Unplugged: A Bad Boy Rockstar Romance (31 page)

Henry nodded.
“
Bones and Martin didn’t run into any
trouble, and they decided to tail her all the way to Eagleton. They got her
home to her fiancé
without a problem.
They
’
re on the way back. She
’
s safe.”

Maggie took a deep breath and let that
worry slip off the very full plate in her mind.
“
Thank you, Henry. Can we talk in private
for a minute?
”

Henry put out an arm to lead Maggie
through the group and upstairs to the
conference
room. Maggie could feel eyes on her as she walked up the stairs, but she didn’t
dare look down.

Doors closed, Maggie handed Henry the
black burner phone.
“
I found this in that box of things Julie
brought down. I don’t know exactly who it belong
s to,
but it has to be one of them. They must have left it in my apartment.
”
He took it from her and she shrugged.
“
Might be useless, but
…”

“
Better safe than sorry,
”
said Henry as he gave it a short
inspection. He put it into his cut pocket.
“I’ll
get some
one
on it.
”

There was a small, awkward silence.

Maggie swallowed against a tight throat.
She said,
“I
’
m sorry about all this, Henry. I never
meant for any of this to happen. I just tried to do the best I could.
”

Henry coughed and looked away. He became
su
ddenly interested in the conference table, sweeping
a hand over its glossy surface. Maggie scratched her neck in discomfort.
“
I feel
…
I feel like I
’
m cursed,
”
she said.
“
Like I destroy anyone who gets too close
to me.
”
The laugh that came from her throat w
as harsh and bitter.
“
Julie couldn’t even bring down a box of
stuff without getting in a gunfight, for Christ
’
s sake.”

Henry perked up when she said the word
‘
cursed
’
, and in a dark way. Something flashed
in his eyes she had never seen before.
“You
’
re not cursed, Maggie. Don’t you ever say that.
”

“
Then what am I?
”
said Maggie. Part of her truly wanted an
answer.
“
If I had stayed here, and stayed on the
path I was
…
the path with Jase
…
. I would have hurt you. You didn’t want
me in this world. So I
left, which apparently hurt
everyone, anyway. I fuck up my life in Eagleton and leave, and I come back here
with a whole new round of pain for everyone. I drag Julie down here into it
with me. I just
….” 
Overwhelmed,
she stopped and shook her head.
“
I don’
t
know where I belong, Henry. I set
everything around me on fire.
”
She realized she had a hand in her pocket, palming her
mother
’
s rosary for comfort.

Henry let out a big sigh.
“
You sound like your mother.
”

Maggie scoffed. Henry didn’t
talk about Sara much
, and Maggie had grown bitter about his selfishness with
the memories.
“
Do I? Is this a family curse, then?
”

A small smile appeared on Henry
’
s lips, but not in his eyes.
“
Not from her, no. If there
’
s one of us cursed, it
’
s me for having lost her.
”
He looke
d up
at Maggie.
“
Your mother felt like she set everything
on fire, too. And she did, in a way. She wasn’t from this world, you know,
where she ended up. Next to me. But she burned her way into it anyway.
”

Maggie knew her face looked angry, but
her eyes fil
led with tears. She couldn’t remember
ever hearing her father talk this way about Sara.
“
What are you saying, Henry?
”

After being lost in his thoughts for a
few moments, Henry waved a dismissive hand.
“I
’
m just saying some people burn bright,
and it
’
s not
always a
bad thing. It
’
s not a curse. You just have to find hands that can handle
you.
”

Maggie fell silent, staring at her
father. She couldn’t remember the last time he had ever made even a passing
acknowledgment at her as anything more than an obstacle i
n his way. She almost felt overwhelmed.

He cleared his throat.
“
And anyway, this particular fire, it
’
s not your fault. This dickhead ex of
yours could have let you go and stayed in Eagleton, but he didn’t
. Don’t
ever say you
’
re cursed.”

She could only nod
with her gaze on the ground.

“
Things will smooth out. I’ll make sure
of it,
”
he said, putting a hand on her shoulder.
“
Now, could you do me a favor and send
Jase in here?
”

At this point, all Maggie could do was
let out a soft, sardonic chuckle.
I thought
you
said I wasn’t
cursed.
“Yeah. I’ll
go get him.
”
Without another word, she opened the conference room door
and headed down the stairs. Jase had not moved from his place with Will beside
the jukebox, and he seemed startled when she walked up to him.

“Hi
,”
said Jase, as if on impulse.

“Hi,”
said Maggie. She couldn’t look him in
the face. Her gaze only made it as high as his broad shoulders
—
and even then, all she could imagine was
the sight of them naked and moving over her. She cleared her throat and thum
bed behind her.
“
Henry wants to see you.
” 

Jase seemed grateful, like he thought
she was going to rip into a private talk right here, in front of Will and
everybody. He put his coffee mug down on a table and brushed past her on the
way up to the conferenc
e. She felt a jolt run through
her heart when they touched.

“
Have you fixed that, yet?
”

Maggie turned at the soft sound of Will
’
s voice behind her. He shot a gaze up to
Jase on the stairs and back down at her.

Words got stuck in Maggie
’
s throat. Did she trust Will enough to
talk to him about this? She was splitting at the seams, holding the weight of
this stress inside.
“
If by
‘fixed
’
, you mean
‘
firebombed
’
, then yeah.
”

Will gave her a lopsided smile, almost a
laugh.
“
You can’t
blow up w
hat
’
s going on here. I think it
’
s bigger than that.
”

“
Yeah, well, not for lack of trying
…”

“
Why would you
try
to ruin it?
”

She looked up and gave Will a sarcastic
expression.
“C
’
mon Will, you were there before I left.
”

“
That doesn’t mean I saw what you
saw,
”
said Will.

Maggie huffed and crossed her arms.
“
Well, what
I
saw was how quick things started to
fall apart for everyone as soon as Jase and I became more than friends. Henry
kept getting so mad at him, kept making sure he was always on jobs for the
MC. Life at home was hell. It was like the only quiet
times were when Jase and I could take off on his bike and go somewhere away
from all of it,
”
said
Maggie. She leaned against the jukebox, suddenly filled with sadness.
“
He loves this goddamn club so mu
ch. He tried so hard to make Henry and me happy at the same
time. It wasn’t fair to him.
”

“
It sounds like he did make you happy.
”

Maggie couldn’t answer that. She paused,
then said,
“
What did Henry think was gonna happen,
anyway, you know? I
’
m not saying
he shouldn’t have
saved Jase and his mom the way he did. And I was glad to have other people,
other kids around to connect with when he always seemed so far. But did Henry
think our friendship was just going to
…
go away
as we got older? After a decade of b
eing each other’s
best friend
?”

Will leaned a little closer, speaking
quieter.
“
I
don’t think Henry ever gave any serious
thought to you growing up at all, Maggie. I think he
’
s been in denial about that since you
were born.
”

“
So you think he
’
s
a
self-absorbed asshole, too, huh?
”

Will smiled.
“
I think he
’
s doing the best he can without your mom
’
s help. The thing about Henry is, he
loves both you and Jase. Truly. But you both inhabit different worlds for him,
worlds he wants to keep apart. For h
im, you two
finding happiness in each other is the final end of that separation.
”