Chapter 8
MAYA
The sirens shriek through the quiet of the lake as three sheriff’s cruisers flood the property with red and blue lights. I watch from the bedroom doorway as deputies swarm Clint Lansing, who’s still standing in the living room, while Reed stands nearby.
One of the police officers comes over and hauls Clint to his feet, and he stumbles. He’s shouting something, and his face is filled with fury, but I can’t hear his words over the pounding of my heart.
A deputy approaches me. “Ms. Raymond? We need to speak with you, please. If you could just come outside.”
I force my legs to move, to carry myself into the cool night air. Reed’s there immediately, hand on my lower back, and some of the stress bleeds away.
“You’re okay,” he murmurs. “I’ve got you.”
The lead deputy, a woman in her forties with sharp eyes, introduces herself as Deputy Porter. “Ms. Raymond, can you give us a brief statement about what happened tonight?”
I tell her about the vandalism over the past weeks, the escalating threats, how I hired Ghost Security to help get to the bottom of this, and how Reed installed cameras, and he found footage of Clint. And then how Clint lost the bid for this development.
My voice sounds steadier than I feel. In hindsight, everything makes sense—that it was Clint. Reed adds details about the surveillance footage, offering to provide all the footage taken.
“I caught him with accelerant and a crowbar,” Reed says, his voice cold and professional. “Clear intent to commit arson and breaking and entering. We have a recording of this, too.”
Deputy Porter nods, taking notes. “We’ll need to review the footage ourselves, but this sounds like there aren’t questions about the situation. We’ll need more detailed statements from both of you tomorrow. Can you come to the station around ten AM?”
“We’ll be there,” Reed confirms.
I watch as they load Clint into the back of a cruiser. He’s looking at Reed and me, his face twisted with rage. The deputy closes the door, and relief crashes over me so hard my knees buckle, and a great sob rises in me.
Reed’s arm tightens around my waist. “Easy. I’ve got you. It’s all over now.”
The cruisers pull away one by one, taillights disappearing down the access road. Then it’s just us, standing in the sudden quiet, the model home lit up behind us.
“Come inside, Maya,” Reed says, his voice gentle as he guides me inside. “You’re coming down off the adrenaline. You’re okay.”
“The back door,” I say, my voice sounding distant. “He broke it.”
“I know.” Reed guides me toward the house. “Once you feel okay, I’ll get some tools from the shed and secure it for tonight. Leo and his crew can handle it when they’re back.”
Once my heart stops racing and I don’t feel like the world is going to swallow me whole, Reed heads to the equipment shed. I lean against the doorframe, watching him move like he’s fixed doors a million times before.
“You’ve done this before,” I observe, my voice steadier now.
“Afghanistan. We reinforced a lot of doors.” He drives another screw home. “This is temporary, but it’ll keep the weather out until Leo and his crew can fix it.”
Reed finishes the last screw and tests the plywood. Solid. Secure. “That’ll hold.”
I stare at the temporary fix, at the evidence of what almost happened tonight, and suddenly I can’t stop shaking.
Reed rushes to me and places his hands on my shoulders. “Breathe. You’re safe. I promise.”
“I know.” The words come out choked. “I know, I just—if you hadn’t been here…”
“But I was here.” He pulls me against his chest, one hand in my hair, the other spread across my back. “I was here, and I stopped him, and you’re safe.”
We’re sitting on the couch, holding each other. After Reed’s confrontation with Clint, it’s finally quiet, and my heart has finally stopped beating at dangerous levels.
“Talk to me,” I say quietly. “What’s going on in that head of yours?”
He’s quiet for so long that I think he won’t answer.
“I’m scared about this.” His thumb strokes across my knuckles. “You. How much I want this to work.” He turns to face me fully, and I see an unguarded fear in his eyes. “What if I can’t do this, Maya? What if I’m wired like him?”
My chest tightens. “Reed—”
“No, listen.” His voice roughens. “My father loved my mother. I know he did at the beginning. She told me stories about how he always brought her flowers, called her beautiful, promised her forever. And then one day, that wasn’t enough anymore.
One woman wasn’t enough. What if that’s genetic?
What if I end up hurting you the way my dad hurt my mother? ”
I sit up and put my hands on Reed’s cheeks, looking deeply into his dark eyes. “Reed. I trust you. You are not your father. His infidelity isn’t genetic—those were choices he made and kept on making. If you don’t want that path, don’t choose it. Your life is what you choose it to be.”
“How do you know, Maya?” Reed’s voice is choked, but he doesn’t break eye contact with me or try to hide.
“Because you’re already choosing differently. You’re aware you don't want to make the same mistakes he did. You recognize that as hurtful, and you adamantly don’t want to be like that.” I stroke my thumbs across his cheekbones. “You are not your father, Reed. I know this in my heart.”
“But what if—” His hands come up to cover mine.
I put a finger on his lips to silence him. The aching vulnerability in his voice makes me want to cry. “Reed, partnership isn’t about never being tempted. It’s about what you do with that temptation. Your father chose to act on it. You can choose differently.”
He closes his eyes, and I feel a shudder run through him. “I want this to work so badly it terrifies me.”
“I know.” I kiss him softly. “Now it’s my turn to be terrified.”
His eyes open, focusing on me with that intensity that makes me feel seen all the way through. “What are you afraid of?”
“Of disappointing my parents and my family.” The words tumble out.
“My whole life, everyone’s had expectations.
My father doubts I can run the family business.
My mother wants me settled and pregnant.
Society says I should want certain things—marriage, children, the whole package.
” I take a shaky breath. “I’m scared to tell my family I don’t want children.
I want a husband and partner, but I don’t want a white picket fence and 2. 5 children.”
Reed stays quiet, just listening, his hands steady on mine.
“Everyone assumes I’ll change my mind. ‘You’ll feel different when you meet the right person.’ ‘Your biological clock will kick in.’ But what if it doesn’t? What if I don’t want it to?”
“Then that’s enough,” Reed says simply.
“Is it?” My voice cracks. “Because every man I’ve dated has assumed kids were part of the package. That eventually I’d want to settle down and prioritize family over career. And when I couldn’t commit to that, they left. They said they loved me, but they never showed me they did.”
“Maya.” He pulls me into his lap, arms secure around me. “I don’t need you to be something that you’re not already. I need you to be happy.”
“You really mean that?” I’ve waited so long for a man who didn’t expect me to have traditional goals that it takes me a while to really understand Reed is fully honest and not saying something just because he thinks it’s what I want to hear.
“Damn straight I mean that.” He tilts my chin up. “I want you, Maya. Ambitious, career-focused, independent, I-don’t-know-if-I-want-kids you. I want you exactly as you are.”
He kisses my forehead, my cheeks, my mouth.
“I’m committing to you, not to an idea of who I wish you were.
I’m falling in love with you because you’re brilliant and fierce and you don’t back down to anyone, not even your father.
My life will be complete with you, Maya, and kids have nothing to do with that.
If we never have kids, there will be no loss in my life. I swear this to you.”
Reed pulls me down for a kiss that steals my breath, deep and hungry. My heart and soul open as his lips meet mine, and I know in the core of my being that I’ve finally found the man for me. No man could ever compare to Reed, and I’ll never let anything or anyone tear us apart.
When he pulls back, my heart is racing, my body already responding to the heat in his gaze.
“What did you want to do?” I whisper, though my heart already understands.
He stands. “Show you what choosing you looks like. And Maya? I’ll always choose you.”