Chapter 17
Harrison
Dragging Pierce Maddox in here took some doing.
Hollywood’s golden boy chained to an interrogation table behind two-way glass like he’s auditioning for a prison drama.
Holding him long enough for the cops to show up?
Not exactly easy.
The skinny prick fights like a coked-up bobcat.
And there was only one way Pierce was getting in a squad car.
Two cops. One taser.
Pix would probably call this surreal.
I call it karma.
Messy, overdue, and frankly not nearly painful enough.
Especially since Pix has bruises on both arms where that fuckface grabbed her.
He keeps flip-flopping between threats and tears. I tune him out.
Because Pix is in my arms, our hands threaded together, and after weeks without her, I can finally breathe.
“How did you know where I was?” she asks softly.
I exhale slow. “Gabe and I might’ve put an enhanced tracker on your phone.”
She turns just enough to look at me. “If you wanted to know where I was,” she says, teasing, “you could’ve called.”
My chest tightens.
She’s right.
“If I talked to you,” I say quietly, “you might’ve asked for a divorce.”
Her breath catches.
“And I would’ve given it to you.”
Something soft flickers across her face.
For a second, everything else disappears.
I’m about to kiss her—
“We appreciate you coming down, Miss Alvarez,” the officer says.
Between the rumpled suit and bloodshot eyes, he looks like he’s been dealing with bastards like this all night.
“He said he’d only talk to you.”
My eyes snap up.
Oh, hell no.
Another helping of Pierce Maddox bullshit?
Hard fucking pass.
I grit my teeth. “You don’t have to do this.”
“It’ll be fine,” Pix says, her thumb dusting soft circles across my hand. “Nothing’s going to happen to me in there. Not with a big, brawny lumberjack watching.”
My jaw tightens. “A lumberjack that will pound that man into oblivion if he so much as breathes wrong.” There’s no point trying to talk her out of it.
Her mind’s made up.
I take her hands anyway, my thumbs brushing over the silicone ring on her finger.
The second we’re out of here, I’m dropping to a knee. No more waiting.
Since throwing her over my shoulder isn’t an option, the faster she’s done, the faster I propose.
My eyes meet hers. “Remember the questions?”
Pierce has to confess, or this whole case against him falls apart.
She rolls her eyes. “Yes.”
“Then make that asshole squirm.”
I kiss her again and again, stretching the moment out, taking my fill of her before I let her go.
When we finally come up for air, I glare over my shoulder at Pierce.
“If that fucker tries anything—”
“He’s handcuffed to a table and has been sobbing for the past half hour,” she murmurs against my lips. “I don’t think he’s going to try anything.”
The officer holds open the door for her. And then she’s gone.
I step closer to the glass and pocket my hands, watching as Pix makes her way into the lion’s den. And fucking owns it.
The door opens again. “Thanks, man.”
I turn to see a uniformed cop bringing in the guy from the lot.
“Anytime Mr. Cartwright. Big fan.”
Of course, he is.
The cop holds up his camera. “One more for the road?”
“Why not?” He poses with the officer and seeing as they’re chummy, I can’t exactly object.
He shuts the door behind him and notices my glare. “Relax, New York. Just checking on Ava.”
I narrow my eyes as he opens a bag of flaming hot… What is that? Edamame?
“How’s she doing?” he asks.
“She’s in a room with a psychopath. How do you think she’s doing?”
“Fine, I’d say.” He tosses a handful into his mouth, and studies her. Pix leans forward, calm as hell, while Maddox starts unraveling. “Looks like she’s pacing herself from good cop to bad cop.” He nods in approval. “That’s my girl.”
His girl?
Something primal and territorial claws up my spine.
“You should really be more careful, New York.” He chomps another handful of nuts. “Otherwise, someone might take what’s yours right out from under your nose.”
At this point, I’ve had it. “Why are you here?”
He doesn’t answer. Just shoves his hand in my face. “Shh.”
I’m about to shush him right out the door when he turns up the volume so we can hear whatever the hell Pierce is saying.
Pierce points to Pix. “You’d be there.” He points to himself. “I’d be there, and…”
Pix connects the dots, outraged. “We were supposed to get married?”
He waggles his brows. “Yes.”
It wasn’t an accident. The priest. The paparazzo. The church. If I hadn’t been there, Pix would be Mrs. Fuckface Maddox right now.
“Fake it till you make it?” Pix asks. “That was your plan?”
Pierce sits up, beaming. “And then you’d have to love me.”
Wow.
The guy’s out of his mind.
“Right,” I say flatly. “Because that’s how love works.”
I realize Chase is hanging on every word, and that can’t be good.
I flip the switch off and shut it down before Chase gets anything else.
He gapes at me. “Is that what happened? Instead of Maddox tricking her into marriage, you did?”
I want to tell him we were both tricked into it. And fell wildly in love.
That I’d do anything for her.
Instead, I cross my arms and say nothing. For all I know, this guy’s side hustle, selling gossip to fund his protein habit.
“Ava and I are married. That’s all you need to know.”
Then he shakes his head. “You won’t be around forever, New York. And when you’re not… it’ll be my shoulder she leans on. Not yours.”
I hold his gaze. “I’m not gone yet.”
The door swings open just as Pix returns. “Chase? What are you doing here?”
A smooth smile crosses his face. “Just checking on you.”
She huffs out a breath. “As okay as I can be, I guess, when my manager, my ex-fiancé, and my PA were all throwing my career in a dumpster fire.”
My stomach drops.
While I was dealing with Chase, I missed everything. Pierce’s entire confession.
Chase nods in sympathy. “Some people can be real assholes.”
He shoots a glare right at me.
Then, for what I can only imagine is a suicidal tendency, says, “Never mind them. What you need is a nice, hot bath.”
I wrap an arm around Pix’s waist. “I’ve got it from here,” I cut in.
A nervous smile crosses Pix’s face. She pats my chest. “I’m in good hands, Chase.”
“You hear that, Chase. She’s in good hands.”
He kisses her on both cheeks. “If you need anything at all, call.”
“I will.”
Yeah, no. She won’t.
The door clicks shut behind him.
Pix turns to me slowly.
“Did my big, bad lumberjack just become a caveman?”
I kiss her softly. “Only for you.”
As my whole world locks into place, I slip a hand into my pocket.
I’m not waiting another second.
Empty.
My stomach drops.
That’s not right.
I check again.
Then the other pocket.
Nothing.
What the actual fuck?
Her smile tilts. “Is something wrong?”
I lie straight to her face. “Everything’s perfect.”