Page 16 of His Kidnapped Irish Mafia Virgin

I stepped back and waited. It couldn’t have been more than five minutes, but each one seemed longer than the last. At last, there was a knock on the door.

“Nora?” I was already crossing the room before Maeve finished saying my name. I pulled the door open without a second’s hesitation.

When I saw her standing there, I walked toward her and put my arms around her. I didn’t plan to do it; my body just moved before I could think. Maeve hugged me tightly. For a second I forgot about the attempted kidnapping, Liam’s kiss, and everything else that had happened. When we stopped hugging, Maeve kept her hands on my arms and looked at me with concern. That made me realize how tired I must have looked.

“How are you doing?” Maeve asked.

“Good, good,” I replied. I moved aside to let Maeve in, then closed the door. She sat down in the chair opposite mine, and I went back to my seat by the window.

Maeve asked how I was feeling, if I’d been eating properly, and if anyone had been looking after me. I answered her questions because it was easier than talking about what was on my mind, but one question kept coming back to me.

“Maeve, how did you find me?” I asked. “I haven’t spoken to anyone since all this happened.”

“Liam called me,” she said. “He said he thought you needed someone you trusted.”

I stared at her, trying to make sense of it. “I didn’t even know you knew Liam.”

Maeve explained that she’d met Liam through Sean some time ago, but there had never been a reason for his name to come up when she and I spent time together.

I let out a breath and looked down at my hands. “What did Liam tell you?”

“Only a little,” Maeve replied. “Liam said you’d been through something and that you needed someone you trusted. He said the rest was your story to tell.”

I wasn’t planning to tell anyone, but it felt easy with Maeve. The words came slowly at first. Once I started, they just kept coming. I told Maeve about leaving the bar, the men who’d grabbed me, and Liam appearing to rescue me. Maeve listened without interrupting. She never looked away. By the time I finished speaking, I felt as though I’d been carrying those words for years.

She stayed quiet for a moment before answering. Maeve told me she understood why I was angry. Hearing those words lifted some weight from my chest. Then Maeve’s expression softened as she said that if Liam genuinely believed someone wanted to hurt me, she could understand why he’d made his decisions. I looked at Maeve in disbelief. I’d thought Maeve finally understood me, but clearly I’d been wrong.

“So you understand Liam,” I said quietly.

Maeve simply nodded. Disappointment settled over me immediately.

“You are taking Liam’s side, Maeve,” I said.

When I’d seen Maeve in the driveway, I thought I’d finally found someone who would get why I couldn’t stay here. Instead, I found myself listening to another person explain why Liam was justified in keeping me here. I folded my arms and looked out at the garden. The view was still the same as it had been this morning.

“I thought you’d understand,” I said quietly. I didn’t look back at her. “I really did.”

Maeve let my words sink in before she answered. She didn’t argue with me or tell me I was wrong. She just reminded me that understanding why Liam did something didn’t mean I had to agree with it. She said that Liam following me without my knowledge was wrong. She didn’t try to justify the kiss or say that keeping me here against my wishes was the solution. She wasn’t asking me to forgive him. She was asking me to see why he made those decisions. I shook my head. That wasn’t enough for me.

“He can’t decide what happens to me just because he’s afraid. I’ve spent years building a life where nobody tells me what to do or where to go. They might not always be the right decisions, but they’re mine. Liam walked into my life and started making decisions for me without asking me what I wanted. I know he saved me that night, and I’ll always be thankful for that, but saving my life doesn’t mean he owns it.”

Maeve listened to me without interrupting. She’d always been good at that. She waited until I’d said everything I wanted to say before she spoke again. When she finally did, her voice was calm. I could tell she’d chosen her next question carefully.

“Nora, who were those men?”

That question caught me off guard. I turned away from the window and looked at her.

I slowly shook my head. “I’d never seen either of them before.”

Maeve accepted that answer, but she wasn’t finished. She asked who I thought wanted me enough to send strangers after me. I felt all my strength drain out of my body. It was the one question I’d been avoiding, and I already knew where it would lead.

“It doesn’t matter,” I whispered. “I’m not going back.”

“I know you’re not,” Maeve said gently. “I’m asking because if someone is looking for you, we need to know who that someone is.”

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Keeping the answer to myself suddenly felt harder than saying it out loud. There was one person I could think of. One person who would want to drag me back into the life I’d escaped.

“My stepfather,” I said at last. The words brought back years of memories I’d tried to bury. “When I left, I took money to survive until I found work…fifty grand. I thought they would eventually stop looking for me. My mother knew what he was like. She saw everything that he did, but she never stopped him. I kept telling myself they would be happier if they could pretend I didn’t exist.”