“What the fuck?”
“Are you married?”
“No. Why the hell would you ask that?” What the fuck was going on?
“Because there’s a woman at your house claiming to be your wife.”
Her words didn’t make sense. He didn’t have a wife. Hadn’t had one in over—
“Fuck! Did she give you her name?”
“I’m not liking that answer, Ry.”
“If it’s who I think it is, I haven’t been legally married to her for over a year. And the marriage was dead before it started.” A thought sucked the air from his lungs. “Is Maz with you? Please tell me Maz is with you.”
“Yes. She’s with me, but I’m not putting her on the phone. She doesn’t even know I called you.” He heard a door close in the background. “What the fuck is going on, Ry? Maz isn’t making any sense. I can’t get anything out of her other than you’re married. With a kid!”
“Alyssa, I swear to you I don’t know what’s going on, but I’ll find out, and when I do, I’m coming for her. Don’t let her run, Alyssa. She’s going to want to. She’ll want to get as far away from this and me as she can, and you can’t let her. Please, I’m begging you. Keep her with you until I can find out what the fuck Renee is up to.”
“Ry?”
“Yeah.”
“Maz said there’s a little boy with her. She said he’s yours.”
“No! He’s not mine.” Jesus fucking Christ. What the fuck was his ex doing at his house? And where the fuck was Jake? He sighed. “It’s a long ugly story that I’d rather tell Maz, but I will tell you the boy isn’t mine even though at one point I thought he was.”
“Oh.”
“I need to go.” He stared through the windshield of his truck. He hadn’t even closed the door when he’d answered his phone. “I’m leaving the base now, and I don’t know how long it will take me to get Renee to tell me the truth. Can I come to get Maz after that?”
“Maybe you should come to get her now?”
“I don’t want her anywhere near Renee. The woman is toxic.”
“Maz has dealt with toxic before.”
“I know. I’m sorry. I want to shield her from this. At least until I know what’s going on. I need to make a call.”
“I’ll keep her here. She’s not fit to drive anyway. I already took her keys and hid them.”
“Thank you. I’ll call as soon as I’ve got some answers.”
“I told you not to hurt her.”
“I haven’t. Someone from my past has. And, Alyssa, this cuts me as much as it cuts her. Take care of her until I get there. I’m coming for her. I can’t live without her, I just hope she forgives me for not telling her about my ex before. If I had...”
“It might not have made much difference. Maz was lied to for years, I don’t know what that’s done to her ability to trust. And this is so close to what happened before.”
“I know, I know. I’m going to make it up to her, Alyssa. If it takes every day of my life, I’ll make it up to her.”
“A lifetime might not be enough.”
“I’ll make it enough.”
“Call me if you need . . . hell, I don’t know. Anything.”
“Just take care of Mazey. Make sure she doesn’t run before I have a chance to clear things up.”
