He’s no devil, and he’s no angel, but he sure as hell is something in between.

Letting out a puff of air, I say, “His name is Warner.”

“Where’d you meet him?”

“At the hotel where I worked. It was one of the many jobs I had to keep us afloat. He was there for a work conference.”

The first time I talked to Warner, he stopped by the cart Maria and I were sharing. I remember being a little stunned when I caught sight of him. His hair was so naturally blond, it looked angelic. His eyes were bluer than the ocean after sunset, and he was so tall. The way his body filled out his expensive suit had my brain stuttering for a moment. I saw a lot of businessmen and women come through, but no one as handsome or as nicely dressed as he was.

“Honestly, for a long time I didn’t understand what he was doing. He kept coming around, talking to me, asking me for room supplies, and I was clueless. Then he asked me out on a date. And he didn’t take no for an answer. I should’ve known then.”

“How long where you together?”

“Six months. We dated for four months before I moved in with him.” Fighting the sudden nausea in my stomach, I say, “There’s something you need to know before I tell you the rest . . .”

A bolt of nervous energy spears through my body and settles in the pit of my stomach.

I knew this moment would come sooner than I was ready for it to. This is where I trust him with my past, see if he can handle it, and I hope like hell when I’m done, he still looks at me the same way he does now.

I pull away and roll to my back. He leans up on his elbow and looks down at me.

“You know about my sister, but I never told you about Will . . . Willow.” I look over and see curiosity on his face. “I didn’t know if I could trust you before. I didn’t know if you’d use her against me. She’s my niece, but she’s much more than that to me.”

“I wouldn’t . . .”

My eyes flicker up to his. “I know that now.”

I look away and stare up at the ceiling. “My sister was already a wild child, but she took my mom leaving us a lot harder than I did. She sort of went off the deep end. I was too concerned with money, and how we were going to survive without my mom to see that Sundown needed me.

“It shouldn’t have, but it shocked the hell out of me when she told me she was pregnant. And I’ll always be ashamed that my first reaction was anger. I remember thinking, the last thing I needed was one more mouth to feed. We were already behind on every bill, and with me being a high school dropout, the best jobs I could get were barely enough to pay the rent. A baby meant more work and no time to possibly go back and finish school, or time to study to get my GED. Something I’d been planning to do.”

I skip ahead because I don’t remember a lot in between Sunny telling me she was pregnant and Will being born. All I know is, I was working my ass off day and night to pull in every dollar I could.

“After Will was born, Sunny was reluctant to hold her. When we got home from the hospital, it got worse. She’d hand Will off to me every chance she got. And when Sunny was well enough, she’d disappear for days, only to come home hungover and looking like death. She was in no condition to be a mom and she didn’t want to be. So until a year ago, I raised Will as best as I could mostly by myself.”

“How old is she?”

“Five.”

I look over to see concern flitter through his eyes. “Where is she now?”

“With Sundown.”

Concern becomes confusion.

I explain, “Sunny finally snapped out of it about a year ago.” I don’t tell him what caused her to change because that’s not my story to tell anyone and I don’t know much. “She asked me if she could stay and start being a part of Will’s life. She cleaned herself up, got a job, and started helping with Will. Together we were making more than enough to pay the bills and it was a relief to have some help. We worked opposite schedules so Will didn’t have to go to a daycare, which also helped us save money. And for first time in a long time, we weren’t struggling.”

“What happened?”

“Warner. He made it even better for those first two months. He spoiled us. Them and me. He bought me things I never had. Took me places. Gave me money to pay rent. I was living a dream. I feel stupid saying that because it was a dream.”

I pull in a deep breath and shake my head. “But it wasn’t. It was more like a mirage. I didn’t see how he was manipulating me in small degrees. Like quitting my jobs, distancing myself from my friends, agreeing to move in with him. He knew I felt guilty for still acting like a mom to Will, when her real mom was right there living in the same house. He used that against me until I felt like stepping out of the way was what was best for Sundown and Will. It took me some time to realize that he was trying to isolate me. But by the time I did, it was too late. He had me exactly where he wanted me.”

Mav’s hand slides over my stomach to my waist. He pulls me closer as if to protect me and asks, “Was he abusive? Did he hit you?” His face muscles are tight and I can tell he’s upset. But right now, I have to get this out. He needs to know why I can’t be with him the way I’ve seen him with the girls at the club. Tied up and powerless.

“Not at first. It was more subtle. And honestly, the hitting wasn’t the worst part. His need to control me was. He didn’t want me leaving the house. He wanted me to look a certain way. Act a certain way. After I moved in, I started to see a different side of him. He lost his temper more times than not. He’d kiss me aggressively, but not in a passionate way, it was almost like he was angry with me.”

“Did he . . .” Mav’s voice is hard. His eyes, fierce. And I don’t think he realizes it, but his fingers are digging into my skin at my waist.

That night comes back to me. Looking away, I say, “I don’t know what set him off. All I know is he was angry and he wouldn’t take no for an answer.” I take a deep breath and finish, “I fought back. I pleaded for him to stop. I just . . . I couldn’t reach him. I’ve never felt so weak in my life.”

Luce appears in an instant. A savage fierceness flashes over his features and I watch as he fights the rage building inside of him. He growls, sits up. “Who is this guy? What’s his last name?”

I grab him and hold on to his arm. “Mav . . .”

His fists clench and unclench. “Who is he?”

“Why? What are you going to do?”

His biceps and his jaw pulse at the same time. “Do you want the truth?”

“Of course I do.”

“I want to know who he is because I plan to pay back every bit of the pain he’s caused you.”

My fingers tighten on his wrist. “Mav! It’s done and over. I just want to forget it ever happened.”

“Which is what you can do after he pays for how he hurt you.”

“We weren’t even together then.”

“Doesn’t matter.” He pulls away from me.

My temper and tongue get the best of me. “What are you going to do? Beat him up? Kill him? You can’t do that. He has cops and powerful people, even judges in his pocket. His father’s a state senator. That’s why I ran instead of going to the cops. And I don’t want you getting locked up because you think you need to avenge my honor.”

He finds his jeans and yanks them on. “Babe. You’re underestimatin’ me and the powerful people I got in my own pocket. He won’t even see me comin’.”

I glare up at him with an exasperated look that has him smirking. “Where are you going?”

He zips up his jeans and buttons them. “I’m gettin’ away from you and your gorgeous body so I can think straight. I want to know what I can about this guy. Where he is. What he does. Where he goes. And who his friends are.”

He comes back and kisses me, lays me back down, and pulls the covers up to my shoulders. “You stay here and keep my bed warm.”

As he pulls away, he asks, “You need anything?”