I round the island and pull her into my arms.
Her slender arms go around my waist, holding on tight.
“It’s not your fault. You shouldn’t be sorry.”
“But I’m causing you so much trouble.” She pulls back to look at my face. “Shouldn’t I just go back to the city?”
“No,” I say a little too firmly that her brows furrow. I smoothen that frown with a rub of my thumb. “No. You’ll stay and complete your time as you want, okay? No one will run you off my island. I won’t let them.”
Her eyes soften.
“You want to stay the week, right?” If she says no, I’ll let her leave but I probably won’t recover from the hurt.
“Of course,” she breathes.
I smile, cup her face, and plant a kiss on her forehead.
She tilts her head back as if offering her lips. It’s a gift I’m about to take when Baxter returns.
“I’ve got them.” His eyes fall on us and he grins, starting to turn away. “I can just wait.”
“Do that,” I say.
“No, I’m ready.” Maddie slips out of my arms and off the stool.
She meets up with Baxter and they head to the court that’s off to the side of the property.
I climb up to the balcony and look down at them. They make an interesting pair. It looks like she won’t get in a hit. Baxter’s a huge fellow with arm strength that matches mine. I almost want to ask him to take it easy on her.
When the first five minutes are over, I’m happy I didn’t intrude. Maddie’s nimble on her feet, skipping across the court and catching all of Baxter’s hits. They go back and forth until one of them caves, but it’s tense and they’re evenly matched.
Maddie scores a hit and cheers, hands over her head. “Yes!” She spins around and grins at me.
I can’t help my smile. I throw her a salute and she returns it.
Then she’s taunting Baxter, asking him to bring it on.
As she holds him off, I take out my phone and call the head of the security team I assigned to watch Maddie.
“Found him yet?” I know more than one person is likely involved in the threats against Maddie. But one was bold enough to come close. That one, I need to set an example with.
“Not yet,” the voice at the other end replies. “We’ve combed the entire area around the Resort and close by. Nothing.”
I sigh, pinching my forehead. “What do you mean nothing? You were meant to be watching her last night. If she didn’t fight back, anything could have happened.”
My chest hurts just thinking about it.
“We’ve doubled the security to watch her. Last night won’t repeat itself.”
“Only doubled?”
“Triple,” he says quickly. “We will triple it. We’ve also made sure all the security cameras around the Resort are working well. And we’ve added more cameras to the blind spots we found. Nothing will get by us again.”
“You have to promise me that,” I bite out. “If not, it’s over for you and your team.”
“I swear it, Mr. Easton.”
“Good.” I disconnect the call, eyes focused on the game once more.
