by Lexi Blake
One more kiss. One more minute. Just one more memory of her.
He kissed her hard and long, his body rubbing against hers. He could feel the press of her breasts against his chest, the slide of her tongue along his. His whole body was tuned to hers and, more than that, his soul seemed to find peace simply being near her.
He loved her so fucking much. She was his queen. She was his.
His to protect.
He kissed her for a second more and then gently pushed her away. “Shelby, I can’t do this with you.”
She took a step back. “All right. I’ll find a place for me and Remy and an office space, but I’m not leaving Austin and I’m not lying. If anyone asks, I love you. I’m yours. When you decide you’re ready, know I’m waiting.” She smiled slightly. “I’ll see you there tonight. Save me a dance.”
He wasn’t sure what had just happened. “I’m a horrible dancer.”
“Then you’re in luck because I’m quite good.” She started to walk away, her luscious ass swaying. She stopped and her head swiveled back, her eyes on him. “And Drew? Don’t flirt with other women.”
Shit. She was hot on a normal basis, but when she was mean, she was a fucking volcano of sex appeal. Perfect. Sultry.
“I’ll see you there, Drew.”
“You should go back to Dallas. This won’t work.” He wasn’t sure this was a Shelby he could handle at all. She might be too much woman for him.
A woman who wouldn’t leave him despite his problems. A woman who could handle him. A woman who might be payment for all of his pain.
Not payment. Reward. A gift he’d never expected. One he would treasure and love and take care of forever. A woman he would honor because she was all the good things of the world rolled into one beautiful package. A woman he could build something with because she was the rock-solid foundation of the world he wanted to live in.
He needed her. Even watching her walk away hurt like hell. How could he live in the same city as her and not be close to her?
The power had shifted from him to her, and he wasn’t sure that he didn’t like it that way. Hadn’t the power always been hers anyway? She was the prize and he the petitioner. Willing to do anything to protect and shelter and love her.
He’d said time and again that she made him crazy.
She made him better. She made him human. All his compassion and love flowed from her.
She turned and gave him a brilliant smile. “No going back. Only forward. There’s no future without you. I won’t leave you behind. Do you understand me? I heard what you said to Noah that night. You told him you would always save him. I’ll always save you, Andrew Lawless. You are the be-all, end-all of my life, and I won’t ever leave you. When you’re ready, your future is here. I love you.”
His vision did that weird, blurry thing as she turned away from him and joined his sister.
She loved him.
“You’re going to let her walk away?” Hatch shook his head as Shelby joined Mia and the others.
“Apparently she’s not going far. She’s moving back in tonight. I would lock the house up, but I don’t think it would work. She’d hire someone to break in and still be here waiting for me.” She would be here. No matter what he did. No matter what he said or how he fucked up. No matter how awkward he could be or how lost he could get.
Shelby would be here to rescue him.
Was that what he’d lost all those years ago? Was that what had burned away in the fire? He’d lost his childhood, but now he figured out what that meant. Childhood was that time in a person’s life when he believed someone would always save him. It was a time that marked a man, and he either believed he was worth saving or not. The two people who could have truly taught him he was worthy had died that night, his father murdered and his mother proving to be nothing but a lie.
His siblings had always been destined to leave him. Hatch’s betrayal should have been the last nail in the coffin. He should understand that love and friendship weren’t things meant for him.
She turned and there was a smile on her face that lit up his world. He should see things through the same dark glass he’d been looking through since that night, but he couldn’t. She was here and she’d brought her light in.
He could choose. He could stalk back into the darkness. He could make her leave or, better yet, leave himself. He could go somewhere none of them could find him and start over. They were all together and all happy, and eventually Shelby would find some man who was actually worthy of her.
Or he could accept that he was worthy. He could accept that he wasn’t perfect, but as long as he was there for her, as long as he tried, that was all she would expect.
He could forgive his father.
Dear God, he could forgive Hatch.
If he did that, maybe it would be easier to forgive himself for being human, for needing her, for being selfish enough to let her stay with him because he was stronger with her by his side.
She winked as she walked out, but he felt so fucking stuck. Stuck between the past and the future. Stuck between what he knew and what he so desperately wanted.
And it didn’t matter because she would be here when he came home tonight. She would go to the party and offer him her hand if he was brave enough to take it.
His sister looked back at him, frowning fiercely as though he’d been the one threatening Shelby.
The door closed behind them as they left for the reception, and he was alone with Hatch again.
“You have to be able to see that woman knows what she wants. I understand everyone else has let you down, but you can’t judge the world like that, son,” Hatch pleaded. “You can’t shut yourself off from all the good stuff in life because one bad thing happened.”
“You did.” He could see it so easily now. He’d thought Hatch’s sojourn from the world had been about his guilt, but it had been pain. He’d loved and lost a woman. Perhaps she hadn’t been worthy of that love, but it had destroyed Hatch all the same.
“I did. I buried myself away. I did it because the pain and grief and guilt were too much to bear, but I found something that worked so much better than alcohol. You. You saved me when you walked in that door, and I realized that I should have fought. I should have ignored the damn pain and been a man. I should have taken you all in because I loved your parents. I let my grief and guilt overwhelm my love, but I won’t do it again, Drew. It’s why I joined that damn sad-sack club and why, no matter what you do or say, I won’t abandon you again. I’ll stay sober because you might need me for something. Any one of you. I’ll be what I should have been all those years before. I’ll love you like my son, and I’ll be a better father this time. And I’ll never stop telling you that the best revenge you can have is to love that woman. It’s to not let Iris win. It’s to live your life and be happy, son. It’s what she was never able to do.”
Live his life. Live a life with Shelby. A life where he wasn’t plotting and planning anything but the next way to please her. A life where he had a future. Where they had babies who would grow into obnoxious, nerdy kids he would be so fucking proud of. Kids who would play with their cousins and who would never spend a second thinking no one would save them.
It could all go to hell. He knew that. That one truth in the universe had been tattooed on his soul the night his father died.
What did any of it matter if he didn’t try?
“I’m going to marry her.”
A long sigh came from Hatch’s chest. “I’m so glad to hear that. Whether or not you invite me to the wedding, know that I’m going to be so proud of you.”
“I don’t know how to deal with you.” The thought of it twisted him up. There was still so much anger that sat in his gut.
Hatch put up his hands. “You give it time and know I’ll be here for you. It doesn’t have to be today. Doesn’t have to be tomorrow. Just kn
ow that no matter what you decide, I’m here.”
Was that all a father had to do? Be there?
He was saved from having to answer by a trill from his cell phone. A text came through from Noah.
Can you come out to the pool house? Need to talk to you. Please, Drew. It’s important.
“I thought you said Noah went with Riley and Ellie?” Drew strode to the window.
“He did. He left an hour ago, but it looks like he came back. They took the Audi and it’s sitting in the drive.” Hatch was beside him. “You do know it was probably Noah who sent those e-mails.”
Drew stared out at the pool house. There was a light on in the back. “I do. I also know what it means to be a scared, manipulated kid. My first instinct is to go out there and try to figure out how I can help him. When the fuck I did change? I should call the cops and have him kicked out, but I can’t.”
“He’s your brother. You’ll always walk in to save him.”
“I think she wants to kill me.” It was a sick feeling in his gut. And then he saw it. The curtains moved slightly, and he saw a masculine hand shifting the fabric, staring out. That wasn’t Noah. A huge man was looking out the window, very likely the one Shelby had seen that day in the café. For the briefest of seconds, he caught a glimpse of his brother. Noah was on the sofa, his hands tied and a gun at his head.
A gun held by his mother.
The cell trilled again.
Please, Drew. Please.
“What the hell is going on?” Hatch asked.
His brother was about to be killed. Drew was right back in the moment. He’d stood on the stairs and felt the heat blast through him and knew he couldn’t run. He’d called out for his father. For his mother. And then he’d glimpsed the bodies through the smoke and had known that he was alone.
He’d known that they were all his responsibility now. The door had been right there. He hadn’t realized at the time that it would be blocked and barricaded. His first thought had been to run. He was a kid. He needed to get an adult. He could make it to the front door before the flames made it impossible. If he waited, there would be no way to get downstairs. They would be trapped upstairs, trapped with his siblings.
And even at fourteen, he’d known he would rather die than live knowing he’d left them.
He’d made his promises. It was time to keep the one to his youngest sibling.
“Call Taggart back. Tell him my mother’s here and I’m walking into a trap. He can’t have gotten far. He’ll know what to do.” Taggart would be armed to the teeth and he would have Case with him. If anyone could save him, it would be his brothers-in-law. “Then call the police. Keep Shelby from seeing anything she shouldn’t.”
Hatch’s eyes went wide. “You can’t go over there.”
But he had to. If he didn’t show up soon, his mother would follow through. She would cut her losses, and that loss would be Noah. He was certain she had a backup plan that involved his brother’s corpse. “Keep them safe, Hatch. And I forgive you.”
“Drew, he’s been working against you,” Hatch pleaded.
It didn’t matter. “He’s my brother. Tell Shelby I love her very much.”
He walked out the door toward the pool house and the meeting he was fairly certain he’d been destined to have all of his life.
Chapter Nineteen
Shelby turned and looked out the back of the limo as it started down the drive. She stared at the house and wanted that door to open and Drew to call the car back. She watched the door, praying, until they made the turn and it was out of sight.
“I know you don’t want to hear this, but I think he needs time,” Mia said.
She would give it to him. She’d known simply walking back into his life didn’t mean he would immediately give in. This was merely her opening move in what might be a long game. “What do I do if he locks me out of the house?”
Case snorted a little. “Remy can get in. Tell him there’s a six-pack in the fridge with his name on it, and Remy will break right into that sucker for you.”
“He’s excellent at defeating security systems,” Ian Taggart agreed. “One of his varied skills.” Ian turned to look at Mia. “Was Crazy Eyes right? Are your brothers changing their names?”
Now she had crazy eyes?
Mia smiled as the car approached the gates. “Yes, she’s correct. It’s something we’ve all talked about. I’m going to change mine, too. Mia Lawless-Taggart. I think that makes me the most badass Taggart of all.”
“When you’ve killed a man with a nail gun, we’ll talk,” Charlotte said, looking out the window. “I think it’s a lovely idea. It will help Drew feel like a member of the family instead of simply being its defender. He won’t feel so alone. And Shelby, that was very badass of you. He was practically panting. I’m surprised he’s not chasing after the car right now.”
“He’ll play it cool.” Taggart looked surprisingly comfortable in his tux. “But I suspect Shelby’s going to find herself dragged into a broom closet at some point tonight. Don’t be shocked if he can’t help himself and then he gets pissed afterward. It’s how guys handle shit like this. We lose control and take what we need and then get a little pissy about it, but that only means we need time to adjust our thinking.”
Case shook his head. “It’s how you handled it. I immediately apologized and begged my baby to come back.”
Mia’s jaw dropped. “Are you joking?”
Charlotte shook her head. “He learned this trick from his brother. They rewrite history. According to Ian, he welcomed me with open arms when I came home after five years away.”
“That’s totally how I remember it. I missed you, baby.” Taggart winked his wife’s way.
“Drew’s going to be smarter than you both,” Shelby said. Somehow deep down she knew it was going to be okay. “He’s very logical. I can assure you he’s sitting in that house thinking about what the odds are of him being able to hold out. He’ll come to the proper conclusion that he can’t and he’ll give in.”
She hoped.
She’d felt his longing. It had been right there in the way he held her, in how his lips had moved over hers. He had missed her. His eyes lit up the minute he saw her, and he hadn’t managed to hold back his reaction.
If only he’d gotten in the car with her.
Damn the FBI agents. If they hadn’t come around with that ridiculous restraining order, Drew might be sitting beside her. The coverage had started to die down. There hadn’t even been reporters at the gates today. She was sure there would be plenty at the reception, but they’d stopped camping out at the gates, waiting for random shots of the elusive Drew Lawless.
She’d hoped since the coverage had died down that he would be a little more vulnerable, but the first thing she’d walked in on was the damn FBI giving him more bad news.
He’d relaxed for a moment. When he’d kissed her, his whole body had wrapped around her like he couldn’t stand that there was any distance between them at all. In that moment, he wasn’t thinking about how he could hurt her. He’d only been thinking of her.
He would come around. It was all about patience.
And research. She could move this process along by taking down Iris Lawless. She needed to prove that Iris had murdered a couple of husbands. She had some investigators working on it and the financials of the situation. The devil was in the details. In the legal forms and financial reports. She needed to see the bank statements and the wills. The transactions.
The wills.
She looked over at Mia. “Drew said something about your father’s will. The feds found out something about it.”
“I talked to Hatch while you were making out with big brother,” Mia replied. “He said they found out Dad had changed his will a couple of weeks before he was murdered. Hatch is going to get a copy of it so we can go through it, but I think it prove
s Dad knew something was going on. The fact that he didn’t name Hatch as our guardian meant he knew about that as well.”
That explained a few things, but left other questions. Still, the idea of wills played around in her brain.
“I can verify that Hatch has done nothing in the last twenty years,” Case said. “I ran a deep investigation on him the minute I got the clearance. Ian even used some of his contacts to make sure we were going deep enough.”
“Hatch has been doing exactly what he says he has,” Ian admitted. “From what I can tell, he very likely did get caught up in the assassination plan because Iris told him the money was for a divorce. He had an appointment with a lawyer set the week after Benedict was killed. Obviously he didn’t keep it.”
Mia sat back. “Hatch did something stupid a long time ago. Ever since Drew found him again, he’s been family to us. I’m not happy he had the affair, but I can’t wipe out everything he’s done for us since then.”
Hatch had acted more like a brother than a father, she supposed. The thought made a vision of her own brother cross her mind. Johnny. He’d been so protective and kind. Her brother had left her everything in his will. Somehow he’d been smart enough to actually have one. He’d left her all his research and everything he owned. He’d gone to a lawyer in LA. When she’d met with him, she’d thought he was skeevy and probably chased a lot of ambulances, but he’d made the transfer easy.
The limo rolled out onto the road.
Had Iris changed the plan when she’d figured out what that will would likely do to a potential investigation? Had she initially been planning to kill Francine? Or had she thought she would take the cash for herself? Had she changed the plan when she realized what the criminal clause in Benedict’s contract could do for her?
Such a simple thing to change a name. One minute Iris had the world at her feet, and the next she didn’t have any say because Benedict had changed one tiny document.
She heard Ian and Case start talking about something, but her mind was whirling.
The will might be important. She’d always thought she would get Iris in the tiny details. Most people looked at the big picture, but sometimes the real story was in the small print.
