Superb And Sexy

Chapter 19

Brody took in Maddie standing in that inner doorway, shoulders stiff, body practically shimmering with tension, and wished like hell he’d never let them get this far. She was clearly fighting demons, and damn it, he wanted to slay them for her, but he didn’t even know what exactly they were.

His kick-ass warrior concierge had a helluva lot more secrets than he’d imagined.

The house around him had secrets, too. He’d never seen anything like this place. The art on the walls alone could have funded a third world coup. And then there was the furniture, the rugs…hell, even the air had class.

He’d always looked at Maddie and seen that class and told himself a million times to keep his hands off. And he had, mostly.

Until last night.

And now he was here, playing at being her husband.

Husband. But even that wasn’t as terrifying as Uncle Rick or his goons.

No, nothing about this was going to be easy, not if one more person threatened or touched Maddie.

Especially touched.

Maddie was gripping the doorjamb in fists gone white, her shoulders and spine so stiff he was surprised she didn’t just explode on the spot. He wanted to say her name, her real name, but he didn’t dare, not here. “Are you okay?”

“Sure.”

She was a liar. Beautiful, strong, amazing, but a liar nevertheless. He might not be privy to half of what was really going on here, but the other half had been pretty damn clear. Maddie as Leena needed to do this job and keep it under wraps and out of the hands of the good guys, or Rick was going to go after Maddie.

A threat. Christ, he hated threats.

But what he hated even more was the look of sheer misery radiating off of Maddie. They might be The Princess And The Peon here, but he wasn’t stupid. Being back here was killing her. He wanted to drag her ass out of here and keep her safe.

Always.

Only, that wasn’t really an option. In fact, he had few options at all at the moment, which only served to make him feel all the more helpless, an emotion he especially hated and always had. Moving close, he set his hands on her shoulders, not surprised when she tensed. “Just me,” he reminded her, but stayed on guard because with Maddie he never knew. She could dropkick him. She could slug him.

She could kiss him.

He personally wouldn’t mind door number three but didn’t see that happening, so he remained alert.

Reaching back, she gave him a little go-away elbow.

But he wasn’t going away. Instead, keeping his hands on her, he peered over her shoulder into the room she was staring at so intently. Another bedroom, not yellow and white and girly, but blue with stark white trim. The furniture was pine and wrought iron. Very expensive and very Spartan and completely empty of all personal belongings. But he didn’t need personal belongings to know what he was looking at.

Maddie’s childhood bedroom with all its elegance and class.

Yeah, they’d grown up worlds apart, that was for damn sure. Tilting his head, he looked into her face, a virtual frozen mask of inscrutability. She was giving nothing away, but she didn’t have to, the self-loathing was escaping out her pores, and this bothered him more than anything he’d learned in the past two days.

Leena stood frozen in horror and humiliation on the steps to Ben’s art gallery as Ben looked through her as if she was nothing to him.

Less than nothing.

He was everything she remembered and more, including being the best-looking man she’d ever met. Not magazine gorgeous, but real guy gorgeous with the shaggy hair that he’d finger combed at best, faded jeans and a T-shirt, both splattered in paint, neither hiding his graceful, athletic body, the one that fueled her deepest fantasies in the dark of the night.

Once upon a time, his smile had been the only thing that could somehow reach deep inside of her and spread warmth where she was always cold.

But he wasn’t smiling now.

“Is that for me?” he asked in his quiet Irish voice, gesturing to the envelope in her hand. When she didn’t answer, he reached for it, but she had at least enough wits about her to take a step back.

Yes, the letter was for him. Of course it was, but the thought of him reading it in front of her was way too much.

Seeing him was too much. How had she thought she could do this?

She’d missed him incredibly but she’d also hoped never to see him again because she couldn’t handle watching his face when he learned the truth about her.

No, that she most definitely couldn’t handle. On the flight, she’d realized that to do this, she needed anonymity, she needed to be gone, long gone.

Or she couldn’t do it at all.

Motionless, unable to do anything, including walking away, she stared at him as he came down the two steps.

Run, she told herself, but her feet didn’t budge.

Slowly, he reached out, but instead of grabbing the letter, he took her free hand, then startled her by leading her up the steps and into his gallery.

“I can’t stay,” she managed, still letting him pull her inside.

“Okay.” Watching her as one might watch a deer stuck in the headlights, he very slowly and carefully took the letter out of her hands.

And she let him. Oh, God, she let him because apparently she really needed to completely and totally humiliate herself.

“I wasn’t sure I’d ever see you again,” he said.

She hadn’t planned on it either… She really shouldn’t have come inside. She had no business being here…“Ben, I’ve got to-”

“Wait.” He kept his grip on her. Not hurting her, never hurting her, but not letting her go either. Eyes on hers, he tore the envelope open with his teeth, then let it fall to the floor so he could read the letter while still gripping her hand.

Two more times, she tried to pull free.

And two more times, he simply tightened his grip and held her at his side as he read.

Silently.

Without a single hint on his face of what he was thinking, he took in the words from the very depths of her heart and soul, the words that bared her to him like nothing else ever had. When he finally lifted his gaze, it was dark and unreadable. “So you did know about the gems,” he said. “I wondered.”

Sick at heart, she nodded.

“You knew they’d been switched, and you didn’t tell me.”

Again, she nodded.

He looked at her for an interminably long beat. “So I guess my next question is, why shouldn’t I nail your gorgeous ass for swindling?”

All the other times she’d seen or talked to him, there’d been a natural warmth about him, a light welcoming warmth that radiated such easy, sexy charm that she’d helplessly responded to him.

Not now.

Now he was holding back, no sign of that warmth anywhere.

She’d never seen him like this, so absolutely void of any expression on his face. She’d done that. She’d hurt him. But just as she opened her mouth to try to make him understand, two men stepped inside the gallery. They were big and beefy and dressed all in black, and with a sinking feeling, she instantly recognized them as two of Rick’s men, Ed and Saul.

Ed looked straight at her as he shut the door behind him. “Hello, Maddie. Been following you.”

Maddie?

“Good thing you finally used your credit card. Thank you for that.”

Right. She’d used Maddie’s card to fly here…but that didn’t explain why they were following Maddie.

Saul glanced at Ben, then spoke directly to Leena alone. “You’re coming with us back to Stone Cay.”

“What? Why?”

“Insurance.”

Oh, no. Oh, God. Suddenly, she got it. There was only one reason to need insurance. To need Maddie. Rick needed her to make Leena behave.

Which meant…he thought he had Leena on the island, but that meant he had Maddie.

And how had that happened? The whole thing was enough to make her head spin, and a sick sense of panic swirled low in her belly. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Not letting go of her hand, Ben shifted a little closer to her, and she felt the heat and strength in his body as it brushed hers.

Saul shook his head at him. “We just need Maddie.”

But Ben didn’t back off. “She said she’s not going anywhere.”

“Look, man. We don’t have a beef with you, so don’t give us one. She’s coming with us.”

“No, she’s not.” Ben’s Irish accent came out thicker now. The rough brogue sounded icy and dangerous.

Saul sighed and pulled out a gun.

“No,” Leena gasped, jumping in front of Ben. “Stop! I’ll come with you.”

“No,” Ben said again, yanking her to his side.

“Oh for fuck’s sake.” Saul looked less than thrilled. “Seriously, dude. Let go of her.”

Ben didn’t, and Saul aimed.

“No!” Leena cried. “Don’t shoot him. I don’t even know him-”

“Shut up.” Saul studied Ben.

Not cowed, Ben studied him back, not nearly as terrified as he should be. “You’re not taking her,” he repeated.

Oh, God. “What part of shut up didn’t you understand?” she hissed to him out the side of her mouth.

“You know, I think he’s right.” Saul’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully. “We’ll take ’em both.”

Ed shrugged.

“No-” Leena started, but Saul pointed at her chest.

Ben squeezed her hand tight, silently telling her to take her own advice and shut up.

Why was this happening? When she’d left Maddie at the cabin yesterday, everything had been fine. What had made Maddie go to the island as Leena-

Oh, God. There was only one reason Maddie would have gone to Stone Cay. She believed Leena had gone back, and she’d gone to save her.

Well, now Leena would save Maddie. Somehow.

Brody watched as Maddie turned away from her childhood bedroom. She moved to Leena’s bed, rifling through her bag without saying a word, then hands full, walked right by him and into the bathroom.

“What are you-”

The bathroom door shut.

Okaaaay.

“Getting ready,” she said through the door. “And you should, too. The sooner I do this, the sooner we’re gone.”

Again, he looked down at himself. He hadn’t worked on any planes today, he hadn’t done anything but shower, argue with her, come here, and then argue some more, so in his opinion, he was ready enough to go anywhere. “I’m fine. I’m ready.” For what, he had no clue, but he sure as hell was ready.

Maddie opened the bathroom door, stuck out her head, eyed him from head to toe, and then shook her head and shut the door.

He looked down at himself but saw nothing wrong. “What the hell was that?”

“Nothing.”

Yeah, right. He put his hands on his hips and scowled at the damn door. He really hated having conversations with doors. “If there’s a problem with the way I look-”

Once again, she peeked out. “Not the way you look. Never the way you look.”

His gaze locked on hers, and for a moment, he got a little lost in that statement, not to mention the blue of her eyes.

“I like the way you look.” Her voice sounded just a little husky and a whole lot sexy.

Or that might have been wishful thinking on his part.

“Which,” she said, “I’m pretty sure I proved last night when I jumped your bones.”

Maybe not so much wishful thinking, which felt pretty damn good.

“It’s your face,” she said.

He put a hand to it. Yep, still there. “What’s wrong with my face?”

“You scowled when we set foot inside this place. You’ve been scowling ever since.”

“Yes, that’s what happens when some asshole put his hands all over you instead of using the metal detector.”

“It was fine.”

“Are you kidding me? He just did it as an excuse to feel you up, and you expected me to just stand there and let it happen.”

“Yes, I did.”

This, like so many other things, boggled his mind. “Why? Why would you want them to do that to you?”

“Why would I want-” Eyes flashing, she broke off and yanked him into the bathroom. Slamming the door, she flipped on the shower and the sink and flushed the toilet. Then in the noise of all the running water, she came right up to him and pushed him back against the door so that their bodies bumped. His mind immediately went from frustrated to lust in zero-point-four seconds, and then she went up on tiptoes and put her mouth to his ear.

Oh, yeah-

“It had to happen.”

When the words sank in, he blinked.

“I didn’t want him to use the metal detector on me,” she whispered, then stepped back while he just stared at her.

And that’s when the truth sank in. Of course. She’d smuggled in a weapon, possibly two. When he could speak, he hauled her back up against him and put his mouth to her ear because while he might be slow, he was not a complete idiot. “You think the room’s bugged?”

“No, but just in case,” she whispered. Hunkering down, she unlaced her boot, during which time his brain hiccupped and went to another place. He couldn’t help it, so help him God, he couldn’t, but kneeling at his feet the way she was, it felt…erotic. Unintentionally so, yes, but he couldn’t seem to stop thinking about sex, as inappropriate as that was. If she so much as lifted her head, her mouth would be just about even with his-

“See?”

He stared down at the boot she’d removed and the knife that lay inside.

At the quick rap at the bedroom door, they both jumped. Maddie slipped back into her boot just as the door swung open to reveal a small, dark-haired, olive-skinned woman in her late forties wearing black trousers, a white blouse, and an apron.

“Hola, Leena.” The woman’s voice was cool, but oddly enough, her eyes were warm. “You’ve come home and brought a man. This I had to see for myself.” She looked over at Brody, taking him in with a careful sweeping gaze. “I’m Rosaline.”

“Brody West.”

“You married my Leena.”

He looked at her “Leena.” “Yes.”

Maddie hadn’t said a word. In fact, she’d gone still as stone, just staring at Rosaline, which was such an oddity all in itself, Brody took another look at his “wife.”

She was surprised.

And pleased, very pleased. It was in her shiny eyes and the flush in her cheeks.

“Of course I’ve come home.” Maddie’s voice sounded thick with…emotion? “I always do.”

Not seeming to notice Maddie’s barely suppressed joy, Rosaline sniffed derisively. “I suppose you have laundry.”

Maddie swallowed hard, and if Brody didn’t know better, he’d say she looked overcome. “Don’t I always?”

“Yes, you-” Rosaline suddenly went as still as Maddie, staring at her for a long beat before slowly lifting her hand to her mouth. “Oh,” she breathed softly. “Oh, you’re not Leen-”

Maddie crossed the room in quick strides and gripped the woman’s arms, shaking her head.

Rosaline appeared to be blinking back her own tears as she cupped Maddie’s face. “Oh, look at you. Look at you.”

Speechless, Maddie nodded, and Rosaline pulled her in for a hard hug. They stood there like that for another moment, then Rosaline pulled free and surreptitiously swiped at her eyes. “I have work.”

But neither shifted away, both clearly moved. Finally Rosaline made another quick dab at her eyes with her apron before quietly leaving, shutting the door behind her.

Maddie let out a low breath, closed her eyes for a moment, then turned back to Brody. Once again, the knife was in her hands. “Rosaline’s been the housekeeper here for many years, and I-I missed her.”

He nodded, then looked at the gleaming, sharp as hell-looking knife in her hands. That she’d had the guts to smuggle it in, that she’d even thought they might need it told him volumes, mostly all the stuff she’d left out about this little family reunion.

Then came another knock.

Maddie’s gaze met his. “That’s not Rosaline this time.” She slipped the knife back into her boot, calmly and quietly flipping off the water before straightening and facing him. “Show time,” she said. “Husband.”