Page 116 of Hot Lap
He flinches, not because she's wrong, but because hearing it laid out so clinically makes him want to put his fist through the glass railing. It's what his father did to Sheyna, and it’s exactly what they're now doing to Maiken. How the hell has he missed the pattern?
“You okay?”
“I’m bloody furious, Mum.”
“You should be. But don’t let it cloud your head. Maiken needs you sharp, and not just on the track.”
“She’s blaming herself for the media storm. Thought she needed to apologize for 'bringing drama' into my world. Like she asked for any of this. Like she deserves it.”
“She shouldn’t and she didn’t.” She pauses. “Reece, I know what it’s like to be labeled the problem in your father’s narrative. I’ve been the bad mother, the unstable ex, the weak one. I took assignments in war zones because I wanted to prove I wasn’t fragile.”
He closes his eyes. “You were never fragile, Mum.”
“Well, as much as I needed you and your brother to see that, I had to prove it to myself more.” She lets that sink in. “Don’t let them do to Maiken what Graham did to me.”
“I won’t.”
“You stand next to her, Reece. Not in front, not behind.Next to her.Let the world see it.”
“I am,” he says, firmer now. “I will.”
“Good. And sweetheart?”
“Yeah?”
“I like her. I haven’t met her yet, but I like her. She’s the kind of woman who’ll set her own house on fire just to keep a man from walking through the door uninvited.”
He laughs. “Yeah. That’s pretty accurate.”
“Then she’s a keeper. Sokeepher.”
They chat a bit longer, but after his mother hangs up, Reece remains on the balcony. Sheyna has a way of cutting straight to the bone of things, which is why his father punished her so harshly. She’s just exposed exactly how much danger Maiken is in, not only from Junior's lies and Graham’s abuse, but from a system designed to chew up powerful women like her.
“Right then.”
He pockets his phone and heads back inside, sliding the glass door shut behind him. The room is still dim, curtains only partially drawn, letting in slivers of early light. Maiken stirs beneath the covers, one bare leg kicking free as she shifts to her side.
He crouches beside the bed. “Hey.”
She blinks, eyes heavy with sleep. “Mmm. Why are you up so early?”
He brushes her hair back from her face. “I got a call from my mum.”
Her brows lift. “Sheyna?”
“Yeah.” He smiles a little. “She called to say Junior’s an asshat and Graham smells like sulfur.”
Maiken snorts, then groans and flops onto her back. “God, can I frame that? I'm thinking cross-stitch with strawberries and little bunnies around the border.”
“I’ll consider it.” He grips her ankle. She’s equal parts delicate and dangerous. “Mum said not to let them drive a wedge between us. That it’s a pattern. Make the woman look like the problem so the man comes out clean.”
Maiken’s smile fades, but her gaze stays steady. “She would know.”
Reece nods. “She would. And she said something else.” He runs his hand up her calf. “That I need to stand next to you. Not in front. Not behind. Next to.”
Maiken sits up. “She really said that?”
“Word for word. And she’s absolutely right.”
