“How’s that?”
“More leverage with which to manipulate you. The only problem will be, of course, once Rick sees me. He’ll take one look and realize I’m no stranger, not to him and not to Leena.” He turned to face her. “But unfortunately, to Maddie I would be.”
She stared at him as the truth sank in. And it no longer mattered if they were being watched or not because he was right. “You met Rick in person? When? He rarely meets clients in person.”
“And yet I met you in person.”
“Yes, but that was only because . . .” She broke off, blushed. She’d flown to him under the guise of needing to talk to her client, an excuse that had worked with Rick at the time but had been nothing but a big, fat lie. “Never mind.”
The truth was, she’d flown to New Orleans to meet with Ben because she’d been attracted to him from the very start, to his voice, to the way he strung his words together, to how he seemed so laid-back and easygoing, so intelligent and yet utterly approachable.
And genuine. Kind and warm and genuine.
There had not been enough of that in her life, and she’d homed in on it like a bee to honey. Meeting him had only deepened her crush, and it had been a crush. A deep, heart-yanking crush. In person, he’d been even more dynamic than she’d expected, and her visceral reaction had shocked her.
She wanted him. Mind, spirit, and even more shocking, physically.
He’d been completely clueless, of course, and one-hundred-percent professional. Together, they’d pored over her design, talking for hours and hours.
And then he’d taken her to dinner. And over sushi and candlelight, over laughter and more easy talking, she’d done the unthinkable. She’d fallen.
Hard.
And then she’d had to go back to Stone Cay to make his design a reality and screw him over.
That she’d done so was her own personal humiliation and shame, and she’d take that to her grave.
But Ben would not be taking anything to his grave, not if she had anything to do about it.
He was regarding her from unfathomably deep eyes. “I contacted him after I discovered the swindle,” he said.
Her mouth fell open. “You what?”
“Did you think I wouldn’t? That I would just let it go and not care about the fact that I was robbed?”
“Most do,” she admitted. “All do. Because his clients are all of questionable wealth to begin with. So far no one’s wanted to admit they were a victim.”
“I was referred to him by a relative,” Ben said quietly, “of questionable wealth. I don’t know what came over me to actually use an acquaintance of his, and believe me, I’m extremely sorry I did, but I won’t be a victim for anyone.”
Certainly not for her.
The message was loud and clear.
“The problem is, of course,” Ben said, almost thoughtfully, “I’m now an expendable complication.”
Leena swallowed. She was afraid he was right, but the thought of Rick doing anything to Ben did something to her. It revealed her backbone, and she pointed at Ben now, stabbing a finger into his chest, which was hard and ungiving.
How the hell did a rich artist get so damned buff? “Nothing’s going to happen to you. Do you hear me?”
“Hard to miss. You’re shouting.” He rubbed his chest. “And ouch.”
“I mean it. You’re going to be okay.”
He let out a low laugh at that. “Sweetheart, look around. I’ve been taken and brought to what is for all intents and purposes a deserted island. I’m already pretty far from okay, and I have a feeling it’s not going to be the last of it.”
Oh, God. He was right. What could she do?
If only Maddie really was here. She could think incredibly quickly on her feet, but thinking quickly had never been a particularly strong suit of Leena’s.
At the knock on the door, her heart thumped hard against her ribs, and she glanced at Ben.
He lifted a shoulder.
They were pretty much helpless, and he knew it.
Before she could make a move, the door simply opened and Rick stood there.
He smiled at her, but it wasn’t a very nice smile. In fact, it curdled her blood, and she took a slight step in front of Ben.
The gesture was not missed, not by Rick and especially not by Ben, who stepped out from behind her with a fulminating don’t-you-dare look on his face.
But he had no idea what they were up against. Not really.
Unfortunately, she did.
“Greetings,” Rick said.
“Rick—”
He held up his hand to silence her, his sharp gaze locking on Ben. “Ah,” he said. “Interesting. Hope you’re enjoying your visit to Stone Cay, Mr. Kingman.”
“Considerate of you to ask.” Ben’s eyes flashed fury. “Considering that first, you insult me by swindling me out of a family heirloom, which I want back, by the way. And now you bring me here against my will.”
“Sorry about that second part. A most unfortunate accident. You will be returned to your gallery soon enough.”
Ben’s eyes narrowed. He didn’t believe it.
Neither did Leena.
Rick pulled out a two-way radio and spoke into it. “Have Ed and Saul sent to my office. They’ve managed to bring me the wrong sister. Which means it was Maddie we had here the first time. Explains the security cameras breach, yes?” Then he turned to Leena. “You’re going to call your sister. Tell her we’re having a family reunion, and her presence is required. Again.”
Leena shook her head.
“No? Then tell her you need her help.”
“But I don’t.”
“Actually, you do, but that’s neither here nor there at the moment.”
“You should have just let us go!” she cried. “It would have been smarter to just let us go!”
At that, his eyes cooled, nearly freezing her skin on the spot. “Call Maddie, Leena.”
When she hesitated again, he calmly pulled out a gun and pointed it at Ben.
She immediately opened her cell phone. Maddie’s cell phone.
“Atta girl,” Rick said approvingly.
Chapter 25
Maddie and Brody made it back to Sky High Air, where everything seemed so normal it was hard for Maddie to adjust. She walked into the lobby with the inviting leather couches, the tall, leafy plants, the huge maps spread over the walls. The scent was distinctive—jet fuel and oil—the sounds as familiar as breathing. She could hear a jet engine roaring, the thunk of a candy bar falling from one of the vending machines, a lineman yelling to another . . .
Home. She was home.
Too bad it wasn’t to stay. She had to find her sister, and in that vein, pulled Leena’s cell phone out of her purse to turn it back on from her flight.
It immediately vibrated, which had her heart racing. She retrieved the voice mail—from Leena!—but the fear in her voice reactivated Maddie’s.
“I’m on Stone Cay,” Leena said.
What?
“I’m here to . . . um, visit.”
No way. Whatever reason Leena had for being there, it wasn’t to “visit.”
“Anyway, it’s been so long since we’ve all been together, and Rick was thinking you might come back. For a family reunion sort of thing. Yeah. So . . . see you soon.”
Okay, this was bad. Maddie shut the phone, her brain racing.
Rick was on to them.
Somehow, he’d found out he’d had Maddie there on the island instead of Leena. Even worse, Leena was now bearing the brunt of his rage by herself. Now Rick wanted Maddie back on the island, and the only reason for that had nothing to do with a family reunion.
A family funeral, maybe, but not a reunion.
Brody came up to her, rifling through a stack of phone messages. “We’ve got a problem in maintenance,” he said. “Vince is freaking out, so if you need me—” He broke off, catching the look on her face. “You need me.”
From the corner of her
eye, she could see out the window, across the tarmac to where Vince, their mechanic, stood in front of the maintenance hangar, waving wildly for Brody. “I’m not first in line.”
“Maddie—”
“You’d better hurry. He looks apoplectic.”
Brody’s mouth went grim. “So we’re back to that already.”
“Well, we are in the real world, right?”
“And what the hell does that mean?”
“In the real world, we’re not married.” She had no idea why she said that or why the words brought her a little pang. She’d never wanted to be married and in fact, had promised herself she’d never give any man that much power over her.
She wasn’t safe with anyone having power over her. It was why she was the one who always walked away.
Always.
“In the real world,” she said, “we’re not a unit. We’re not lovers. In the real world . . .” In the real world, they spent their time bickering and butting heads at work. They didn’t see each other outside of it. “We’re not even friends.”
His eyes never wavered off her face. “In the real world, things change—” His cell phone buzzed. At the same time, Vince stuck his head inside the lobby, giving Brody a hands up that said, what’s keeping you?
“Popular man,” she said softly. “And you’ve really got to go.” She turned to walk off, but of course, he grabbed her arm and pulled her back around.
“I have a feeling you have to go, too,” he said tightly. “Am I right?”
“We can’t do this now, Brody. You have a job.”
“And you?”
“I have other things.”
“Goddamnit, Maddie. Don’t do this.”
She had to. She couldn’t let him go back with her, not when this time, Rick was on to them. He knew he’d been fooled, and he would not be happy, or kind.
Not that he was ever either of those things anyway, but it would get ugly. No way in hell was she going to risk Brody’s well-being again. But she was going to risk her own this one last time.
For Leena.
All she had to do was get there, get Leena out, and then they were home free. She’d worry about the particulars later.
Brody hit the ignore button on his phone, yelled something to Vince, and then turned back to Maddie, still holding on to her arm. “Why do I have the feeling that if I so much as turn my back, you’re going to go do something rash and stupid?”
“I think I resent that.”
“You mean you resemble that.” Two line guys came in from the tarmac, also looking for Brody. “Goddamnit.” He turned to Maddie. “I need ten minutes, okay? Give me ten minutes to see what I can postpone and what I can’t, and then we’ll go over our options.”
“Our options?”
“You are not going to do whatever it is you’re planning to do all by yourself.”
Oh, yes. She was. Stupid or not, she had to. There was no choice.
“I mean it, Maddie.”
“I can see that you do.” She craned her neck around his huge shoulders to see Vince pacing. “Now you really have to go. You’ve wasted enough time on me.”
“Not a minute of that time with you was wasted.” But he relented. “Ten minutes. Be here, Madelyn Stone.”
When she didn’t answer, he swore the air blue, whipped his cell phone out again, and punched in a number. “Shayne, where are you? Damn it, that won’t help me.” He hung up on Shayne and punched in another number. “Noah, I need you. Now. Yeah, lobby.”
Less than ten seconds later, the lobby door opened, and Noah came in from hangar one, smiling wide at the sight of them. “I just got in,” he said. “And Christ, you two are a sight for sore eyes. We’re overbooked and understocked and—” He broke off and divided a look between them. “Okay, what’s up?”
Brody grabbed Noah’s hand and put it on Maddie’s arm. “Vince has an emergency. The line guys have an emergency. I gotta go. Watch her for me, okay? Do not let her pull a disappearing act, and trust me, if you blink, she will.”
Noah’s brow vanished into the hair falling over his temple as he turned to Maddie. “What’s going on, Mad?”
Maddie rolled her eyes. “What’s going on is that your partner thinks he’s the boss of me.”
“Just hold on to her,” Brody commanded, thrusting a finger in Maddie’s direction. “Do not let go for one second, or she’s going to go do something colossally idiotic.”
Noah nodded agreeably. “Sure. I’ll just kidnap our favorite employee, hold her against her will, and then hand her back over to you like she’s your hostage. Is there anything else illegal you’d like me to do while I’m at it?”
“I don’t have time for your jokes, Noah, not now.”
“Who’s joking?”
Brody sighed, looked heavenward as if seeking divine intervention, and when it didn’t come, laid a long look on Noah. “Life or death,” he said very quietly. “Hers.”
“Brody, stop it.” Maddie did not intend to bring another person into the living hell that was her life, even if it was Noah, one of her favorite people on the entire planet. No way, no how.
But at Brody’s words, all kidding fled Noah’s face, and he brought up his other hand, holding both of Maddie’s arms now.
Maddie sighed.
“Thank you,” was all Brody said, clearly relieved, as he loped off.
“This is ridiculous,” Maddie said to Noah. “He’s completely overreacting.”
“See, that’s the thing. Brody never overreacts.” Noah brought Maddie in close and hugged her. “Which you already know. Now what the hell did you get yourself into?”
Maddie didn’t answer. Couldn’t. From over Noah’s shoulder, she watched Brody stride away from them out the door to the tarmac with Vince, those long legs churning up the distance as if it was nothing. Sure. Strong. Capable. He was all those things and more, so much, much more.
“Maddie?”
“You wouldn’t believe me even if I told you.”
“Try me.” When she didn’t answer, Noah pulled back and looked into her face. “Not too long ago, my life was so fucked up I couldn’t see straight, do you remember?”
She let out a breath. “Yes.”
“Right after the crash.”
A plane crash where he’d been the pilot. A crash that had killed his passenger. He’d nearly not recovered from that, and remembering it now, remembering his pain and how she’d felt it as if it’d been her own, her throat tightened. “I know.”
“You got me through that. You and Shayne and Brody.”
It hadn’t been easy. They’d bullied, babied, nagged, and just about begged Noah back from a deep, dark abyss. But he had made it back.
“You helped me, and now you’ll let me help you,” he said firmly.
“Noah.” Touched, scared, and just a little overwhelmed, she pressed her forehead to his comforting chest. “I can’t.”