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Then a cold voice cuts through the music.

“Get your hands off my wife.”

39

CARMEN

Maverick stands a few feet away in one of his sharp gray suits, polished and entirely out of place beneath the pastel lanterns and paper streamers. Behind him, Finn lingers near the gym doors, pale and rigid.

For a second, no one speaks. The music keeps playing. Children keep dancing. A little girl in silver spins past us, laughing, completely unaware that the floor has just dropped out from under me.

Maverick’s gaze drags over my dress, my hair, my face. His mouth tightens. “Carmen. Really?”

And just like that, I’m back in the last few years of our marriage. Feeling small, stupid and never quite right.

Levi shifts forward. I catch his wrist. “Don’t.”

He stops.

A few nearby parents have gone quiet. Across the room, the principal’s smile fades as she watches us. Attention is gathering.

Maverick’s eyes drop to my hand on Levi’s wrist, and something ugly flashes across his face.

“Should’ve figured it was you,” he says. “You let Blackwood take my daughter. You bled all over my floor. And now you’re playing house with my wife?”

My hand freezes on Levi’s wrist.

I look up at him, searching for surprise. Confusion. Anything.

There’s none. His face stays completely blank—like he already knows exactly what Maverick is talking about.

“Ray know about this?” Maverick asks.

Levi doesn’t answer.

A cold weight settles in my chest.

Maverick’s eyes stay locked on him. “No. Didn’t think so.”

“What is he talking about?” I force out.

“There are kids here. We should take this outside,” Levi says.

He’s right. I walk past Maverick without looking at him and head for the exit. Levi follows. So does Maverick, his footsteps smooth and unhurried. Finn trails behind, keeping his distance.

The cool night air hits my face as I step into the parking lot. The gym doors swing shut behind us, muffling the music into something distant.

I stop beneath a harsh security light and turn around.

Maverick looks irritated, as if I’ve dragged him somewhere inconvenient. Levi stands a few feet away, shoulders tense. The small distance between us stings.

I look straight at Levi. “What’s going on?”

His jaw works, but he says nothing.

“Why does my husband know you?” I press.

Maverick’s mouth curves. “This should be enter⁠—”