Page 95 of I Stop Somewhere Waiting For You

She climbs on top of me, straddling my lap. Taking hold of my face, Jonsie forces me to look at her. “Don’t do that,” she demands. “Don’t use this as an excuse to shut down.”

“I let you think I fucked her when you were coming to tell me you were growing our child! Jesus, J.” I look away, pulling my face from her grasp. “What if that’s why it happened? What if the stress of the breakup caused the miscarriage?”

“There’s no way you could know that and thinking about it is just going to drive you crazy. Trust me.” She pins me with a glare. “I know.”

“Were you gonna keep it?” I shut my eyes, trying to focus on stabilizing my breathing. “Even after everything I did, were you gonna keep the baby?”

Her mouth forms a thin lip smile as she slowly nods her head. “Yeah,” she whispers into the space between us. “Yeah, I was.”

I blow out a shaky breath, trying to process the knowledge that I could have had a child with her. A life where we created a perfect combination of the two of us. Only to be forced to process the tragedy of it being ripped away all before I ever even knew it existed.

Jesus, if this is how I’m handling it now, she must have been a mess going through it alone.

Only she wasn’t alone.

Her previous words replay in my mind about Nicky taking the summer off. The pieces start to click into place as my rage resurfaces, returning tenfold.

“Jones.” My voice remains surprisingly even, considering I’m on the verge of exploding. “Did Nicky know about the baby?”

“I mean, yeah. I mis—”

I don’t wait to hear the rest of her response. I stand, scooping her up with me in the process and depositing her onto the couch.

“Mav?” she calls after me as I make my way toward the door.

I pause for a moment, but not for her. I change course briefly, retrieving my gun from the side table before heading back toward the entryway.

“Mav!” she shouts.

But I don’t respond. I’m out the door and stepping into the elevator which miraculously opens as soon as I press the button. She hits the foyer just as the doors slide closed, her eyes widening as they briefly collide with mine.

She knows. She can read it all over my face. Which means she’s gonna be right behind me, so I don’t have much time to beat her there.

Nicky knew. He fucking knew she was carrying my child and he still drove me away. Any respect or mirage of camaraderie I’d imagined we’d established over the years instantly dissipates.

In this moment, there is only one thing I know beyond a shadow of a doubt. Nicky C. dies today—because I’m going to kill him.

CHAPTER 42

MAV

I take the bike since it allows me to navigate the roads quicker than the truck. It gives me an advantage over J, who’ll be forced to take one of the cars in her pursuit. I reach the border of Dutchess in minutes, speeding toward my destination fueled by little more than the blinding rage building inside me.

Making my final approach, I withdraw my weapon, fully expecting to have to shoot my way onto the property. However, as I turn into his ridiculously long driveway, there isn’t a soul in sight. At least, not until the house comes into view, and I see my intended target already outside, arms crossed, waiting for me.

Jonsie must have called to warn him. That’s fine. Saves me the trouble of hunting his ass down in this obnoxiously large castle of a house.

The sight of him has my monster roaring, craving his blood. The driveway eventually splits off in either direction, creating a circle in front of the entrance. I pull off toward the right, killing the engine and swinging my leg over to dismount.

I turn, advancing toward him with an unwavering determination in my step.

“Mav,” Nicky cautions, raising his hands in effort to de-escalate me as he approaches.

I raise my gun, bringing it level with my line of sight, brandishing it for him to see.

“Come on, Mav. You’re not gonna shoo—”

The loud bang of my weapon discharging shatters the mid-morning silence. Nicky’s left shoulder clips back, the momentum of my bullet sending him into a spin.

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