Page 52 of Finding Forever

“I love you more,” I vowed, walking to the door.

His usually peppy attitude hadn’t been fully restored, but he was gradually coming around. He’d been clingier in the past week than he’d ever been, but he was smiling and laughing again. I prayed it would continue. Though I had a feeling that nothing would be “back to normal” until Penny also showed improvement. And that was looking bleak.

Leaving his room, I turned out the light, triggering the night lights and gave him one last look before setting off for my room to start my wind-down routine. The last two days had been an emotional battlefield, and I was looking forward to the calm that my multi-step routine brought on without fail.

I was in my favorite silk robe and had just applied moisturizer after my shower when the doorbell rang. Freezing in place, I tapped the screen on my phone and saw that it was almost ten p.m. There were no message notifications on my screen, and no one had tried to call me while I was in the shower.

Truthfully, my mind raced straight to Maverick. Had he finally grown tired of the silence and shown up? I had to admit the thought was exhilarating as I tightened my robe and trekked to the front door.

I checked the camera monitor by the door and saw a tall figure with a bowed head. From the hair alone, I knew it wasn’t Maverick. But the owner of that head had a lot of nerve showing up at my house at this hour. Flinging the door open, I was ready to tear into my ex-husband until he looked up at me.

Thanks to the porch light, I could see a jarring blueish purple bruise circling his left eye as he stared back at me. “Chris, what the—”

“Look what your violent little boyfriend did to me.”

Boyfriend? Maverick?

“What?”

“Look at my face, Gina! Look what he did to me,” he shouted.

Still apprehensive, I stepped onto the porch with him and closed the door to prevent Mycah from hearing anything.

“You’re telling me Maverick did this?” I didn’t believe it. I wouldn’t believe it. Maverick was a lot of things, but he wasn’t violent.

“That’s exactly what I’m saying. You know,” he paused and shook his head. “I tried to play nice with you. I told you I didn’t want him around my son. You ignored me. Told me to stop making things up and to leave you alone, but now look at me. Your aggressive, power hungry, violent boyfriend did this to me, the father of your son and you have to live with that!”

“Lower your voice,” I snapped back, still trying to process the information dump he’d just sat at my feet.

“How do you think a judge will react to this?”

At this point, I was done with the drama and the uncertainties that came with being romantically involved with men. Regardless of how much I’d grown to like Maverick, I didn’t have the mental stamina for the issues we faced. My son deserved more than this. I didn’t want his life plagued by men who threw fists to solve disagreements.

Hands shaking, I swiped up on my phone to unlock it and instantly went to Maverick’s contact.

He picked up on the first ring. “Gina.”

“Did you punch Chris in the face?” I got straight to the point.

“Gina…” he hedged. “Can we tal—”

“It’s a simple question, Maverick. Yes or no.”

“Yes, and I would do it again. Gina—”

“Maverick, I can’t believe you! I know he’s an asshole, but he’s still the father of my child! I’d never put my hands on Victoria.”

A sigh crept over the line.

He had nothing to say. Of course, he didn’t.

“From now on, I want you out of my business and out of my life. I mean it.” And with that, I ended the call, too overstimulated to do anything but release a shaky breath.

Once I looked up again, Chris was smiling like the mischievous cat that had just ate the canary. There was something sinister in the way he regarded me, and it sent chills crawling up my spine.

What was that about?

I decided I didn’t want to get into that right now. I needed to get away from this situation and back into the comfort of my home.

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