Chapter 2 #2
Ash, Hunter and I are the products of my dad’s first marriage, and I was only a few months old when my mom walked out.
Dad remarried and Reid came along when I was four.
His mom, Lisa was like a ray of sunshine breaking through dark clouds, and Reid takes after her.
But the problem with so much light is that it deepens the shadows.
And the shadows are where I’ve always felt most comfortable.
And now Hunter’s brought another ray of fucking sunshine into our lives by marrying Maddie.
Instinct tells me to retreat, hence the new apartment, but shunning the light is proving harder than I expected.
When Hunter isn’t being the surly and stubborn prick I love, I catch a glint in his eyes that wasn’t there before.
I want some of that. Just not from Maddie.
My fingers drum on the solid oak table as I fight the urge to pick up my phone again.
I don’t know much about Lily Kendrick except how she tastes, and the way an invisible fist wrapped around my heart when she called me an asshole.
But if I was looking for some of what Hunter has – and it’s a big if – Lily wouldn’t be a bad place to start.
“Aren’t you eating?” Reid asks.
I blink. Everyone else’s plates are loaded and mouths are full. When did that happen? “Sure,” I say, ladling stew onto my plate. The sooner we eat, the sooner we can leave.
“Do we need to talk about Barrett now we’re all together?” Reid asks, looking around the table.
I may not show my own emotions easily, but I am observant, and I notice Maddie tense.
Hunter’s hand slips beneath the table to rest on her leg.
We’d first met Maddie on what was meant to be her wedding day, disrupting her family’s plan to marry her off to Barrett Emerson.
We have plenty of enemies, but our fight with Barrett is personal.
He’s the product of our mother’s second marriage, but since we’ve never considered Alice Emerson as our mom, Barrett certainly doesn’t deserve the label of brother.
Maddie dodged a bullet as far as Barrett is concerned. The heir to the Emerson empire inherited all his wealth, and his specialty is asset-stripping failing businesses and decimating small towns in the process. It’s what would have happened at Brimstage if we hadn’t intervened.
Maddie’s better off with us, and she knows it, but her route to happiness wasn’t easy. A couple of months ago, Barrett had sent one of his men to try to steal her back. I can’t wait until we come face to face with him again. And he can’t avoid us forever.
“Sorry, Maddie. I didn’t think,” Reid adds quickly. “We can leave that conversation until we’re back in the office tomorrow.”
“No, I’d be interested to hear what he’s been up to,” she says.
“There’s not much to tell,” replies Ash softly. It’s not a tone I’m used to hearing, but Ash has been known to fall victim to the Maddie-effect too. “It looks like he’s busy putting out some fires of his own making. Literally and metaphorically.”
“What do you mean?” she asks him.
“He’s splitting his time between New York and Poulton Springs in southern Illinois. He’s been cleaning up a site where a food processing factory burned down quite recently. It wasn’t so much a takeover as it was an erasure.”
“From the plans his architects are drawing up,” I add, “it looks like he’s using the land to build a new base. The designs rival any of the other Emerson mansions.”
Maddie’s brow furrows. “He wants to live here, in Illinois?”
“I doubt it was his initial plan,” says Ash. “When he bought the factory, he didn’t know one of the warehouses was being used as a distribution hub for the McConkeys.”
She still looks worried. “Your McConkeys?”
John McConkey runs the Irish mafia out of Las Vegas.
Although calling them ‘ours’ is a stretch, they are our allies.
We mainly deal with Killian, John’s son, and we keep our work strictly legitimate, barring the occasional lapse.
We learned early on that there are times when we have to defend ourselves, and with the exception of Reid, we all have blood on our hands.
But never innocent blood. It’s a line none of us would cross.
“Do I want to know what goods go through the distribution hub?” Maddie asks.
“Nothing since it burned down,” I say flatly. “When Barrett realized he was taking over a business that operated as a front for the mafia, he closed down the entire operation. The McConkeys made threats, and that’s when the idiot came up with the bright idea to burn it all to hell.”
“A man died in the fire,” Reid adds. “But Barrett fixed the investigation so it never looked like arson.”
“And now Barrett has a patch of land in a prime location, and a debt that needs repaying,” Ash continues. “He seems to think building a house will stop John from forcing him to replace the hub.”
“And will it stop John?” asks Maddie.
Ash scratches at his beard. It’s a question we’ve been asking ourselves. “He’s being patient for now, if only because of the Emersons’ links to us, but Barrett will be expected to make reparations eventually. And as we know, once you’re in bed with the McConkeys, you don’t get out.”
“If you ask me,” Reid says, “Barrett’s already caving in to the pressure. The latest plans include a stable block on the outskirts of the property. Since when was Barrett a horse person?”
“Piles of horse shit is one way to put police dogs off the scent of drugs,” says Hunter.
Maddie’s eyes widen. “I can’t imagine Barrett being too happy about having the mafia roaming his new estate.”
“He wouldn’t have the guts to hang around there,” Hunter says. “So I wouldn’t worry too much about him being in the same state as us.” He looks at her pointedly. “Not that you should be worried anyway.”
I check my phone rather than watch Hunter and Maddie because I know they’re going to… Yes, I can hear them kissing.
Ash clears his throat. “It’s a shame the town’s lost a factory, but at least there’ll be a brief injection of activity during the construction of the house.”
“It’s going to be interesting watching Barrett deal with the McConkeys,” I say. “Or more likely, how they deal with him. And now we have our good friend, Ray Forsyth providing commentary from the sidelines.”
Maddie arches an eyebrow at me in challenge. “Friend?”
I give her my best smile that doesn’t reach my cold eyes. “If you can forgive him for attempting to abduct you, who are we to argue?”
“Forgiveness might be stretching it,” Hunter grinds out. “If he doesn’t start proving his worth, I might regret letting him walk away with his life.”
“Maddie was the one who held the gun to his head,” Reid points out.
Maddie shrugs. “I agree with Hunter. He still needs to prove he’s on our side.”
“Yes, he does,” Ash says, pushing away his empty plate. “We’re going to have to watch how this unfolds and we need eyes everywhere. I don’t want a town that’s already been hit with tragedy to face another of Barrett’s ill-conceived plans.”
I mop up my remaining stew with a chunk of bread. “Your stew’s as delicious as always, Connie,” I call out to our housekeeper, who’s running a cloth over spotless countertops only feet away. “Can we take the leftovers home with us?”
Connie sniffs. “You are home, Mason,” she reminds me. She doesn’t approve of Reid and I moving out, and I’m sure she’d split herself in two if she could. “But I made an extra dish for you boys to take back to the apartment.”
I swallow a last mouthful. “Are we done?”
“Is there somewhere else you’d rather be?” asks Hunter, tilting his head. “Like, maybe, where your head has been for most of this meal.”
“I just like to keep busy,” I say, standing up. Connie hands me a container, and I lean in to kiss her cheek. “You’re an angel.”
Connie pulls away and gives me a quizzical look. “And your brother’s right. You’re distracted.”
“Don’t worry,” Reid says as he gets to his feet. “I’ll drive us home.”
My gaze snaps to his. “You’re coming with me?”
His jaw drops. “We do live together, brother. And Ash gave me a lift here.”
Shit. As eager as I am to head back and make a start on my deep dive into Lily’s life, I had hoped to make a quick recon of her neighborhood first, just to put my mind at rest that it’s safe enough for her. The problem is, it’s not exactly on the way home.
“Do you have something else planned?” asks Maddie, adding to the scrutiny being directed my way. Her eyes sparkle. “Is it a girl?”
I force my features to relax, and offer an empty stare that gives no hint of my inner, and totally irrational, turmoil. “I don’t date girls. Only women.”
“But you are dating?” she says with a smirk as if she’s caught me out. “Do you want to bring her to the Moncriefs’ charity gala? As lovely as it is to be shadowed by four gorgeous men, it would be nice to have some female company.”
“No date,” I say, and before anyone else can chime in on my personal life, I turn to Reid. “Fine, come on then.”