Page 35 of Wretched Heart
“Then we need to sort out the wedding as soon as we can and get on site,” Hunter replies.
I nod. “Reid, can you send a copy of the prenup to the first name on the list of potential lawyers you sent me?”
“Sure will, Sis,” he says with a grin.
The unexpected affectation takes me by surprise, and I rub my chest where an inner warmth spreads. “Now you’re the kind of brother I’ve always wanted,” I tell him. I glance over at Mace. “And you too.” It’s not even a lie. “I heard what you said to Hunter the other day about needing the agreement to be watertight to protect his interests. And you were right to call me out for not getting advice. I realize there’s an element of risk for you all, even with a prenup. And…”
My words fail, and my smile fades.
Hunter leans forward in his seat. “What is it?”
“Barrett would have been exposed to the same kind of risks by marrying me,” I reply. “And yet nothing we’vefound so far suggests a big enough payback to justify it. Obviously, there was a prenup, but Hugo and our lawyers handled it. I was only handed the last page to sign, and given how my brother systematically abused and coerced me…” My voice catches. It’s a surreal moment to be talking openly about my darkest secrets with three men who were strangers to me four days ago. “Could it have been enough to void the agreement?”
“For normal people, perhaps,” Reid says. “But Barrett has enough judges in his back pocket for it not to be a significant risk.”
“Where are you going with this, Maddie?” asks Hunter.
“You said to look for something that feels odd.”
“That’s why we need to go over every aspect of the paper mill’s business,” says Mace. “We all agree there has to be a reason Barrett was willing to go through the extra hoops of marrying you.” Although he’s challenging, he’s not dismissing me, or trying to derail my train of thought.
My brow furrows. “Was he that determined?” I ask. “Barrett didn’t put up much of a fight for me at the chapel.”
Mace stills. “It was like he was inviting us to disrupt the ceremony.”
“Exactly,” I say. I turn to Hunter. “I’d assumed he’d decided I wasn’t someone worth fighting for, but what if Barrett never intended to marry me? What if he knew you’d stop him?”
“But why would he do that?” Reid says, asking the question we’re all thinking.
I glance out of the window to the inner courtyard. The lengthening shadows make the fleshy buds on the trees look more like protruding claws. I might need Hunter’s protection, but I want to protect him too. Which means I have to speak up even if it means he has to reconsider our plans.
My body quakes in fear. “What if there is no link between the mill and your company? Or Barrett’s? You could be wasting a lot of time and effort looking for something that doesn’t exist.” I glance at the four desks surrounding us. As a result of Barrett’s attempts to take over the mill, the brothers have invested a lot of resource into setting up a new office in Brimstage. “The wedding could be a classic case of misdirection – Barrett leads you here while he’s up to something else entirely.”
Mace hisses out a breath as he leans back in his chair. “Shit, she has a point. It would explain why he didn’t have better security at the chapel.”
Tears spring to my eyes as I look to Hunter. His gaze is impenetrable, but I fall into those moss-green eyes anyway. I try to memorize this feeling of being consumed by him because come tomorrow, they could all be packing up and moving on. My heart plummets when he breaks eye contact to direct his brothers.
“Mace, let’s track the movements of all the usual suspects. Even if Barrett stays in the Bahamas, there’ll be key players moving pieces elsewhere,” he says. “I’ll set up a meeting with Ash for first thing tomorrow morning. Hopefully, we’ll have more information by then.”
Slumping forward, I put my head in my hands. Terror has drained all hope from my heart and light from my soul.
“Reid,” Hunter continues. From the direction of his voice, I’m pretty sure he’s looking at me rather than his brother. “Get Maddie a conference call with her lawyer for this evening. And make sure the jet’s ready for a trip to Vegas on Thursday.”
“I’m on it.”
“Maddie…” Hunter’s voice is almost a whisper, and he waits for me to drop my hands and look up. “Is three days enough time for you to find a wedding dress that doesn’t look like a tent?”
I swipe the corner of my eye with the heel of my hand. I hate myself when I ask, “Should you still be doing this?”
“The fact you’re asking suggests I should,” he says. “Whatever’s coming, I’m not leaving you behind. And to hell with how Ash is going react. I’ll tell him tomorrow.”
“I’ll organize the license,” says Mace.
For a moment I’m too stunned to react. I’m still getting married, and the boys, as Connie calls them, all want to help. I’ve never had that before. Back home, my only ally was my sister-in-law, but there was never anything Jen or I could do to help each other. This – what the brothers are doing – is utterly overwhelming.
Struggling to hold back the sob threatening to tear from my throat, I jump up. I need space to deal with too many emotions building up inside me. “I… I’ll leave you to… to do whatever needs to be done,” I stumble. I twist around to snatch the laptop I’ve been using from my temporary desk. “I’ll read through the prenup and…” I run out of breath.
“Do some online shopping?” suggests Reid.
