Chapter 32
Shadows on the Sand
The villa reeked of salt, sweat, and money. Palm leaf roof, bulletproof glass. Pretty on the outside. Rotten inside. Lucas stepped in first, suit sharp, jaw tight. He scanned the room with the edge of a man who trusted nothing.
Maddison followed, heels silent, her eyes on him. She felt the twitch in his jaw, the way his fingers curled too tight. She brushed his arm, voice low.
“You’re grinding your teeth.”
He didn’t look at her, but he exhaled.
“I don’t like this deal. The numbers don’t match.”
“Then don’t shake,” she murmured.
His mouth twitched. Just barely.
From the corner, Logan watched. He didn’t like the vibe either. But his mind wandered anyway. To Penny. To the chaos she calmed in him without even trying.
[To: Penny ??]
She’s doing that thing you do.
Calming the chaos.
…I miss you.
Fuck. Send.
Then the clients arrived.
***
Four men. One talking. Two bored. One twitchy.
Too twitchy.
Lucas stayed still. Calculating.
Logan leaned back, one hand grazing the pistol under his jacket.
Maddison caught it too. The shift. The jacket. The hand moving too fast.
Time slowed.
“The offer is generous,” the lead said.
The twitchy one twitched again.
Lucas’s nostrils flared. “Then why the hesitation?”
Movement. Gun.
Logan moved.
Lucas stepped back.
But Maddison?
She didn’t hesitate.
CRACK.
The man hit the ground. His weapon clattered beside him.
Everyone froze.
Except Maddison. She slid the gun back beneath her dress, smooth as silk. “As you were saying, Mr. Creams,” she said evenly, stepping aside like she hadn’t just killed a man.
Lucas stared at her. So did the room.
Logan smirked. “Told you she wasn’t just ass and attitude.”
Lucas’s voice was steady, barely.
“Clean it up. We’re continuing.”
And they did. Because you don’t say no to a Cream.
***
The meeting ended over a corpse.
Classic Cream diplomacy.
Outside, Maddison finally broke. She grabbed Lucas’s suit, clutching him tight.
“Oh my god,” she breathed. “I was so worried about you.”
Lucas stiffened. Comfort wasn’t his language. But then his arms came around her.
Tight.
“You saved my life,” he rasped.
“You’re an idiot. You should’ve moved faster.”
“I thought I had time.”
“You didn’t.”
He didn’t argue. He just kissed her, hard, desperate, ruined.
When they broke apart, his voice cracked against her mouth.
“I don’t know what you are, Maddison… but I think I’ve been waiting for you.”
She smiled, wild. “Told you we were meant to be.”
***
By the SUVs, Logan lit a cigarette, sunglasses low. He watched Maddison like she was a puzzle finally worth solving.
“She’s Creams now,” he said to Lucas, smoking.
Lucas’s jaw clenched. “She is.”
Logan grinned sharply. “Bet she fucks like one, too.”
Lucas shoved him hard against the car, growling low. “Don’t talk about her like that.”
Logan straightened, unfazed. Still smirking. “Baby brother’s gone soft.” He flicked ash toward the sand. “You gonna tell her what’s coming? What did she really sign up for?”
Lucas didn’t answer. Couldn’t.
Because all he could think about was the look on her face when she pulled that trigger. Calm. Focused. His .
And the terrifying truth pounding under his ribs:
He didn’t care what was coming.
As long as she was beside him when it hit.
***
The city was buzzing outside, traffic, sirens, neon bleeding against the glass, but inside my apartment it was just me, my laptop, and a half-empty glass of wine.
I wasn’t expecting him to call.
Logan Creams didn’t call. He barked, he texted, he disappeared. But calls? Never.
So when his name lit up my screen, my stomach flipped.
I should’ve let it ring.
I didn’t.
“Logan?”
His voice was quieter than usual. Rough around the edges. “I just… wanted to hear your voice.”
For a second, I forgot how to breathe. I should’ve mocked him. Should’ve teased him until he snapped. But something in his tone stopped me.
So instead I said, soft, smug: “You miss me, huh?”
Silence. Then a low exhale, like I’d punched through his armor.
“You ever feel like you’re the only sane one in a room full of lunatics?” he muttered.
“And maybe you’re crazy too, but not like them?”
That pulled a laugh from me. A real one.
“All the time,” I admitted. “Welcome to my world.”
The line went quiet again. I could hear him breathing, faint, ragged. Like he wasn’t sure if he’d regret this the second he hung up. I leaned back into the couch, curling my fingers around the stem of my glass.
“You don’t have to say it, Creams,” I murmured. “But I get it. You’re tired. You’re bleeding. And for some reason, you keep crawling back to me.”
“Because you answer,” he said, so soft I almost missed it.
Something cracked in my chest.
Fuck.
I closed my eyes and whispered, “Then keep calling.”
I don’t know if he believed me.
But he didn’t hang up.
We just stayed there, him with his silence, me with my wine, breathing together across the line.
And for Penny, queen of sharp edges and sharper headlines, that was the most dangerous thing of all.