The concierge pauses as I dash into the lobby, dripping from my impromptu jog in the southern heat. “May I help you, sir?”
But I’m already to the elevators. I punch the up button a couple times, calling over my shoulder. “I know where I’m going.”
A couple waiting nearby move slowly away. The doors open and the passengers start to exit, freezing when they find me sweaty and waiting to board. I move to the side and slip in once it’s empty. No one tries to board with me. Inside, I consider taking out my gun. Nikolai threatened Adair. That much I know. But it felt more like an ultimatum than an imminent threat. I won’t relax until she’s in my sights, though. Her hall is quiet when I arrive, and I’m forced to consider what to do if she doesn’t answer. She could be at the publishing house or out with Poppy, but I wouldn’t know that. She’s not exactly answering my calls.
I bang on her door until I hear an annoyed “I’m coming” from inside. The relief is instant at the sound of her voice. She throws open the door—hands planted on her hips, hair spilling over her shoulders, feet bare—and opens her mouth to chew me out.
I don’t have time for that.
She’s in my arms in a split second. By the next, my mouth is on hers. Her palms flatten on my chest, but instead of pushing me away like I expect, her fingers grab hold of my shirt to pull me closer. She presses closer, her body molding to mine. No matter how much time passes—no matter how much she changes—we have always been and will always be a perfect fit. My hands slide under her ass, lifting her in one smooth motion and spinning us inside her suite. I kick the door closed behind us. The kiss deepens, as though we’re both searching for something we lost inside each other. When we finally break apart, Adair’s lips are swollen red and her forehead dewy.
“What was that for?” she asks breathlessly.
For being alive, I think. I decide it’s best not to say this out loud. I rest my forehead against hers. “Because I needed to kiss you.”
“Need, huh?” she murmurs.
“It’s the best word I’ve got. They haven’t coined one yet that encompasses the exact feeling. I suspect it’s because no one has ever loved anyone this much before.”
“You love me?” she says.
“You know I do.” I steal another kiss, just so I can taste her again.
“I wasn’t sure you knew.”
“You didn’t put up a fight,” I say. I can’t bring myself to let go of her.
“You had the element of surprise working in your favor.” She studies me for a moment, her eyes scanning my disheveled appearance. “What happened…?”
“It’s a long story.” I loosen my hold on her a little. Then, I notice the mess in her living room. “What the hell happened here, Lucky?”
“Nothing,” she says quickly, pulling free from me. “I picked up some things from Windfall. I’ve been going through them.” She starts scooping things off the floor and dumping them into open cardboard boxes.
My eyebrow curves into a question mark. It doesn’t look as much like organization as it does the aftermath of a hurricane. “Looking for something?”
“Yeah,” she says absently before shaking her head. “I mean, not really. Malcolm… you know what? It’s a long story, too.” She stops her harried cleaning and turns on me. “Did you offer to sell Malcolm your shares of MacLaine Media?”
This wasn’t how I planned to have this conversation with her, but judging from her tone, she already knows. “I told him to make an offer.”
Adair closes her eyes, her hands gripping the back of a nearby chair. “Why would you do that?”
“I didn’t say I would accept his offer.” I cross to her, carefully stepping over the papers, books, and photographs strewn across the navy carpet. “In fact, I planned to reach out to another potential investor.”
Her eyes snap open. “Who?”
“Isn’t it obvious? You.”
Adair continues to stare at me, jaw unhinged as she processes this. “Me?”
“It’s what you’ve always wanted: control.”
“Over my life. Not the company.”
“You might not like it, Lucky, but you’re a MacLaine. That company belongs to you as much as it belongs to him. You want control? Take it. Refuse it. I’m putting it in your hands,” I say. “You get to choose what to do with it. You’re every bit as much a MacLaine as Malcolm is. Your father shouldn’t have made you feel otherwise.”
A battle wages in her green eyes. It’s not an easy choice. I knew it wouldn’t be. But she has to be the one to make it. Maybe she will never trust me again. Maybe we’re still doomed. But I can give her this, if nothing else.
“I already drew up the papers,” I say to her.
“I don’t have the money to buy it,” she says softly. “You must know that.”
“Lucky, it’s yours. Your birthright. I’m not selling it to you. I’m giving it to you.” I pause, realizing there are some other things she ought to know. “I don’t hold all the shares, though. Jack and Luca do as well.”
“I suspected.” She does a fair job of looking put out by this. “I can’t take the shares. They belong to you.”
“That’s what you don’t get.” I hook a finger in the waistband of her pants and draw her closer to me. “Everything I have—everything I am—is yours.”
“Does the bank know that?” She laughs nervously. It fades when she sees that I’m serious.
“They’re just waiting on your signatures.”
Adair pushes away, her eyes widening. “What are you saying?”
“I’m all in,” I tell her. “I meant it when I wrote it on that card. I always will be. Maybe this is
