Chapter 33 #2
“I’m so happy to meet you at last,” she says. “Come and sit down. Are you hungry? We’ve brought food.” As she goes to take my arm, Mace simply tightens his grip on me. She slaps his hand. “For goodness sake, let her go, Mace. I’m not going to steal her. Much.”
Reluctantly, Mace lets go of my hand, but before Maddie can pull me away, he kisses my temple. “I should have warned you about my sister-in-law. She’s crazy as fuck.”
Maddie opens her mouth to respond, but Mace stuns her into silence by kissing her cheek.
“But I love her,” he says with a resigned sigh before hastening away to the kitchen area.
Maddie’s mouth moves, but she can’t find the words. Tears film her eyes as she stares at me. “I don’t know what you did to him, but thank you,” she chokes.
She leads me to the kitchen island and seats me between her and Reid. I’m aware that I’ve managed only one word so far, and I’m already missing Mace. He’s pouring coffee, but he keeps his body sideways to the counter so I’m never out of his sight.
“Right, I need to know everything,” Maddie says, clasping her hands.
“Oh. Right.” My mind goes blank, but I want to get this right. I’m not a teenager meeting a boy’s parents for the first time. “I moved to Chicago two years ago. I’m a qualified accountant, and I work for Royston Associates. It’s quite a small firm.”
“And one she’s outgrown,” Mace says, rounding the island to set two coffee cups in front of me. “She’s already handed in her notice.”
My jaw drops as I turn to look up at him. “You didn’t?” I ask. It’s not a whisper. I don’t hold back my admonishment. “Mace, you can’t keep doing things like that.”
“It’s already done,” he says, and he doesn’t break my gaze as he grabs Reid’s seat by the legs and drags it and his brother further along the island. He picks up a spare barstool and fits it into the space he’s made next to me.
I know all eyes and ears are on us, but if this is my family now, then I have to be me. I cock my head, giving him my best withering look. “Partnership, remember?”
Mace beams a smile at me as he pulls my barstool closer to him. An arm ropes around my waist. “Exactly,” he says as if we’re on the same damn page.
I shake my head as I slide his coffee cup closer to him. “You’re so infuriating.”
“And you two are so perfect for each other,” Maddie says. “Now you’ll have to come and work with us. Hunter’s the number cruncher, so he’d love your help.”
“Jesus, Maddie. Seriously?” her husband asks. Noticing me startle, he adds quickly, “I mean, yes, Lily, I can definitely put your skills to good use. But Maddie? Is that how you describe me to people? A number cruncher?”
Maddie rolls her eyes at him before attempting a better description. Lowering her voice as if only I’m meant to hear, she says, “He’s the one who won’t give up if he sees potential in the things other people are ready to discard. It’s how he got me.”
“She means he’s stubborn,” Mace interjects, referring to how he’d described his brother.
“Mace, on the other hand,” Maddie continues, “is the one who isn’t afraid to look into the darkest of places. He oversteps sometimes, but he does it with the best intentions.”
“A protector,” I agree, feeling Mace’s arm tighten around me.
Maddie turns to Reid, because it’s obvious they’re all waiting for her assessment. Her eyes narrow in concentration. “Reid is the buffer. He absorbs all the bad that gets thrown our way, and he finds some way of making it bearable.”
“Usually by shooting his mouth off when he should shut the fuck up,” Hunter says.
Reid shrugs. “Can’t disagree. And if you and Mace ever need a buffer, Lily, I don’t mind–” He wheezes out a gasp as Mace jabs him with an elbow.
“And as for Ash,” Maddie says, not daring to even glance at the eldest Griffin brother.
“He’s the one who shoulders the burden so his brothers can be their idiot selves.
He probably has a heart, but that’s just a working theory at the moment.
” She’s smirking as she turns her head to catch him staring at her intently.
“It’s a fair comment,” says Ash. “Now, can we move on to business?”
“So, this isn’t a social visit?” asks Mace.
“I can multitask,” Ash retorts. “Are we OK to talk openly?”
Mace strokes my back when he says, “I don’t think there’s anything I do that would shock Lily now.”
“I can believe that,” Ash says, and his gaze flickers to me for a fraction of a second.
There’s a twinkle in his eye, but his focus is back on Mace before I can register it fully.
“We may need to tighten security. According to John McConkey, our Russian friends are getting restless. They know the delays at Poulton Springs were sabotage, and they’re out for retribution. ”
“We knew this could happen,” says Hunter.
“If they want to come after us, let them try,” Mace adds.
I’d worked out that Mace inhabits a world that isn’t as legitimate as it looks on paper, but he was wrong about nothing being able to shock me. Talk of attacks and retaliations has my knuckles whitening as I grip my coffee mug, and I will my jaw not to drop.
“We need to be careful,” Ash warns. “It’s likely they’ll target one of our investments rather than us directly, but we should prepare for every possibility.”
Maddie’s face pales, and it’s weirdly reassuring to know that I’m not the only one struggling to remain calm. “Could they attack the paper mill?”
“We can’t rule it out,” Ash confirms.
Sensing my unease, Mace rests his chin on my shoulder. His nose caresses my ear as if to soften the discussion I’m listening to. “Your protector,” he reminds me.
“We’ll have to step up security,” Ash continues. He’s looking at Mace when he adds, “You and Reid have to move back into the house.”
“This place is secure,” Mace replies. “I can lock it down.”
“You’re still an easy target every time you leave the building,” Ash argues. “And right now, I don’t want to spread resources across two sites. If we have to respond to a threat, I’d rather we were all living under the same roof.”
“It does make sense,” Reid says, looking to Mace.
He rolls his neck. “Fine, but Lily’s coming too.”
Ash quirks his mouth, almost a smile. “That would have been my next suggestion. Is that OK with you, Lily?”
“It is,” Mace says.
He’s taking decisions on my behalf again, but on this matter, I’m in full agreement. If Mace is safer at their family estate, that’s where we should be.
Mace takes my coffee cup from my trembling hand and sets it down on the counter. “Let’s go back to our room. It’s been ages since we’ve had any alone time.”
“Connie’s sent food,” Reid says when we stand. “Don’t you want to build the poor girl’s strength up first?”
“We’ll see you later,” Mace says, guiding me away.
“Were we that mushy once?” I hear Hunter asking his wife.
“Once?” Maddie repeats. “What the hell do you mean once? Are you getting bored already, Hunter?”
“With you, little bird? Never.”
I don’t hear if his recovery works because Mace has closed his bedroom door. He kicks it shut and spins me around so I’m pressed up against it.
“Sorry if that scared you,” he says.
“After my trial by fire with you, it’s going to take more than that to frighten me off,” I tell him, my tension slowly leaving me. “I’m where I want to be.”
Mace splays his hands across my back as he presses me to him. “You’re sure?”
My fingers thread through his hair, holding his head so he can’t look away. “There was never any doubt.”
Our noses brush as his mouth dips to mine. “Is it too soon to start planning our wedding, Slayer?”
I tighten my grip on his hair. “Yes, it’s too soon, Shade,” I say, nipping at his lower lip. I wait a beat before I add, “You have to ask me first.”