And although I pray like hell my children will never know the burden of carrying my last name, nothing I can do will change the fact they will have the Petretti genes and DNA.
“Demi…” The officer smiles in a way that would have you convinced her heart isn’t breaking before she dips her chin in farewell. “I must go.”
Several pairs of eyes snap to mine when she makes a beeline for the door like I threatened her very existence with a tiny introduction. When I shrug, truly unsure what made her upset, Mrs. Walsh chases her down. “Regina, wait!”
With the tension in the room at boiling point, Landon crosses it without so much of an eye on him. He stands across from his baby brother with his hands balled at his sides and his eyes bouncing between the older members of his family.
Just when his anger appears to be cooling, he raises one of his fists and socks Maddox in the eye like it isn’t already swollen.
“Landon!” Justine shouts when Maddox sails into the entryway table with a thud.
I don’t know if it’s my inability not to flinch when confronted with violence or Mr. Walsh’s stern warning that Landon better get himself in check, but whatever it is, I am as shocked as hell when Landon’s response to my resurrection doesn’t arrive with the same level of violence he hit Maddox with. He pulls me into his chest before pressing his lips to the top of my head. He doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t need to. His raging heart tells me everything I need to know. He’s happy I’m here, he just couldn’t let his baby brother get away with hurting his parents so viciously. He had to respond. It’s in the Walsh DNA.
“Ice his eye, calm him down as only you can, then have him call me,” Landon requests after drawing me back to an arm’s length. He waits for me to nod before he nudges his head to the stairwell behind us. “Some of his belongings are still in his room. I put a bag of clothes in there for you as well. If you need anything else, reach out.”
I nod again, too choked up by his words to formulate a response. As far as he was aware, I was dead. So why did he bring some of my things here for me? Did he know I was alive? Or did he realize I’m the only person capable of stealing Maddox away from his family?
After a final gaze at his family, Landon drops his hands from my shoulders, then exits via the same door Officer Regina and Mrs. Walsh bolted through. It takes me hearing Maddox telling Justine he’s fine before I click that he was assaulted for the second time tonight. I have no doubt he could have responded to Landon’s anger with just as much aggression. He chose not to because despite what he will tell you, our conversation during our drive to Ravenshoe now has him more empathetic on who Landon is and why he is the way he is.
“What did he say?” Maddox asks me from his station on the floor, his words muffled by the tea towel Justine is holding under his nose.
Memories of the time he defended me against my first bully not related to me filter through my head when I kneel in front of him to check if his nose is still bleeding. “He said to ice your eye before taking you upstairs to have my wicked way with you.”
Maddox freezes for all of two seconds before the truth falls around him. “He brought our things here?” We’ve been together twenty-four seven for a majority of the past two months, but I still get giddy when he says ‘our.’
When I nod, Maddox leaps to his feet like his head isn’t the slightest bit woozy. “What did I tell you, Demi? My family loves you.”
Embarrassed he spilled one of my most guarded secrets to the very people I wanted to keep it hidden from, I stray my eyes among the members of his family gawking at me. I’m not exactly sure how to explain the look they’re giving me. It’s a cross between disappointed and remorseful but with a hint of admiration attached to it like they’re pleased I care about their opinion enough to express it out loud.
“It isn’t that I thought you hated me. I just thought perhaps maybe you’d…”
“Discriminate you because of your family name?” Justine fills in when my words fade to silence. “If you believe that, Maddox has done a poor job advocating the Walsh traits.” She narrows her eyes into thin slits before drifting them to Maddox. “But I guess it wouldn’t be the first time someone in this family has jumped to conclusions.” She doesn’t mention Dimitri’s name, but the scorn on her brothers’ faces fills in the gap.
“They have good reasons for their worry.”
Justine doesn’t hear my reply. I’ll be surprised if she hears anything after the ear-bashing Saint and Caidyn hit her with. They take one ear each, harping on about how their mom is going to design the ivory tower Saint, Caidyn, and Maddox plan to build and how Landon will have the only key.
I divert my eyes from a red-faced Justine when Maddox’s tattooed arm brushes against my shoulder. “That went better than expected.” When I slowly crank my neck back to Justine, who looks on the verge of screaming, he pushes out with a laugh, “We could save her, but then the focus would be back on us.” Our topsy-turvy day should stop the curving of my knees when he adds, “Which means we couldn’t head upstairs to wash off the funk of our day. You still smell as scrumptious as fuck, but I’m feeling a little grubby.” He licks his lips before breaking them into an insanely sexy grin. “So, what do you say, Demi? Should we save Justine, or would you rather wash my back after I wash yours?”
I’m a terrible person when I slip my hand into his before tiptoeing us toward the stairwell like Mr. Walsh isn’t mere feet from the landing, watching Mrs. Walsh’s exchange with the ashen-faced police officer, but not even a massacre could stop my body from responding to the need in Maddox’s voice.
He changed who he was for me, so the least I can do is ensure he always comes first.
10
Maddox
“Hold your gun properly. Your arm is wobbling.” Acting ignorant to the lowering of Demi’s brows as she scolds me through her protective equipment, I raise her arm back to its original position before taking a quick glance down the barrel of her gun.
Only four short weeks ago, we gave the experts something to laugh at during their time at the range. Now, Demi has so much accuracy lining up her targets, I remind her for the fourth time todayneverto point her gun at anything she doesn’t want dead.
“I’ll never shoot you, Maddox…” I wait, knowing there’s more, “… unless you start taking dating advice from Saint. That warrants at least a bullet graze.”
Although I agree with her, I pretend as if I don’t know what she’s talking about. “Ouch… what did Saint ever do to you?”
When she spins to face me, the fake concern on my face shifts to pride. She immediately angled her gun away from me, and her finger moved off the trigger even quicker than that.
Safe gun practices are a good skill to learn, not only for confidence but for personal protection as well. What Sloane overheard weeks ago was true. Demi’s uncle commenced a six-month paid ‘vacation’ to Sicily the day after Dimitri ambushed me at the warehouse. He is thousands of miles away, which should make his ability to hurt Demi almost impossible, but he isn’t the only monster in our closet. Rogue agents like Arrow Moses are still hiding in the dark, waiting for the perfect opportunity to jump out and startle us. He’s subdued now since I increased my runs with Dimitri from three a week to six, but I doubt that will be the case once my debt has been repaid and truths are shared in a career-ending tell-all.
