“Maybe,” I mutter. “But I don’t think so. If he knew you were here, surely he would have made a move? I think it’s just a fucked-up coincidence.”
“Maybe the same fate that led us together led him to me,” she mutters sadly.
I wheel my chair around the desk and sit down next to her, placing my hand on her shoulder, squeezing and letting a sense of support flow through me.
“I’ll always protect you,” I growl. “I’ll never let anything happen to you. I’m moving you into my penthouse apartment. It has personal security and you’ll be safe there. And I’ll put a security detail on Gertrude, too. I’ve already had a personal detail on you since I got this card, but I know you’ll feel better with one on her as well. I won’t let this bastard hurt you or the people you care about. I’m here for you, Melody. For now and for the rest of our goddamned lives. You’re mine.”
She turns to me with tears glistening like pained jewels in her eyes.
“So you already knew I was lying to you? And you still want me?”
“You weren’t lying,” I say passionately. “You were working your way around to telling me the whole truth. In your own time. And I respected that because I know, deep in my bones, that you’re a good person.”
“Thank you,” she sobs, throwing her arms around me so that the playing card flutters like an autumn leaf to the floor.
Where it belongs.
Because Hardhat is one low motherfucker and there’s no way I’m letting him spoil what we have.
“You’re not angry I’ve secretly had security trailing you?” I mutter, chest tight.
“No,” she says, and immediately the tension relaxes. “Because I trust you. I know you’ll always do what’s best for me.”
“Always,” I growl fervently.
“Every time I imagined telling somebody this, that I have a psycho killer following me, I never thought I’d get support. You’re amazing, Mason. I… I really care about you. I know it’s crazy and everything, how quickly this is happening, but who the heck cares?”
“Not me,” I snarl, my chest hammering like a stampeding horse. “Fast or slow, we can’t fight fate, Melody. Not us.”
I … I really care about you.
That stutter, that pause.
Was she going to say something else?
I wipe the warm tears from her cheeks and kiss her softly, hoping I can push away the pain.
CHAPTER TEN
Melody
Natalie walks just in front of me, looking around the wide-open grounds, the lawn as tended as an English aristocrat’s in a Jane Austen novel, the castle looming up before us, up a row of cobblestone stairs.
“So this would be where I enter?” she asks, her face full of delight.
“Yes,” I tell her, mirroring her smile.
And not having to try very hard to do it.
It’s crazy, I reflect as the midday sun blazes down on us, but ever since I told Mason about Hardhat if anything things have gotten better between us.
Staying in his penthouse that overlooks the city, to falling asleep every night with his warm reassuring presence at my side, it’s been like a slice of heaven transported down here to earth.
Even with that madman still out there, searching, always freaking searching, I’ve found myself relaxing into the magical upward flow that is our life.
Every day, better than the last.
Fine, it’s only been three days, but still.
Our lovemaking is always red hot and beautiful, and the more we come together in carnal embrace the more confidence I feel flowing inside of me, as though I don’t have to be a prisoner to my nerves for the rest of my life.
“Melody?” Natalie says, an indulgent smile on her face.
“Sorry,” I say.
Crap.
Remember she’s your client, not just Mason’s sister.
“I was away with the clouds, Natalie. I’m sorry.”
She laughs, shaking her head.
“I’m not mad,” she says. “It’s sweet, how close you two are. I’ve never seen Mason like this. He’s like a changed man.”
“Really?” I ask as we walk down the grounds.
I feel like we’re two insects on a planet of stone, the path is so wide.
“Really,” she says with conviction. “He’s always been laser-focused on his work. Which is a good thing. Obviously. Look at what he’s achieved. But even on his off time, he’s never been able to relax. I’ve always sensed there was this sort of sadness in him, you know? Like he wished he could have what other people had, but never thought he would find it. And then he found you.”
My chest beams emotionally.
I find myself grinning like I’m playing for the World’s Cheesiest Smile Award.
“How much has he told about our childhood?” she asks.
“A little,” I say. “I know your parents passed when you were young. I’m sorry about that, Natalie. Really. I know how hard that can be.”
“But nothing else?” she asks.
I shake my head.
“That’s typical Mason. He’s one of the hardest workers in the world, but he hates to brag. He never talks about his donations to charity. His volunteer work. Anyway, when Mom and Dad passed, he was only sixteen years old, but he took it upon himself to care for me. He always made sure we had food on the table, working double shifts at jobs he hated. And studying in his spare time, always studying. When he founded Spark, nobody thought he would succeed. Well, nobody but me. And then he did, and he gave me a job. Don’t get me wrong. I work damn hard and I’m good at what I do. But I never would’ve been given a chance at this kind of life if it wasn’t for my big brother.”
“He’ll make an amazing father,” I whisper, my voice wavering a little, heavy with emotion.
Natalie laughs in delight and clasps my hand.
“You two are so crazy and cute,” she says. “Crazily cute. You’re already talking about kids. I love it. I’d love to be an aunt before a mother, you
