Page 30 of All The Way Under

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

brody

My brother hands me a bottle of beer, and Grimace lunges to nip his hand from his place on my lap. I smile and pat his head. I missed the little devil more than is reasonable.

“I just can’t believe this story,” Catherine says, taking the fresh beer Nolan extends to her.

He goes back into the house through the open French doors that lead to the lake house kitchen.

“The whole thing sounds crazy. Insanely wealthy family. A kidnapping for ransom. A freaking hit put out on the head of the family after you think everything has resolved.” She shakes her head. “And you go and fall in love with Saylor. That’s the best part,” she says.

A grin tugs at my lips. “I said nothing about love,” I reply.

I miss Saylor. It’s been a few days since I last saw her. Checking my watch, I calculate the minutes until she arrives here. She couldn’t come yesterday because there was a huge investigation happening at her parents’ house, and she had to stay to give her account of the shoot-out at the hotel.

Catherine shakes me off. “No, of course you didn’t say it, but it was implied, and I think we all know it’s true.”

I get along with Nolan’s girlfriend in a way that I would have called unfathomable before. Nolan chose someone who may be more sarcastic and straightforward than I am. Nolan sits next to her on the outdoor sofa.

“And no one got hurt during captivity or the shoot-out?” She raises one brow, and Nolan cackles a little. He’s entertained by how entertained we both are.

I shake my head and take a long swig of my beer.

A light breeze skates across the lake and reaches us, tousling my hair.

I still haven’t shaved since I got back to the States.

This may be the first vacation I remember since my childhood, and damn it, Nolan was right.

This lake house, nestled in the tall trees, with walking trails in the forests surrounding us, is absolutely mind-clearing. I never gave it a chance.

“No one got hurt,” I say, meeting Nolan’s eyes.

Collin did, but I won’t create any ire for my brother right now. Plus, he made a full recovery.

“The last thing my brother wants to hear about is me getting hurt.”

Nolan furrows his brows. “But did you? Other than shrinking a bit, you look healthy.” His gaze trails over my body like he has superhuman vision. “You are healthy.”

Licking the foam off my lips, I grin. “I am healthy, McLan. Cool your anxiety.”

“He cares about you,” Catherine quips, rubbing the back of Nolan’s head. “It’s not anxiety!” Her brown eyes slide over to meet mine and hold. “He is the least anxious person I know, and I work in healthcare, so I know many.”

“Fine, fine,” I say, giving up.

I stroke Grimace, and he sighs, long and contentedly. I missed him so much.

Not that I have anxiety, but this moment is filled with peace. Saylor is on her way here, and she’s spending the night with me. I do have nerves about her meeting Nolan and Catherine. Now that I see firsthand how perfect they are for each other, I want that for myself.

“I think you guys are going to like Saylor. She’s nothing like you’d expect, trust me. I read about her on paper and expected some heiress with a conflated ego and no survival skills.”

Nolan shakes his head. “I need to meet the woman who did this to my brother as soon as possible. Not that you aren’t allowed to change, but she changed you.

I’ve been trying to soften you up since the day you began stealing my toys, and she waltzes in and kidnaps your heart without any pain at all.

” He drinks his beer and looks at Catherine, then back at me. “It’s almost offensive.”

Catherine turns at the sound of the car pulling up the gravel drive.

“That’s her. It’s not offensive, it just means he found his person. I hated all men before I met you, remember?”

Exactly like me, I think. Just with women.

“I always keep an open mind. You should know that about me. I never prejudge anyone.”

Nolan squeezes her to his side and says to me, “Go get your girl, McBrode. We’ll make ourselves scarce until you’re ready for us to meet her.” He kisses Catherine on her head. “No, she doesn’t prejudge, to confirm. She just judges after.”

“Hey, that’s not fair. Your buddies were doing keg stands on top of a railing, Nolan. That was begging to be labeled negatively, all right? I can’t wait to meet her. I’m a little starstruck after hearing Brody talk about Saylor Wyndham. She’s smart and beautiful. That’s a lethal combination.”

Little does she know the combination is my literal kryptonite.

I set Grimace down on the wooden deck, and he jumps into Catherine’s lap. She grins, talking to him like a little baby. He won her over, and the fatherly pride makes me swoon.

Rushing from the balcony, I head down the stairs and into the four-car garage where they’ve cleared a space for her security’s vehicle.

They’re pulling a black sedan in as I exit, wearing flip-flops and swim trunks.

Saylor exits the back seat quickly. Her big blue eyes locked on mine, then they dip down to my abs.

“My god, this is the only sight I’ve wanted to see since Portugal.”

Saylor runs to me, folding into my arms against my chest like a puzzle piece. This is contentment. Full, true, and pure.

Exhaling loudly, it’s as if I’ve been holding my breath while we’ve been apart. We’ve talked on the phone and do video calls before we go to sleep at night, but it’s not a true replacement for this.

Dropping a kiss on the top of her head, I inhale the scent of her shampoo and settle into tranquility.

“That’s your black truck, isn’t it?” Saylor asks, her face turned toward the garage that is indeed housing my truck. Nolan’s is on the other side, and there’s an empty bay that holds a work area with benches, tools, and anything one would possibly need to repair anything in a house.

“How did you know? Do I give off big black truck energy?” I ask.

She shrugs, still captured in my arms. She bites back a grin. “A little.”

“There you go again, without missing a beat. I’m not sure if I should be flattered or offended.”

Saylor releases the hug and walks over to my truck.

“A little of both. It’s exactly how you described it.”

A security guard hands me her duffle bag and tells me they’ll be covering the outside from all access points.

I ask a few pertinent questions while Saylor rounds the vehicle and looks at the tools on the other side of the garage space.

I also tell them that the guest house on the side of this property is unlocked and has four bedrooms that they can use as a base.

Saylor wants them to stay out of the way as much as possible, and putting them in the guest house seemed like the only option.

She runs her hand over a drill, then spins once she hears that our conversation is over.

“Now that the business of my wellbeing is out of the way, I don’t want to even think about anything dangerous.

I want to languor by the lake with a drink in my hand and not a thought in my mind.

I want to meet your brother and his girlfriend and hear baby stories about you.

I want to eat BBQ chicken and have sex with you all night long. ”

Saylor pauses her list of very doable demands, then her smile falls.

“Dad hasn’t let me go into the office, so I’ve been working on a new project from home, not talking to anyone except Angie, our chef, my mom, and her best friend, Bitsy, short for Beatrice, who is breeding prize winning orchids in our greenhouse at the moment.

” She spins and licks her lips. “I almost forgot. She also curates a personal collection of rare teas. I talked about your strange hobby all day today.”

I burst out laughing. “You don’t say. Sounds like I need to meet her. I bet she has some good options to blend.”

Saylor shakes her head vehemently. “God, no. She’s a cougar. The definition of cougar has her photo next to it. She’d have you pinned and under her middle-aged control in less than a day. Heck, maybe half a day.”

My eyebrows shoot up. “You must not have any faith in me if you think I can be swayed by a tea-loving bitty.”

Saylor’s gaze looks apologetic. “You haven’t met Bitsy. If she wanted me, she’d find a way to turn me into a lesbian, Brody. I don’t know why she didn’t go into law as a hobby. No one is better at convincing people of things.”

Saylor crosses over.

“Show me to our room?” she says, and the twinkle in her gaze makes my cock hard.

I press my lips together to stifle a grin.

“This way,” I say. “Did you learn anything about tea? I can put a pot on if you’d like.”

Saylor makes a noise, grabbing my free hand as I lead her into the house.

“I should be happy that you have a random hobby that will endear you to my mother’s harem of harlots, but it’s still weird. Tea later. Where is Grimace?”

“Let’s put your stuff down, and we’ll go outside after. Grimace is with them on the second-story deck.”

We take another staircase that leads up to the top floor. Nolan had this house gutted and expanded when he purchased it. The seclusion makes it perfect for Saylor and me now.

My first day back from Portugal, I ran onto base to grab some things I left there, and that’s when my buddy told me how bad the media frenzy would be surrounding the Wyndhams, and by proxy, me .

Because Bianca went rogue after Saylor was kidnapped, her face was everywhere.

The details about her life are breakfast talk for the average American family.

If someone didn’t know what Wyndham Technology was before the kidnapping, they do now.