I finished editing early and decided to be nice lol. This is a split POV too, but it will be obvious when you get to Luke's POV.

Also, there's around 9-10 chapters left & in one of them, I have an important question to ask, so be on the lookout!🩶

"You know it's love when all you want is that person to be happy, even if you're not part of their
happiness." — Julia Roberts
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Chapter 81
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Maggie

There were many things that I didn't expect of the day.

The first being that I get taken. The second being that it wasn't by my father's goons.

The third being that I was now staring into the eyes of someone I would have never expected to be behind whatever the fuck this is.

They were as cold as I remembered, detached from his own bullshit and overflowing with exactly that, too. They had ran me over enough to make my skin crawl in disgust.

We were in a restaurant. It was expensive, I could tell just from one glance. It reminded me of the one Luke took me to, without the happy atmosphere attached to it, of course.

I forgot yet another unexpected thing. The restaurant was full of people, but we were on a floor practically by ourselves. There were probably three, maybe four bodies around us. It wasn't a necessarily normal setting for a kidnapping, but it didn't lessen my nerves one bit.

My hands weren't tied, either. My body didn't have any physical harm. My mouth wasn't duct taped. It appeared as just a normal dinner conversation between two normal people.

Fuck that.

I glared at one of the two security guards who had forced me in here. The bastard quite literally picked me up when I refused to move from the car, and carried me inside of the restaurant. He hadn't said a word, or even threatened me, though. Nothing.

Then, while I was busy cursing the bastard and his mother and her mother, I heard the chuckle of a familiar bitch through the live classical music of the restaurant.

The mayors.

His usual 'perfect' façade was in place, not a single strand of hair or expensive thread out of place. I could smell his obnoxiously spicy cologne from here, and if it weren't for his face alone, that would be the factor that made me hurl my stomach over the table.

That same table was what separated us. Sitting right in front of me, his eyes hadn't left mine from the moment I was forced into the seat.

Neither of us had said a word to the other. Instead, his expression remained neutral, while I let my own mirror my hatred for him.

The mayor was the first to break eye contact when he grabbed one of the menus from the center of the table. "May I get you a drink?"

"To throw in your face?" The words sliced my tongue with an angry whip. "Yeah, go ahead."

A chuckle came from him. He opened the menu, dark eyes scanning over the options, but I could still feel that same unpleasant gaze on mine, despite it not even being there. Our silent conversation was saying so much, yet nothing at all.

Fuck this.

Rising from my chair, I had lifted myself just enough to feel the air kiss my bare arms before one of the two bodyguards acted. He slammed a hand onto my shoulder that I knew would leave a bruise, shoving me back into my chair. 

His green, stern eyes snapped over to me. "Sit."

My hand slipped into my jean pocket for my pocketknife. I had had my gun in the waistband of my jeans, but they had taken it. They hadn't checked for anything else, though.

He was close enough, so with a flick of my hand, I swiped his arm with the knife until he jerked it back with a hiss. His deadly glare went to the injury before sweeping up to me.

"I'm not a dog, you two brain-celled, sweaty necked, bitch," I hissed at him. "Touch me, again, and I'll—"

"Leave her be, Chance. Take the knife, though," The mayor cut in with an amused chuckle. Chance yanked the knife from me, glare deepening as he tightened his injured hand into a fist. "Let's not get so hostile just yet, Maggie."

Ignoring him, I jerked my eyes to the other bodyguard, who had gotten even closer at sight of my knife. "You too. I shouldn't be able to smell roasted ballsack and swamp ass from you. Back the fuck up."

The mayor waved a hand at both bodyguards to move, and slowly, they did. I could feel Chance shooting daggers into the back of my head, but I didn't confront it with anything except a middle finger.

A waitress, who had to tuck herself in between the mayor's security, was added to the silent conversation. I kept my gaze ahead.

In an icy voice, the mayor said, "We will take your most expensive bottle of champagne. Chilled. Make it quick, if you will."

The waitress typed the order in, then paused, tipping her eyes to the mayor. "Would you—"

"If I have to repeat myself to you, young lady, you and your family will lose everything to your names by the end of this week, including that." The mayor, despite the contents of his threat, remained stone-faced. "Go on, now."

The girl blinked, her skin losing any resemblance of life. Her startled eyes fell back to her tablet before she nodded, turned, and walked off in any direction that was far away from us. I couldn't blame her.

"The people in this town..." he tsked his tongue, chuckling. "God, I love them just as much as they do me, but it can be quite exhausting. I'm sure you and Luke have gotten used to all of the attention, though, yes?" His lips lifted into a smile that made me want to rip them off. "I have to get it to him, though. That bastard was real good at learning how to—"

"Don't call him that."

His father cocked a brow, the surprise snapping his lips shut before raising into that same ugly smile, again.

"Oh," he mused, leaning up into his chair. "You're still defending him, then, huh? The boy must really have you fooled."

I narrowed my eyes at him. Just hearing Luke's name touch his lips for even a second made my blood roar. Something so perfect shouldn't be allowed to be acknowledged by someone like the pile of shit in front of me.

I could see and feel the years of political gambling and elections coming into play this very moment. He was the most charismatic, picture perfect man there was. It was how he stayed in power so long.

I didn't know what the fuck he wanted, but he would be disappointed. The only thing that I would ever give the fucker was another skillet to the head.

"Are you going to tell me what you want anytime soon?" I threw out once my temper hit its limit. "Or, did you just ruin my appetite with this ugly face of yours for no reason?"

"Is that how you talk to respected members of this town, Maggie?"

"That's how I talk to bitches."

Something in my speech had knocked him off his high horse. It didn't land him on the ground, but I could see one leg barely holding onto the steed.

His jaw clenched until the muscle twitched. He hadn't even realized he was gripping the table cloth until he went to let it go, but only pulled at the material. A quick huff came from him before he released it.

"You know, Miss Norris..." The rage in his eyes rotated back into a calming brew of anger. "You're a special woman. Headstrong. Beautiful. Intelligent. A magnificent figure." His gaze landed on mine, again, a smirk curving his lips. "Out of the very, very many women my son has entertained over the years, I see why he finally found the appeal in you over all of the others."

I rolled my eyes. "Is that right?"

"If you believe it to be." His mockery built even higher, as did a crooked smile. "Though, I must advise you of the obvious: he's a Vaudest, and us Vaudest's do have a tendency of never settling for one woman." He motioned to me. "And, I bet Luke hasn't, either. Do you think he changed it all for you, Maggie? Or, do you think he's continued on with his old lifestyle, too?"

The anger rushed to my head, but I held my composure; the fucker was playing the manipulation game. "You tell me."

The response I gave made his smirk slip. "I'm sorry?"

"Dates, times, places," I shrugged, crossing my arms. "Luke's been cheating on me, right? He's continued on with his old lifestyle? Give me a date."

His lie catch up to him, but he refrained from admitting it. Instead, he nodded at his security. "Chance." When the big man turned, the mayor smiled. "What day was it that you saw my son slipping into another woman's bed, and not leaving until the break of dawn? Out of the many, many ones, just name one for our guest here."

My amusement built at two things. The first being that the mayor didn't offer up a picture or a video of the supposed incident, which said a lot in itself. The second being that I was already aware of the second lie he was going to tell.

Chance's gravelly voice answered, "May 26th, I believe." The mayor's expression built with amusement at the crack he thought he was about to see in me.

I chuckled at him, but reeled it back to fake disbelief. "Ouch. Any others?"

"March 28th, my men reported that he stayed out for hours on end with another young woman. You can take a guess at what they were doing," the mayor gloated. "I'm afraid my memory's not well enough to recite the rest, but that should be enough."

"I agree." I shrugged, dropping my arms. "It's definitely enough to show me how much of a dumbass you truly are, Mr. Vaudest." I tipped my head to Chance. "You too."

"How is that?"

I chuckled, again. "On May 26th, Luke and I were playing spades in a hotel room together." I knew that, because it was the week my grandmother died. "March 28th, was my birthday, which was when we spent the entire day together." For a man in politics, he was a special kind of idiot. "Nice try, though."

Realizing he'd been caught, the mayor stared at me for a minute. Frustration swept over his face, then settled.

I knew what he was trying to do by doing that, but it wouldn't work. The man didn't know a thing about loyalty, but I knew Luke's history before he and I even got together, obviously. The 'before' was there for a reason, though. I couldn't be mad at it, and he couldn't be mad at anything or anyone else I had before him, either. We were each other's now for a reason, and that didn't change.

There were no type of insecurities like that there for me with Luke, either. If I had them and if I had to spend every waking moment of our relationship questioning his loyalty and devotion, then we wouldn't be together in the first place. End of story.

The mayor kept his expression neutral, but by the way his gaze darkened when he didn't receive his desired response, I knew he expected one.

I didn't give a single thing other than me not giving a fuck.

Shaking his head, he offered a chuckle. "Fine. You got me. The little bastard—"

"Luke is his name," I snapped. "Either address him correctly or not at all."

"As I was saying, Luke," he spat the name as if it were a poison. "Has surprised me with you. The boy has truly fallen for you. I've been watching from afar, just waiting for a slip up, but I've been disappointed because it never came. Not once. Not a single girl has caught his eye or his heart ever since you've came around. It's impressive, honestly." Amused, his gaze slid over my body, again until he reached my hate-filled eyes. "As mentioned, though. I can't blame him. You're a marvelous sight, even with that disrespectful tongue of yours. It runs as impressive as your head, as well as much else, I'm guessing."

I said nothing.

Our waitress returned. Quickly, he gave her his entrée order in the same derogatory manner as earlier, and if not for that, it was the way he was looking at her that was making me consider knocking his ass out with her tablet.

While she worked on the bottle of wine, the mayor returned to me.

"Are you positive that I can't get you anything to eat, beautiful?" he questioned so innocently, it seemed impossible that there was such a different intention behind it. "I don't like the idea of letting you leave this restaurant hungry—"

"Hold on." I leaned forward at that. "You're going to let me leave?"

Offense crouched over his mockery. "Why would I not?" Once our glasses were full, the waitress rushed off in the same direction as earlier. "Maggie, sweetheart, I think you have this meeting all wrong."

Sarcasm dripped from my tongue, "You and these huge ass ogres breathing down my neck literally blindfolded me, and shoved me into a fucking car." I couldn't believe this shit. "What the fuck else would I think? That it was a damn Secret Santa party or something?"

"I didn't do a thing," he corrected, chuckling. "My security, though, I do apologize for them, if they mishandled you—"

"Is that how you excuse beating an innocent boy for simply existing, too?" I threw at him. "Mishandling?"

He laughed. "Is that what he told you? That I beat my own flesh and blood?"

I had to stop myself from hurling this champagne glass at his head. He was a narcissist who loved mind games. The only way to win was to not play the game.

At my silence, the mayor raised a perfectly trimmed eyebrow at me.

"Again, my apologies for the confusion if I caused any," he offered in a honeyed tone. "But, you are free to go anytime here, Maggie. Your car is outside, with your gun and taser inside. You won't be followed, or anything like that, I assure you. In fact, your purse is with my security—" He paused to wave one of his guards closer. A second later, my purse was to the side of me. They had went into my car, I realized, since I had left it inside just last night. A smile grazed the mayor's lips. "See? You're not being controlled or anything of that sort. We're simply acquaintances having dinner, and even though you are able to go, I do wish for the opposite."

I nearly grabbed my purse, and made a run for it, right here, but I knew better. I did.

This wasn't just a random thing, and I knew that. It had to involve Luke, and if it did, then I knew I couldn't ignore it.

My hand fell from my purse strap.

The mayor gave a soft smile, then clasped his hands together, satisfied by my attention. "I'm glad that you're being so reasonable, Maggie, honestly. I suspected it. Your academic history is very impressive, and I knew it was for a reason—"

"Cut the fake shit. What do you want, and why should I care?"

"I don't want a thing," he corrected, lips twitching. "It's about what you want, Maggie."

My brows furrowed in both aggravation and confusion. I couldn't understand what the fuck he was trying to tell me, and he wasn't planning on making it any easier on me. At least not without having his own fun first.

"You know...you remind me of Luke's mother more than I care to admit," he mused, nodding at me. "A pretty face. A sharp tongue. Sweet, luring voice. All of the things that led up to that night of her tempting me out of my own marriage." He shook his head, disgust creeping up the side of his face. "This one's the most prominent, though: she was fake. A liar and a pretender. She pretended her heart out by acting as if she didn't want me for the money, as if she didn't purposefully try to trap me—"

Hold the fuck on. "As if you just cheating on your slop bucket of a wife didn't make you a piece of shit, alone." My anger flared at the disrespect he threw at Luke's mother. She didn't deserve it. Luke and I had just had breakfast and dinner with her the other evening, and I still recalled the sweet attitude of hers. "And, Wendy didn't do shit in this situation other than try to be a mother. You were the one who snatched Luke from her arms, not even two weeks after he was born—"

Abruptly, he slammed his palm down onto the table, causing the champagne to slosh along the glasses. The rage in his words built as he jerked a finger at me, "I wouldn't have had to do that if the dirty whore had hid him better." When the surrounding guests passed us strange looks, he immediately reeled himself back in to play it off.

"Oops." I kept my tone flat. "Did I hit a nerve?"

"My temper outruns me some days." Running a hand over his suit, he breathed in a breath, then released it over an agitated platform. "However, I am not here to discuss Wendy's morals. We're here to discuss yours."

My confusion worsened. "What?"

"Women. There's always a price to dealing with them. With using them." At my glower, he chuckled, shrugging it off. "You know it's true, Maggie. We use you just as much as you do us, which is why I'm going to save you the trouble of doing the same with my son."

My ears were burning, I realized once I felt the skin itch with heat. The answer was right in front of me, now, why this meeting was made.

"Luke." I could hear the hatred just from that alone. "That boy has cost me more than I deserved. More than I expected, really. But, never, not once has he interfered with my image and my credibility the way he has these past few months."

"Well," I shrugged. I knew he was really talking about me, but I had no problem taking accountability for it. "Karma's a bitch."

His eyes jerked up to me. "That's true. That's very, very true. I'm glad that you're aware of it, too." Laughing under his breath, he shook his finger at me. "Because, I'm about to bring Luke's."

The mayor waved his security over, again. Chance stepped forward, then placed a rectangular piece of paper that I knew to be a check, right in front of the mayor.

What the fuck?

"Luke has only continued fucked with my career the very moment he came into this world with my genes attached to him," he continued with a casual tone. As if he weren't attempting to literally ruin his son's happiness. "These past few months have only added to his disrespect, and I've seen why. I've always despised those boys he made friends with, Kade and Levi, I believe them to be, for giving him sanctuary and things of that nature, but with you..." Chuckling, he shook his head at me. "With you, though, he's gotten hope for the first time. Care. Attention. Love, as if he's even capable of feeling such a thing." He scoffed with disgust. "And, he thinks that that gives him the right to fuck with my campaign. I knew there would have to be a change from the moment of the event. Luke tried to take my career, so I'm going to take something from him, too."

Without a break in his expression, the mayor scooted the check over to my side of the table. "And, that would be you, Maggie."

I didn't even pass a glance it's way. "No."

"Maggie, you haven't even taken the chance to hear me out, yet," he chuckled. "Just take a look at the amount, and we can reconsider—"

"That's because I don't give a shit how much it is, you dumbass. It's money. There's not enough of it in this whole fucking world to make me do what you're asking me to do."

The mayor tilted his head. "Not even for a quarter of a million dollars?"

I froze, my glare reeling back with shock. Not at the amount itself, nor at my willingness to accept it, because there was none at all. It was at someone being so hateful that they would pay someone two-hundred and fifty thousand dollars just to ruin their son's life.

My fists clenched until my nails were digging into my palms. I didn't take a look down at the check, not once.

"You motherfucker," I hissed, my ears drumming with blood. "You disgusting, selfish—"

"Call me what you want, Miss Norris," he shrugged my insults off. "I'm simply doing what is best for all of us. My son gets what he deserves: nothing, and so do you for having to put up with him this entire time. You take the check, and do what you please. I get back to my campaign, and—"

When he saw me reach for the check, his speech ceased. His lips curled into a grin so wide, it seemed to never stop.

I knew what he thought I was doing. I didn't care much to tell him wrong. I would show him, instead.

The first tear in the check made his smile fall. The second made it turn into a frown. The third, and the ones after that made him scowl.

When the check was ripped to shreds, I grabbed the glass of untouched champagne, and threw the scattered pieces of paper inside. With them still floating atop the liquid, I threw the drink in his face, and right into his bullshit.

With the same clenched fist of anger around my throat, I slammed the glass down so hard, it was a miracle it didn't break.

The mayor's face had gone sour with his scowl, but the moment the drink hit it, it looked as if he were revisiting his image of rage all over again. Good.

"You can kiss my fucking ass," I hissed at him.

With my anger in tow, I grabbed my purse, shoved the bodyguards out of my way, and headed for the nearest fucking exit. The restaurant was spacious, so it wouldn't be as easy to get there, but anything was fine as long as I was away from this monster.

I heard the securities feet shuffling after mine, but I didn't stop. Fuck them. Fuck all of them.

My head was hurting. My insides hurt. My heart hurt.

Luke, my sweet love. His father was willing to do anything to take away his happiness, and he thought that I would do the same. It was infuriating for myself, but for Luke, mostly. It wasn't fair that his father wanted to do anything he could to hurt him. How fucking dare he?

"I suppose it is a shame that Luke will have to bury his mother so young, isn't it?"

I paused at that. The burgundy carpet below seemed to blur as I stared down at it.

"I must admit, though, I'm glad that I'll finally be able to save myself the wrist pain of signing all of Wendy's documents," I heard him chuckle. "If only I could get my money back for all of those years wasted on her hospital bills, too."

So slowly it barely felt like I was moving at all, I turned around to face him.

"You..." My chest weaved for a breath. "You wouldn't do that." I suppose it was bullshit, since he had literally done it just months ago.

The mayor cocked a grin. "No, but I would pay someone else to do it." He shrugged. "Sadly, I don't have the stomach for it myself, but—"

"Wait," I rushed out, my stomach going trippy. "You can't."

"Return to your seat, and we'll see if I can or not."

Despite my every wish being the opposite, I pushed my ego back for Luke's sake. The same chair I was in felt much more different than the last because this time, if I left it, the result could mean something terrible. Deadly. Heart-wrenching.

"I tried to be nice, simply because I am a business man. I compromise. I make offers, and sometimes, those offers do go wrong, just like the one I gave you." A smile returned. "So, I resort to tactics that are...a bit different, but just as efficient, too."

My hands curled into fists. "Like murder?"

"Murder and ridding the world of a wasted whore's corpse don't correlate with the other in my book," he snickered. His dark eyes seemed to go unmatched to any other with the venom locked inside. "Again, remember that I did try to offer a different approach. You chose an alternate one." A hand wave brought the same fucking bodyguard closer to us.

This time, he had a phone in hand with a picture that I was afraid to set eyes on.

Careless of that, the mayor turned the phone my way so that I couldn't avoid it. My stomach fell to the ground with bricks to keep it there.

Luke's mother was asleep in her hospital bed, beautiful blonde hair falling over her shoulders, and peace situated on her face like a blanket. A man in all black was standing to the side of her, a bag in hand. It didn't take much to realize neither it or his intention.

"Look how beautiful she looks when she sleeps. So peaceful and unaware," the mayor called my attention with the mockery in his tone. I felt my lungs nearly collapse at the sound. "Do you think that that'll remain when I instruct my guy to suffocate her?"

"You can't," I rushed out, shaking my head. "You can't do that to her or to Luke. You can't."

Keeping his eyes on mine, he flicked a hand to the man to take the phone away. Once he did, he lowered his hands to the table.

"I can, and I will," he threatened so casually. "The moment you step out of that door is the moment that you sign Wendy Palce's death certificate, Maggie."

No.

My lips were trembling around an excuse, even a plead if I needed to. I couldn't find any that he would listen to, though.

The mayor watched me even closer, his expression full of satisfaction at my fear. "As I said, though, I am a man of compromises. Despite how disrespectfully..." He motioned to the now damp suit he was wearing. "You rejected my last one, I do succeed in politics for a reason. So, here's what you're going to do, Maggie."

My hand fell to my stomach at the fill of dread inside. The contents were stirring, and my mind was, too. It was sifting through all of the possibilities, and the threats that were about to come. They were endless, but the one that I knew was coming was the one that made my heart fall in a way I didn't think possible.

"You get up. You leave this restaurant. You drive home to my son," he said, calmly, pointing behind me. "And you break his heart. You tell him you used him. You make him believe every single thing, feeling, and word from you, was all a lie. I know you're good at those, so this won't be too difficult for you, I'm sure." Snickering under his breath, he continued on with, "I'll give you until tomorrow night. I don't care how you do it. I don't care how good or how bad you do it, as long as it gets done."

Oh my god.

And, just like that, my heart was sucked right out of my chest. In its place was a hole of pain that Luke's father had thrown him in.

"No..." I croaked, and I felt my head shake. "No. I'm not...I can't, and I won't do that to him."

He laughed, but there was no humor in it. Not for Luke. Not at all.

"You won't?" he repeated. "Then, I guess that's decided." He turned toward his men, and it sent me into a panic.

"No!" I shouted, my eyes widening at them both. "Wait. Please wait."

I had no words. No air. No heart. Nothing. Not if my reality was actually reality, right now.

He wanted me to break Luke's heart. To hurt him in the way his father believed he deserved. And, if I didn't, then his mother would be the price Luke had to pay...

Oh my god.

The mayor's expression lifted with humor. As if any of this was funny.

"Do you really think that I would bluff about this, Maggie?" he asked me. "I promise you. I have no problem in doing it, nor anything else to make sure that Luke stays in his place. That he knows his place. Below me, and barely above his whore of a mother."

I was at a loss for words.

My mind was reaching for something, anything. Anything to stop this, and him, and myself from listening to him.

I would have to listen to him.

For Luke's sake.

I couldn't take away his mother. His only source of parental care that he'd ever known. His only real parent and family. His mother.

In order to do that, though, I would have to rip his heart out from the very place he had stored it. Right next to mine.

While doing so, mine would only go with him. My heart would always follow his, no matter where we went or what we were. His and my heart were of the same material: each other.

Yet, I would have to be the one to make him believe differently. That I never loved him. That I used him. That I didn't see and cherish the very things in him that I had fallen in love with in the first place.

My god.

"You've already tried to..." My eyes squeezed shut to avoid the well of tears; I couldn't cry in front of him. I pried my eyes open with a trembly sigh. "You've already tried to kill her. You've already hurt Luke enough. Why can't you let him have this one fucking thing?"

"If I give him something, then he'll think he's entitled to everything. I won't have that." Shrugging, he kept his same neutral cover up. "My offer is still the same, Miss Norris."

Tears welled in my eyes. "I..." In no time, the ends of my lashes were heavy.

I heard the mayor's sigh through the roar of blood in my ears. His voice had made me sick this entire time, but now, I felt it scratching at the inside of my ears until they bled.

"Now, I'm a gentlemen, and the time is getting late," I heard him voice. "I'm going to let you return home, now, but before I do..." he nodded at me, a trophy smile in place. "I need to know your decision, Maggie. Leave Luke, and save his mother's life. Or stay with the worthless boy, and learn how quickly suffocation can take a life."

I felt like screaming. Breaking. Tearing right in half and never becoming whole, again. Perhaps, because it was what was happening inside of me, right now. It was what would happen if I go through with the option that would cost me the life I had only just wanted for myself.

Luke. I would have to hurt him. I would have to pretend that we weren't real. That I was never real for and to him.

When that was the most dishonest thing in the world.

I'd been lying for so long, the words came out as easy as honesty did. It had become a routine, and a survival tactic for me. I'd been surviving all along, and because of that, I hadn't lived.

Not until Luke.

Not until he accepted every part of me, and loved me and them even more. Not until he became my home, my best friend, and the very reason my heart had unthawed from the cold, deadly fragments I had swore were impenetrable. Not until he showed me his own beautiful heart, as well as a soul that made my own make sense. That gave my own sight to its other half.

There was no life before him. Loving and anything even remotely related to it was laughable. It was simply a concept to me.

Until him. Until my Luke.

And, now...

The words were hovering in the back of my throat, so dangerously close to my tongue, they burned. I didn't want them. I never wanted to speak, again, not after saying this, as well as the things that would tear him into pieces.

The mayor was looking to me for a response. Now that his food had arrived, he was chewing into his steak without a care in the world.

As if he weren't ripping his son's life apart for no good reason. None. Even if there was one, I could never believe it bad enough to make my sweet boy deserving of it.

"So..." he smiled around his bite, waving his fork in my direction. By his cool expression, he knew that I knew that he had cornered me. "Do we have a deal?"

And, just like that, the seal of both mine, and Luke's life was ripped off. The plans. The promises. The future. It was all gone.

I raised my eyes to the mayor's. I could barely see him past the blur of tears, but it was impossible to miss an evil like his. I would have to confront it, whether I wanted to or not. For Luke.

"We have a deal."

•••

Luke

I stroked Fang's coat for the millionth time since I'd woken up. His puppy eyes raised to me, a heaven sent face on. It made me chuckle.

My hand was cramping from how long I'd been petting him, but I wasn't stopping anytime soon. I was using it as a distraction. It was stopping me from grabbing my keys and doing exactly what Maggie told me not to do.

I didn't want to smother or annoy her, but at the same time, her safety was my number one priority, right now, too. We had went over a fuck ton of precautions, and her leaving without me wasn't one. I had never shot out of bed as quickly as I did when I didn't see her in it.

That same lodge of anxiety nearly made me choke, but the reassurances I'd found ever since our phone call helped.

Letting my hand fall from Fang's head, I refreshed her location, again. I had done it so much, I was sure my thumb was bruising. Just like the previous times, she was at a restaurant not too far from here. She had told me she was cooking dinner, but she probably got hungry and grabbed something to bring home.

That was the excuse I was using to stop myself from driving to her, right now. If something did happen to her, then she wouldn't be at a restaurant.

That made me feel better. Sort of. Barely. Hell, I don't know.

My heart softened all over again at the thought of what she had planned out for me, though. That definitely helped. Dinner with her was my favorite time of the day, but I thought it adorable that she wanted to cook my favorite for me.

I hadn't even realized I was grinning until my cheeks began to ache. I didn't even try to wipe it off. I wanted it, so fuck it.

At Fang's whine, I glanced down to him with a chuckle. "You miss her, too, huh?" With a huff, he settled his face in the cushions. I didn't let him on the sofa, but Maggie got on my ass when I got onto his about it, so I learned to let it be. They both had basically kicked me out of my own house the moment Maggie stepped in. "Me too, bud. Me too."

When I checked Maggie's location, again, I saw that she was leaving the restaurant, now. Good.

Just the thought of having her with me so soon made my blood buzz with excitement. Not only that, but in her lingerie that I may have snuck a glance at after our call ended. It ended up being a terrible decision for me, though, because even now, I still had blood rushing to both heads just at the thought of her in it. The soon to be image of having her under me without it, though, was getting me lightheaded as shit.

I swept my hands over my sweats with a huff. We had been together for a while, now, but I still felt as lured into her and everything that she was as I had in the beginning. I didn't know if that would ever change, nor did I want to.

To save myself from boredom, I decided to go ahead and get started on the dinner Maggie had planned out for me. We could eat it tomorrow. I didn't want her to get tired, nor did I want to put it all on her. I knew she'd be pissed about me helping, but I'd dig my way out.

Her laptop was still sitting on the kitchen island, but the screen has gone black. I swept at the keypad, and once I compared the listed ingredients to the ones on the counter, my amusement grew. I knew she cursed herself up and down when she realized that she forgot the chicken.

Before I got started, I filled Fang's bowls back up. Just as I finished washing my hands, I heard the chime through the house, which meant that the door was being opened. My phone buzzed to alert me of it, too, but I wasn't going to check. I already knew who it was.

My heart jumped in my chest at the promise of seeing my baby's face, again. I expected to hear Fang's nails clattering against the floor, but I guess not. He had left to probably go for a nap, but I know the moment he hears Maggie's voice, he's abandoning all else to come back to see her. Just like me.

I turned at the sound of the door shutting. A smile was already on my face. "Took you long enough, Norris. You nearly had me—" My words came to a halt at the sight.

Vance stepped past the threshold, a smile on his face. "So, that's what it's like to be politely greeted by you, huh?"

My agitation flared, immediately. "How the fuck did you get into my house?"

The key in his hand glinted as he waved it in the air. His smile grew cocky at the scowl on my face.

Fuck. I should have known. I hadn't thought much on it, though, since him and our dad never came by unless it was for a punishment, but it had been so long ago that I hadn't taken the time to consider it.

Either way, I made it a mental mark to change the locks. This was Maggie's home, too, and I wasn't going to make her uncomfortable in it. We would be out of this place in a matter of weeks, but I didn't want to risk shit with my dad.

"Get the fuck out," I snapped, setting my gaze in a glare. I wasn't in the mood for neither him or my dad, and I sure as hell didn't want Maggie to come home to this shit.

Vance, still in an unnecessary ass tuxedo, strode toward me as if he hadn't heard a word. That was cool, though. He would hear it just fine when I smacked him and his snarky ass through the wall.

His grin widened. "No need for the threats, Luke. What would our dad say if he heard you?"

"If you wanna hear a threat, it's getting the fuck out of my face before I—"

"I have something for you," he interrupted with that same smile. The blues in his eyes nearly seemed darker with mischief. "Call it a late birthday present."

"I don't give two shits what you have unless it's a death certificate with your name on top, bitch."

Vance's head dipped with a chuckle. "Jesus, man." Rolling back his shoulders, blonde strands moved with his head as he nodded. "I'm gonna love this so much, you know that, right?"

Fuck this. Maggie wasn't coming home to this bullshit.

Stalking toward him, I didn't stop until I had the expensive thread of his suit under my hand. My other yanked the door open. "Do me a favor and love it outside—"

Just as I shoved him out the opened door, he was stopping me with, "Maggie Norris, wasn't it?"

I paused my movements at that. Hearing her name from him tickled at my temper.

I kept my voice steady as I looked at him, "You get five seconds to tell me why you're bringing up my girl's name." He could say whatever the fuck he wanted to say about me, but when it came to her, I wasn't hearing shit from anyone, especially him.

Vance shrugged my grip off of his arm, and straightened the suit back down. "Before you lose that hothead of yours..." A loose grin tugged at his lips as he reached into his back pocket. A chuckle came from him. "Just give me a second. Promise I'll make it worth it."

My hand tightened around the wood of the door until I thought the skin would crack. I contemplated slamming the door in his face, but something tugged at my stomach about this.

I hadn't seen the fucker in months, but all of a sudden, he was back. It was for a reason.

Vance's smirk built as he turned his phone my way. My glare remained on him. "The fuck is that?"

"You tell me," he said, amused. "Don't let it hurt you too bad, though. Being unwanted must come like breathing to you, now. This time can't be much different." His grin shot to the sky as he pointed to the screen, which had now loaded. "Take a look, baby brother."

I had to lock my fist behind me to stop from throwing it forward. Whatever was on his screen was obviously important to him, but—

What the fuck?

I caught the picture in the corner of my eye, first.

I snatched the phone from his hand so quickly, I pinched his skin until he hissed. My grip seemed tight enough to bend the material, but I didn't lessen it. Instead, I brought the phone even closer to my face.

Even that didn't help with whatever the fuck I was seeing.

It was Maggie. In what looked like a restaurant, she was sitting in front of my father, black hair down and shielding the side of her face that was aimed at the camera, but I knew, even without it, that it was her. There was what looked like a check on the tabletop, sitting right in between them.

"That's not it." Vance, amused, swiped to the next picture. "Check it out."

My blurring gaze never left the phone. I didn't think it could. In the next picture, my father, as casual as ever, was beaming back at her.

That wasn't what shocked me most, though.

It was Maggie accepting the check from my dad.