"Has he done this before?" Was this some game? Was some of it real? Or was nothing at all?
"Yes," my brother snaps, making my stomach drop. I feel like I want to throw up, tears burning my nose. "I"ve seen him do it a hundred times when I worked with him in business deals and so on. He"ll do whatever it takes to get what he wants. He"s cold and will stop at nothing. Though I didn"t think he"d go to the level of lying. He might be a f.u.c.king shark, but he still always played by the rules."
"I meant, has he done this with women before."
Mark turns to look at me, zipping my bag up. "Women?" he asks, like he doesn"t get my question. I don"t know why I need to know this, but I do. I really don"t give a s.h.i.t about what he does at work. This coldness he"s talking about doesn"t sound like the Kenton I"ve come to know.
"Yes. With women."
He throws my bag over his shoulder and gives me an odd look for a second. I can feel the tension pulsing through my body as I wait for him to tell me. "I need this, please."
"Yes." The one word makes a tear slip free. It takes everything in me to not release the sob that is sitting in my throat. "Can we talk about this in the car on the way to the airport, Maddie? I wasn"t lying when I said I don"t know what he"s doing. I"ve never seen him go this far, and I don"t know what he"ll do next, but what I do know is that he has some kind of obsession with you."
I just nod, not knowing what else to do. I slip on the shoes and shorts Mark left out for me while packing and grab my purse. I feel nothing. I"m just numb. But a tiny part of me, hidden deep, wonders that if he"s done this to get me, what would he do to keep me?
Chapter Ten.
Kenton
A man can go only so long before he breaks, and that"s exactly what"s happened. It"s been two months. Two f.u.c.king months since I"ve touched her or even seen her, unless you count the pictures I have. That"s it. I thought I wanted her before, but now after having touched and tasted her, I can barely breathe without her. h.e.l.l, I can"t seem to do anything at all.
I just don"t f.u.c.king care what I have to do to get to her. Even if it means ripping down her own front door.
I walk towards her front door, a door I know all too well. I"d sat my a.s.s on her porch for a few days before Mark threatened a restraining order and still she hadn"t come out. But I"m not even sure she knew I was out here.
f.u.c.k Mark. I"m more than willing to spend a few nights in jail if I can talk to her for just a minute. Try to make her see reason. I never should have let him take her from the hut. I had no idea he was going to take her off the island so quickly, that they would find us so fast. My plans crashed all around me. I was supposed to have two more days with her, but I was stupid. I"d learned my lesson. Mark wasn"t to be trusted when it came to his little sister. None of her brothers could be.
Just like I would do anything to have her, they seemed to do anything and everything to keep her from me. I growl at the thought of anyone thinking they can.
Having been driven to the edge of madness, I raise my foot to kick the front door. But before I make contact, it flies open. Mark fills the doorway. I give him a hard look, and he holds his hands up before stepping aside and motioning for me to come in, taking me by surprise.
"How"s your hand?" he asks, shutting the door behind me.
"How"s Seth"s face?" I shoot back. My hand hasn"t been fine. I"d fractured a knuckle on his brother"s jaw after I watched Mark take off with my Madeline. Seth made some remarks that just didn"t sit well with me, that I was using Madeline and other things. I push back the thoughts, not wanting to punch another one of her brothers. She"s clearly already p.i.s.sed enough as it is.
Mark c.o.c.ks a half smile and starts walking down a hallway. I glance around to see if I can spot Madeline anywhere, wondering whether I should just go in search of her. He stops and turns to look at me.
"We need to talk first," he says with a grim expression on his face, making a shiver of fear snake up my spine.
"Is she--"
"Come on." He motions for me to follow him down the hallway until we turn and enter what I"m guessing is his office. He doesn"t go to sit behind his desk but walks over to a little bar, makes himself a drink, and shoots it back.
He holds the gla.s.s up in an offer, and I shake my head. I don"t want liquor on my breath when I go to talk to Madeline, which will be happening. I"m in the same house as her. I don"t know what is keeping me rooted to the spot and not ripping through the house looking for her.
Oh yeah, the grim f.u.c.king look on Mark"s face and the fact that he"d let me in without so much as a fight.
"She hasn"t left the house since we got back," he finally says.
"I know." If I didn"t have someone watching the house, then I was watching it. Just waiting for her to step out. People had come and gone, all of whom I"d had checked out, but they all linked back to Mark.
He sets the gla.s.s down on the bar and runs his hands through his hair.
"She hasn"t been herself. I think I f.u.c.ked up." He leans back against the wall. "I lied to her."
That has my stomach clenching and taking a step forward. I know Madeline has a reason to be mad at me. h.e.l.l, I f.u.c.king manipulated things to get her to me, but I"d hoped that she"d see why. That once she got to know me, she"d see I wasn"t who she thought I was. That we fit together. I needed her. The thought of her not needing me makes every part of me ache.
At first I thought I"d give her a few weeks, but she never left her home, and it seemed like it was worse than I thought.
"When we got back to the hotel she was different. h.e.l.l, in the cabin she snapped at me. That"s not Maddie. She"s sweet and soft. That just wasn"t her. Then, like I was saying, when we got back to the hotel she didn"t seem too interested in leaving. I could see the inner battle she was fighting, so..."
"So..." I push, needed to know what he"d said to her.
"I told her that you"re cold and how you tend to work." He pauses, but I say nothing. What is there to say to that? I"m great at my job, and sometimes I have to be a b.a.s.t.a.r.d to get things done. Yeah, I was cold sometimes, but not with my Madeline. She melted any cold that I had. Has from the moment I"d laid eyes on her. Set it all on fire.
"Then she asked me about you and other women. If you"d ever done what you"d done with her to them."
All the breath in my lungs freezes. I knew this was one of the reasons she held back from me in the beginning, believing some fake playboy image that wasn"t me.
"I said yes," he finishes.
Before I know what I"m doing I punch Mark right in the jaw, that all-too-familiar sting shooting through my hand. He doesn"t fight me, just takes the punch. The wall behind him keeps him from falling, but I turn away from him as I try to get myself under control.
"I think she"s in love with you, and I broke her heart." I can hear the remorse in his voice.
"Then why didn"t you speak up earlier?" I growl.
"Thought she"d get over it but..." I turn to look back at him as he wipes blood from his lip. "She isn"t."
"So you"re not going to fight me on this?" I eye him. I don"t get why he"s finally giving in.
"I didn"t want her with you because I thought you were cold and could never love her like she deserves to be loved. She"s soft, not like the rest of us." He walks over to the sofa and sits down. "She"s the heart of this family. Even more so with Mom gone. And I didn"t want to see that broken, but it is. I think I only made things worse."
I can see why he thinks I might be cold with her, but he has no f.u.c.king idea. There was nothing like that with Madeline, but it"s not him I have to convince of that. She"d seen it herself already, until he"d made it all a lie for her.
"Where is she?"
"Don"t hurt her."
"I will do everything in my power to never hurt that woman."
"Upstairs, second door on the left." I"m halfway out the door before he can finish. I bolt up the stairs, taking them two at a time, and fling open her door.
She lets out a squeal and shouts. "Could you knock?" She turns, trying to cover her very naked body but freezes when she sees me. Her eyes go big. Her lush lips part.
I step into the room, shutting the door behind me and flipping the lock. The sound echoes in the room. She grabs a towel from the bed and tries to cover up her perfection. But it"s too late. I"ve already seen it. Even the small little b.u.mp on her belly that makes a whole new set of feelings rush through me.
"How did you get in here?" She takes a step back, and it makes my heart feel like it"s being ripped from my chest.
"Mark let me in."
Her eyes go even wider at that.
"He told you?" Her hands go to her belly. "I was going to tell you. I just needed more time. I..." Tears fill her eyes, and I can"t stop myself from going to her. I pick her up and place her in my lap as I sit on the side of her bed. She doesn"t fight me. Just sinks right into me like she belongs there. Because she does.
I let her sweet smell wrap around me. f.u.c.k, I"ve missed that. The blanket I"d taken from her hotel room has long lost the smell of her.
My hand goes to her stomach protectively. "No, he didn"t tell me." I kiss her neck, and she leans into it.
"I"ve missed you," she mumbles, and I watch her mouth close tightly, like she can"t believe she said it aloud for me to hear.
"I"ve more than missed you," I tell her, making her look up at me, her eyes still filled with tears.
"I kept hoping you"d come for me, and when you didn"t, I thought maybe I was just some weekend fling for you." I see defeat in her, and I hate that she thinks I didn"t come. I lived on the porch until I was made to move.
"I did." I kiss her neck again before pulling back to look in her eyes again. "I tried anyway. Then today I kind of snapped and your brother just let me in."
She glances at the door like she thinks he might come bursting in the room at any moment.
"He"s not coming, baby. He knows he f.u.c.ked up. He lied."
Her mouth falls open a little bit.
"There has never been anyone but you. When I told you that on the island, I wasn"t lying. I never once in my life chased after a woman, and I will never chase after one unless it"s you. You, I"d chase forever, even if it meant I"d never get you. I"d still make the chase just to try."
Chapter Eleven.
Madeline
A tear slips free and then another. "I should have known." Why hadn"t I questioned my brother?
I guess because I didn"t think he"d lie to me, but I was wrong. I"m sure he thinks he had his reasons, but it"s still beyond messed up. I"d been on that island with him. I knew how he felt. I could see it in his face, but I questioned myself. I"d never been on the receiving end of a man"s affections before.
I"ve been miserable. I"d never wanted to leave that island, not even after everything they"d told me he"d done to get me there. I"d wanted to stay. I liked the idea that he"d fought so hard to get me close to him. But it shattered me when Mark made it seem like it was something he"d done before.
"Don"t cry. No one can rip us apart again unless we let them. And I won"t let that happen. I will always come for you. Always."
"I love you," I tell him. I never stopped over the past few months, even when I wanted to hate him, I still loved him.
"I love you, too, my sweet Madeline."
He turns us so I"m lying on the bed, and he moves over me, pushing the towel out of the way. His big hand rests on my little baby b.u.mp, and his eyes are just a touch teary.
"On the island? How?"
"I guess I wasn"t so good with remembering my pills, or maybe I was and they just failed. I don"t know. But it seems like we made a baby. On the first try." I can"t help but shrug my shoulder and let out a little laugh as Kenton smiles at me.
I can"t believe I"m showing already. Most of the stuff I"ve read online said I wouldn"t for a while. But it looks like our little one is ready for the world to know. I was so overwhelmed when I got back and missed my period. Then I missed it again four weeks later. It was then I had to tell Mark I needed a pregnancy test. I was scared to tell him, but he did so without question. He lied to me, and now looking back, maybe this was his way of trying to help. I was so upset about being separated from Kenton, I couldn"t leave the house. I had no desire for anything. Then I found out I was having his baby. A spark inside me grew because I knew deep in my heart that if I told him, he"d want to be a part of the baby"s life. And that meant a part of my life. I could never reconcile what he"d shown me when we were together with what Mark told me. Now I know it was because it was all a lie. I met the real Kenton when we were stranded, and I believed everything he said. I should have gone with my gut instead of letting someone else tell me how to feel. I could punch Mark in the face for what he did, but Kenton is here now, and all"s right with my world.
"I came here every night and sat on your front steps. Mark threatened to get a restraining order, and I backed off a little." He looks up to me and gives me a sad smile. "I just stayed on the other side of the street. But every night I came here and hoped you"d leave. I only needed one second to explain and make you see that what happened was because I care so much for you. From the moment we met, I"ve been gone for you, Madeline. I"ve felt like I couldn"t breathe these past two months. And now here I am, with you in my arms."
He leans down and places a soft kiss on my lips. I melt into him, missing his touch. His hand rubs my baby b.u.mp, and he pulls back.
"And now we have this. Our love made this little miracle, and we"re going to be bound together for the rest of our lives. Tied to one another in every way possible." He reaches in his pocket and takes out a small box.
My hands go to my mouth, and I look up at him in shock.
"Madeline, I bought this for you after the night of the fundraiser when I first saw you. I had it with me on the island, and I"d hoped you"d leave there wearing it." He takes a deep breath and continues. "Things changed and didn"t go according to plan, but I came here today to kick in the front door and drag you out if I had to. Then that plan changed, and here I am, holding you and finding out I"m going to be a dad. This ring has been with me through all of this, and it"s time I put it on your finger where it"s meant to be."
He opens the box and pulls out an enormous emerald-cut diamond solitaire. I don"t know much about rings, but I know this sucker would make Kim Kardashian jealous.
"Oh, Kenton," I mumble around my hands, unable to move.
He gives me a shy smile like he knows the ring is a breath away from being obnoxiously big. "I just wanted to make sure everyone knew you were taken." He pulls my hand from my mouth and slides it on. "There. Perfect."
I stare at it, seeing it sparkle in the light, and I"m stunned silent for a moment.
"Wait. Did we just get engaged? You didn"t ask me to marry you." I c.o.c.k an eyebrow at him in question.
"Men only ask when they aren"t sure of the answer they"ll receive. There"s no alternative to you being with me, Madeline. So there"s no point in asking."
He leans down, kissing my mouth to keep me from saying anything else. And his lips and tongue are so thorough that he dissolves whatever feeble protest I would have tried to make. He moves down to my neck, nibbling on me as he goes, and kisses down between my b.r.e.a.s.t.s.
"I never got the chance to taste all of you on the island, but I"m taking care of that right this second," Kenton says, moving lower down my body.