Page 53

Maddox

“Do you think she believed us?” It’s pushing, but after all the fuss Mindy made, I can’t help teasing her a bit.

She reaches up and pulls the comb out of her hair, which takes a few of the bobby pins with it, causing her hair to come tumbling down.

It’s tempting to reach out and thread my fingers through the shimmering chocolate silk.

“Believed us? She’s got us married with a kid on the way in her head.” Mindy steps out of her shoes.

This wins for the best show I’ve ever watched. “The married part doesn’t sound bad at all.”

“Don’t even joke about things like that. My brain can’t handle any more trauma tonight.” She sets her clutch on the dresser.

Every step of the way is going to be a fight with her. I walk over and get in front of her. “I know you’ve got a lot on your plate right now.” It’s impossible not to touch her. “But you need to understand, this isn’t a game. It isn’t fake or a show. We are real. Maybe you need some more convincing.”

Mindy shakes her head. “No more kissing.”

“I said convincing, not kissing. But it’s good to know you spend as much time thinking about it as I do.”

“You do?”

How can she not know? “All the time.” I lean down so our lips almost touch. “I want to kiss you every moment of every day.”

“Oh.” She closes her eyes.

It’s tempting to take what’s offered. But if we start, we’re never going to stop, and tomorrow is going to be a very long day. “You should get ready for bed.” I walk away, pulling my tie off.

“What?” She stares at me.

“You’ve got to be tired.”

“Tired?”

I can’t stop myself from walking over and kissing the tip of her nose. “Get ready for bed.”

“What?”

Mindy’s cute when she’s dizzy from kissing me. “You don’t need to worry. I’ll sleep on the floor.” It won’t even get close to the worst place I’ve slept.

“The floor.” Her eyes move from my lips to the bed.

“Yes.”

“No. You can’t.”

“I’ll be perfectly comfortable.” I don’t know about comfortable, but it won’t affect my ability to sleep.

“It’s not that.” She tips her head. “Well, it’s not all that. Mom—”

“You’ve got to not let her affect your life so much.”

“She won’t see me again until the divorce in a few months.”

Mindy’s mom is in for a rude awakening. There hasn’t been a divorce in the Linckester family. Marriage is for life, quite literally, with them.

“But the future doesn’t matter right now. She’ll know we didn’t sleep together.”

“So? I won’t sleep with you before we get married. It’s the truth.”

“What did you say?” She grabs her head like she has a massive migraine. “Don’t answer that. I can’t handle this. I’m not asking you to have sex with me right now. All I’m asking is that we sleep in the same bed so that my mother doesn’t know.”

Like I want to sleep anywhere but at her side. Why am I fighting this? Because of that reaction. We’re going to need to have a real adult conversation soon. “Fine. I’ll sleep with you.”

“Good.” She nods. “No funny business. I promise.”

That woman doesn’t know what a temptation she is. But after twenty years of teaching teenagers to respect their partners and the consequences of their actions, there’s no way that temptation is going to win.

But a kiss or two more won’t hurt anything. “No funny business.” I wink at her and walk away to get ready for bed…aka soon to be the most torturously blissful night of my life.

There needs to be two rings on her finger soon.

Very soon.

I beat Mindy into the bed. There’s no point in trying to fall asleep until she’s settled by my side.

The lasting effects from the events of today are going to be a challenge to untangle us from. It’s going to take a better strategic mind than my own to find a way out of this. I need to call Ethan in as soon as we get back. He’ll know how we deal with Filmore’s claim.

Mindy steps out of the bathroom, turning off the light behind her. It’s the middle of winter, and she brought a silk short set to wear to bed.

Women make no sense.

None at all.

But it sure is cute to look at.

“How are you feeling?” I lift the blankets for her to slide in.

“Like I was run over by a truck and then they backed over me for good measure.” She carefully climbs in, pulling the blankets over her. “I’m sorry about today.”

“Why are you sorry?” The inner workings of her mind confuse me almost as much as those smiles delight me.

“Because all of this.” She circles her hand around. “We’re new. You don’t need to see how dramatic my life can be. And this is the happy part. When they break up…” She shakes her head.

If they break up. “We’ll deal with it together. Maybe get your mom some therapy.”

“If you could get my mom into therapy...” She shakes her head. “Thank you.”

“No thank yous needed. Just being part of your life is all the reward I’ll ever need.”

Mindy's lips form a cute little O as she leans forward.

I could kiss her. But the one thing better than kissing Mindy is having her kiss me. I lean forward and wait for her to give in and do just that.

Watching the expressions on her face change from excitement to frustration to determination is almost the most fun I’ve had today.

“You could help with this.”

She’s adorable when she’s frustrated. “But I’m not.”

“Fine. Then I’ll just do it myself.”

She shoves her hands in my hair, and all the laughter fades away.

“No, funny business,” Mindy’s lips land on mine.

That’s the hardest promise I’ve ever made to keep…

***

Everything went off without a hitch. As weddings go, this one was flawless. I’m used to more of a wild west kind of feel with all of us pitching in to make it work while we torment the groom so he doesn’t do something stupid like abscond with the bride before the actual nuptials.

The best part of this evening started twenty minutes ago and will hopefully last for the rest of the night. I pull Mindy closer in my arms as we sway to the music. Some couples are doing a formal waltz. I’m taking advantage of her tired state to hold her close.

If I block out where we are and who we’re with, this moment could be perfect. But sadly, the Linckesters never let that happen. Valen’s steadily approaching us. He’s the one man here today that I will allow to steal a dance with Mindy.

“May I cut in?” Valen asks her, but looks at me.

The neanderthal part of me wants to shout no and pull her closer to me. The reasonable part steps back, allowing him a dance.

Mindy doesn’t collapse into his body like she does mine.

That will have to be enough for now. I wander over to the bar to see if they have any decent beer.

“Locke, just the man I wanted to talk to.” Filmore steps into my path.

Too bad I never want to talk to you. “What can I do for you?”

“I like that attitude. You’re going to fit so well into this family. Actually, I wanted to talk to you about a business matter. Over the generations, we’ve learned that the only one you can trust is family. I can’t tell you how excited I was to find out you were joining me. Ethan probably won’t be too happy about losing you.”

Ethan will always be my mentor and friend. There’s nothing that could break that bond. But there’s no point in trying to convince you of that.

“My grandson, Joseph, is a brilliant man when it comes to developing weapons. But he lacks one thing: experience. He knows how to handle himself, but he hasn’t ever seen the realities of war like you have. He doesn’t know what it means to be in the thick of battle when you question whether you’ll live or die. That was one experience that I just couldn’t give him.”

How many could you? Because I got the distinct impression Joseph knows how to kill a man.

“I was thinking we could use a man like you in weapon development. You would work side by side with him. Helping to foresee obstacles in design before we hit the manufacturing stage. Of course, the pay will be lucrative. None of my family ever has to worry about money.”

Does he really not understand how much I’m worth?

“If your hesitation is because of that little pet project of yours, the family would like to ensure you have what you need to focus on what’s important. Would a five-million-dollar donation help those sweet children?”

Stay away from my children and my neighborhood. “I’ll think about your offer.” While I figure out what to do to avoid it.

“That’s all I can ask.” Filmore pats me on the back. “We’ll be in touch. Enjoy the rest of your night.”

That feels like less than a subtle threat.

***

“Do your feet hurt as much as mine?” Mindy toes off the heels she’s been wearing all day.

“I didn’t have to wear a torture device.”

“True. But they do make our legs look good.”

You won’t see me, or any other sane man, deny that.

“I could sleep for a week after this.” She yawns.

And that’s what we’ll do as soon as I get you home. “Why don’t you go get ready for bed? Take the bathroom first.” I take a fifth of the time she does, so I usually get it first.

“Okay.” She yawns through the word. “You didn’t tell me you were such a good dancer.”

Another gift from Emilia. “You never asked.”

“I should ask you more questions.” She plucks flowers out of her hair, tossing them on the nightstand as she passes it.

“I look forward to it.” And getting to know everything about you.

In all this time, I haven’t found out what was making you afraid enough that Fea made me hire you. That conversation we’re going to have soon needs to be a big one. But tonight Mindy getting rest is the priority.

“Maddox,” Mindy shouts from the bathroom a little while later. “I need your help.”

Did she pop one of her stitches open? I rush in to find a completely dressed woman with frustration written across her face, staring back at me through the mirror. “What’s wrong?” I don’t see any blood.

“I can’t get the buttons undone. They put these stupid decorative buttons over the corset. I had help getting dressed this morning, but no matter how I twist, I can’t get them undone. And now my ribs are killing me.”

Those buttons go all the way down her back.

Allll the way down.

My hands shake.

Man up. There isn’t anyone else who will ever get to do this job again. It’s yours forevermore.

Two rings. I need to go out and buy the first one soon.

I reach for the first button.

Very soon.

“Are they too small for your fingers? Maybe I should call and see if one of the maids can help.”

“I’ve got them.” Though they are quite small and delicate. My hands didn’t shake this badly when I was defusing a bomb. Then again, a bomb can only kill me. This woman could shatter me. One by one, they slip open, revealing a sheer corset that’s cinched way too tight with those bruised ribs of hers. “This has got to hurt.”

“Beauty is pain.”

“That had to be a hard conversation you had with your mom.” Mindy seems way too calm to have told her mom everything that happened.

“Oh, Mom doesn’t know. The seamstress was the only one who saw my bruises. And it was so strange, she didn’t react to them at all. It was as if they were invisible.”

Or she’s seen way too much and knows better than to react. I can’t wait until I can get you out of this place in the morning.

Button by button, I reveal more and more bruises. They’re yellowed and fading, but how they must have looked… I fight to tamp down the rage. The desire to kill Adonis. Getting hot-headed will do nothing.

Someone hurt Mindy, and I wasn’t there to protect her. I failed the one person that I should always protect. The one who’s the other half of my soul. When I reach the curve of her hip, my hands freeze. Any lower and—

“I think I can get out of it on my own. Thank you for your help.” She gives me a small smile through the mirror.

I walk out to give her the privacy she needs.

Helping her with such a little task should have been nothing, but getting a firsthand view of some of the damage made it traumatic.

Logically, I know it wasn’t my fault, but logic has nothing to do with the anger at seeing her skin still mottled with color. Especially knowing today was harder because she still hurts.

Because I didn’t protect her.

“What's wrong?” Mindy steps out of the bathroom fully covered in flannels this time.

“Nothing.” At least nothing that I can change.

She walks over to where I’m sitting on the edge of the bed. “Liar.”

That means — “You’re starting to see my tells.”

“I could always see your tells. How do you think I beat you so often at games? Whatever it is that’s bothering you, we’ll handle it together.” She leans down and kisses my temple.

What more could a man ask for?