Chapter 26
Maren
By the time I drop Zara off l, I can barely think straight. It took everything I had to act normal as I got her ready for school, and now that I’m alone, I’m considering parking in an empty lot somewhere so I can stare out the windshield for a few hours.
Unfortunately, I know Brooke well enough to know she’ll ask Trevor where I am.
And I know Trevor well enough to know he’ll hunt me down.
And then I’ll have to explain why I’m sitting in an empty parking lot staring out the windshield.
Which would be the biggest problem of the whole scenario, because I don’t know why I want to sit in an empty parking lot staring out the windshield.
I’m normally pretty good at identifying what’s wrong. The problems I’ve faced up to this point have been somewhat simple. Not easy to remedy, but always quickly deciphered.
That’s not the case anymore.
Even though I don’t want to, I aim my van for McKinley Security Systems, sucking down the remainder of my homemade iced coffee as I complete the trip and obsess over the morning’s events.
I’ve seen Deidre Bradshaw’s television shows. I’ve experienced the way she treats her children firsthand. I know how she is. So why was I so thrown off when she showed up at Trevor’s house this morning with food and drinks? That’s literally who she is. She’s built an empire on it.
An empire that suddenly felt like it was pointing directly at me.
I’ve never had a parent. Never had a sibling—not in the sense most people do. Never had aunts or uncles. Hell, I didn’t even have a friend of the family everyone treated like an uncle. I’ve only ever had myself to rely on.
No one who would show up to save the day by cleaning up yet another mess my mother made. Or bring breakfast since Trevor’s refrigerator contents left a lot to be desired and mine landed on the floor.
No one to pull me out of a bad situation and make sure I was safe and fed.
That kind of thing was always so far out of reach, I’ve never even imagined what it would be like. That would make it too easy to wish I had it. And I believed there was no scenario where that wish would ever come true.
I kinda wish I had considered it at least a little, because now that it’s happening, it’s really fucking with my head.
Pulling into the parking lot of McKinley Security Systems, I angle the van into a vacant spot far from the front door. There might be a few minutes of staring out the windshield before I grab my bag and lunch box, and march my way inside, trying to look like the same old Maren.
Scanning my badge, I let myself in the front door, refusing to even look in the direction of Trevor’s office as I hightail it to my desk.
Brooke’s light is on, and I decide to rip the Band-Aid off, dropping my bags on my desk before striding straight in.
I’m sure she’s got a lot to say and a million questions she’s dying to ask, and I’d rather get it over with.
Plus I would really love something to distract me. Get me out of my own head. That place is off the chain.
“Morning.” Brooke gives me a smile that is strangely similar to the one she’s offered me every other day. “How are things?”
Her question sounds alarmingly normal too, and it freaks me out even more than if she made everything weird.
“Things are fine.” I wipe my sweaty palms on the front of my skirt. “How was your night?”
“Fine.” Brooke pops a coffee pod into the maker Tobias bought for her personal use. “Tucker and Ruth brought Birdie over to swim.”
“That sounds nice.” I manage not to shift on my feet, even though I feel awkward as hell.
She pulls her cup off the machine and tips in a little creamer from the mini fridge. “You and Trevor should bring Zara over one night this week.”
I step forward, fully intending to tell her there is no me and Trevor, but someone else beats me to the punch.
“We’d love to.”
I close my eyes, fighting the urge to turn and flee as Trevor steps into Brooke’s office. Everything in my life has changed, including the way I feel about him, and like all the other changes, I don’t have the first clue how to handle it.
Fighting with him was so easy. So natural. Finding him annoying and aggravating was safe.
The way I find him now, is not safe. Not at all.
“Here.” He holds out a cup of coffee made just the way I like it. “Did you get Zara to school okay?”
I scoff. “Of course I got Zara to school okay. I’ve taken care of her for her entire life. You think I’m gonna start sucking at it now?”
I expect to feel better after that little outburst. Assume snapping at Trevor will make me feel better. Like it usually does.
Instead, I feel…
Bad.
Almost…
Guilty.
“Fucking shit.” I turn toward the door, elbowing my way past Trevor as I dart from the room, needing a quiet place to scream.
Unfortunately, I make it three steps before half the Bradshaw brood turns the corner, blocking my escape path.
Can these people be more of a pain in my ass?
“Thought I might find you here.” Walker heads my way, Tobias and Ruth a half-step behind him.
“Of course you can find me here. This is literally where I am all day.” I go to drop down into the seat behind my desk, pondering if maybe I should just scream right here in the middle of everything. Bet it would get my point across.
What the point is, I don’t fucking know—but it definitely involves screaming.
Walker gives me a weird look. “I wasn’t actually talking to you.” He tips his head at where Trevor is now coming out of Brooke’s office. “I was talking to him.”
Well… That does make more sense.
“Fine.” I grab my bag and slide it onto my lap. “Great.”
Everything’s great. Perfectly fine. It’s all just fucking peachy k—
“What the fuck?” I dig around in my bag, grabbing the laptop inside and pulling it free. I set it on the desk in front of me, staring at the device in confusion.
“What’s wrong?” Trevor’s eyes are on me as he rounds my desk, coming straight to my side before crouching down. “Is everything okay?”
I shake my head. “No.” Everything is very not okay.
Everything is probably even worse than I realize.
“What can I do?” Trevor’s voice is soft. Gentle. So different from what it usually is. But I don’t have time to dwell on that right now. Or the way it does actually make me feel less like throwing up.
“Are you guys still going—” Titus strides into the mix, stopping short when he sees what I see. His gaze lifts to mine, moving over my face for a second before he asks, “Where did you get that computer?”
Maybe I don’t feel less like throwing up.
I swallow hard, trying to tamp down the bad feelings twisting my insides. This doesn’t make sense. At all. It changes everything I thought I knew.
“It’s her work computer.” Trevor answers for me.
Incorrectly.
Titus shakes his head. “No. It’s not.” He reaches out, lifting the screen. “See?”
For the first time, Trevor peels his eyes off me so he can put them on the laptop. I watch as his skin pales, and the awful feeling in my guts gets worse.
He stares at the laptop for a beat then straightens quickly, slamming it closed before passing it off to Titus. “Get your team working on it.” He grabs my hand, tugging me up from my seat. “Get Tucker here now. We’ll meet you in our conference room.”
Trevor starts to walk, practically dragging me along with him as he stalks through the building, jaw clenched, eyes narrowed. I make my steps as big as I can, working hard to keep up with him, but I’m still a little out of breath when we reach the same room where he held interviews last week.
Leading me straight inside, he pulls out a chair, urging me into it before going to the coffee maker. I sit in silence as he brews up a cup, adding creamer before bringing it to me. He sets it down as he lowers into the chair next to me.
“Drink.”
“I’m not thirsty.” Not that coffee is great at quenching that sort of thing. I’d just rather not barf it up all over the conference table.
“Please.” There’s an odd pleading quality to his tone. “Just a sip. I need to feel like I’m taking care of something, and right now I don’t know how to take care of anything but you.”
My heart gives a little squeeze. Trevor’s whole life is wrapped up in this company. Almost every waking hour and his entire sense of self is consumed by McKinley Security Systems. His ability to make it thrive. His competency at handling every problem that arises.
And I think a problem has just arisen.
I pick up the cup, blowing across the surface before swallowing down as much as I dare.
Trevor releases a long breath as I drink, his nostrils flaring, shoulders dropping. “Thank you.”
Taking another sip would probably help more, but I don’t think I can stomach it.
I’m also struggling to stomach how upset Trevor looks.
Without thinking, I reach out, sliding one of my hands into his.
He grips it tight, lifting our linked fingers so he can brush his lips across my knuckles.
Closing his eyes, he breathes deep against my skin.
I’ve never wanted to be a man’s peace. I wanted to be the terrifying menace he always feared would be lurking around the next corner, ready to terrorize him.
But as I watch Trevor visibly relax and the tension bleed from his features, I begin to believe maybe two things can be true. I can terrorize him tomorrow. Today I should probably help him get through this new development without having a complete and total meltdown.
When the sound of footsteps approaching carries through the open door, Trevor straightens, morphing into someone who appears completely unaffected and totally confident. That’s what his family sees when they file in. What he wants them to see.
Only I got to witness the truth of what’s beneath the surface.
And it makes me itch. On the inside. Places I can’t scratch.
I stand up, hoping to shake the feeling loose as I walk around the table to the coffee maker. It’s the only thing in here besides a water cooler, and consuming rain isn’t going to help anyone right now.
I pop one of the dark roast pods in, and set it to run on the extra strong cycle. When it’s done, I give it a quick stir since it doesn’t brew uniformly, then go back to my seat, setting the cup in front of Trevor.
He stares down into the beverage before slowly looking my way, his gaze searching my face.
I widen my eyes at him. “What?”
One corner of his mouth tips up in spite of our current situation. “You know how I like my coffee.”
Shit. I didn’t even think about that. Didn’t consider the ramifications of what I was doing. I just needed to move around.
And maybe a tiny part of me wanted to try to help Trevor.
I cross both arms over my chest and lean back in my chair, forcing my eyes away from him. “Shut up.”
Obviously, I only have so much peace to offer, but I did what I could.
Tucker is the last one in, pulling the door closed behind him before taking the empty seat next to Ruth. Titus sits at the head of the table, already looking stressed from my discovery.
I knew it was bad when I saw it. Understood what it could mean. I was hoping I was overreacting. That everyone else would blow it off as no big deal.
“This is a big fucking deal.” Titus scrubs both hands over his face, fingers scratching at the scar webbed across his right cheek.
“I’m gonna need you to fill me in, because I don’t know what the fuck is happening.
” Tucker grabs Ruth’s chair, pulling her closer like he needs to physically have her against him.
“Ruth said something about Maren’s work computer being stolen, but I don’t get why that’s an issue.
No one can do anything on it without the passcodes and a fingerprint. ”
“It’s a big deal because they didn’t simply steal it.” Trevor leans back in his seat, stretching both legs beneath the table in a pose that looks casual and relaxed even though I know he’s not. “They replaced it with one that looks similar enough that she didn’t notice it right away.”
Tucker’s brows pinch. “Why the fuck would they do that? I thought they were stealing stuff they could pawn to pay off her mom’s drug debt. It doesn’t make any sense for them to actually bring something of value and leave it behind.”
“It doesn’t.” Titus blows out a long breath. “They left it to buy them some time, hoping she wouldn’t immediately notice her work computer had been switched.”
My stomach clenches as I listen. Titus and Trevor are both confirming my fears. I’ve been stolen from countless times, and never was anything that could be pawned left behind. It certainly wasn’t brought and traded.
The room falls silent as everyone looks at each other. Finally, Walker says what no one else is willing to voice. “So there’s a good chance this isn’t about her mother.” He meets Titus’s gaze. “It’s about us.”
“But that wouldn’t make any sense.” Ruth speaks carefully. “Maren said this has happened many times before. And they did take a number of items. How could this be about us while still being so similar to past burglaries?”
Oh God.
I’m super glad I didn’t drink any more than that tiny sip of the coffee Trevor brought me, because it’s crawling back up my throat.
“It can be about us while being so similar to past burglaries,” one of Trevor’s hands slides under the table to grip my knee, holding on, “because whoever is targeting us has been watching Maren.”
I swallow, trying not to puke. Because they would have to have been doing more than just watching me. They would’ve had to look into who I am. My past. Where I came from and who was there.
So they could use it against me. Against the Bradshaw family.
My whole body goes numb as Titus and Trevor bark out orders, forming a plan for what to do next. None of it registers, so hopefully I’m not one of the people assigned a task. Once they’re done, everyone files out of the room as quickly as they entered, leaving me alone with Trevor.
He turns to me, spinning my chair so we’re facing each other. Leaning close, his voice is low and deadly serious. “Just so we’re clear, you and Zara aren’t going to be leaving my house anytime soon.”