Page 63 of Recklessly, Wildly Yours

He doesn’t answer her question. All he says is, “It’s your call, Madeline.”

Hayden would never make this offer to a client, only to family, and I communicate my gratitude to him with a nod when he glances at me while Maddie thinks about what he’s said.

“I need a minute,” she says before leaving us to go into the bedroom.

When the door closes behind her and a second later she commences screaming, my lips pull up in a grin. And when Hayden looks at me with an arch of his brows, I shrug and say, “I guess she’s got feelings about this.”

A couple of minutes later, she yanks the bedroom door open, strides back out into the living room, and with fierceness that I’ve sensed in her from the day I met her, she says, “I want you to go in guns fucking blazing.”

When she shifts her gaze from Hayden to me, still fierce, but also now a little the fuck am I doing, I nod my support for her choice.

Hayden’s phone rings and after glancing at it, he says, “It’s my assistant. I won’t be a minute.” With that, he leaves us to step outside and take the call.

As the door closes behind him, I close the distance between Maddie and me, and pull her in close. “You okay?”

She grips my shirt as she inhales a long, steadying breath. “Yes.”

“But?”

“But I want to kill Tucker.” Her eyes widen. “Like, for real. Fuck screaming, I’m ready to get a shotgun.”

“Well, he is the dickiest dick of all dicks, after all. He probably deserves death.”

Her eyes remain wide for a moment longer before her lips kick up slightly, and amusement creeps into those beautiful eyes I think I may never want to stop staring into. Her grip tightens on my shirt and I feel the tug as she tries to drag me closer even though that’s impossible. “I like that you do that,” she says softly.

“Do what?”

“You calm me down without telling me to calm down. But I know you’d listen to me if I needed to talk it out. And you’d be serious if I wanted that.” Her smile is as soft as she is right now. “I don’t know what magic you weave, but it works and I appreciate it.”

My phone rings in my pocket and I ignore it because I don’t want this moment to be broken.

After it stops ringing and starts again almost immediately, Maddie lets me go, pulls my phone from my pocket, and presses it to my chest. “Because I know you like to ignore your phone,” she says at the arch of my brows. Then, pushing up onto her toes, she brushes her lips over mine. “Take the call. I’m going to finish getting ready.”

I watch her as I put the phone to my ear. “What’s up?” I checked caller ID, so I know it’s Gage.

“I couldn’t get through to Hayden. Can you let him know I’m running about ten minutes late?”

I frown. “Late for what? He’s here in Nashville with me.”

“I’m late for my meeting with Madeline’s manager.”

My brain connects the pieces of the puzzle. “Hayden got the gambling info from you...and you’re the one who’ll ensure the manager agrees to whatever Hayden wants from him.” This makes sense. Hayden doesn’t deal in dirty work like this. Not when his job demands he remains clean. But Gage . . .Gage is the keeper of secrets and is more than happy to get his hands dirty when needed.

“You didn’t think Hayden would walk in there and extort them, did you?”

“Fuck.” I release a breath, staggered that my brothers are doing this for me. Because that’s what this is; Hayden may have taken Madeline on as a client, but he’s going to these lengths for me. And Gage is right there by his side. For me. “Thank you.”

“Yeah, well, you owe me. The next time you decide Europe’s a better option than home, you’ll be sending me a weekly check-in text.”

“I’m getting the impression you guys missed me.” I’m keeping shit light but I’m filled with massive regret for the second time today.

“I hope you’re getting the impression we were worried about you.”

“Loud and clear. I’m sorry, Gage. I fucked up.”

“Yeah, little brother, you did.”

The door to the suite opens and Hayden walks back in with a woman in tow.

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