Mandy glares at him around my shoulder. “You wanted to win me over so I’ll…what, marry you?”
He nods earnestly. “Yes.”
“And you thought scaring me would accomplish that?” She sounds as confused—and furious—as I feel.
If this guy has made half a billion dollars, he’s not a complete idiot. At least in theory. “Are you fucking kidding?”
He flinches, then scowls my way. “Shut up.”
“In case it’s escaped you, asshole, I’m the one with the gun.” I glance at Mandy over my shoulder. “Call the police.”
“No! I just want to talk to her.”
“Do you have his phone number?” I ask Mandy. But I already know the answer.
“Of course.”
I turn to Bruce. “If she had wanted to talk to you, pal, she would have called. Instead, you tried to scare a mother and her baby and…” I glare at him. “Did you hire the angry mob, too?”
“I-I…” He stops himself, then ignores me for Mandy. “Just for show. Sweetheart, I only want to talk to you. I don’t care what happened between you and Reed. I’ve always thought you were so beautiful that you should be my wife.”
He wants her for her looks, not her heart?
Mandy shakes her head like she’s still befuddled. “When did you come to Maui?”
“The day you did. My jet brought me here that same afternoon.”
She looks stunned. “How did you find me?”
“Well, it was easy to guess you would go to Nia’s first. You’ve been talking about visiting her for months.”
“I mean after that.”
He hesitates, wild-eyed, and my gut clenches. Whatever comes out of his mouth next is going to be a lie. I feel it in my bones.
Finally, he points my way. “From him. A couple of hours ago, he told your dad where you two were holing up so that I could persuade you to come home. By the way”—he reaches into his pocket to produce a check, then shoves it into my pocket—“here’s the hundred grand he promised you. And I’ve got your bonus if Amanda agrees to be my wife tonight. Will you, sweetheart?” He drops to his knee. “I know this seems crazy, but that should tell you how much I want to spend my life with you.”
Mandy freezes, then turns to me, gaping and angry. “You told my dad where to find me? For money?”
“No!”
I try not to be offended that she immediately believes Bruce. After all, she’s known the guy most of her life. I only met her two days ago. After the way Reed treated her, it’s no surprise she has deep trust issues. But damn it, I’ve protected her. I’ve listened to her. I’ve comforted and helped and done my best to understand her. And she believes the D-bag who skulked around like some stalker and says he wants to marry her because she’s pretty?
“No, you didn’t tell him? Or no, you didn’t do it for the money?” She scoffs. “It doesn’t matter. I trusted you. I told you everything. Oh god…”
“I didn’t divulge shit to your father. He’s lying.” I point at Bruce. “I wouldn’t betray you. You should know that.”
“Should I? I want to believe you, Tanner, but how else would Bruce have known where to find us? I didn’t tell anyone.”
“Exactly,” Bruce cuts in.
Other than a scowl, I ignore him. “Maybe he followed us. The island isn’t that big, and I knew that Mustang might be a problem. Only one like it on the island, I’ll bet. Or maybe…” I try to think of another plausible scenario when the truth hits me. “Your dad pinged the location of your phone and told your Romeo. Your location services were turned on until I switched them off last night.”
“You snooped through my phone?”
Shit, that clearly made her mad.
“No. I opened your settings just long enough to turn off your location services. That would have been the end of it if your wannabe boyfriend hadn’t started texting you. You want me to admit that I read your message string with him? Okay. Fine. I did. I was afraid he would upset you. So far, it seems like I’ve been proven right. I didn’t mention it because it was the middle of the fucking night and you were asleep.”
She presses her lips together like she’s trying to decide if she believes my story. “And you couldn’t tell me this morning?”
“I forgot.” That’s the truth.
Bruce jumps in. “Bullshit. He texted your dad a couple of hours ago and told him where I could find you. He also said how much he was looking forward to the fat, juicy paycheck and being rid of you.”
“Shut up.” I whirl on him. “Shut your fucking lying mouth. Here.” I yank my phone from my pocket and open my texts before shoving the device in front of her. “Look through every last one of them. You won’t see a single one to your father. He called the other day, but I told you about that. He texted all day, making demands and—”
“He must have deleted the text he sent back to your dad,” Bruce insists.
“I didn’t delete a damn thing,” I growl. “We both know it.”
“Even if you’re telling the truth, you didn’t reply to my father.” Mandy looks at me like I’ve betrayed her. “You didn’t tell him to pound sand.”
Immediately, I know what she’s thinking. “Not because I wanted to sell you out to him, but because I didn’t think he deserved an answer simply for demanding one.”
When tears fill her eyes, I know my explanation falls short.
I fucked up.
“You said you would. You promised.” Her face twists, and tears fall down her cheeks. “And I believed you.”
I grab her shoulders and will her to look at me. “I swear I didn’t betray you, baby. If you believe nothing else, believe that. Please.”
Mandy doesn’t answer for a really long time. The anger bleeds from her face. “Maybe you didn’t. I don’t know. I really don’t. But this tells me
