Page 11 of His Forever

“Guy Maranga is one of the most powerfulmenin the world,” he corrected.

I cocked an eyebrow at him.

He sighed, knowing he had to concede. “Which is now you.”

“Exactly.” I returned to digging through the trunk. “Now, if I can just find my damn cardigans. Why don’t you go pack while I deal with this?”

Sig sighed but pushed off the armoire, ready to leave. “Like it’s gonna take me more than ten minutes to pack.”

I waved my hand at him. “Better to take those ten minutes now instead of right before we fly out tomorrow.”

“Did you want to take the Bombardier or the G280?”

I grabbed two cardigans and tossed them in the bag. I zipped my bag halfway shut, pausing. “We’ll take the G280. It’s not a long flight.”

Sig nodded. “I’ll make sure the plane’s ready to leave at nine.”

“Does that mean you’re done telling me I’m thinking with my heart and not my head?”

He gave me a look that softened the tension between us. Sig had been with me through too much for me to brush him off completely. His insight always came from a place of care, even when it annoyed me.

“It means I know you’re hard-headed, and you’ve already made up your mind.”

Our eyes met, and we both smiled.

“And I’m along for the ride,” we said in unison.

It was something Sig had said a thousand times when Guy was showing me the ropes before he died. Every time things got tense, every time a decision had to be made, Sig would shrug and say, “I’m along for the ride.” And he was. He never left my side, even when it was clear things were about to get rough.

As he moved toward the door, I called his name.

“Yeah?” He half-turned, waiting for whatever else I had to say.

“Do you think I’m making a mistake?”

He shrugged. “I guess we’ll find out.” He leaned against the doorframe and his expression softened. “You’ve got a lot of unfinished business with Leo, and I’m not talking about Candace. Maybe figuring that shit out will be good for you.”

I laughed, shaking my head. “Oh boy, I think I’d rather deal with Candace than Leo.”

Sig chuckled, giving me a wink. “Yeah, I don’t think that’s gonna happen.”

He left the room and shut the door behind him to leave me alone with my thoughts.

Candace was the immediate problem, but Sig was right—Leo was another thing entirely. There was too much history between us, and I wasn’t sure if I had the strength to dig through it. Every part of me wanted to focus on the job at hand, to do what neededto be done, but Leo had a way of pulling my attention back to the past.

But this wasn’t the past anymore. I wasn’t the same person, and neither was he.

Whatever happened next, I’d be ready.

Leo

I stood there in the dim hallway and watched Sig slip out of Brynn’s bedroom. My jaw clenched instinctively. It wasn’t that I had any right to be upset—I hadn’t seen Brynn in over twenty years, and who was I to judge who she kept close? But still, the sight of Sig leaving her room... it caught me off guard, and not in a way I liked.

Was there more between them than him being her bodyguard? I didn’t know, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to. Hell, she’d been married, for God’s sake. To Guy Maranga, no less. That alone should have been enough to shake me, and it had, but this... seeing another man leave her bedroom so casually, it hit me in a place I thought I’d closed off years ago.

But who was I kidding? If I had known about Guy Maranga back then, if I had knownanythingabout Brynn’s life after we split, you can bet your ass that marriage would have ended a whole lot sooner. The thought of her being with Guy—ruthless, cruel Guy Maranga—made me sick to my core. But now... Sig?

I was still standing there, brooding, when Sig’s voice broke the silence.

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