince. Who, by the way, has disappeared.”
Her father stood at this, bumping into the coffee table and sending the laptop flying. Thankfully, it didn’t smash as it landed on the carpeted floor.
Her brother calmly picked it up without a word.
“I cannot believe it!” her father thundered as he started pacing again. “Why would Vince try to hurt Maya? That’s . . . that’s not even possible! Vince likes you. He wanted to date you, but for some reason you didn’t want that and made up that ridiculous story about him assaulting you.”
“It wasn’t something that she made up,” Matthieu told him in a dark voice.
“That happened. It was real. And you didn’t believe her.
You, the chief of police, ignored a claim from your daughter about sexual abuse.
Why? Because he was a cop? Because he was one of your cops? Why would you believe him over her?”
Her breath caught in her lungs, her heart skipping a beat. And she knew in that moment that she could fall in love with this man. That she might nearly be doing that.
He cared for her babies as much as she did. Well, maybe not the chickens . . . but Princess Priss adored him. And he’d figured out a way to get through to Tank.
He protected her. Stood up for her. Supported her. Heck, she even liked the fact he gave her some rules, but wasn’t a dick about it. He was generally calm and caring. Feeding her, driving her around, putting up with the fact that most of the time she struggled to look him in the face.
Yeah, she could love this man.
She might already.
Which was a scary thought since after this was over, she might never see him again.
Kathryn sighed with a fake-patient and somewhat condescending look on her face.
“It’s obvious that you don’t know Maya well.
She’s very sweet, but she’s also known for making up wild stories and exaggerating things.
She doesn’t mean to upset anyone. It’s just her way of getting attention.
It’s quite sad, really. I know it started after she lost her mother and I tried to give her all the attention she needed.
But nothing ever seemed to work.” Kathryn gave a sad sniff.
Wow. She really should have pursued an acting career.
Her father put his arm around her. “It wasn’t your fault, dear. Maya is my daughter. I should have gotten her into therapy after Maggie’s death. But I was too caught up in my own grief.”
“Yes, so caught up that you moved Kathryn in less than a year after Mom died,” Maya spat out.
She knew she would be better off keeping quiet. But she just couldn’t do it. “And most of those ‘lies’ were the truth. You just didn’t want to believe them, Dad.”
Her dad scowled at her. “Maya, your mother wouldn’t want me to grieve her forever.”
“Ten. Months,” she said.
“You know, I’m not sure which one of you is more concerning,” Matthieu drawled. “The liar or the person who believes her lies so easily.”
“I don’t understand,” her father said. “Who are you calling a liar?”
“Your wife.”
Her father puffed up. “I won’t have you stand here in my home and insult my wife. You need to leave and you’re fired from your protection duties. I’ll be calling your boss as soon as you’re gone.”
“Really, Dad?” Marlin said. “Is that what is most important here? Maya could have been killed tonight and by one of your cops.”
Her father shook his head. “I still don’t believe it. Not of Vince.”
“What would it take for you to believe that Vince is capable of doing terrible things? For him to attack me right in front of you? You’d probably still come up with some excuse for him. Maybe it would be my fault, huh? For provoking him?” Maya asked, her anger bubbling up.
He was never going to believe her. He wouldn’t even believe clear evidence.
This was pointless.
“Well, you do like to provoke people, don’t you, dear?” Kathryn said. “Perhaps you should try guarding your words more. Being a bit less dramatic and rebellious.”
She clenched her hands into fists as Tank let out a small growl.
“That dog just threatened me!” Kathryn said, pointing at Tank. “He’s a menace.”
“He only growled at you,” Matthieu said. “And you think Maya has a flair for the dramatic? She’s twenty-six-years-old and you don’t get to talk to her that way. And before you can tell me to get out and that I’m fired, you can hold your breath. Callahan Security no longer wishes to work with you.”
They didn’t?
But . . . but . . .
Her father narrowed his gaze. “That’s fine. Maya can move in here under my protection.”
“Your protection?” Matthieu snarled. “You forced her to have dinner with the guy that assaulted her, then accused her of making stuff up when she refused to be alone with him. That won’t be happening.
I didn’t say we were withdrawing our protection from Maya.
Just that we no longer work for you. Although you can expect a final bill in the mail. ”
Her father’s mouth opened, then closed. Even Kathryn appeared shocked.
“Come on, Maya. Let’s go.”
She nodded at Matthieu, but turned to her father one last time.
“Vince isn’t a good person. I’m not sure if you can’t see that or if you just don’t want to see it.
But it doesn’t make it any less true. I never imagined that he would try to harm me like this .
. . but perhaps I was just being naive. It would have been nice, if just once, you could have believed me.
I guess you still think of me as that teenage kid who was unhappy at the world because her mom died.
I know that I kept a distance between us, but that was just because I couldn’t stand being hurt anymore by you.
And I’ve had enough. I’m done, Dad. I’m just done. ”
“Done? You can’t be done! Done with what?” he demanded.
“Done with you. I’m going now. Bye, Dad.”
“Maya! Maya, get back here right now,” her father demanded as she turned and walked out the door. Matthieu was close on her heels and Tank and Big B were so close they nearly tripped her up.
“Maya, this is just like you. So dramatic and rude. Come back and speak to your father,” Kathryn demanded.
Not happening.
She no longer wanted to be in that house. There were still good memories, but she could take them with her.
She heard her brother speaking, but couldn’t make out what he was saying as she stepped out into the driveway.
Strangely, she felt this weight lifting off her shoulders and chest. She stood straighter as she left.
“You all right, Bébé?” Matthieu asked cautiously as he escorted her out to her car. They still had to get his car from her place.
“I am, actually. That felt cathartic. You know? Like I can breathe better.”
He shot her a sideways look, then nodded. “Good. I was worried it might upset you.”
“In the past it would have. But this time was different. I had you there. And Tank and Big B. I wasn’t alone. I even had my brother and Reeves. I had people on my side, who believed in me.”
“I’ll always believe in you, Maya.”
“Thanks,” she croaked.
God, those words meant more to her than he could possibly know. And she didn’t know how to tell him that.
She shouldn’t tell him that.
“Let’s go, though, please? I really need to lie down.”
She could feel the exhaustion tugging at her, wanting to slide over her like a thick, dark blanket.
Maya didn’t think she could take anything more tonight. In fact, she wished she could just shut off her brain and sleep.
Lord, she hoped she could sleep.