Page 89 of Reckoning

Someday, maybe, I told myself as we came down.

I pulled out but kept my body on top of hers. We were once again damp with sweat, and I breathed in the musky athletic smell of her as we panted together on the ground.

“I don’t deserve you,” I whispered, kissing the soft hairs at the back of her neck. Whatever gods had conspired that she should love me despite what I’d done to her would be thanked for the rest of my days. Though I still needed their help to keep her.

She rolled around to face me, burying her face in my neck.

“Of course you do. We deserve each other.”

*

When we opened the door hours later, expecting the food delivery, we found Shawn holding our food instead of an anonymous delivery boy. Maddie ushered him in, and I thanked the stars for having the good sense to tidy up before we could be discovered. Shawn’s eyes raked Maddie’s body, and I tensed.

“Relax, Meyer.” She slid her hand into mine and pulled me against her. I shook off her hand only to wrap my arm all the way around her waist and pull her against me.

Shawn scowled but put down the food. “I assure you my interest is strictly medicinal.”

“She’s fine.” I stepped between them and stole the food, sorting out Maddie’s tofu curry and my own chicken pad thai before shoving half the plate into my face at once.

I glanced at Maddie as she swallowed a smile at my sudden change in demeanor, stepping up into this protective alpha male shield that I was wearing so differently now that things had changed between us. Where beforehand my anger and protectiveness had been centered on punishing her, I was now looking to protect her from everything that came her way. I figured she’d get sick of it at some point but too bad. She’d get used to it.

Sufficiently satisfied that she was relatively healthy, Shawn settled into a chair across from me and tented his fingers underneath his chin. “We need to talk.”

“So talk.” I was about two words from throwing him out of his own condo, gracious as he’d been. I didn’t know what we needed to do next, but it wasn’t talk to him.

“Do you want to give us some privacy?” He directed the question at Maddie, but I spoke before she could.

“She does not. What’s going on?”

Shawn hesitated, but I kept on eating like nothing was wrong. Maddie sat next to me and began to eat her own meal, taking a tentative bite at first and then shoveling the food faster as her hunger reared its head. I shot her a knowing look and wiggled my eyebrows before returning to my food.

Shawn cleared his throat. “I spoke with Anita.”

Maddie tapped her fork against the foam cup anxiously. I put a hand on her knee.

“What did she have to say for herself?”

“Nothing at all. She’s completely unapologetic. And Conrad won’t let her take responsibility, either.” He picked at his nail beds incessantly. I wrinkled my nose as dead skin flaked onto the tabletop.

Pushing away my empty plate, I leaned back in my chair and rubbed the space between my eyebrows with the fingers of my damaged hand. Shawn’s eyebrows rose, then furrowed, as he took in the bandaging. He looked at Maddie, and she smiled sadly.

“Does that happen often?” Shawn gestured to my bandages. Maddie grabbed my other arm and lifted it to the countertop, running her fingers along the scar on my forearm. She didn’t say a word. Shawn sighed heavily. “Shit, man, I’m sorry I didn’t—”

“It wasn’t your fault.” I snatched my arm back and folded it beneath the other. I didn’t appreciate being talked about like this. “Did Conrad come up with some way to fix the problem?”

“He’s called a meeting with some senators, actually, trying to get ahead of the damage. He’s promising full cooperation into a federal investigation.”

“That’s helpful,” I muttered. Damn if the man didn’t have a mind for business. The company wasn’t successful due to ruthlessness alone; he knew how to make the best out of every bad situation that arose.

“But we’re bleeding shareholders. Customers are canceling their contracts left and right. We’ll be dead in the water soon if we can’t regain the public’s trust.”

I snuck a glance at Maddie, who was biting her lip and staring at her feet as if she’d been caught misbehaving. “Will the company go under? Or will someone try to buy it?”

There was no missing the undercurrent of excitement in her voice. I leaned back a little as I looked at her, contemplating while Shawn answered.

“It would take a real daredevil to buy the company now, even assuming Conrad would sell. Not that I think he would. He’d probably let the company go under before he handed over control.”

She pursed her lips to hide her smile. I clenched the edge of the counter.

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