Maverick made me his, sank inside of my soul so slow and so deep, I’d never be the same. Maverick was the piece I hadn’t known I was missing, the haunted hole in my heart that's never been filled until this moment.
He sank deeper, catching my ear in a breathless pant. “You’re everything to me.”
CHAPTER NINE
Maverick
“You rotten son-of-a—”
Cold steel dug into my neck. I jerked awake, eyes landing on the man on the end of the barrel of a gun.
Captain O’Henry.
“Get off my ass, O’Henry.”
“Get out of that sleeping bag and face me like a man.” He dug the barrel deeper into my neck.
“Dad? Dad, put your gun away!” Poppy screeched.
The man’s eyes were hard on mine. I gnashed my teeth together, unpeeling myself from Poppy’s form and leaving her the sleeping bag to wrap herself in. We were both fully clothed, but just hours ago we’d been hot and sweaty together, the scent of our shared intimacy still lingering on our skin.
“You don’t know what you’ve done, Poppy.” Anger vibrated through his voice.
“Please don’t do this, not again,” she pleaded, trying to wedge herself between me and her father.
“How could you?” His anger was directed at me, gun still drawn and stance steady. “After everything?”
“What is everything?”
“Unless you have a warrant you need to get the hell off of my property.”
“This is a public road,” Captain O’Henry grit.
“The hell it is. Why am I the only one maintaining it then? Poppy can make her own decisions.”
Poppy pushed my chest away, fire lighting her pretty irises. “I can fight my own battles.”
It took every ounce of control in my body to stop myself from fighting this one for her.
“Dad—” She turned to him, leveling his chest with a palm and pushing him away. “Can we talk this over with some coffee?”
“Thought I was coming to chase down a missing person, Poppy.” Her dad’s voice was soft, ravaged with worry like a good father.
I still hated him.
But I loved her.
“Let’s go up to my palace and talk it out—”
“I'm not going anywhere with him.” The Captain nodded my way.
I rolled my eyes, throwing my hands in the air and turning to walk to the edge of the cliff that overlooked the bay.
“Talk to me, would you, tell me what’s going on that I don't know exactly?”
“That animal stole the first woman I ever loved and then he murdered her.”
“That’s not what happened, you dirty snake.” I knew Connor had always had a crush on Lily, I just never thought he'd go that far. The man held a grudge from a junior prom dance when Lily had chosen me to be her date and not him. The beef between Connor and I had only grown since then.
“Ssh.” Poppy pressed a finger to her lips. “You're not helping.”
“He’s been blaming me for bullshit for decades!”
“He isn’t wrong about that.” Poppy frowned at her father.
He huffed, holstering his gun, and then headed to the cop car idling at the shoulder of my road.
“Good riddance.”
“I’m not leavin’ without my daughter, I don’t care what it takes.” He flipped his handcuffs in one hand. “I wouldn’t leave my worst enemy alone with you.”
“Dad—” Poppy protested.
“Surprise, she’s stayin’ forever, asshole.”
“You’re the only asshole here, and over my dead body Poppy stays.”
“Dad—”
“Poppy, if you stay you’re dead to me, alright? It’s that simple and that important.”
“Grr, Dad!” Frustrated tears watered her eyes. “You two are unbearable!” Poppy yelled at the top of her lungs. “I hate you both!”
I grunted, “Now look what you’ve done.”
Poppy’s dad snarled silently at me before guiding his daughter to his patrol car. “I’ll call the wrecker to get up here to fetch your car, sweetheart.”
“I’ll deliver it—”
“No, she’s fine, you’ve done enough.” He waved me off.
Anxiety bunched my nerves when I realized Poppy had lost her fight, she was letting her old man lead her away from me.
“Petal—”
She paused at the passenger side of the patrol car. “I can’t leave him hanging. I'll talk to him. I promise.”
I frowned, realizing slowly that she was really leaving me.
After last night. After I gave her everything and more.
“Don’t leave, Petal.”
“I’m sorry.” She pressed her fingers to her lips and then blew me a sad kiss.
“Petal, damn you.”
CHAPTER TEN
Poppy
“You don’t know what you’ve done,” were the only words Dad mustered as we drove down the ridge. The patrol car hung heavy with silence, my skin still on fire in all the places Maverick’s touch had marked me.
I wished more than anything I could force Dad to turn the car around and bring me back to Lover’s Ridge, but instead I did the right thing and let him carry me back to safety.
For now.
Fifteen minutes later we were driving through downtown. When Dad passed my tiny apartment building, he kept driving.
“Where are we going?”
Dad’s palms tightened on the steering wheel, eyes laser focused as he clenched and unclenched his jaw and then finally replied: “Best thing I can think to do is show you what kind of mistake you’ve made. I pray it’s enough.”
“Dad, what are you talking about? Maverick is perfectly kind to me—”
“He is now.” Dad was heavy on the brakes when he finally slowed to pull into his driveway. “But what happens after he gets what he wants from you?”
“Dad, Maverick doesn't want anything from me.”
“Bullshit.”
“Dad—”
“Read for yourself, Poppy.” He flung the door of his patrol car open and rushed out. I slid out of the passenger side and followed him up the steps. By the time I was inside, he was already headed back out, a shoebox full of papers in his arms. “Here’s all of it, everything I could find that your mother left.”
“What does this have to do with Mom?”
He shook his head. “Maverick Wright is a bad man, by the time you’re finished reading these, I trust you’ll understand and I won't have to fight with you about keeping you safe.” He tipped his uniform hat at me, but there was a warning
