Page 57 of Shadow Dance

I turn my hand over so that we’re palm to palm, our fingers interlocked. “You’re always alone with me.”

“You know what I mean,” she says.

I nod, because I do know.

“I’m always afraid someone might see us,” she says. “Callum didn’t grow up in the Bay, but he has family here. He spent summers here. He knows a lot of people and they know him.”

“I get it,” I say, squeezing her fingers. “I pay more attention than you think I do.”

Connie’s wedding continues on the big screen, replete with loud Italian music and Sonny screwing a bridesmaid.

“Is he hurting you?” I ask, glancing at her. It’s just a hunch, but I need to know.

Her fingers tighten around mine, but she doesn’t say anything. I let her be. Her life and what she goes through are none of my business.

“I mean, he cheats on me,” she says haltingly.

I nod.

“Have you seen him?” she asks after a beat. “With other girls?”

“Yeah, but I’m guessing that doesn’t matter to you anymore,” I say. “Something is keeping you here with him, and it’s not love.”

Maeve looks away from me and back to the screen. The flickering light illuminates her profile, the elegant slope of her nose, the natural curve of her lips. Her eyes shimmering with unshed tears. “I don’t want to talk about him anymore.”

Her words hang heavy between us, leaving me uneasy. I know all too well what life can be like for women in this world. Leaning closer, I tug her toward me until my mouth is at her ear. “You need to tell me if he’s hurting you.”

A loud gunshot from the movie startles her as Sonny’s adulterous bullshit comes crashing down around him. “He hurts me all the time. But he’s never actually hit me,” she says.

I release a heavy breath, frustrated at her ambiguous answers. “Maeve.”

“What would you do if he did?”

“I don’t know.” The web I’ve woven is too intricate for me to actspontaneously. Every move has to be meticulously planned because there’s so much at stake. The Oliveras family depends on me to get them the information they need, but beyond them, I have a responsibility to continue building the case I’ve been working on for years.

While I’ve been successful at each of these so far, it’s taken a level of vigilance that cannot be compromised. If I mess up, I could be extracted before the job is done, setting the investigation back. That would be shitty, yet still preferable to alternative worse-case scenarios like being beaten to death in a butcher shop or executed in a below-ground interrogation room.

I can’t think about that. Not now. I just have to be careful.

“What do you want from me?” I ask Maeve, my lips brushing her ear. It’s the same thing I asked her the other night, when she kissed me.

“I just want you,” she says softly.

Her words pierce my heart and hold, hooking me. Until now, I’ve tried to maintain some emotional distance, but I underestimated how it feels to be wanted by a woman like her. “You want my loyalty.”

She gives a small nod.

I rest my hand high on her thigh, my pinkie brushing the warmth between her legs. “You don’t want anyone else to touch me.” A sharp inhale of breath is the only indication that she’s affected. “Even though I have to live with the knowledge that he still touches you.”

“I don’t want him to touch me.” Her voice shakes, and she squeezes her eyes shut like the thought physically hurts. “I don’t want him to touch me ever again.”

Something’s going on, but until she’s ready to be honest with me, I have to let her go at her own pace. “If we do this, we have to be really careful. Callum pays attention to everything, even if most of his brain cells are gone.” Letting go of her thigh, I gently turn her face toward mine. “Are you ready for that?”

“Yes.” She blinks, dipping her chin. “But it’s not just the physical stuff, Jaime. I need to know that I can trust you.”

“You can.” I kiss her lightly.

“With everything. I need you to be loyal to me, not him.”

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