Page 48 of You Owe Me

“He what?” Bostic’s voice cuts through the air like a whip.

“Carter showed up while we were eating dinner. He sat down uninvited, touched my hand, and made these comments about the gala. Maverick warned him to back off, and when Carter didn’t listen—” I gesture helplessly. “Well, you know Maverick. He doesn’t give second warnings.”

Sebastian runs a hand through his hair, processing. “Okay, so Carter’s got leverage, and now Maverick just gave him even more ammunition. Assault charges, witnesses?—”

“Carter could have him expelled and arrested,” Rowan finishes grimly.

“Exactly.” I feel tears threatening and blink them back furiously. “I have to go to this gala. I have to keep Carter happy until we can figure out how to neutralize him. Because if I don’t?—”

“Maverick’s future is over,” Bostic adds quietly.

“And his heart condition can’t handle that kind of stress,” I add, my voice breaking slightly. “You should have seen him. His hands were shaking after the punch. His watch was going crazy. If this escalates?—”

I don’t finish the sentence. I don’t need to. We all know what prolonged stress could do to someone with Supraventricular Tachycardia, like Maverick has.

Rowan leans forward, elbows on the table. “Have you told him about the blackmail?”

“No.” I look down at my hands. “And I can’t. Not yet. He’ll lose it completely. He’ll do something that makes this ten times worse.”

“So what’s the plan?” Sebastian asks. “You just... go to this gala? Pretend to be interested in Carter while he holds this over your head?”

“I don’t know. I was hoping Bostic might have some ideas.”

All eyes turn to the big firefighter, who’s been silent since my revelation. He’s leaning against the wall, arms crossed, wearing the expression he gets when he’s working through a particularly complex rescue scenario.

“We need intel. Carter’s got dirt on Maverick, which means someone fed it to him. We need to find out who and what else they might have shared. We also need to find something on Carter. Rich boys like him don’t stay clean by accident.”

“I could ask around,” Luke offers. “I know some guys in the business school. Maybe they’ve heard something.”

“And I’ve got contacts in student government,” Davis adds. “Carter’s the VP. Someone’s gotta have stories.”

Sebastian nods slowly. “This could work. We gather information while Ainsley keeps Carter distracted. But it has to be fast. The longer this drags out, the more dangerous it gets for everyone.”

“What about Maverick?” Rowan asks. “We can’t keep him in the dark forever. He’s going to notice something’s up.”

The guilt hits me immediately. Lying to Maverick goes against every instinct I have. He trusts me completely, and I’m about to betray that trust to protect him.

“I hate this,” I whisper.

“We all do,” Sebastian says firmly. “But it’s the right call. Maverick would rather charge in and deal with the consequences later. That’s not gonna work this time.”

Bostic pushes off from the wall. “All right. Here’s what we’re gonna do. Ainsley goes to the gala, keeps Carter happy, and tries to learn whatever she can about his operation. The rest of us start digging carefully. We need dirt on Carter Mills, and we need it fast.”

“What if he tries something at the gala?” Luke asks. “What if keeping him happy means?—”

“It won’t,” I cut him off, more firmly than I feel. “I can handle Carter. He thinks he’s charming, but he’s really just predictable. Entitled rich boy who’s never been told no.”

“Can you? Really?” Rowan challenges. “Because this guy’s got resources. Connections. If he decides you’re not playing along?—”

“Then we’ll deal with that when it happens,” Bostic interrupts. “For now, this is our best option.”

He looks around the table, meeting each person’s eyes. “Everyone clear on this? We keep Maverick out of the loop until we have a real solution. No matter how guilty it makes us feel.”

There’s a chorus of reluctant agreement around the table.

“And Ainsley,” Bostic adds, turning to me. “You’re not going to that gala alone. We’ll have backup nearby. If anything goes wrong?—”

“I’ll handle it,” I promise, standing up from the table. “I got us into this mess by not telling Maverick about Carter from the beginning. I’ll get us out of it.”

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