“I don’t need gentle.”
“Yeah, yeah. The two of you can kick ass from here to the moon and back and never admit to any vulnerabilities, I get it.” He shook his head, his eyes still amused. “Yeah, Dani was right. It’s going to be really fun watching the two of you fall.”
Okay, whoa. “I’m not-”
“Yeah, you are.” To soften the blow, he drew her in for another hug, then held her arm and looked into her eyes. “Remember, you can call me. Any of us, anytime, night or day.”
“I know. I’m not falling.”
He smiled. “Love you, Mad. Come back to us soon.” And with that, he strode off.
“I’m not falling!” She just watched him go and sighed.
Come back to us soon.
What she would give to be able to do just that, go back to the way it’d been two months ago, without any worries except whatever the hell Shayne had done to the books.
She boarded the Lear, then paced the luxurious cabin, her gaze going to the window every time she pivoted. There were other planes on the tarmac: a King Air, a Westwind, a Cessna Citation, and the Moody she knew Brody had purchased a few months back and considered his brand new baby.
He loved this place with all his heart and soul.
And so did she: the elegant, sophisticated lobby she’d helped decorate herself, the three huge hangars that smelled like oil and gas and hopes and dreams, everything about it. She’d come to work here with her own hopes and dreams-to find a niche, to belong.
And she had found both. Here, she was home. Here, she belonged and was cared for, which had her heart catching because that would all be over. She was going to the Bahamas to somehow stop her sister from getting to Stone Cay, and then they’d execute The Plan.
Frustrated, antsy, she went to the private master suite in the back of the Lear so that she wouldn’t have to converse with her pilot. She didn’t feel talkative.
She heard him board a few minutes later, and relief filled her. Finally. But when she turned to face the door, everything inside her went still because yeah, she had a pilot all right.
The biggest bad boy pilot of them all.
Brody stood there in the doorway in all his furious glory, of which there was lots.
Oh, God. Lots.
Eyes positively crackling with withering temper, he pointed at her.
You.
He stepped inside like he didn’t give a shit what anyone thought of him, and she happened to know that was most definitely true. He really didn’t.
His stride was long-legged, easy, and confident as hell as he came toward her.
She’d have paid every penny she would ever earn in her entire life to have a fraction of that confidence. Oh, she had no doubt that she walked a good game, talked a good game, and could fake it with the best of them.
But she wanted the real thing.
Brody was the real thing. Tall, dark, and completely one-hundred percent attitude-ridden, he stopped in front of her, legs spread, arms crossed over his chest.
Maybe he was here to wish her a good trip. Ha. And maybe Santa Claus would actually come this year.
Chapter 12
Maddie stared up at the one man she’d thought she’d never get to see again. How had he gotten his car started so quickly without keys? He was only thirty minutes behind her-
“Hot-wired it,” he said. “In case you’re wondering.”
Damn, he was good, but that didn’t explain how he knew she’d be here.
Shutting the door behind him to give them privacy, privacy she most definitely did not want, he leaned back against it, arms still crossed.
Casual pose.
Not a casual man.
“Dani ratted me out,” she guessed.
He merely arched a brow, clearly inviting her to give this more thought.
“She called Shayne,” she decided. “Shayne called you, then stalled me. Damn almost-married people, they’re all too loyal and trusting.”
“Speaking as a relatively new husband myself,” he said with a boatload of dry sarcasm, “all the trust in the room really boggles. Where’s your gun?”
She blinked. “My what?”
“I saw the bullets in your underwear drawer, Maddie. Where’s the gun to go with them?”
“You went through my panties?”
“The gun, Maddie.”
She shrugged, then winced at the movement in her shoulder, and he went utterly still, reminding her that he was a helluva lot easier to handle when he thought she was hurting. Whether that was lingering guilt because she’d been shot here at Sky High or just simply the weight of his penis bogging him down, she had no idea, but she was going to shamelessly use it to her advantage.
She had no choice.
“You didn’t take your painkillers,” he said tightly. “Since you left before I brought them to you.”
“I’m weaning myself off them.”
“Noah said that Bailey said that your doctor said you still need them.”
“Noah and Bailey need to worry about themselves. Everyone needs to worry about themselves.”
“Shit.” Looking stymied by her very existence, he let out a long, careful breath.
Not the only one frustrated here, she understood the sentiment perfectly.
With another long exhale, he paced the length of the suite as she’d done only a moment before, then moved toward the bed where she sat, his body and all the muscles in it-of which there were tantalizingly many-moving like poetry in motion. “You’re in no shape to be flying anywhere.”
“I’m fine.” But she lay back and closed her eyes. Playing it up, even just a little, wasn’t all that hard, she discovered, since she was weak with fear for her sister. “Where’s my pilot?”
“You’re looking at him.”
Her eyes flew open. He could fly like nobody’s business; she’d seen him in action hundreds of times. He flew with concentrated proficiency, his eyes sharp, his body deceptively relaxed. But it couldn’t be him, not for this trip. “I didn’t hire you.”
“No, I hired you.”
“I’m not talking about my job, Brody, and you know it. Today, I’m a paying customer. And I paid for Jason.”
“If you’re flying anywhere today, I’m taking you.”
“Bad idea.”
“I’m your husband, remember?”
She winced. “Would you stop flinging that word around like it’s real?”
“Sure. Soon as you stop walking away from anyone and everyone who cares about you. What happened to the kick-ass Maddie Stone? Because the one I knew would never run away like a little girl.”
“I’m not running. And for the record, it’s Leena who pretended to be married to you.”
“Ah. And where is Leena?”
“She’s…” She debated for a beat, then gave in. Sort of. “She’s in bigger trouble than I thought.”
“Shock.”
“I’m going to go help her.”
“Again with the I.”
