He loved me. Was loyal to me.
Yes, I might get jealous when he had a female client, but that wasn’t because I thought he would cheat on me. I was just possessive and hated the thought of him having to touch someone other than me.
In the picture, his eyes were only slits, barely open. I couldn’t even tell if he was even awake.
The longer I looked at it, the more and more pissed I got.
Tossing my phone into the passenger seat, I slammed my foot harder on the gas and left skid marks on the road as I blaze a trail in the direction of the run-down motel.
As soon as I pulled into the parking lot, I saw Elias standing by his bike, which was parked right beside Maverick’s. I slammed on my brakes and shifted into park, but I left the car running as I jumped out.
“Is he okay?” I demanded, running toward Room 119.
Elias clenched his jaw. “What you’re about to see isn’t what it looks like. I want you to understand that.”
I snorted. “I know that. Someone sent me a picture. Anonymously, of course.” But the dread in my gut was already telling me I knew who was behind all this. That it was Elias who had called me there only further confirmed it.
Reaching the door, I pushed it open, not surprised it wasn’t even locked. Inside, I found the two girls from the picture lying on either side of my naked man. They were both in only bras and panties, and they hadn’t even pulled the sheet up over Maverick to cover his dick.
Their heads snapped up as I barged into the room, their faces losing all color as I marched straight to the closest one. In a rage, I grabbed her by the hair and jerked her off the bed. Her scream filled the room, and Elias watched from the open door in gaped-mouth amazement.
Slinging the girl away, I reached across Maverick for the other, but she yelped and made a run for it. However, Elias was blocking the only exit, making it all too easy for me to grab her from behind and toss her over to where her partner in crime was sobbing on the floor because I’d pulled a huge chunk of her hair from her scalp.
From the bed, Maverick groaned as if he were in physical pain. “Babe?” he slurred, and I knew—fucking knew—he’d been drugged. “What’s all the…screaming ’bout?”
“Don’t worry, baby,” I murmured in a soothing voice, not wanting to worry him. “I’ll take care of this. You just sleep it off.”
“Love you, River,” he groaned.
“I love you too, baby,” I told him as I glared down at the two women huddled together on the floor.
“I’ve been following Uncle Colt like you asked,” Elias said from the doorway. “I was going to say to hell with it because I thought for sure you were worried for no reason. Fucking glad I didn’t listen to myself. Yesterday, he started acting shady, and I saw him come out here. He was in the registration office for over an hour, and then he went home. A few hours ago, he came back here and walked into this room. On his way out, I heard him talking to someone. I don’t know why, but I stuck around, making sure I stayed out of sight. Maverick showed up not long after…” He nodded his head. “Never saw these two. But I heard him mutter something then a crash and these two cursing about him weighing so much. I waited a little bit to see what they might do, but I knew it must be a setup.”
“I knew it was a setup as soon as I got the picture.” I crouched down in front of the girls. “Colt Hannigan set this up, right?” They both nodded hurriedly. And my dad got exactly what he wanted to accomplish with this shit.
My heart broke.
It shattered, right th
ere on the dirty floor of that disgusting motel room. Just as he’d hoped.
Only, he was the one to make it break. Not Maverick. Never ever Mav. He loved me too much to ever want to hurt me.
Dad was the one who killed a part of me then and there.
But I sure as fuck wasn’t going to let him get away with it.
“How much did he pay you?”
“Two grand,” the one who wasn’t crying said with a gulp. “A thousand each. Cash. A-all he wanted was for us to drug this guy, get him naked, and take those pictures. Th-that’s all, lady. We…we didn’t mean any harm. It was just about the money. Ya know?”
I gave her a grin, but it only made her cower back against her friend. “Yeah, I do know.” I straightened. “Get dressed. Your job isn’t over. You two are going to be earning every penny of that blood money he gave you.”
Thursday nights were church night. Always had been, for as long as I could remember.
It was just after nine when I pulled up outside Hannigans’ and parked. Getting out, I shut the door calmly and walked into the bar like I owned it. Technically, I would own a percentage of it one day.
If I didn’t burn the fucking thing down.