Page 61 of The Meaning Of You

Madigan slow blinked and his shoulders relaxed. “Maybe not. But I can work with that.”

I tucked a stray silver lock of hair behind his ear. He leaned into the touch before catching himself and straightening, cheeks flushed. My heart skipped uncertainly in my chest and I dropped my hand. “You need to know that I won’t mean to hurt you, but it might happen regardless, and I’ll be very sorry about that.”

Madigan’s head tilted to the side and he studied me. “That goes both ways, Nick. You’re not in charge here, at least not as much as you seem to think you are. Don’t ghost me again or Iwillwalk away, understand?”

His determined tone brooked no argument, and it hit me like a ton of bricks just how much I didn’t want that to happen. “I won’t. But I’m not ready for anything more. Not yet. So, can we pretend this conversation didn’t happen, at least for a while?”

Madigan’s mouth tipped into a smile. “What conversation?”

I returned the smile and gave him a gentle push toward the hallway. “Come on. I’m hungry. Do you wanna cook or should I?”

He shot a horrified look over his shoulder. “Setyouloose in my kitchen? Have you lost your mind? You’ll need an induction course and a health and safety briefing at the very least before Ilet you anywhere near my copperware. No, Nick. I’ll cook while you call your brother-in-law. Then you can do an internet search on the name Lachlan K starting with an Auckland parameter first, then wider if you need it.”

I groaned as Madigan closed the door and set the alarm. “Hang on.” A crease formed between his brows. “ItisDavis’s laptop, right?”

“His old one, yes, but?—”

His eyes sparked. “Did you check the search history and bookmarks on thenewlaptop?”

“I just skimmed through,” I flustered. “ Then I got pissed off that Davis hadn’t asked me about money laundering and left it for later. To be honest I thought I’d have time?—”

“And then it was stolen, I know,” Madigan broke in. “But we don’t know when all this started. Davis might’ve done some preliminary research on his old one.”

“Shit.” I followed him up the hall. “Why didn’t I think of that?”

“Because you’re Sherlock not Watson,” he said starchily. “It’s all those drugs.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Madigan

I setto work making a salad to serve alongside the remains of a shepherd’s pie I’d cooked the day before. I’d like to say I tuned out the conversation happening between Nick and Samuel in the other room, but that would be a lie. It was a one-sided conversation, but I got the gist, and from what I could gather, Samuel was less than impressed with his brother-in-law’s tardy update, and Nick’s flustered quasi-apology made it hard not to laugh. Being on the back foot didn’t suit Nick in the least, and the only person less convinced by the apology than me was Samuel, who I was liking more and more by the minute.

“I’m not saying he wasdefinitelyhaving an affair,” Nick reiterated with a loud groan. “I’m just saying it doesn’t look good. Surely you can see that.”

And so the one-sided conversation continued.

“No, I’m okay.”

“I didn’t get a look. Just his boots.”

“Some guy walking on the beach.”

“Iambeing honest.”

“Did you talk to the case officer?”

“What do you mean you haven’t had time?”

“Oh right.” He sounded sheepish. “I can’t believe it was just this morning.”

“How on earth would I know about the passports? He never said a thing.”

“Yes, I’m sure. Do you think I’m lying or something?”

“I know. I know. But as far as I knew, we were fine.”

“No, Samuel, you don’t need to?—”

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