She threw the door open to prove her pointand walked into her kitchen to put some space between them.Shrugging out of her coat, she placed it on the counter. “You mightas well come in,” she called as she started removing things fromher pockets. She wasn’t much for purses as she had a habit offorgetting them, so her pockets were always stuffed.
Stepping inside, Ethan closed the doorbehind him. The click of it settling into place held an oddly finalnote. She didn’t think he’d attack her, but she was terrified tofind out why he’d come.
His gaze ran over the boxes stacked neatlyin her living room before coming back to her. “You’re moving?”
“Nope, I like keeping my things in boxes.Cuts back on dusting, and it’s more feng shui that way.”
He lifted a black eyebrow at her sarcasm.She removed her stake, placed it on the counter, and rested herhand on top of it. “Is that for me?” he inquired.
“Not unless you want it to be, but you don’tgo through what I’ve gone through without becoming more preparedfor the things that go bump in the night. I have some pepper spraytoo. Though, I’m not sure how well it will work on you supernaturalfolk.”
“I imagine it would burn like a bitch. I’dprefer not to find out. Are you moving because of what happened toyou with the Savages? Do you feel unsafe here?”
“No.”
“Then why are you going?”
“I’m sorry, but what business is that ofyours?”
Annoyance flashed through his eyes. “Wheredo you plan to go? Are you moving in with someone else?”
“Not your concern. I must say, as delightfulas this impromptu visit is, could you tell me whatyou’redoing here so it can end?”
Ethan sighed and stepped toward her. “I’mhere about Aiden.”
There went her heart getting all bent out ofshape again as his name brought forth memories of their brief timetogether and the way he’d held her. Unwilling to let Ethan see thesadness in her eyes, she looked away. No matter what, she wouldn’tlet him go back to Aiden and tell him she missed him.
“What about Aiden?” she demanded and hopedEthan wouldn’t realize her voice had changed.
“I know, you made your choice to move onfrom him and lead your life—”
Maggie’s gaze shot back to him. “What areyou talking about?”
“When you didn’t go to the hotel, Aidenrealized you’d made your choice.”
“First of all, Ididgo to the hotel.I arrived later than planned, but I went. Second, I tried callingAiden to explain why I was late, and I left him messages. I neverheard back from him. I tried calling him again after, but he neverresponded.”
Something in Ethan’s demeanor changed, hewent from looking at her like she was about to kick his nuts intohis throat, to almost hopeful. He took a quick step toward herbefore stopping. “He tried to call you.”
“He had the number for a burner phone I wasusing at the time. The day we were supposed to meet, I had anaccident with it, and it broke. I called from a friend’s phone andleft him a message explaining that. I’ve texted him from my newphone and nada. Since I’m not one for stalking, I got the hint realquick.”
“I don’t have his number for that phone. Ican’t check the messages.”
“What does it matter if you could check hismessages or not? Aiden is perfectly capable of doing that himself.I’veseenhim do it.”
“Aiden also broke his phone that day, andhe… well, he hasn’t exactly been himself lately.”
“What does that mean?”
“Why were you late? Why didn’t you meet himon time?”
Maggie slapped her hand on the counter.“What is this, the Spanish Inquisition? What does it matter?Something happened that day…” Her voice trailed off as she recalledthe horrible phone call from Pablo. Fresh grief for Roger washedthrough her. She refused to cry in front of Ethan. Unable tocontinue speaking, she clamped her mouth shut and suppressed hertears until she felt more composed.
“I was late because I was late,” she saidmore calmly. “It’s none of your concernwhy. If Aidencouldn’t wait for me or contact me to askwhyI was late,then he can fuck off, and so can you! Now, I’ve had a long day, anduntil I saw you, it was a pleasant one, so if you don’t mind—”
“Who was the man you were with?”
“Excuse me?” she blurted. “Whatman?”
