Page 87 of Mace

I won’t tell her I’m not either. I don’t want to scare her.

Surprisingly, it’s Maylie who speaks, scooting up on the bed to sit next to her. “It’s okay. Mace knows what he’s doing. Link will never hurt you again.”

The trust she has in me floors me, and I intend to keep it.

Ivy raises her eyes to me, and I see the uncertainty in them. “He’s never going to let me go. It doesn’t matterwhat you do or what you say to him—he’s psychotic. He forced me to get pregnant. I’m carrying his child. Do you think he’s going to just give me up? He’s going to hurt my brother and sister just to get me back.” She dissolves into sobs, and Maylie pulls her against her, her gaze finding mine.

I hate the fear in her eyes, but there’s also resolve. Even if I wasn’t helping, I get the feeling Maylie would rip that fucker’s head off before she let him hurt her sister again.

“He ain’t gonna touch any of you,” I promise her. “I’ll make sure of it, but I need all the information you have and then I need you to contact Link and have him meet you at the flat.”

“He’s already coming over this morning,” Maylie says.

“Do you know what time he’s due to be there?” I ask.

“He doesn’t usually get up until late, so maybe another hour or so. He’s gonna be really angry if I’m not there.” Ivy’s voice trembles, and it makes me want to murder that fucking cunt.

“He’s gonna be angry no matter what you do,” Toby says. “He’s a dick.”

“Language,” Maylie chastises without any real heat.

“You swore.”

“I’m older than you.”

Before they get into an argument, I meet Ivy’s gaze. “He’s not gonna do anything,” I assure her.

She still doesn’t seem certain, and I can’t blame her for not trusting me. It’s not like she knows me enough to put her faith in me, but if she did, she would understand how much I fucking hate men who raise their hands to women. I saw my mother come home with bruises from men she’d supposedly been involved with or used to get a drink ordrugs. I’d stopped my share of fights between her and other men, getting hurt in the process of protecting her. Ivy is still a kid, and that only flames my anger.

“Okay. I’ll tell you what I know.” Ivy gives me as many details as she can, including where he hangs out, his friends, and his real name—Jason Bennet. When she’s done talking, Maylie hugs her close.

“Thank you,” I say to her before shifting my gaze. “Maylie, can I have your keys?”

She frowns but slides off the bed, going to her coat and rummaging in the pocket. When she finds them, she walks over to me, dropping them in my palm. Her hand wraps around mine before I can close my fist around them. “What are you going to do?”

I kiss her, needing to taste her again. “Whatever’s necessary to protect you and your family. I don’t need you to worry about this.”

Her eyes say my words aren’t going to prevent that.

“Let me come with you. I don’t like the idea of you going alone.”

My chest swells at her desire to protect me, even though she has no idea the kind of beast I am. If she knew, she may not look at me in the same way. “Ain’t going alone.”

The relief in her eyes again hits me in the chest. “That makes me feel a little better, but even so, please be careful. He’s not going to like you keeping Ivy from him.”

“I can handle myself,” I assure her. “I’ll be back soon.”

I give her a lingering look that has her eyes heating before I step out of the room and back into the hallway. I glance down at my watch. I have about forty-five minutes to get to Maylie’s place before he shows up.

Enough time to get comfortable.

Nicky and my brother are waiting in the bar area, and I signal for them to follow me. We head outside to our motorcycles, mount up, and ride to her building. The closer we get, the more my anger flames through me. I’m going to break every fucking bone in the hands that touched my woman.

We park our bikes around the side of the building, out of sight of the main entrance, and head inside.

As we make our way up the stairs to her flat, I think about the first time I came here. She’d called me a stalker, and she was right, I was. The moment I saw her in Temptation, she was just that—a fucking temptation.

I slip the key into the lock and push into the flat. I’m not sure what to expect, but considering the panicked way Maylie came to me, I figured her place would be turned upside down, but it’s not. It’s clear they left in a rush, but it’s still tidy.

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