Page 48 of Protecting Maggie
“The next thing I knew, I was sleeping at his place—he never came to mine—and we were a couple. Or so I’d thought. He was super possessive, always wanting to know where I was and when I’d be home. At the time, I mistook it for protectiveness. I didn’t realize he was intentionally separating me from the few friends I had when he started telling me they were bad news, or how he thought they were talking about me behind my back. I was old enough to know better, to not fall for his shit, but…I really wanted to be in a relationship. Wanted to be loved.
“By the time I mentioned I was going to LA for my job four months later, to visit another pharmacy up there, and he asked if I would take something to a friend of his, I didn’t think twice. Not even when he wouldn’t tell me what was in the bag…or when, instead of putting it in the backseat with my suitcase, he shoved it under the passenger seat.
“I was a total idiot. But again, it never once occurred to me that with his position in the Navy, he’d ever have anything to do withdrugs. It absolutely never crossed my mind that when I wascaughtwith his drugs, he’d deny everything. That he’d tell the police I was an addict. Insinuate that I was stealing pills from the pharmacy.
“He destroyed not only my belief in myself—the belief that I was a competent, independent woman—but myprofessional reputation and my entire life. And when he looked me right in the eye as he testified against me in court, and lied to my face and everyone in the courtroom, I knew he had no soul. Everything he’d said to me, everything he’d done to get me into bed, had been part of his plan to use me all along. It was just bad luck that I’d been stopped for speeding the first time he’d tricked me into delivering drugs for him. I think he was planning some sort of long-term transport thing, using me as his unknowing mule.”
“Who is he, Maggie? I need a name,” Shawn said.
Maggie was as tense as she could ever remember being. Shawn wasn’t much better. He was sitting straight up, his gaze boring into hers. But his hand at her hip was gentle. A finger rhythmically brushed against her over and over again. Soothing. Letting her know that he would be there for her no matter what.
“Roman Robertson.”
Shawn blinked. “What?”
“Roman Robertson. That’s who my ex is. Do you know him?”
“Rear AdmiralRobertson?”
Maggie shifted next to him. She couldn’t read his tone. “Yeah. I guess. He told me his rank once, and I looked it up, but I’m not familiar with the Navy and ranks and stuff, so I don’t really remember.”
“Fuck,” Shawn said.
Then he stood up and begin to pace.
Maggie stilled.
“That can’t be right. There has to be another Roman Robertson. Or he’s impersonating therealRear Admiral Robertson. Did you ever see his military ID? Did he bring you on base at all?”
Maggie swallowed hard. This wasn’t going how she’d thought it would.
No, that wasn’t right. Unfortunately, this discussion was goingexactlyhow she’d feared…before she’d been intimate with Shawn. This was the reason she hadn’t wanted to tell him who her ex was. Because she was afraid he wouldn’t believe her. And now her nightmare was coming true. “No. And no.”
“I bet this asshole read about the rear admiral’s name in the paper or something. Maggie, honey, the man you know as your ex has to be impersonating the real Roman Robertson.”
“No, he’s not. He told me that he was the reason why you and your team were sent on that mission so fast. Because he made it happen. And that next time, he’s going to send you somewhere horrible, like North Korea or Russia, just because he can. He doesn’t want you to make it home, Shawn. Hetoldme.”
“Honey, we’re SEALs. We get sent to places like that all the time. And we also get deployed with little to no notice frequently, as well.”
Maggie stared at him—and she suddenly felt cold. So damn cold.
Shawn didn’t believe her.
It had taken everything within her to tell him the name of her ex—and he was dismissing her out of hand.
It hurt. A lot.
She lowered her gaze and instantly felt herself shutting down. Putting up the shields she’d hidden behind anytime her life went to shit. It happened more than she cared to remember. It happened when she was caught with those drugs, and the officer refused to believe they belonged toRear AdmiralRoman Robertson.
But this was different. She hadn’t felt this kind of hurt since the night she’d overheard her adoptive parents arguing, when she was sixteen. Fighting over Maggie and the trouble she’d been getting into recently. It was just typical teenage stuff…she’d snuck out one night and gotten caught. Started coming home after curfew. Was talking back. Even at the time, she knew it was stupid, but the peer pressure she’d felt at school to fit in, to be “cool,” had made her act in ways she wasn’t proud of. But instead of sitting her down and talking about it, her parents began blaming each other.
Then her mom had actually admitted to her dad that they’d made a mistake in adopting her all those years ago. Saying they’d done it for the wrong reason, to try to help their marriage, and it hadn’t worked.
They’d both admitted to each other that theyregrettedadopting her.
Those words still haunted her. They’d flipped everything she thought she knew about family and trust upside down. Of course, she’d known her parents weren’t happy. They argued all the time. But hearing them flat-out saythey didn’t enjoy being parents and wished she wasn’t around was devastating.
It changed who she was as a person. Maggie became more withdrawn. Cautious when it came to opening up to others. As soon as she graduated, she moved out and didn’t look back. It was telling that neither of her parents had ever made more than a cursory attempt to keep in touch with her after she left.
