Karma's Kiss

Chapter Thirty-Six: Proof

**Moving this Weekend + it's Canada Day, so you guys are getting the chapter early. For my Canadian Readers, have a great holiday weekend!** 

*Copyright: All Rights Reserved, Stephanie Myrick, 2024. Posted to Wattpad ONLY*

"Did you hear anything?" Antonia murmured when Maverick came back. She was nervously playing with the loop on Watson's lease, twisting it around and around as she watched the five firefighters walk up to the door and ring the bell. It was opened quickly by a woman who opened the door wider to let them in, where they were greeted by whoops and screams before the door shut. Maverick reached out and took it from her gently, giving her his hand instead.

"Whoever is having the party asked for the "Full Package," Maverick explained, eyeing the house and wondering what he was going to do to get closer. "From the sounds of it, only two of the guys want that to continue, but it was specifically pointed out that Dallas didn't want to stop until after the wedding." He turned and looked down at her worriedly, wondering how she would respond to that.

"So basically, I'll fuck around until we get married, then I need to stop, but I'm okay with continuing to strip behind her back." She rolled her eyes and let out a snort. "God, he's such a twatwaffle."

Maverick closed his eyes tightly and muffled his bark of laughter by biting his lip hard. "Twatwaffle?"

"I said what I said." Antonia folded his arms, her face flushed and angry looking. "I'm so tempted to storm into the house and confront him, but we'd probably get arrested and I've already promised your sisters and D'Arcy they could be there for it."

"Well, I need to get closer to the house if you want me to get pictures."

"No," she shook her head. "Let's just go. I don't need anymore proof." She turned and started to walk out of the woods, heading toward the car. Maverick followed quietly, letting her have some quiet time. She was silent the whole way back to the car and for the first twenty minutes of the drive back to Salem. "How would you confront my sister?"

"Um, I'm not sure." Maverick blinked in surprise. "I had one client announce it at her sisters gender reveal by telling the husband to get a paternity test on the baby because there was a fairly good chance it was her husbands baby, not his."

Antonia snorted. "Well, at least it's not just my sister that's a piece of shit. What happened?"

"Lot's of crying, yelling, and finger pointing. Baby turned out to be related to the husband, but not close enough to be actually his. Turned out she slept with her husbands nineteen year old brother too after a drunken night out. They both claimed they didn't remember doing it, but apparently the brother passed out when it came out. Shauna, my client, keeps me up to date on the drama through the occasional email." He explained seeing Antonia's raised eyebrows.

"Your clients keep you informed of that kind of thing?" He could hear the skepticism in her voice and couldn't really blame her given what she was going through at the moment.

"Yeah, most of them do." He nodded. "I kinda become their best friend/therapist when they come to me about infidelity. They're going through something devastating and humiliating. In a lot of cases they don't want to tell family and friends what's going on because they feel crazy for thinking their spouse is messing around on them, and what if their wrong? Then they have to retract the accusations and hope it doesn't ruin their partners reputations in their social circles. For the entire time I'm working for them, I'm the only one they can offload their concerns on and when I get the proof, I'm the one giving them bad news and supporting them through the initial shock. Sometimes I help them with their next steps, directing them to lawyers who can help with their particular situation, or giving them the contact information for couples and family therapists."

"There's a reason I'm really successful at what I do, and it's not just because I was a damn good Detective. I've taken the time to learn about Massachusetts divorce laws, sought out and maintained a network of lawyers and mental health professionals, I have contacts with CPS, domestic violence shelters and social workers and I've done psychology, sociology and anthropology classes all up through college, my time with the NYPD, and continue to do so now. My job doesn't end when I give them the proof, my job ends when they've figured out a plan and have a solid support system behind them."

"But you stop charging them when you hand them the proof." She guessed as she gave him a warm and he wanted to say proud smile, but wasn't sure if that was wishful thinking on his part.

"Well yeah, but my services don't come cheap either." Maverick mumbled, not wanting her to think he was some kind of saint, just that he wasn't a sleezeball PI sleeping with all his clients, or any of them for that matter. "Besides it's not like I'm doing any leg work for those things, I just hand over information and recommendations as they need them."

"Anyway." He cleared his throat. "Regarding Nola, I guess the question you need to ask yourself is how badly do you want hurt her and who do you want to tell? You also should keep in mind that people may not react to the news they way you expect them to. They could take her side, make excuses for her, get upset at you for airing her dirty laundry to everyone and embarrassing her..."

"Anyone on the maternal side of my family that takes Nola's side over mine will be cut out of my life forever." Antonia's voice and face were resolute and she folded her arms over her chest. "Not that they'll care, but I'll feel better about it." She pulled at her lower lip, clearly deep in thought. "The other thing I have to think about is what Dallas will do to her. He made it pretty clear he would ruin her if she told me. I'd have to confront her before I confront him and tell her to keep her mouth shut so she doesn't run and tell him I know."

"You know, he can sue her." Maverick pointed out after some thought. "Yeah, he made a huge mistake by giving into her demands, but she blackmailed him and used fear and coercion to get him to comply with her demands. She can also be charged with criminal harassment an extortion."

"What happens if she's convicted?" Antonia mumbled, clearly deep in thought about her sister's punishment.

"Up to fifteen years in prison and fines."

"Right." Antonia shrugged it off, her expression impassive. "That seems like a her problem. Whatever happens after it all comes out is on her. Although this could have all been avoided if Dallas had been upfront with me from the beginning. So," She turned to him with a teasing smirk. "Are you going to drive all the way to Salem from Boston to run with me every morning?"

Maverick smiled and shook his head. "No, but I'll come up every weekend and run with you on Saturday and Sunday, at least at first and we'll see how it goes after." He could see disappointment pass over her face like a cloud for a moment but then she smiled back at him.

"I'm gonna hold you to that."

*Copyright: All Rights Reserved, Stephanie Myrick, 2024. Posted to Wattpad ONLY*