“He was my ex.”

I don’t really know where to start, so I just dive in for the most obvious choice. The one that pretty much explains most of it and covers a whole lot of ground. I watch Maverick’s face for any clues of what he’s thinking but he doesn’t make a twitch. He just watches me, eyes intense, and nods for me to go on.

I know I shouldn’t really be telling him any of this. I’m not supposed to talk with anyone about it, for my own safety but, honestly, I’m tired of having no one to talk to. Seeing him in the crowd tonight, after well over a year of nothing, just standing there, staring at me with that cold, evil grin on his face, it took the breath clean out of my lungs. Fear gripped me, and I could see nothing, feel nothing, do nothing. He raised a hand, wiggled his fingers in a terrifying wave, and disappeared.

Susan didn’t believe me.

That makes me so ... so ... bitterly disappointed. Especially considering she didn’t believe me the last time and it nearly got me killed. I know she has reason to doubt. They checked with security right away. Nobody saw him come in, and nobody saw him come out. Nothing on the cameras. What they don’t understand is that Treyton Jay Wilder is a smart fucking man and he has a way around everything. Everything.

I did have moments after he first disappeared where I swore he was watching me and used to freak out, but I had reason to. I was scared all the time. Afraid he would come back. That he’d hurt me somehow. Susan thinks this is another one of those times—she thinks I imagined what I saw. She’s wrong. I haven’t had one of those moments for so long. It was him tonight. I’m certain of it.

I just don’t understand why.

And that terrifies me to my core.

“Goin’ to tell me more, or do I have to guess?” Maverick says, snapping me from my thoughts.

I take a deep breath. Screw it. I need someone on my side for once. And I know Maverick will believe me. Mostly, I know he’ll look out for me. That feels nice. To have someone covering your back, not because they’re paid to, but because they care, and they believe in you, and they don’t want to see you hurt.

“We were together a little over two years. At first, everything was good. He used to come on tour with me, we had fun. He seemed like a good guy. It didn’t last long, maybe four or so months. Then he started getting short tempered, and disappearing every night for hours, getting all these strange phone calls, things like that ...”

I take a shaky breath, and Maverick nods for me to continue.

“I asked him one night about it, and he got really cold, not angry as such, just cold and terrifying. He told me never to ask him about it again or I wouldn’t like what happened to me. I’m not a very strong person when it comes to things like that, so I did what I was told and I said nothing more about it. But, that didn’t stop the abuse. He was cold, cunning, and extremely clever.”

I shiver.

“Honestly, Maverick, he is one of the smartest men I have ever met in how clever he runs whatever operation he has going. He never got angry, never went over the top, never lost it. He was always in control. Even when he started ... hurting me, it was never out of blind anger. He was always calm and clever enough never to leave a mark on my face. He was so good, nobody on my team believed me when I told them what he was like. That’s a shitty feeling, nobody believing you ...”

Maverick’s jaw tics, and his eyes grow a little dangerous.

“Now I look back, I don’t know why I didn’t just expose him. I guess I was so afraid. It’s a horrible feeling, being that scared of what someone could do to you. The worst part was, I knew he could do it, he could hurt not only me but everyone I loved, and he’d do it without hesitation. It’s why I never showed Susan the bruises on my stomach and body, beneath my clothes, where he so carefully put them. He broke a bone once and forced me to spin a story that I fell when we were out together. I did. I wish I had showed her, but as I said, I was so, so bone-chillingly terrified of that man.”

“What happened to him then? Why isn’t he around any longer?”

“He snapped one night, finally. He lost it at me, throwing me across the bus ...” I swallow, trying to forget that horrible night, but I can’t, I never will.

“What the fuck did you say to her?” he roars, closing in on me.

I take a shaky step back toward the window at the back of the bus. I have nowhere to go, nowhere to run to. He’s angry. The scary part about that is I’ve never seen him angry. He always has it together. And I’ve seen what he can do to me when he’s calm. The image of what he could do angry has my blood running cold.

“I haven’t said anything to anyone,” I croak. “I swear.”

“Liar!” he roars. “Susan came to me and asked me if everything was okay. She said she’d ‘noticed’ my change in attitude and me going out late every night. She said you had mentioned something. What the fuck did you say?”

I did say something to Susan. Many times in the last week. I was trying to get help. Trying to get someone to believe me. To get this monster away from me. I very carefully mentioned that sometimes he has a temper that scares me, and I feel like he’s dangerous and maybe I need to leave him. Susan told me I was being silly, that he had been nothing but kind to me. I tried a few more times. But it was clear she didn’t believe me. So, I let it go.

But she mentioned it to him. I didn’t think of that when I told her. I didn’t think she might say something. I figured she thought I was insane and had forgotten about it.

“I-I-I didn’t say anything to her,” I stammer.

“Liar!” he bellows. “You’re the worst fucking liar under the sun. You’re ruining everything. I told you to keep your fucking mouth shut. I told you what I’d do if you didn’t. This has put me in jeopardy. Everything I’ve worked for is at risk because you opened your mouth.”

“I didn’t say anything, I didn’t—”

His fist comes flying at me so fast I have no time to even attempt to dodge it. I soar backward, hitting the glass on the window at the end of my bus. Pain radiates through my cheek, traveling into my skull, and blood flows from my lip, dripping down my chin as I land with a thump on the ground. A pained cry leaves my throat as I try to get up, to scurry away.

“You little slut,” he bellows. “Do you know what you’ve done? I’m going to have to do something about this. About her. I can’t have anyone suspicious of me.”

“No, please,” I cry out, spitting blood and trying not to choke on the parts of it running down my throat. “I didn’t tell her anything about that. I just said that maybe we needed a break because I didn’t like how you were treating me, that was it. I swear I never said anything else.”

“Treating you!” he roars, then throws his head back and laugh. “Scum gets treated like scum.”

He drives a booted foot into my ribs, and I hear, literally hear one snap. I scream in agony as a pain unlike anything I’ve ever felt rips through my body. Darkness threatens to take over, causing my vision to blur. A hand curls into my hair and I’m wrenched up off the floor. Another fist to my face. Then another. I’m screaming so loudly, but nothing, I swear I can’t hear it.

Everything in my world goes black after the final punch.

Tears run down my cheeks as I finish telling Maverick what happened that night. The night he suspected I’d been telling people about what he was doing. It’s the only time I ever really saw him lose his control. And he took that out on me. Maverick reaches over, grabbing the base of my chair and pulling it forward until I’m right in front of him. He cups my face in both his big hands and tilts my head back so I’m looking at him. I hiccup and he swipes a tear away with his thumb.

“He hurt you.”

I nod. “So bad.”

“I promise you, he’ll fuckin’ pay for that. But first, I need to know what happened after that.”

I swallow down my tears, because I want to finish the story. I want to tell someone who actually believes me. I am so tired of being scared. I need to get this off my chest.

“Susan said she heard the screaming. She’s a smart woman, she called security. They came in, two massive men, guns blaring, but he was already gone. He, too, wasn’t stupid. He knew someone would hear. He hightailed it out of there as soon as I passed out. They must have missed him by seconds. Though, I’m glad Susan didn’t come in when she first heard it. He would have killed her. Without a doubt in the world. She felt really guilt after that, because she didn’t believe me when I told her what he was like.”

Maverick’s jaw tightens, and he grinds out, “So she fuckin’ should. Someone tells you somethin’ like that, you listen. Don’t give a fuck if you think they’re makin’ it up, or lyin’, or whatever, you believe them.”

I swallow. “Yeah ...”

“Didn’t believe you again tonight, did she?”

I shake my head.

His jaw gets even tighter. “What happened in there?”

“I saw him, in the crowd. God, the look he gave me. It was a threat. A warning. Only I’m not sure why. I haven’t seen or heard from him for a year. Why now?”

“What did your security and management do about it?”

“They checked all the cameras, things like that. No sign of him. After he first disappeared, after the night he nearly killed me, I used to think I would see him when he wasn’t really there. A form of panic, I suppose. They think that is happening again.”

“Saw the look on your face. What you saw was real.”

Not even a doubt. Not even a question. He believes me without hesitation. My heart swells and tears burn fresh under my eyelids. For the first time, I have spoken and someone has just believed me, just like that, no questions asked.

“Thank you,” I whisper. “For believing me.”

He reaches over, cupping my jaw, squeezing my chin just slightly. “Everyone should have someone that believes in them, no matter what. Now, you’re goin’ to tell me more about this man.”

I nod and he lets me go. I tuck my legs beneath me and start talking.

“His name is Treyton Wilder, or Trey.”

Maverick nods. “What kind of business do you think he was involved in.”

I purse my lips. “Drugs, definitely. I never knew the depth, though. All I know, and I hate to admit it, is that he’s incredibly smart. One of the smartest men I’ve ever encountered in my life. If he was running something like that, he’d do it well, that much I know. And that’s a scary thought. I don’t know what he’s dealing in now, I don’t know who, I only figured that much out from the encounters I had with him. That’s the only thing I know.”

“You have no idea what drugs he was dealin’, or where?”

I shake my head. “Sorry, no. I don’t even have names. Just his.”

Maverick nods. “Do you think you’re in danger?”

I shrug. “I’m not really sure. But for him to pop up, after this long, it is a little odd. I won’t lie.”

“How good is your security?” Maverick asks, looking around. “Clearly not very fuckin’ good because you’re sittin’ on an open deck without anyone watchin’. Someone could walk right in here and take you.”

That thought has my eyes darting around. He’s right. Anyone could come in here, or worse, they could hit me without even getting close with the right shot. I rub my arms and shift closer to Maverick.

“Goin’ to start keepin’ watch on you. Will talk to my club, see if I can get an extra set of eyes on board. I’ll start trackin’ down this little Trey fucker, and I’ll deal with him the way he should have been dealt with from the start.”

His words have me shivering. Maverick outweighs Trey by a long shot, and he’s far scarier, but Trey is smart, Trey is a coward and wouldn’t hesitate in killing in cold blood. Both options are terrifying, both options are almost an equal match. But Maverick has his club. And he’s smart, too. I no longer care what happens to Trey, my heart simply does not stretch that far after what he did to me. I’m more worried about Maverick getting tangled up in my mess.

“Don’t bring your club into it, Maverick. It isn’t your mess to clean up, it’s mine. You shouldn’t put yourself or others in harm’s way for me.”

He grins at me, and it’s a little terrifying. Especially considering the way his eyes light up. “Darlin’, this is what we fuckin’ do.”

Oh, boy.

“It’s too late now for me to even try and stop. I want to help you, and no fucker is goin’ to stand in my way. You’re in danger, I don’t know how, but you are. That man wants something from you, and he’ll have to get over my dead fuckin’ body to find it. I’ll keep you safe. You just keep doin’ what you’re doin’. I’ll make sure to watch out for you and make sure he doesn’t get close enough.”

“So, you’re just going to be like extra security?”

He nods. “Yeah, that.”

That would be nice.

“Okay, Maverick.”

He reaches over, running a rough thumb over my cheek. “Okay, darlin’.”