Page 67 of The Cupcake Cottage

“That’s my boy,” Louis said, stepping back as stagehands pulled Maverick onto the set, clipping him with a microphone and directing him to sit on the couch. They tried to place him close to Reanna, but he made sure there was as much room as humanly possible. When the cameraman asked him to move further to the left, closer to Reanna, he glowered and told him to shoot from a different angle.

Reanna shifted uncomfortably, and her throat moved as she swallowed hard. Without looking at him, she said quietly, “I’m doing this so Daisy-Mae knows what a good man you are.”

“She knows without you having to tell her that. She said yes to my marriage proposal, after all.”

Maverick considered leaving.

“We’re on air in ten seconds,” someone commanded from beyond the bright lights shining on them. The show’s host appeared, quickly shaking hands and getting settled.

The intro went fast, and then the host was turning to Reanna with the first question. “You’re here today to clear the air about something, is that right?”

“Yes,” Reanna said, her voice wavering and low.

Maverick closed his eyes, hoping the camera wasn’t on him. Was she going to blow it? She hadn’t had the courage to step away from her husband and seek help a year ago. Had things changed enough that she wouldn’t bail at the last minute?

“You’re here because you’ve left your husband, Adwin Kendrik, the owner of the NHL team The Lafayette Blur?”

“Yes.”

“You’re also here because you’re coming forward about something you’ve kept private for many years. Would you like to tell us about it?”

Reanna inhaled sharply, and there was a painful moment of silence before she began talking. “My husband was abusive. He would get angry and hurt me. I’m not here to call him out on that. I’m here to clear a good friend’s name and reputation.”

Maverick nearly snorted. Good friend? He hadn’t heard from her in months, and she’d ambushed him to get him here instead of speaking to him like a reasonable human being. She’d ruined him and left him hanging.

He understood her actions, but to call him a good friend was an outright lie.

“I behaved in a way that hurt Maverick Blades.” She reached for his hand across the space, but he stared straight ahead, keeping his hands clasped between his knees. “He was there for me. The times that the press photographed us together were times he was protecting me. Taking me to a safe place—a-a-a hotel.”

Well, that sounded bad. Apparently, her answers to the questions hadn’t been vetted.

“He stepped in when I wasn’t safe. He knew what was going on with me and Adwin, and he helped me stay safe.”

“Maverick?” The host turned to him. “Did you ever go to the authorities on Reanna’s behalf?”

“She begged me not to. She felt the risk to her safety was too great.”

“Could you elaborate why?” The host turned back to Reanna. “Maybe help other women who are listening and find themselves in the same situation?”

“I-I-I’d lose everything if I left Adwin.”

“How so?”

“Everything was in his name. I had nothing. And he told me that’s what I’d get if I ever left him or went to the police. He threatened to hide our assets so I’d never get a dime.”

“But your safety…” the host asked.

“Maverick tried to help me leave, but the press skewered him.” She stared straight at the reporter. “Adwin targeted him and his career.”

Maverick sent up a silent prayer that she wouldn’t cause him any new enemies, both in the world of the NHL and with the press.

“I was so caught up in my own world I didn’t fully understand what was happening to Maverick. He took the brunt, but I couldn’t step up and say that things were…” She closed her eyes for a moment. “The rumors made it bad at home, and I was afraid if I said anything—anything at all—about what was going on with Maverick and Adwin that everything would come out and that I’d get hurt. Badly.”

“And what about Maverick?” the reporter asked gently. “He was hurt.”

A tear escaped Reanna’s left eye.

The reporter turned to Maverick. “You almost lost your career?”

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