The biggest bad boy pilot of them all.
Brody stood there in the doorway in all his furious glory, of which there was lots.
Oh, God. Lots.
Eyes positively crackling with withering temper, he pointed at her.
You.
He stepped inside like he didn’t give a shit what anyone thought of him, and she happened to know that was most definitely true. He really didn’t.
His stride was long-legged, easy, and confident as hell as he came toward her.
She’d have paid every penny she would ever earn in her entire life to have a fraction of that confidence. Oh, she had no doubt that she walked a good game, talked a good game, and could fake it with the best of them.
But she wanted the real thing.
Brody was the real thing. Tall, dark, and completely one-hundred percent attitude-ridden, he stopped in front of her, legs spread, arms crossed over his chest.
Maybe he was here to wish her a good trip. Ha. And maybe Santa Claus would actually come this year.
Chapter 12
Maddie stared up at the one man she’d thought she’d never get to see again. How had he gotten his car started so quickly without keys? He was only thirty minutes behind her-
“Hot-wired it,” he said. “In case you’re wondering.”
Damn, he was good, but that didn’t explain how he knew she’d be here.
Shutting the door behind him to give them privacy, privacy she most definitely did not want, he leaned back against it, arms still crossed.
Casual pose.
Not a casual man.
“Dani ratted me out,” she guessed.
He merely arched a brow, clearly inviting her to give this more thought.
“She called Shayne,” she decided. “Shayne called you, then stalled me. Damn almost-married people, they’re all too loyal and trusting.”
“Speaking as a relatively new husband myself,” he said with a boatload of dry sarcasm, “all the trust in the room really boggles. Where’s your gun?”
She blinked. “My what?”
“I saw the bullets in your underwear drawer, Maddie. Where’s the gun to go with them?”
“You went through my panties?”
“The gun, Maddie.”
She shrugged, then winced at the movement in her shoulder, and he went utterly still, reminding her that he was a helluva lot easier to handle when he thought she was hurting. Whether that was lingering guilt because she’d been shot here at Sky High or just simply the weight of his penis bogging him down, she had no idea, but she was going to shamelessly use it to her advantage.
She had no choice.
“You didn’t take your painkillers,” he said tightly. “Since you left before I brought them to you.”
“I’m weaning myself off them.”
“Noah said that Bailey said that your doctor said you still need them.”
“Noah and Bailey need to worry about themselves. Everyone needs to worry about themselves.”
“Shit.” Looking stymied by her very existence, he let out a long, careful breath.
Not the only one frustrated here, she understood the sentiment perfectly.
With another long exhale, he paced the length of the suite as she’d done only a moment before, then moved toward the bed where she sat, his body and all the muscles in it-of which there were tantalizingly many-moving like poetry in motion. “You’re in no shape to be flying anywhere.”
“I’m fine.” But she lay back and closed her eyes. Playing it up, even just a little, wasn’t all that hard, she discovered, since she was weak with fear for her sister. “Where’s my pilot?”
“You’re looking at him.”
Her eyes flew open. He could fly like nobody’s business; she’d seen him in action hundreds of times. He flew with concentrated proficiency, his eyes sharp, his body deceptively relaxed. But it couldn’t be him, not for this trip. “I didn’t hire you.”
“No, I hired you.”
“I’m not talking about my job, Brody, and you know it. Today, I’m a paying customer. And I paid for Jason.”
“If you’re flying anywhere today, I’m taking you.”
“Bad idea.”
“I’m your husband, remember?”
She winced. “Would you stop flinging that word around like it’s real?”
“Sure. Soon as you stop walking away from anyone and everyone who cares about you. What happened to the kick-ass Maddie Stone? Because the one I knew would never run away like a little girl.”
“I’m not running. And for the record, it’s Leena who pretended to be married to you.”
“Ah. And where is Leena?”
“She’s…” She debated for a beat, then gave in. Sort of. “She’s in bigger trouble than I thought.”
“Shock.”
“I’m going to go help her.”
“Again with the I.”
Frustration had her tossing up her hands. “Brody, don’t you get it? It’s not that I don’t want you to understand what’s going on here, or that I wouldn’t rather have you with me, but that I can’t ask it of you.”
That took him back. “Why not?”
“Why not?” She sputtered for a moment, trying to figure out a good reason why not. She ended up trying something new-the whole, unadulterated truth. He deserved it. “Because I’m afraid for you. Okay? I can’t do what I have to do while I’m worried about you.”
His eyes softened, but his tough guy stance did not. “I’m a big boy, Mad. I can take care of myself.”
Actually, she’d noticed that. In fact, with his walking-talking attitude and all that sinew-wrapped maleness oozing from his every pore, he could more than handle himself.
“You’re going to Stone Cay?”
“Yes.”
“To talk to the asshole on the phone.”
“Hopefully not, no. To stop my sister from talking to the asshole.”
“Okay.” He straightened. “I’m doing this,” he said when she opened her mouth. “You can kick my ass for it later. That’s the deal. Take it or leave it.”
She stared up into his determined face. He had badass attitude written all over him. He wouldn’t back down. He never backed down. And suddenly, she didn’t want him to. “Take it,” she whispered.
Staying right where he was, he met her gaze evenly. Fiercely. “So we’re a unit on this. On Sister Rescue 101. Right?”
“A unit,” she agreed. For now.
“Until it’s done.”
She sighed. “Brody-”
“Until it’s done.”
He wouldn’t budge. And no matter that she wanted to do this alone, she couldn’t. “Okay, yes. Until it’s done.” Great. Yet another plan. How the hell did this keep happening to her?
With a short nod, Brody turned and left the suite without another word, and she let out a slow breath.
What had she just done?
Brody made a stop in Miami for fuel and Customs, then landed in Nassau at ten that night, just ahead of a mother of a storm that he was grateful to have missed.
Nassau, the bustling hub of the Bahamas since the shipwrecking days of Blackbeard, wasn’t really visible in the dark, but he’d been here before. The city always reminded him of any small Massachusetts town set down amongst palms and pines and iridescent sands.
Normally, calm waters and cooling trade winds were the trademark here, but not tonight. Tonight, the winds drove the treetops nearly to the ground, and though he couldn’t see the water, he could hear it, whipped into a frenzy. The air was heavy, beyond muggy, and so hot that his skin steamed.
Or that might have been lingering temper.
He’d nearly missed her. If he’d sat around with his thumb up his ass at the cabin for another ten minutes or if Shayne hadn’t stalled her…
Luckily, that hadn’t happened, and here he was. Letting out a breath, he grabbed Maddie’s overnight bag and his own duffel bag, and stood on the tarmac as the storm hit hard. When a bolt of lightning slashed down, followed immediately by a deafening crack of thunder, the lineman who was attempting to tie down the Lear shook his head. “Got in just in time, mate.”