*Copyright: All Rights Reserved, Stephanie Myrick, 2024. Posted to Wattpad ONLY*
Antonia pulled up outside The Rose and checked her phone. There was a text from Maverick saying he was inside waiting for Levi to finish practicing. She hurried in, looking around until she spotted him as far back from the stage as he could sit and walked over to him.
"Hey!" He smiled at her. "They aren't bad." He gestured to the stage with his beer.
"Apparently not." She sat next to him and pulled the menu toward her. "It's not my type of music, but they did get signed."
"Huh. Good for them." He looked impressed. "I don't know if they're that good, but it's not my type of music either. How did the co-habitation agreement go?"
"Good. He agreed to everything I put forward." She held up her hand to get the waitress's attention. "I'm starved." She said apologetically.
"I figured you would be. I ordered you a fish and chips." He paused. "I hope that's okay. I wasn't sure if it was still your favourite pub food, but I ordered a lobster roll, so we can switch if you want."
"No, it's perfect." She smiled happily. "I can't believe you remembered that." The waitress came over and ordered a Celtic Red to go with it.
He shrugged, looking faintly embarrassed. "I remember a lot of little details. It's why I'm such a good PI." Antonia chuckled.
"Uh-huh. Sure." She teased.
He smiled and sipped his beer. "So, what did you want to talk about?"
"Dallas told me something about Jynx's girlfriend, and now I have to tell her. I'm not sure how to do it."
"How bad is it?" He raised his eyebrow. "Because you know Jynx, the best way to tell her is just to say it."
"Keanna beat her last girlfriend so badly that she ended up in the hospital, and one of the first responders helped her get a restraining order." It all came out in a rush, and Antonia put her head in her hands.
"Oh shit." She felt Maverick's hand on her shoulder and looked up at him hopelessly.
"It's bad, right?"
"I mean, it is, but I'm not sure what you're worried about. You didn't know." He hesitated. "Do you think Dallas knew?"
"He says he didn't." She leaned back and looked at the ceiling, groaning. "She really likes her, Mave. This is gonna break her heart."
"Maybe. Probably." He nodded. "But she'll get over it, and she won't blame you. Besides, this is a thousand times better than her finding out the hard way."
"True." He had an indisputable point there. The waitress came back with their food and her drink, plus a soda for Maverick and her stomach growled. "Is she out with her tonight?"
"No, I'm pretty sure her and Raven are haunting your sister tonight." Maverick grinned. "It's something they're enjoying immensely."
Antonia had to laugh. "I'll go join them after. It'll be a better conversation if Raven is there too."
"If you want to wait until after I talk to Levi, I'll go with you."
"I'd appreciate that." She smiled, and they ate in silence for a few minutes. "Oh!" She quickly wiped her mouth with her napkin and gripped his arm. "I almost forgot, Dallas said there were several firefighters who are trying to sabotage his promotion to Lieutenant, like going so far as to disobey his orders on calls and risk being written up. He's actually blaming them for the glitter bomb and the fox piss in his truck. Do you think it would be worth talking to them?"
"Absolutely. Give me their names."
"I don't know all of them, but the leader is a guy named Derrick Lake. He used to work at Station 2, but I think he got moved when all the issues with Dallas started." They looked up as someone sat across from them. "Hey, Levi."
"Toni." He nodded at her. "And you must be Maverick."
"Yeah. You guys are great." Maverick gestured to the stage.
"Thanks." Levi warmed up considerably and got the waitress's attention, ordering a Coors Light. "So, you want to know about Dallas and Nola, huh?"
"Yeah," Maverick nodded. "What can you tell me? Do you know how they ended up..." He waved his hand in a circle, trying to find the right word. "Together?"
The waitress put his beer down in front of him and he took a swallow and laughed. "Man, I don't know if together is what you want to call it. After the whole proposal, she kinda became obsessed with him. "Dallas, Dallas, Dallas." He mocked Nola's voice. "She started staying out, stopped coming to gigs, and complained constantly about our relationship. "Dallas is planning to propose, Dallas is up for Lieutenant, Dallas is buying a condo for Antonia." Blah, blah, blah. Six straight months of hearing how amazing Dallas was. I fucking hate the guy." His voice dripped with bitterness. "Anyway, I figured she was cheating and looked through her phone. She wasn't cheating, not at that point. He was blowing her off constantly." He glanced at Antonia. "Sorry, but your little sis absolutely hates your guts. She's always been a little pissy about you, mostly because she didn't have the relationship she wanted with you, but almost overnight, she went from grumbling about you occasionally to an almost pathological hatred."
"Do you know why?" Maverick frowned and leaned forward, looking a little concerned.
"I can only guess it was when Dallas turned her down," he chuckled nastily. "He really gave it to her. He basically told her she was worth less than half of what Toni is, and if it wasn't for the fact that she was her sister, he wouldn't give her so much as a glance in the street."
"I didn't see that in his messages to her."
"No, in his messages, he was quite nice about it." Levi acknowledged. "But she didn't let it go. He came to the same club we were performing at one night with a bunch of his firefighter buddies, and she cornered him when he went to the bar to order a round. I didn't hear it myself; I was playing, but my bandmate's girlfriend, Tia, was nearby and heard the whole thing. She pulled me aside to let me know my girlfriend was hitting on another man. Embarrassing as fuck, I tell you."
"I'm so sorry, Levi." Antonia winced. "I can't even imagine."
"Not your fault." He shrugged. "I never said anything to you 'cause you barely spoke to her anyway, and Dallas seemed like he was handling the business. I started making plans to leave though. Began taking on more and more gigs, out of town and stuff, trying to make more money so I could leave without it straining my wallet too much. She didn't even notice. Her obsession with Dallas got worse with every rejection. It was like she was determined to steal him from you. I was still monitoring the texts, but only to gather evidence in case she decided to spin tales about why I left her. Then she sent him a text with just an address and told him she had pictures that he really didn't want you to see. He responded with a place and time. I sent Tia there and asked her to let me know what happened. She couldn't get close enough to hear the conversation, but said Dallas was livid, and Nola walked away looking really happy. Two days later, he sent her the name of a hotel and a date and time."
"And that's when you texted me." Antonia nodded.
"Yep, or tried to anyway." He finished his beer and tossed a ten on the table. "Anyway, I'll be leaving next week, so I just need to get through it. Nice job on the haunting; by the way, she's freaking the fuck out, even looking for ways to get rid of the pearls. It's been really satisfying to watch."
Antonia grinned. "If you really want to up the fear factor, try moving things around."
"You know, that sounds like fun. Thanks for that," he smirked. "Is there anything else you want to know?"
"How is she acting now, outside of the haunting?"
"For a bit, after Dallas ended things, she cried for like a week; she's just been really sad and withdrawn ever since." He stood up. "I doubt me leaving will bother her half as much." Bitterness crossed his face again. "You know, I know it seems like I was sponging off her, but I kept that place spotless and made sure she had homecooked meals waiting for her three times a day. I loved her a lot, and I would have done anything for her. Now, I just hope she gets what's coming to her. Nice to meet you, Maverick. See you around, Toni. I'd hug you, but I know how you feel about that."
"Thanks, Levi. I really hope you and your band become huge because that would definitely stick it to Nola." She smiled and held out her hand, shaking his.
"It would, wouldn't it?" Looking happier, he waved and went back over to the stage.
"Well, that was informative." Maverick sat back. "Nola was blackmailing him. Still doesn't make it right."
"No, but clearly, she's a lot worse than I realized." She sighed. "At the same time, I probably wouldn't have found out about his cheating if she hadn't."
"Almost makes you believe in the whole, "Everything happens for a reason" bullshit, doesn't it?"
"Almost." Antonia chuckled dryly. "I prefer "Karma is a bitch" though."
"That one is definitely better." He smiled and stood up, offering her his hand. "Ready to go tell Jynx about her girlfriend?"
"Yeah." She nodded and took it. "Thanks for doing it with me."
"Of course." He pulled her to her feet. "Just let me pay our bill, and we'll go."
"Oh no, I got this one." She darted around him and went to the bar, grinning at him over her shoulder. "Let's keep it even."
*Copyright: All Rights Reserved, Stephanie Myrick, 2024. Posted to Wattpad ONLY*