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I narrow my eyes. “You are not welcome in my home. I don’t want you anywhere near it. I’m not going to invite you over for a chummy meal. We’re not friends, Carla.”
“I gave you a baby.”
“And then you left her.”
Carla hangs up on me, and I let out a sigh.
I know her too well. She doesn’t want Rachel. She wants to mess with me, and she’s jealous of Maeve.
She’s jealous of everything.
Which I don’t understand because she’s been with Danny Kirkland for years. He’s not a particularly successful fighter in the industry, but he makes a shit ton of money and keeps Carla in the lifestyle she always wanted.
It doesn’t matter.
I want her gone.
“Are you going to sleep at all?” Maeve reaches out and drags her hand up and down my arm in the darkness. I have the balcony door open so I can hear the waves crashing below, and the mattress is heated to keep us warm.
I usually sleep like a damn baby in this room.
But my brain won’t shut down.
“I’m fine,” I reply softly. “Go back to sleep.”
“You’re not fine.” Maeve sits up and scoots closer. Having her with me is soothing in and of itself. If I were alone, I’d be in the basement, punching the bag I hung down there last week.
I can’t wait for the gym to be finished.
“She just got home,” I inform her and push my hand through my hair. “Rachel walked through the door not even thirty minutes ago. It’s almost one in the goddamn morning. What in the hell could they have been doing this late?”
“Maybe they were just talking,” Maeve suggests. “Catching up, like Carla said earlier.”
“I don’t trust her,” I say, watching the white waves in the dark. “Like I said before, I don’t talk shit about Carla in front of Rachel because it’s up to my daughter to decide what she thinks of her mom. But Carla is a bad person, Maeve. She’s manipulative and selfish. And I’m worried that all she’s going to do here is hurt Rachel. All because she’s pissed that I’m doing well.”
“Why is she pissed about that?” Maeve asks. “I don’t get it. Why does she care?”
“Who knows? Because she’s unhappy, and she wants everyone else to be unhappy, too. Or she just wants me to be unhappy because I got what I wanted. I got Rachel.”
“I sincerely hope that you’re wrong, for Rachel’s sake,” she replies. “I hope that Carla has matured with age and realizes that she has an awesome daughter that she needs to get to know. And that she’s here for that reason only—because she’s missed out on a great kid.”
I turn to her and cup her cheek in the darkness.
“You’re such a good woman. You try to see the best in people and give them the benefit of the doubt, even when they don’t deserve it.”
“I don’t know her,” she says simply. “I don’t know if she deserves Rachel. From what you’ve told me, I’d say not. But, like I said, I hope she’s grown up and is here with good intentions. Because I promise you, if she hurts that sweet girl in any way, I’ll tear her fucking hair out.”
I grin and lean into her, kissing her neck. I need to be with her.
“Protective, aren’t you?”
“Of the people I love? Hell, yes. I know you’re strong, but so am I. And I don’t stand for anyone hurting those I care about.”
“I’m so happy that you love her.”
She takes my cheeks in her hands, and with the moonlight dancing on her face, she smiles softly. “I love both of you, Hunter. Haven’t you figured that out?”
I slide her down onto the bed and quietly make love to her with soft touches and breathless sighs. I moan at the tenderness of her touch and feel my heartbeat quicken when I’m inside her, pushing us both toward the ecstasy of climax.
And when it’s calm again, when Maeve sleeps soundly, and I lie awake listening to the water, I’m at peace in the knowledge that we can face whatever chaos Carla brings our way.
Together.
“I didn’t know what to expect,” Rachel says to Maeve and me the next morning over bagels and cream cheese. “I don’t honestly know Carla all that well. I don’t see her often, you know? I mean, she’s always been nice to me, she just doesn’t come around much. Oh, and there was the embarrassing thing that happened at school. That was awful.”
Rachel spreads cream cheese on her garlic bagel, and Maeve and I share a look.
“But we stayed up super late, just talking and catching up. She’s so nice, you know? She really wanted to know all about everything that’s going on, and she’s happy for me, that I like it here and everything.”
“That’s great,” Maeve says with a big smile. “I’m glad you had a good time. We were a little worried, though. You didn’t text your dad.”
