My ringing phone startles me. It’s only nine thirty, but I went to bed early even if I couldn’t sleep, hoping that Felix would show. The empty space beside me on the bed glares back at me, tempting my conscience to go to terrible places.
“Hello?”
“Mags, hey.” Jared’s voice fills my ear, which has me sitting upright and panic clutching my throat. He should be on his honeymoon with Vera by now. “Can you by any chance get to the police station in Rayleigh?”
Breath escapes me in a rush, and I start to stammer, “W-what happened … is he?”
Jared rushes to say, “He’s fine. He’s okay. You just need to go to him, okay?”
I nod even though he can’t see me and stare vacantly at the wall. “Maggie?”
“Yeah, yeah. I’ll, uh … I’m going.”
“Hey.” His voice changes from rushed and worried to light and soothing. “Chill. Would I lie to you?” He curses. “Now I’ve got that song in my head. Want me to sing it to you, baby?”
He groans when Vera says something to him in the background. “Don’t hit me, woman.”
I start laughing, and he coos like I’m a freaking child. “There, go on then. Get your butt moving, he’s waiting for you.”
“Okay.” I stand on shaky legs and grab my purse.
“Tell Felix to call me once you guys get out of there, yeah?”
“I will. Thanks.” I hang up and drop my phone in my purse before pausing outside Archie’s room. “Shit.”
Digging my phone back out, I call Warren, hoping he hasn’t gone to bed early for once.
“What, the Hulk not good enough to be your booty call tonight, bunches?”
Snorting, I hurry to tell him what Jared said.
He walks inside a minute later, waving a hand at the door. “Go. Need me to come with?”
“No, I’ll be okay.”
“You sure?”
Not entirely. “As sure as I can be.” I grab my keys and walk out before I change my mind and tell him to come with me.
The drive to the city only takes just under thirty minutes, but it feels like hours before I finally pull in on the street outside the police station. Taking a few deep breaths, I push my hair back and open the door, looking around the darkened street warily before mentally kicking my butt to hurry up and get inside.
“Hi, I’m looking for Felix Williams.” I stop at the front desk.
The attendant takes his time, looking me up and down before shoving his pen into his mouth and glancing at a piece of paper.
“He’s being questioned. Take a seat.”
Questioned? What the hell is going on?
Nerves ignite low in my stomach as the minutes tick by on the old clock hanging above the front desk. The clerk continues to stare at me. Maybe it’s because I’m wearing sleep shorts and a t-shirt, or maybe it’s because he’s got nothing better to do.
When I start to get too anxious, I almost shout across the room, “So when can I see him?”
He picks up a phone without taking his eyes from me and waits for someone to pick up on the other end. “Yeah, got a woman here for Felix Williams.”
He nods slightly. “Mmmhmm, yep.” He hangs up and stares at me for another full minute. God, he’s starting to freak me out more than the situation is. I’m on my feet, about to scream or tear my hair out, when finally, an officer rounds the corner. “Miss?”
The officer looks familiar, but I only pause a second before saying, “Maggie. I’m here for Felix.”
“Right. We’re not done questioning him yet, but you’re welcome to wait. Though, I’m going to be honest. The guy’s on parole. Looks like he’ll be going in lockup until he can appear before a judge at this stage.”
I almost choke on my heart. “What?” His face crumples a bit with what seems to be remorse.
Fuck his remorse. They’re not locking him up again. “What happened?”
“I’m not really at liberty to discuss all the details, but he’s been arrested for disturbing the peace, physical assault, and—”
He stops when I hold my hand up and close my eyes, trying to think. I need a second to wrap my scattered brain around why the hell he’d do such a thing when …
My eyes spring open. “Who did he assault?”
The officer shakes his head. “It’s—”
“I know, but it’s important.”
“Why? He’s committed a multitude of offenses, ma’am.” He looks genuinely baffled, his kind eyes assessing my face before recognition sets in. “The hospital, you were beaten—”
“Yes, and this time, I’m ready to report an assault. Is there someone who can help me with that?”
His brows rise, and he glances back down the hall, likely to where Felix is, then back at me. “I’m Officer Marks, but I don’t expect you’d remember that. This way.” He holds an arm out, and I follow him down the hall, stopping by a door when I see Felix sitting there through the window.
He’s in a chair, knees spread with his bent elbows on them, hands holding his head. Tears fill my eyes looking at him, but I don’t know if it’s because of what he’s done, or what I’m about to do as a result of it.
“Ma’am?”
I tear my eyes away, leaving Felix just as his head shoots up and he sees me.
Officer Marks leads me into another room, holding a chair out for me to take a seat before he does the same on the other side. He flicks some switches on behind him and goes through the motions, before telling me to begin.
I sit there for a minute, feeling my pulse flooding my ears and head with its incessant racing. My palms start to sweat, and I tuck them under my legs as I try to compose myself.
But as the officer waits patiently, it hits me then. This is not just about wanting to get Felix out of this mess—though, it’s the catalyst—it’s about the anger that suddenly surges within me.
It’s the injustice of not what was simply done to me, but to my mom and to many other women and people, that has me speaking.
“On March the second, 2015, I left work at nine thirty at night and stopped in at the convenience store down on Hamilton drive to grab some milk and bread. My friend who I was staying with at the time sent me a text asking if I would. I …” Stopping, I close my eyes, and the officer murmurs for me to take my time.
After a minute, I reopen them, steel my spine, and continue, “I got out of the car, got the milk and bread, and went back outside. But two guys were there waiting for me beside my car. They … they grabbed me. I remember the milk falling to the pavement and worrying about the wasted money.” I laugh humorlessly, stopping when my breath hitches.
“In an alleyway nearby, they asked me for money. Money I didn’t have. Money that my boyfriend apparently owed their, um, boss. I told them. I told them over and over I didn’t have it. That I had no idea about it. And as they shoved me to the ground and kicked me, I told them again. When they grabbed handfuls of my hair before backhanding me in the face, I choked on the blood coating my mouth, telling them again …”
Officer Marks leaves the room to get the men’s names and any other details he can on their whereabouts from Felix, before returning a while later with Felix trailing behind him.
“Mags.” Felix rushes into the room, pulling me from the staring match I was having with the metal desk in front of me. His hands grip my face, brown eyes worried. “What did you do?”
“What I should’ve done a long time ago,” I whisper, swiping my hands under my eyes then pushing him off me.
I ignore the hurt that passes over his handsome face and turn to Officer Marks. “He’s free to go?”
He nods, his sad eyes turning hard when they land on Felix. “Count your lucky stars that these two men have been evading us for a damn long time and for a lot of shit, Williams.”
Felix nods, and the officer sighs. “We were able to let you go this time based on the information you provided, but don’t let us see you back in here again. No matter what those guys did, we’ve got what happened in your file, and your ass will land back in jail. That’s not a threat. It’s just the way the law works, so follow it.”
“Yes, sir.” Felix takes my hand, and I give the officer a wobbly smile.
“Ma’am?” I pause in the doorway. “Thank you for finally giving your statement. We’ll be in touch if we need anything further.”
Swallowing, I shove what might come from my head, telling myself I’ve done the right thing, and simply nod, before following Felix outside.
“Hey, look at me.” He stops by my car, and I wiggle my hand out of his.
“Can we please just go?” I head to the driver’s side, but he stops me, taking my hand again and gently prying my keys from my clenched fist then moving me around to the passenger side.
“You need to call your brother,” I mumble when he pulls out onto the road.
My head feels like it’s stuck in a steamy hot shower with the rest of my body cold and exposed.
Unsticking themselves from the blurring taillights of a car in front of us on the highway, my eyes land on Felix’s hand. It’s clenching the steering wheel, and even in the dark of the car, I can make out the blood on it. My stomach turns, and I shift them away to stare back out the window.
Once home, Felix tries to help me out of the car, but I beat him to it and make my way to the side gate. “Maggie, please. Wait.”
Spinning around, I glare at him. “You said you wouldn’t leave me again, Felix.”
He winces. “I know.” Moving to touch me, he notices me looking at the blood on his hands and drops them to his sides. “But they hurt you.” His voice breaks. “I couldn’t … I can’t.”
“Stop, just stop,” I almost yell. “You can stay, but you’ll sleep on the couch.”
He looks like he wants to argue again, but I turn away and walk through the backyard, assuring Warren that everything is okay before he leaves, looking at Felix with curious eyes.
Felix locks the door behind him, and I hear the shower turn on after I walk into my room. I climb into bed and stare at the ceiling, my heart bleeding tiny rivers that break the banks of my eyes and run down my cheeks, disappearing into my hair.
I stay silent when the shower shuts off, willing the tears to stop. They don’t; they only come faster when Felix’s weight makes the bed dip and he pulls me into his damp chest.
“I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking clearly. All I saw was you, broken and scared. And I’d just found this …”
I try to push away from him when he hands me a crumpled piece of paper. Frowning, I take it from him and roll over to switch on the lamp to read it.
It’s from Sam. And none of it makes any sense to me besides her obvious love for the man lying behind me. I roll over, questions filling my gaze as he stares at me.
He tucks some hair behind my ear. “She told them that if anyone had the money Ryan paid me in advance to take on that job, it’d be his girlfriend.”
Sniffling, I ask, “Ryan let them come after me?”
He shakes his head. “He told them to find me or Jared, but Sam overheard and told them they’d have no luck and to find you instead.”
“What?” I gasp, my hand fisting the letter and scrunching it further. Letting it fall from my hand, I jump out of bed, pacing the floor beside it. Sam … oh, my God.
“Mags.” He sits up, the comforter falling around his naked waist.
“She found me, Felix.” I stop and look at him. “She’s the one who found me. After what they did.”
He curses hoarsely, glancing away. “Well, she’s fucking disappeared.”
“I know.” He looks back at me then. “I saw her a few weeks ago while I was at the plaza as she was leaving.” I laugh, feeling a little crazed. “This is all so insane. I don’t understand … She never gave me any indication that she hated me. We weren’t exactly friends, but she was nice to me.”
“Come here.” When I don’t, he gets up, stark naked, and walks over to me to hold my face. “She was jealous. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Except love you and fall pregnant.” My stomach lurches. “She wanted me to lose … oh, holy shit.” I can’t finish the thought, can’t even fathom how anyone would do such a thing.
“Shhh.” He drops his forehead to mine. “Jealousy can make people do some crazy shit. But she didn’t succeed. They didn’t either. It’s over.”
“But is it?” I step back, causing his hands to drop. “Is it ever really over?”
“It is, I promise.”
“You can’t do that, Felix. Didn’t we figure out a long time ago that life doesn’t give a shit about your promises?” He looks stunned. Good. He needs to understand that we can only control so much with our words. “And you’re not doing a damn thing to help by trying to avenge your broken girlfriend.”
“You’re not broken, Mags.”
“No,” I admit. “Not like I was before. But life is going to keep happening, Felix. We’ve learned that the hard way; only now, after tonight, I’m not so sure you’ve learned anything at all.”
“Don’t say that; it’s not true. You can’t expect me to just watch one of those fuckers walk on by down the street after what they did to you.”
He has a point there. And asking this giant, overprotective man who owns my heart not to be himself is like asking the rain not to wet you as it’s already landing upon you. “I get that, I do. But did you even stop to think about what would happen? If you were sent back to prison?” My voice catches on those last words. “You got lucky tonight, Felix, but that won’t happen again. How long would it be this time? And would it be worth missing out on even more time with Archie, with me?”
My eyes implore him to look outside his own anguish and, instead, to take notice of mine.
A choked sound leaves him, and then he’s holding me. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think; I was blinded by fury. But it won’t happen again, I promise.”
“Don’t make promises, Felix.” Planting my hands on his bare chest, I push away from him. “Live them.”
His gaze burns into my back as I get in bed.
He remains there for a minute, and desperation becomes all I can feel when I hear him finally leave the room. But tonight’s events have sobered me completely, flayed me open—even if I think it needed to happen—and I need time to process it all.
Hours later, as the sun changes shifts with the moon, I pad quietly out to the living room.
He’s waiting for me, arms open and sleep softening his features.
I climb into them, laying on top of him with his arms around me and his breath stirring the top of my hair, and finally, I fall asleep.