Page 106 of Wicked Little Secret

Derrick had Dan follow him when he drove Maverick home in the Cullinan.

Mav had argued that he could take an Uber, but his brother replied, “I don’t think it’s a good idea to leave the Rolls in the parking lot overnight.”

“Good point.”

The first thing he noticed when they pulled into the garage was her empty parking space.

Derrick must have noticed it, too, because he quietly asked, “You going to be okay? You want me to come in with you?”

He swallowed hard and attempted to smile. “Nah, I’ll be okay. Gotta get used to my new normal sometime, right?”

“Yeah, but you don’t have to tonight.”

“Rip the Band-aid off.”

Derrick didn’t seem to buy Maverick’s brave face act, but the only thing he said was, “If you say so.”

He shut the garage door once his brother got into Dan’s car and drove away.

Like a glutton for punishment, he walked into the nursery and sat down in the rocking chair, staring at the empty crib.

She should be in here right now, feeding their son and putting him to sleep. And goddammit, she should then be slipping into bed with him, where he’d wrap his arms around her and hold her tight for the next three hours.

He thought about how she’d have that soon enough with Casey. She was going to remarry just like Patricia had, and Sawyer would have a stepdad, just like Nick and Nash had. And Maverick would be a part-time dad, without a wife or anyone significant in his life, other than his kids.

At least with Sawyer he was going to do the dad thing differently.

He wondered how his boy was doing, and if Olivia was relieved to finally be back in her home.

****

Olivia

Sawyer refused to fall asleep in his new crib, and instead decided to cry inconsolably all night. No matter what she did, he wouldn’t stop crying.

It was like he knew she’d taken him from his dad and was punishing her for it.

“Please go to sleep,” she begged. “Mommy starts work tomorrow and can’t be up all night, Sawyer.”

Although in her heart she knew the only way she would get any rest was if she cried herself to sleep. Either way, she was going to need cucumbers for her eyes in the morning. She didn’t have cucumbers—she hardly had any groceries, just a barebones delivery to get her through dinner and breakfast.

Ugh, she was going to have to do the grocery shopping again. Maybe Maverick would loan her Juanita. Forget spousal support, just let her have the sweetabuelaa few days a week.

Even her cats seemed to be mad at her. Oscar was in hiding and Honey threw up next to her food dish to express her displeasure at being back home. Olivia would not be surprised to wake up and find one of them had pooped in her favorite shoes.

“It’ll get better,” she told herself.

Although she didn’t see how. She really wished Maverick were there to come to her rescue.

Chapter Forty-Four

Olivia

Maverick was holding her in his arms, stroking her hair and whispering in her ear, “I’ve got you.” A blue unicorn pawed its foot in agreement in the corner, and the baby animals on the wall told her to let Maverick handle everything, so she decided she would.

“Liv, darlin’, you need to wake up. You’re going to be late.”

She jerked her head up with a start. It took her a second to orient herself. Sawyer had finally cried himself into exhaustion around five o’clock, but she was pretty sure she fell asleep before he did, with her head on the crib rail as she sat in the rocking chair listening to him sob.

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