Page 87 of Dangerous Command

“If he wants to work, let him work,” Wil said. He turned to me and winked. “The man has a calling. Let him go to it.”

Wil was making an inside joke with me; we had our own business to attend to while we were visiting the Last Isle, a new deal with a certain family. I had even asked Ethan to tag along with us, and he had readily accepted. He wanted to be a part of the business. Even if he was only half of my blood, he was still family.

And even if Mack shared none of my blood, he was my family too.

I held Maddie’s hand under the table, squeezing it. Everyone seemed at peace, but my mother, Clara, let her gaze flutter around the yard, as if she kept looking for my father, but couldn’t find him.

“I’m glad we’re all here,” Wil said. “It’s good to be with family.”

“It is,” Ellie cooed.

“I’m going to get more pie,” Clara said, standing up immediately. “Anyone want coffee?”

“There’s pie too?” Demi asked.

“I’ll take some coffee,” Ellie said.

Once we finished our apple pie and coffee, everyone drifted off to their places in the house. The plan was to take our newest plane early in the morning. The jet was too small for the whole group, so we had to buy a new one. More people, bigger spaces. It reminded me of getting a minivan.

Maddie washed the dishes at the sink, while I dried them. We both looked out of the window above the sink, watching as Clara left the garden, wandering toward the woods. I needed to talk to her. Something was up.

“You alright in here?” I asked Maddie. She pushed me toward the backyard.

“Go,” she said.

I kissed Maddie on the cheek, then I went to my mother. She was staring out at the empty woods, her arms wrapped around herself in a hug. We stood in silence for a few minutes, the chirps of insects buzzing around us. The new moon dark in the sky.

“Do you think she loves his father?” Clara asked.

I had once thought that Clara knew nothing about the business, but now I knew better. She kept it to herself, pretended to be oblivious. So there was a chance that she knew exactly who Mack’s biological father was, but I wasn’t going to ask. Because that didn’t matter. He didn’t exist anymore.

I glanced back at the Adler House, at the window above the sink. A tendril of red hair was in Maddie’s face. With a wet, soapy hand, she wiped it out of her eyes, then smiled at me.

“Yes,” I said. “She loves Mack’s father.” I turned to Clara, locking eyes with her. “There’s no doubt in my mind about that.”

Because I would raise Mack better than his biological father ever would have. Better than my father raised me. I was Mack’s father, and I knew Maddie loved me. We were family.

“Good,” Clara said. A smile spread across her face, relieved. She patted me on the arm. “You’re both so good for Mack.”

A few minutes later, I excused myself and went inside the house. I scooted Maddie out of the way so that I could finish washing and drying the rest of the dishes. Mack was already in bed, so Maddie leaned on the kitchen island, sitting on a new bar stool. Relaxed. At peace. Her hair was damp and limp. Her belly resting on her thighs. Her cheeks red from the sun. Her hands still glossy with water.

And she took my breath away. She always did.

I put the last dish away, then turned to her.

“You’re good,” I said, “You know that?”

“Tell me the ways, Mr. Boss,” she said playfully.

“You kneel,” I said, taking her hands in mine, “but I kneel for you too.” Then I got down on my knees and pulled the ring box from my pocket, and opened it. “And I want you to be mine forever.”

Her eyes widened at the engagement ring with a channel-set diamond band. It was flashy; I had hoped this would fluster her.

“You know that I’m yours,” she said, her voice panicked. “What the hell, Derek? I thought you—”

“Say it, Mads,” I laughed. “Say ‘yes.’”

“Yes,” she said. “Yes, Derek! Yes, I want to marry you. I love you. Yes!”

“And I love you.”

I kissed her hard, running my fingers along her scarred face. Marriage might have only been a license, but I wanted her for myself, to protect and love. And now, our family would be an official, legal thing. It was her, Mack, and me.

And I wanted it that way forever.

THE END