I braced for war or, at least, the flash of a blade. But Maddox took the wine list and stared at Nolan.
“What are we having tonight?” he asked. “I heard the steak is good.”
Nolan met his challenge. “I’m surprised you know. No one in your family has ever afforded a meal here. You aren’t good enough to wash the dishes.”
“Fuck washing them.” Maddox seized a bread plate and cracked it on the edge of the table. The restaurant silenced, and he pointed a shard at Nolan before I could stop him. “You got ten seconds to explain what the fuck you’re doing here with my girl.”
Nolan didn’t fear the shattered edge. “She didn’t tell you?”
“No.”
My throat dried, but I couldn’t have spoken louder than a whisper anyway. “I’m selling my property.”
“No, you’re not.” Maddox answered immediately. “Forget the offer. She’s not interested.”
“Granddad got moved to another floor. I don’t have the money.”
“We’ll find a way,” he said.
“Maddox—”
“I said we’ll find a way.” He wasn’t playing. A simmering rage boiled through him, a fury I didn’t recognize. “Let’s go, Sweets. I’m sure Mayor Rhys has better things to do tonight than dine with my woman.”
“Charming,” Nolan smirked. “Very charming.”
“Yeah. My dad always said I got the charisma in the family.”
“The only thing they couldn’t sell for drugs.”
“Believe me.” Maddox hauled me from the chair. “They tried. We’re done here.”
“The offer is good only for tonight, Josie.” Nolan sipped his wine, like he expected that I’d agree to sleep with another man while the one I loved held my hand.
“Sorry for wasting your time.” I counted the last few dollars in my bank account. The number scared me more than Nolan’s intentions. “I’ll find a way.”
“Bake sales with your boyfriend?” He chuckled before his voice turned sour. “For a relationship built on lust and poverty, you promise each other the world. It’s sweet…given your circumstances.”
I tugged on Maddox’s arm. “Come on.”
“Especially after your prison sentence.”
Maddox took the bait even though I begged him to leave. “Josie knows I’m innocent.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure.”
I wasn’t letting this happen. Not here. “Maddox, please.”
“It’s just amazing how easily you’ve forgiven her.”
Maddox scowled. “Forgiven her for what? Josie’s done nothing wrong. She’s the victim.”
Nolan shrugged. “It’s a funny thing, becoming the mayor. I’m privileged with more information than most people in the town.”
Oh god. I wished I had just signed the papers and offered him my body. At least then Nolan couldn’t have threatened me with something worse than his slimy touch.
Nolan captured Maddox’s attention with a veiled warning. “As mayor, I have access to police reports and files. I learned everything about the fire that destroyed Sweet Nibbles.” His gaze fell on me, enjoying how I squirmed, panicked, silently begged him to stop. “Did you know about the anonymous tip called in after the fire? Someone pinned the arson on you, Maddox.” He grinned. “And here’s the thing about anonymous tips. They aren’t so anonymous.”
My heart didn’t break—I no longer had one.
“Do you know where the call came from?” Nolan asked.
Maddox shrugged me off his arm. “Where?”
“Freedom General Hospital. It was a female caller, and she refused to give her name.”
The world crumbled beneath my feet, but I didn’t fall. My lies pinned me, immobile and agonized.
Trapped in Maddox’s pained stare.
“I always wondered if you knew who framed you for starting the fire?” Nolan enjoyed my misery. “And what you’d do to her when you found out.”
Tears rolled over my cheek.
Maddox said nothing. The truth spoke for us both.
I was the caller who slipped the police the tip about the arsonist. I was the one who said it was Maddox that burned down my shop. I was the reason he went to jail.
And he’d never forgive me for it, even if it saved his life.
16
Josie
One Year Ago
The wine tasted bad—even more bitter than usual. Nolan asked how it was. I forced a smile and spat most of it back into the glass with a disguised nod. I never got tipsy so quickly. I felt awful, and it wasn’t the company I was keeping.