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Maxi’s head spun around. She needed visual proof that it was in fact Billy Marshall standing behind her, because there was no way that the Billy Marshall she knew would’ve let that golden opportunity pass him by.
When his eyes met hers, she felt his stare spread heat through her, from her head to her toes. It was the strangest thing, but from the first time he looked at her across the gym, until now, he had a way of making everything else disappear.
“Is that you?” Simon’s voice popped the bubble that Maxi had happily been floating in.
“Um…what…?” She glanced over at him.
“Your phone.” Jana pointed to the clutch that Maxi was holding.
“Oh, right.” Lifting the flap she saw a number that made her heart slam into its ribs.
This was the call she’d been waiting for all day.
“Sorry, I have to take this.” Moving around Billy, she pushed her front door open again. When her bodyguard tried to follow, she pushed her palm to his chest. “I’ll be out in a minute.”
His nostrils flared like a bull that was about to charge, but to her surprise he backed off and she was able to close the door.
As soon as the lock clicked in place, she answered the phone. “Hello.”
“Is this Maxine Rizzo?”
The palms of her hands dampened. “Yes?”
“This is Officer Ryne from Statesville Correctional returning your call regarding inmate seven-eight-six-two-nine-three. His status has not changed since your last inquiry. He is still in our custody. His next parole hearing is set for the twenty-eighth of September.”
Relief washed over her. He was still in prison. He wasn’t out on the streets. It couldn’t be him that was harassing her. Which was good, except now she had no idea who was.
Finding her voice, she managed to say, “Thank you Officer Ryne.”
After disconnecting the call she took a moment to collect herself. For some reason, in the back of her mind, she’d kept thinking that it had to be him doing this. This was the third call she’d placed in the last month. Each time she got the same response, almost verbatim.
So now she had to face the reality that if it wasn’t Samuels, who was it?
The gravity of that question had her leaning back against the wall. When she did, she caught her reflection in the mirror above the table that sat in her entryway. Her skin was pale, like she’d just seen a ghost.
It felt like she had. Just hearing his inmate number caused a chill to settle over her. But whether or not he still haunted her, the reality was that Damien “The Smasher” Samuels was locked up, where he belonged. He wasn’t the one behind all of these incidents.
So why did it still feel like he was?
Blowing out a breath, Maxi pushed off the wall and rolled her shoulders back. As much as she wanted to crawl into bed and hide from the past and the present, she knew that wasn’t possible. She just needed to put one foot in front of the other. Keep on keeping on. She couldn’t let her anxiety or panic run the show.
I am strong. I am safe. I am capable. I am fearless.
Well, she was strong, safe, and capable at least. For now, that had to be enough.
After giving her reflection a sharp nod of renewed determination, she opened the front door to find two men staring down at her.
“Everything okay?” Billy’s deep voice caused a ripple of goosebumps to break out over her arm and a delicious shiver to chase down her spine.
Why? Why did just his voice have to feel so good to her?
“Great!” She plastered on a smile. “Everything’s great! Let’s go.”
“Actually, I invited Jana to join us, to even things out,” Simon commented nonchalantly. “She said she just needed a minute to change.”
All of the inner bravado that she’d been able to muster from her internal pep talk, deflated like a balloon with a hole in it. She loved her friend, but the thought of watching her fawn all over Billy, and him do the same, sounded about as fun as getting a bikini wax in the middle of Times Square.
Maybe he won’t fawn, a small voice piped up in her mind. But she shot that voice down. Billy was Billy. He might be able to tone down his Billy-ness for short periods of time, but just like any wild animal, eventually he would show his true stripes.
