“Home? What part of you having moved out doesn’t he get?” Cora asked.
“For real,” Haven said. “I thought this guy was supposed to be some high-powered businessman. Because the more I learn about him, the more he kinda seems a little unhinged.”
Unhinged . . . suddenly seemed like a really good description of Grant. She thought back over her recent interactions with him. All the little manifestations of his compulsiveness, the mood swings, the paranoia, the refusal to accept reality, the anger. She recalled him stammering and the way his eye had twitched. Alexa shook her head. “He is, but I don’t know. It’s like me standing up to him pushed him off the deep end.”
“Hey,” Haven said, grasping her hand. “You’re not alone, okay?”
Alexa nodded, appreciating the sentiment so much.
Just then, Alexa’s cell rang. “Oh, thank God, now it’s Maverick.” She put it to her ear and answered. “Hey.”
“Hey, Al.” Frustration and anger were plain in his voice. “If Haven’s there with you, can you put me on speaker?”
She pressed the button. “Yeah, you’re on speaker now. What’s happening?”
“Haven,” Mav said, “we can’t get bail hearings for Dare and Jagger until sometime tomorrow.”
Haven gasped. “Tomorrow? They have to stay in overnight?”
His rough exhale came down the line. “Fucking judge is probably in Slater’s pocket as well. He won’t talk to the lawyer until tomorrow.”
“Goddamn Grant,” Alexa said, emotion welling up inside her. This was so unfair. For Dare and Jagger, for the Ravens, for Haven. For her, too. “I hate him so much I don’t know what I’d do if I saw him.”
“Tell me about it,” Mav bit out.
The lethal tone made Alexa’s heart pound with a sudden fear. “No, Maverick. Don’t you do anything. Promise me.”
“We’ll talk about this later, Al. But you gotta know all bets are off. He blackmailed you, he threatened you, and now he’s threatening the freedom of two of my brothers and the livelihood of the club. What happened today was a declaration of war.”
She understood where he was coming from, she really did, but his words still sent a chill down her spine.
“Haven, the lawyer saw Dare. He said to tell you not to worry, that he’s fine, and that he’ll be home soon.”
“Thank you,” Haven said, those two words laden with so much more.
“Listen, I’m sorry to run,” Maverick said, “but I want to keep an ear out and catch the lawyer before he goes.” After a quick good-bye, they hung up.
“He’ll be okay,” Cora said, taking Haven’s hand. “He’s as tough as they come. You know that. And Jagger’s there with him.”
Haven gave a quick bob of her head. “I know. But he’s still hurt, even though he refuses to admit it. And I just hate the idea of him in there.”
“So do I,” Alexa said. “But Cora’s right. It’ll just be the one night and then they’ll make bail until we can get all this cleared up.”
“One night,” Haven said, taking a deep breath. “We can make it through one night.”
That we tugged at Alexa’s heartstrings, because it was clear that Haven and Dare really had something special between them. And Alexa wanted it for herself.
With Maverick.
“One night,” Cora said. “Easy peasy.”
Alexa nodded and put on a brave smile for her new friend. But inside she couldn’t help but wonder what other bombs Grant was preparing to launch at them the next day and the day after that—and how much Alexa was willing to let others be hurt and sacrificed for her so that she could escape him once and for all.
ALEXA KNEW SHE was alone the moment she woke up. “Maverick?” she called.
The sheets were cold beside her. Slipping out of bed, she wandered through the house looking for him—his room, the bathroom, the kitchen, the living room. She peered out the front door to check the garage, but it was dark. The LED on the microwave read a little after 4:00 A.M.
Worry sent a shiver over her skin, and Alexa grabbed the fleece throw off the back of the couch and wrapped it around her shoulders. Where could he be?
The Ravens had finally returned from the police station and guard duty around dinnertime, and the meal had been a somber, quiet, tension-filled affair. And it got even more tense when Alexa shared the text she’d received. She’d hated to pour salt into Mav’s wounds, but also felt like she shouldn’t keep anything from him. Not with so much on the line.
Most of the guys stayed around after dinner to drink and plot against her ex-fiancé, so Alexa had hung with Haven, Cora, and Bunny in the kitchen playing cards until Maverick had finally come in, bleary-eyed and a little unsteady on his feet, and said he was ready to go. When Bunny had said she’d drive them home, he thankfully hadn’t argued.