20. Hunter
Hunter
I lose track of time and light’s fading when I eventually drag myself away from Maddie.
I’d bathed her as promised, washing her from head to toe and worshiping her like the fool I clearly am.
I hadn’t intended to fuck her again, but she said the water was soothing, and the first moan out of her mouth when I aimed the spray between her legs gave me a throbbing hard-on that neither of us could ignore.
I’d fetched food while Maddie dried her hair, then cuddled up with her on the bed to eat. Fucking. Cuddled. Up.
Any hopes that my brothers had given up waiting for their update on the board meeting fade when two faces look up at me as I enter the office. They’re wearing suits. I’m in sweats and a t-shirt.
“No Maddie?” Reid asks, a stupid grin on his face.
I head to my desk. “She’s having a rest.”
“I suppose she needs to rest her voice after all that… talking in the boardroom,” Mace says. His smirk is hidden behind one of his many computer screens, but it’s there .
“She did well,” I say, refusing to give into the embarrassment they’re trying to inject into the conversation.
“We heard,” Reid says with a cough.
“Can you two fuck off?” I grumble as I slouch into my chair and open my laptop.
“You need to check your emails. Ash is coming home,” Mace says, quick to pour cold water over the fire Maddie has been stoking mercilessly all day. “You should just be grateful he didn’t arrive while you were deflowering your runaway bride.”
I grind my teeth as I skim read Ash’s email before answering Mace.
“Firstly, Maddie’s no one’s runaway bride.
She’s my wife. And secondly, what happens between us is none of your damn business.
Or Ash’s,” I tell him, knowing that’s only easy to say because our brother is still a continent away.
Or is he? The email was sent hours ago, and the bastard could have sent it from the plane. I can already feel him drawing closer.
Mace keeps his focus on his computer, but he stretches tension from his neck. “If that’s how you plan on breaking the news to Ash, please don’t do it in this room. It’s taken me all week to set the gear up, and I don’t want all my stuff getting trashed.”
“I’ll handle Ash.”
“It could go better than either of you expect,” Reid adds, ever the optimist. “I bet he falls in love with Maddie too.”
Mace’s head snaps up at the mere mention of love, and he stares directly at me. He gives me a look that’s easy enough to read. Don’t go catching feelings for her.
I cross my arms, trying to appear cool and collected, but I can feel my t-shirt sticking to my sweat-damp skin.
“You’re worrying over nothing, Mace. Today couldn’t have gone better.
In the boardroom,” I have to add because it isn’t where my mind went either.
“As long as Hugo thinks we’re going to use our influence to get his debtors off his back, he’ll do our bidding. ”
“About that,” Reid says. “We know his plan.” He looks to Mace to fill in the detail.
Mace rests back in his chair, mirroring my pose.
“There’s a security camera outside the mill’s office, and I picked up a conversation between Hugo and Morgan.
He’s happy to sell to us, but he’s planning on bringing his sister back under his control once we’ve finished with her – his words, not mine.
He’s done his research. He knows we’re not the marrying kind. ”
“Let him think what he likes,” I reply, not rising to the bait.
I’d made it clear to Maddie that sex wasn’t going to change our plans.
She deserves to enjoy her liberation, and she wouldn’t get that with me.
I’d only want to possess her. I do want to possess her.
I rub my jaw, willing it to unlock. When I’m forced to let Maddie go, it won’t be so her brother can ensnare her again.
I don’t know how I’ll manage to keep my temper in check the next time I see Hugo.
“As long as we can close the deal on the mill, and convince Hugo to meet with Killian, he won’t be a problem for much longer,” I promise. “So stop worrying.”
“You’re still worried about my brother?” Maddie asks from the doorway.
“No, I’m not worried about him,” I say as I shut my laptop. “And you shouldn’t be either. I’ll take care of everything.”
Maddie’s wearing yoga pants and a hoodie, her face clean of makeup, and her hair falling over her shoulders in golden waves.
She doesn’t look ravaged, or ruined, but her lips are kiss-bitten and her face glows.
Even if my brothers hadn’t heard us, they’d know, and they’re not going to let this pass without comment.
“You’re looking good, Maddie,’ Reid says with a cheesy grin.
Maddie rests her shoulder against the door. “I always feel relaxed after a good workout,” she replies. I keep forgetting she can handle these two motherfuckers.
I stand up to go to her, and as soon as my back is turned, Mace croons, “You did so well, little bird.”
It’s like the bastard had his ear to the door. I spin on my heels. “If you’ve planted something in her room, Mace, I swear…”
Reid barks a laugh, while Mace doesn’t even blink. “I was talking about how she handled herself in the board meeting,” he says.
I lean over him. “I mean it, Mace. You clear her room.”
“Hunter, it was just a guess,” Reid calls over. “Mace said you’d come out with shit like that. Looks like he was right.”
“You two need to grow up,” I mutter as I stalk towards the door. “I don’t need this right now.”
I take Maddie’s hand, ushering her back out of the room, but she resists. “Hey, Mace. Are you regretting turning me down yet? Is that why you need to record my every moan?”
He glares at her. “I didn’t put anything in your room, Maddie. There’s nothing in there that interests me.”
“You say the sweetest things, but if you’re hungry for something…” Maddie leaves a long pause. “Connie’s about to serve food. ”
By the time we’re seated at the kitchen table sharing one of Connie’s casseroles, we’re all on our best behavior.
Connie doesn’t like to join us at mealtimes, but she remains nearby.
If there’s even a hint of attitude, she isn’t afraid to scold us, so there are no more sly comments from Mace and Reid as we go through what happened today at the mill.
“I don’t think we’ve heard the last from Morgan. He’ll be looking for a payoff,” I tell my brothers.
“Or he might just set out for revenge,” adds Maddie. “He’s petty enough, and he has the ability to cause all kinds of financial disruption if he sets his mind to it.”
“He can’t do much if he can’t access his files,” Mace says. “I’ve already locked him out of the mill’s internal systems.”
Maddie tears at a chunk of bread, and uses it to scoop up the casserole and shovel it into her mouth. Sex has made her ravenous, and I’m getting addicted to watching her eat.
“We still need to revoke his authority so he can’t act as our representative,” she says, her mouth still full. “But I’ve already compiled a list of external agencies and customers we need to contact.”
“Good thinking,” I say.
“His main priority is to stop us stealing Hugo’s legacy,” Mace says. “That’s what he told Hugo after the board meeting.”
Maddie sucks her finger clean. “How do you know that?” She rolls her eyes when she works it out for herself. “What else did you overhear them say? What are you worried about Mace?” she asks, referring to the conversation she’d walked in on earlier.
Mace defers to me to answer.
“I told you, I’m not worried, Maddie. ”
“But Mace is,” she insists, still pushing for an answer from my brother. “What is it?”
When Mace looks about to say something, I cut in. “I don’t want you concerning yourself with something that isn’t going to happen,” I insist. “I’ve got it covered.”
Maddie tears off another chunk of bread, but she’s lost interest in eating. She meets my eye.
“And this involves Killian. He’s the contact you met in Las Vegas, isn’t he?”
“Yes,” I say, wishing she hadn’t heard that part of the conversation. I don’t want her to be drawn into that side of my business. Especially now that Killian is aware of her existence too.
“I take it he’s one of the bad guys.”
Reid refills Maddie’s wine glass. “They won’t even let me meet with the McConkeys.”
Maddie reaches gratefully for her drink. She keeps her eyes fixed on mine when she says, “But you want Hugo to meet him?”
“Hugo has already involved himself with people like Killian, without any help from me,” I reply. “Whatever happens to him, was going to happen anyway.”
I debate how much more to share. I’m pretty sure Maddie wouldn’t object to my plans, but I don’t want her to think less of me.
And arranging a hit on Hugo isn’t even the worst thing I’ve done.
There have been many times when I’ve had to resort to violence, and no doubt, there will be again.
It’s the reason I can’t stay married to her.
“The only way I can protect you is to make sure Hugo isn’t around to hurt or control you,” I continue because I know I have to. “Killian can make that happen. Do you understand?”
Maddie chews her lip. “I don’t care what happens to him, but what about Jen and my niece? Are they in danger? What if the people Hugo’s been mixing with come looking for him?”
“I won’t let anything happen to them, or to you.”
Maddie has absentmindedly torn the bread into a blizzard of crumbs on her plate. “But you won’t be here, Hunter,” she reminds me.
“You’re my wife. They won’t dare touch you.”
“But I won’t be your –” She stops mid-sentence and looks over my shoulder to the door.
Fuck.
I don’t need to turn around to know who’s just arrived.
“Carry on,” Ash says. “I wouldn’t want to interrupt this scene of domestic bliss.”