Maddie and Wyn (26 page)

Straightening her clothes one last time, Maddie told Wyn, “Not a customer,” and braced herself for hurricane winds from him. She looked at him from the corner of her eye and shared, “It’s Nico.”

Wyn hissed. “What the fuck?”

Already focused on her silent partner, Maddie stepped forward, stretched out her hand in welcome, and put her business face on. “Nico, it’s so good to see you. Welcome home.”

*

Nico?
Wyn had seen some old pictures of the guy, but seeing the man in person, elegantly imposing with an air of wealth about him, instantly set Wyn on edge.
Son of a bitch.
This man’s sudden presence in town, with these things happening to Maddie, couldn’t be a coincidence.

Wyn opened his mouth, the intent to interrogate burning a hole in his throat, but at the last second Maddie’s voice penetrated his skull and he snapped his lips shut. He’d just reached a truce with her, and within that agreement she’d opened herself to a wider pool of suspects, which she knew included Nico. If Wyn was serious about proving his commitment to this partnership, he needed to have faith as well as expect it, and there was no time like the present to demonstrate his loyalty and faith in Maddie Morgan than right now.

Letting her take the lead, Wyn said hello and shook Nico’s hand when Maddie made the customary introductions, then shifted to an at-ease military stance, and merely observed.

After giving the man a quick hug, Maddie said, “Nico, I’m shocked to see you. You didn’t mention visiting Redemption when we last spoke.”

The suave-looking man shrugged, his expression sheepish. “I didn’t plan to come home the last time we Skyped. I talked to my dad a couple of nights ago though; I wanted to check on him and see how the trip is going, and in our conversation he mentioned the stuff still here at the house. Again. I put him off, told him I’d get around to it when I have some down time, like I always do.” Nico’s jaw hardened for a heartbeat then, and a hint of red stained his cheeks—a response, maybe embarrassment, that Wyn didn’t think a person could fake.

“Anyway,” Nico slid his hands in his pockets, “I started thinking about how long I’ve put off going through Mom’s stuff, and then someone at work reminded me I have vacation piled up that I’m going to lose if I don’t take it, so I let everyone know I’d be gone for a while and booked a flight.” His shoulders lifted, and he glanced around at the property in a half-circle motion. “Here I am.”

Maddie moved in and linked her arm with Nico’s. “Well I’m glad.” She steered him to the steps and back porch. “Not that I mind having your family’s stuff here, but I know it’s important to your dad that you do this, so I know you’re going to make him very happy.” She gave his arm a visible squeeze. “And you’ll probably feel a weight off your shoulders too.”

“Agreed. I drove out straight from the airport to talk to you about scheduling some time to get in the house and the shed, but I didn’t realize how late it was.” He paused on the landing, just outside the door that led to the kitchen, frowning as he looked over the darkness descending around them. “I should have paid more attention to the time and come out in the morning.”

Pulling open the screen door with one hand, Maddie waved his comment aside with the other. “Don’t even think about it. You’ll stay with us.” Wyn’s heart seized on the natural way that word,
us
, passed Maddie’s lips. His gaze jerked from Nico to her, so pretty and at ease and in charge, as she finished, “It would make it a lot easier to organize and go through everything if you’re living at the house.”

She tried to nudge Nico over the threshold, but the man tensed and shook his head. “This is your home now; I’m not going to impose.”

Maddie kept a loose hold on his arm. “It wouldn’t be an imposition, I promise.”

Pulling back a step, Nico frowned and tension knotted his fit frame. “It might feel weird to live under this roof again. The house never felt quite like the right fit after Mom was gone.”

Instant visible empathy welled in Maddie’s eyes. “I get that.” She reached out and laid a comforting hand on his arm, but didn’t try to pull him into the house this time. “You’re welcome to come and go through boxes and the house whenever you want; your dad only sold a few pieces to me outright, the rest still belongs to your family.” Her focus slid to Wyn just then. She only held him for a second, and then shifted back to Nico and jerked her thumb toward the kitchen beyond the screen door. “Do you want to come in right now and have a drink?” She tried again, and a swelling of pride burst forth in Wyn. “We’re getting ready to have dinner. You could join us, and we could at least get a few days set up right away.”

“Thanks,” Nico started walking back down the stairs, “but I’ve already booked a room at a B and B in town. I’d like to get set up there tonight and nail down a plan for how I want to tackle this job before I begin anything out here.”

Rather than chase him down, Maddie remained on the landing, leaning against the porch rail support. “I understand. You’re welcome to get started tomorrow. Just come by the garage in the morning and I’ll give you a key so you can let yourself into the house and have at it.”

At the bottom of the steps, Nico looked up at Maddie, hands in his pockets once more. “Thanks. It is good to see you in person, Maddie. And thanks for being so cool about my unexpected visit.”

Maddie smiled down at Nico, and Wyn could see a hint of wetness coating her gaze. “You and your dad are always welcome on this land and in this house.” The wistful look still exposed, she ran her fingers along the white-painted railing. “I’m grateful to be a small part of the legacy.”

“More than a small part.” Arching a brow, Nico’s mouth lifted in kind. “You’re the son he wished he had.”

With those words Wyn’s sensors went on alert, but just as fast Maddie replied, “Not for a second, Nico. Never doubt that your dad is crazy proud of you. He brags about how smart you are. Maybe you don’t know that, but he does.”

Nicos’s shoulders pushed back and he tilted his head. “Yeah?”

Maddie nodded. “Big time.”

Seeming a little lighter, he said, “Thanks, Maddie. See you tomorrow.” He spun and dipped his head in Wyn’s direction. “Nice to meet you, Wyn.”

“Likewise.” Wyn closed the distance and shook the man’s hand one more time. “Good night.”

Just as Nico took a step back in the direction of the garage, a
bang
thundered from inside the house.

Nico spun and whipped his focus up to the second level of the house. “What the hell was that?”

“Cat,” Maddie replied without missing a beat, with just the right playful frustration mapping her pretty face. “I just got her. She’s as cute as all get out but a menace to my property. Probably broke something again.”

Nico made a face that was more akin to a reaction of Maddie saying she had a Saint Bernard running and drooling all through her house, and Wyn began to wonder if the guy had ever even attempted to take care of a fish, let alone something furry or human.

“Good luck with that then.” He lifted his hand in a small wave. “Good night again.” That said, he strode across the yard, the gravel road, and back across the field at a good clip toward the garage.

Wyn waited, not a word said, and Maddie did the same, until Nico cleared the grass and was around the building, presumably heading toward a rental car.

Finally Maddie exhaled loudly and sank down to sit on the top step. “How did I do?”

Taking the steps two at a time, Wyn joined her, pushing to lean back against the railing. “You did good,” he told her, not pandering one damned bit. “I think you got as much out of him as you could without coming across as pushy. We don’t want that with your relationship with him. He needs to feel he can relax with you, and you did a nice job with that.”

Grimacing, staring at the spot Nico had just vacated, Maddie pulled her hair off her face and knotted it at the back of her head. “I hate that this whole mess instantly made me suspicious when I saw him. I hate that I invited him in for a drink so that you could get his DNA off the glass when he left, rather than merely because it was the polite thing to do.”

A satisfied rumble rolled through Wyn. “I did wonder if that was what you were doing when you invited him to stay here.”

“Yeah.” Furrowed lines pulled Maddie’s mouth down at the edges even more. “And when he didn’t go for that I scrambled with the drink offer. I’m sorry it didn’t work.”

His chest twisting, Wyn reached out and rubbed her leg. “Hey, don’t beat yourself up. It was good.” Gently, he squeezed her knee, and repeated, “You did good.”

“Thanks.” Facing him, she drew her knees up and wrapped her arms around them. “I guess.” She dropped her chin to rest on her kneecap.

Christ, honey.
Watching her so closely right now, this was the first time Wyn truly understood, really felt in his gut, how tough this was for Maddie, to truly suspect her friends, people she trusted, of skulking around in her home and stealing from her.

Drawn to her, Wyn scooted closer and tucked her in the spread of his legs. He tilted her head back so she could see to the truth in his eyes. “This sucks so hard for you. I know.” Leaning in, he pressed a kiss to the worry lines on her forehead. “Hopefully we’ll have it figured out soon. And for your sake I hope it isn’t anyone you know.”

Maddie glanced toward the kitchen, and a beat later murmured, “Well, it’s as hot as balls these days, so if Nico decides to start cleaning tomorrow then he’ll have to drink something at some point. I’ll make sure all the trash cans are emptied and newly lined, that way if there’s a water bottle or something in them when we get back to the house we’ll know it’s his, and then you can use it for your DNA test.”

Jesus.
Wyn had planned to do that very thing himself, but hearing it come out of Maddie’s mouth had his nuts twitching with new life. He growled and nipped a fast kiss. “You have one hell of a sexy mind. Have I ever told you that?”

Maddie swatted his leg and muttered, “Shut up,” but she hid a grin behind her knee; he saw the edge of her lips lift.

A companionable silence fell between them then, but Wyn’s mind still replayed and dissected not only Nico’s presence but his demeanor and everything he’d said.

“Listen,” Wyn suddenly said aloud, figuring if they were partners he had to talk things out with her now, “playing over Nico’s sudden appearance and his desire to get all these memories cleared out of this house has me thinking. If it is Nico doing this to you, is it possible he’s looking for something? Something he hasn’t been able to locate on the down low, and realizing something is up with my sudden presence here, has he decided to come out in the open and create a legitimate reason for being here, poking wherever he wants, in your house?”

“But what would he want?” Maddie wondered back, her tone conversational like his. “Everything Mr. Corsini left here rightly belongs to Nico. What would he need to search for in secret?”

“I don’t know.” Wyn racked his brain, searching back over details he’d noted when searching Maddie’s home, mentally scanning to see if anything in hindsight was out of place. When he came up empty, he shrugged and looked to her once more. “Maybe it has something to do with the house itself rather than the stuff in it.”

Right then a loud double knock thumped against the back side of the house.

Maddie chuckled. “She doesn’t think so.”

“She’s also his mother.” Wyn gave the house the side-eye and a little bit of a snarl. “She would protect him from us figuring him out.”

Maddie perked up. “Look at you being all open-minded. You were so matter-of-fact about her place in the conversation just then.” She pinched his cheeks and made a funny face at him. “I’m so proud of you.”

“Thank you.” Sahara desert dryness had nothing on Wyn’s tone. He curled his hand against the wood decking, unable to keep his brain from conjuring possible secrets this home might hold. “Now that the idea is in my head, I’m going to look into this house a little bit. See what history I can uncover. Maybe there’s a reason for someone to believe there’s treasure here. Maybe there’s something valuable in the walls or under the floorboards. Maybe Nico found out about it and wants it for himself. What is considered part of the house itself or hidden within the house wouldn’t rightfully be his. It would be yours.”

Two loud bangs thundered from the second floor.

Maddie grinned. “Our ghost says no, but you knock yourself out with that research, Lieutenant. I will be happy to hear about whatever you discover.”

A new lightness floating within Wyn, he tapped Maddie’s nose with the tip of his index finger. “And I will be happy to share.” His stomach rumbled, loudly, and instantly redirected this thoughts. “You ready to eat?” He jumped up, and with one gentle tug had Maddie on her feet too. “You wore me out, woman, and I need sustenance if I’m going to keep up with your stamina tonight.”

On her tiptoes, Maddie wound her arms around Wyn’s neck and purred, “Then by all means let’s get some food into you.”

His soft laughter filling the night sky, Wyn pulled Maddie to him. Arm around her waist, his gentle kiss leading to a series of sweet pecks from her, he shuffled them into the house for some barbecue.

* * * *

Eyes closed, fast asleep, Maddie scrunched her face as scene after scene of Wyn in and around her home raced through her subconscious mind. The way his giant frame filled her big front doorway, how comfortable he looked maneuvering multiple pots and pans at her stove, how right it felt to see him in her hallway in the morning with sleep in his eyes and his hair mussed and his sweats hanging low on his hips, the musk of him hanging in the air before he showered, the way he left little messes around the place at night but that by the morning were straightened or gone, his commanding presence when doing something as simple as cleaning the debris out of her garden. The more she saw of Wyn in this place, the more his presence melded into her space as if it were created for him. And the more he looked as if he were the missing puzzle piece in her world.

As Maddie slept and dreamed of Wyn, the tighter the tension within her body grew.