Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 75862 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75862 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
I take a shaky breath, and Maverick nods for me to continue.
“I asked him one night about it, and he got really cold, not angry as such, just cold and terrifying. He told me never to ask him about it again or I wouldn’t like what happened to me. I’m not a very strong person when it comes to things like that, so I did what I was told and I said nothing more about it. But, that didn’t stop the abuse. He was cold, cunning, and extremely clever.”
I shiver.
“Honestly, Maverick, he is one of the smartest men I have ever met in how clever he runs whatever operation he has going. He never got angry, never went over the top, never lost it. He was always in control. Even when he started ... hurting me, it was never out of blind anger. He was always calm and clever enough never to leave a mark on my face. He was so good, nobody on my team believed me when I told them what he was like. That’s a shitty feeling, nobody believing you ...”
Maverick’s jaw tics, and his eyes grow a little dangerous.
“Now I look back, I don’t know why I didn’t just expose him. I guess I was so afraid. It’s a horrible feeling, being that scared of what someone could do to you. The worst part was, I knew he could do it, he could hurt not only me but everyone I loved, and he’d do it without hesitation. It’s why I never showed Susan the bruises on my stomach and body, beneath my clothes, where he so carefully put them. He broke a bone once and forced me to spin a story that I fell when we were out together. I did. I wish I had showed her, but as I said, I was so, so bone-chillingly terrified of that man.”
“What happened to him then? Why isn’t he around any longer?”
“He snapped one night, finally. He lost it at me, throwing me across the bus ...” I swallow, trying to forget that horrible night, but I can’t, I never will.
“What the fuck did you say to her?” he roars, closing in on me.
I take a shaky step back toward the window at the back of the bus. I have nowhere to go, nowhere to run to. He’s angry. The scary part about that is I’ve never seen him angry. He always has it together. And I’ve seen what he can do to me when he’s calm. The image of what he could do angry has my blood running cold.
“I haven’t said anything to anyone,” I croak. “I swear.”
“Liar!” he roars. “Susan came to me and asked me if everything was okay. She said she’d ‘noticed’ my change in attitude and me going out late every night. She said you had mentioned something. What the fuck did you say?”
I did say something to Susan. Many times in the last week. I was trying to get help. Trying to get someone to believe me. To get this monster away from me. I very carefully mentioned that sometimes he has a temper that scares me, and I feel like he’s dangerous and maybe I need to leave him. Susan told me I was being silly, that he had been nothing but kind to me. I tried a few more times. But it was clear she didn’t believe me. So, I let it go.
But she mentioned it to him. I didn’t think of that when I told her. I didn’t think she might say something. I figured she thought I was insane and had forgotten about it.
“I-I-I didn’t say anything to her,” I stammer.
“Liar!” he bellows. “You’re the worst fucking liar under the sun. You’re ruining everything. I told you to keep your fucking mouth shut. I told you what I’d do if you didn’t. This has put me in jeopardy. Everything I’ve worked for is at risk because you opened your mouth.”
“I didn’t say anything, I didn’t—”
His fist comes flying at me so fast I have no time to even attempt to dodge it. I soar backward, hitting the glass on the window at the end of my bus. Pain radiates through my cheek, traveling into my skull, and blood flows from my lip, dripping down my chin as I land with a thump on the ground. A pained cry leaves my throat as I try to get up, to scurry away.
“You little slut,” he bellows. “Do you know what you’ve done? I’m going to have to do something about this. About her. I can’t have anyone suspicious of me.”
“No, please,” I cry out, spitting blood and trying not to choke on the parts of it running down my throat. “I didn’t tell her anything about that. I just said that maybe we needed a break because I didn’t like how you were treating me, that was it. I swear I never said anything else.”