Maya could defend herself.
“Fuck, you don’t get it.”
“I don’t have to stand here and take this!” Vince said. He pointed at her. “Talk to your father or things are gonna get worse.”
Nice.
His last words to her were a threat. Just perfect.
Vince strode off and got into his cruiser, performing a U-turn that forced several cars to stop for him.
Idiot.
She sighed. “I’d say thank you but I think you might have made things worse.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Worse than him arresting you in front of members of the public?”
“You’re worried about the public backlash?” she asked. That explained his reasons for interfering.
Kind of disappointing.
“Yeah, I care about the public perception of the police,” he said. “Because they need to be able to trust us. But more than that I care whether the police force here is trustworthy. About whether they’re doing their job properly or pulling over vulnerable young women so they can hurt and intimidate them.”
“He didn’t hurt me, I’m fine. I’ve been dealing with Vince for a while now.” Although he’d only started acting like a jerk after their one and only disastrous date. “Thanks for the help, but just so you know, I’m not defenseless.”
“No? And what would you have done if he’d handcuffed you and got you into the back of his car? He could have drivenyou anywhere. Done anything to you. And no one would have known.”
Maya swallowed heavily. “Are you trying to scare me?”
“Yep. Is it working?”
“Yep.” But not because she was worried about herself.
You have to think of your babies.
“Do you want to make a complaint, Maya?”
“A complaint?” she repeated. Then she made a scoffing noise. “Right. Like a complaint will do anything except make Vince angrier.”
“If you told your father about this, he’d have to take it seriously.”
She shook her head. Poor, deluded Reeves.
He was a good guy.
But he hadn’t lived here long. He didn’t know much about the way this town ran. About the way her father operated.
“No, he won’t. My father will ask Vince what happened. And then whatever lie Vince tells him, he’ll buy. Because my father has never once believed me.”
Not since her mom died, anyway.
But she didn’t want to think about that right now.
“You’re kidding me?” Reeves said.
“Guess you haven’t been here long enough to notice, but my father has his favorites and I’m not one of them. Vince and my stepbrothers, sure. They can do no wrong. Look, you’re a good guy. But if you want to survive here, then the smartest thing you could do is keep your head down and stay away from me. Trust me, all I ever bring with me is trouble. And you don’t need that in this town.”
“Yeah? What does that mean?”
