Page 26 of Filthy and Dirty with the Bikers

“I don’t get it. I wasn’t talking to you. I didn’t take these pictures. I—”

“We believe that Tyler took the pictures of you and that he was sending them to multiple people online.” A blustering wind passes between us, bringing with it the scent of pine from the nearby woods.

“Why would he do that?” She scoffs as she says, “What’s the point?”

Maverick sighs and tucks his hand into his pocket. “Money.”

She shakes her head and narrows her gaze as though she’s confused. “You paid money for these?”

“No,” he tugs his hand over his beard, “I sent you money.”

“You sentmemoney?”

He stuffs his hands in his pockets. “Ithoughtit was you.”

“But we never talked, we never met, and we didn’t FaceTime. Why would you send me… himmoney?”

“It’s fuckin’ stupid, I know.” He blows out a breath. “You… he… was telling me that you had this shop that was going under, and I didn’t want you to lose it.”

She shakes her head quickly then leans against the truck, searching for support. I want to offer it to her, but I also understand that she might need space.

Maverick continues, “I wanted to get together, but you… he… always had a reason, and it sounded so believable. Besides that, by then I was in love with you… or the version of you that… anyway, I was also laid up after the accident and I didn’t want you seeing me like I was. It wasn’t until a week ago that I showed the picture to Rhett hoping he’d seen you around town so I could find you.”

“Wow.” She puffs her cheeks and blows out a breath of air. “What the fuck? I’m so sorry, Maverick. So, this morning when you told me you’d been in love with a girl, that girl was me.”

He nods and pulls her against his chest. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you right then. Rhett and I thought it was best if Holden was here to help you through everything.”

She twists toward him, tears rolling down her cheeks. “I’m sorry. He’s not a good man. I—”

“Sweetheart,” he kisses the top of her head, “you don’t need to apologize.”

Molly twists her hair to the side of her shoulder and looks toward me and then Maverick. Her cheeks are red from the cold and wind. “How do I get my pictures back? How can I get him to stop?”

“I’m gonna start by beating the shit outta him,” Maverick groans. “We’ll see what happens from there.”

Tears fall down her cheeks quickly. “How did he get the pictures of me in the shower or in bed? I—”

“You… hetold me that he set them up for me. He probably set up cameras without you knowing.”

“Like he did in my shop.”

“What?” I reach out and brush the back of her hair as she lies against Maverick’s chest. “What do you mean?”

“A few months ago, he got all paranoid that I wasn’t actually going to work so he set up cameras in my shop to monitor me.” She shakes her head. “I’m sure he can still see everything I do. I need to figure out how to turn everything off, but I don’t want to kick the hornet’s nest right now.”

Fuck! This is all so much more convoluted than I thought.

I take off my coat and wrap it around the jacket she’s already wearing, and Maverick pulls his hat down over her ears. “You’re okay now. We’ll take care of you.”

I know she’s heard those words a thousand times only to be disappointed by them again. I know he’s told her after fits of rage that he’d take care of her. I know he’d hold her after hurting her and tell her that everything would work out, only to prove it all wrong again and again. That fact is the reason I can never let her down. None of us can. I can forget the milk or leave the trash in the bin, but I can never leave her feeling unprotected.

“What else did he tell you about me?”

“That your parents died, and that you were essentially raised by your brother. That you loved the color orange and reading. You…hewould tell me all about the books you read, and we’d talk about the characters and their motives and—”

Her teeth chatter as she says, “So he was listening to me so he could use it online? Awesome.”

“So everything’s true?”

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