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an assault charge because some guy had spilled a beer on me in a crowed bar.
    “Yeah, I’ve got a problem. You’re my problem! I’m sick of being with a woman who treats me like I’m not worthy of being seen with her.”
    “What are you talking about?” she asked, stepping back, closer to the door. “I was with you in public tonight. I danced with you in front of my ex. I introduced you to my friends. I don’t know what more I can do to prove that I’m committed to you and this relationship.”
    “I told you what you can do—marry me. Prove you’re serious about building a life with me.”
    “You know I can’t do that,” she said, her voice softening. “And it’s not because I don’t care about you.”
    “You care about me?” I exploded. “I thought you loved me.”
    “I do, but I won’t be bullied into getting married.” She made her way to the door. “You know what? I’m not doing this anymore.”
    I was out of the bed and across the room before she could reach for the door handle. Grabbing her shoulders, I said, “What the fuck is that supposed to mean? You’re ending it?”
    “Yes.” She peeled my hands off her. “This isn’t healthy for either of us. It’s too much, too consuming. I’m not ready for this kind of relationship.”
    “Maybe you should have thought of that before you made me fall in love with you!”
    “I didn’t make you fall in love with me. That was your choice.” She opened the door a crack, and I slammed it shut, making her jump.
    “You were the one strutting around your parents’ pool in those goddamn string bikinis, giving every guy on my crew a raging hard-on. You were the one asking me to take a break so I could cover you with sunscreen! You were being a fucking cock tease. Every one of those guys wanted to get in your panties, and you knew it.”
    “How do you know they didn’t?”
    My blood reached its boiling point, so I did the only thing I could—I put my fist through the drywall.
    She screamed as she grabbed the door handle. “You’re an animal!” she shouted, running down the hall. “Stay the hell away from me. I don’t trust you to be anywhere near me.”
    I couldn’t very well go after her without clothes. I ran across the room to scoop my jeans off the floor. I was just fastening the button when my next-door neighbor appeared at my door in a tattered bathrobe and stained white T-shirt.
    Scratching his bald head, he said, “What the fuck’s with you two? One minute you’re fucking like rabbits, and the next it sounds like you wanna kill each other.” He looked at my bloody hand. “You didn’t hit her, did you? ‘Cause if you did, I’m gonna have to report that. My old man used to beat the fuck outta my mom, and that’s not cool.”
    “Fuck off, and mind your own business, Morrison.” I usually ignored the dead-beat, but I was ready to take my anger out on anyone who crossed my path. “There must be a bottle of gut-rot with your name on it somewhere.”
    Wagging a finger at me, he said, “I make it my business when I see a man roughing up a woman.”
    I pushed past him, nudging him with my shoulder. “I don’t have time to fuck you up for saying that right now, but if I were you, I’d lock my goddamn door tonight.” I didn’t really intend to beat him up, but I didn’t appreciate him sticking his nose where it didn’t belong and implying I’d ever lay a hand on my woman in anger.
    I flew down the stairs. I’d already wasted too much time on Morrison. She could have hailed a cab and been halfway down the street already. I tore out the door, looking for any sign of her, but the street was deserted. Fuck. It was too late. She was gone.
     

 
Chapter Two
     
    Days had passed since I last saw Maura. I’d gone crazy looking for her, calling, texting, even driving by her house. Something told me she was in trouble, but it wasn’t until the cop showed up at my door that morning that I realized we were on a parallel course to