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“I won’t,” Mac replied quietly.
Now, as he guided his Range Rover along the darkened coastal road, Mac glanced at the two women beside him. Amy sat in the back, her face drawn with worry as she stared out the window. Beside him, Kelsey was frighteningly still, her earlier collapse having given way to a hollow-eyed stoicism that concerned him even more.
They reached Amy’s cottage first. Mac put the car in park but left the engine running.
“I’ll come by in the morning. Let me know if you hear anything,” Amy said, leaning forward to squeeze her sister’s shoulder. When Kelsey didn’t respond, Amy met Mac’s eyes with a silently pleading expression.
“I’ve got her,” he assured her quietly. “Try to get some sleep.”
Amy nodded, though they all knew sleep would be elusive tonight. She slipped out of the car and hurried up the path to her door, turning to wave once before disappearing inside.
The drive to Kelsey’s cottage took less than five minutes, but the silence stretched it into an eternity. Mac parked and came around to open Kelsey’s door, offering his hand. She took it mechanically and allowed him to help her from the vehicle.
On the porch, she fumbled with her keys, dropping them twice before Mac gently took them from her trembling fingers. He unlocked the door and guided her inside, flipping on lights as they went.
The cottage felt wrong—too quiet, too empty without Noah’s presence. Mac felt it immediately, and he saw from Kelsey’s flinch that she did too.
“I’ll make some tea,” he said, just to break the silence.
Kelsey finally spoke, then, her voice paper-thin. “Will you stay? Please?”
“Of course,” he answered without hesitation. “As long as you need me.”
She nodded, then disappeared into the bathroom. Mac heard water running and moved to the kitchen to fill the kettle and search the cupboards for tea. He found a box of chamomile and set two mugs on the counter.
While the water heated, he sent Johnson a text update and requested that his assistant bring a change of clothes when they meet tomorrow. The reply came almost instantly—Johnson had already arranged it, along with a nine-a.m. meeting with their top attorneys.
When Kelsey emerged wearing flannel pajamas, her face scrubbed clean of makeup, she looked impossibly young and vulnerable. The kettle whistled, and Mac poured the steaming water over the tea bags.
“I have a sleeping pill,” she said, her voice hollow. “I think I need it tonight.”
Mac nodded. “I’ll be here,” he promised. “Go ahead and take it.”
She disappeared into the bathroom again and returned with the pill in her palm. She took it with a sip of tea, then carried her mug toward the bedroom. At the doorway, she paused, looking back at him with an unspoken question.
“I’ll be on the couch,” he said.
She shook her head. “No, I… I don’t want to be alone. Would you…?” She gestured toward the bed.
“Of course.” He followed her into the bedroom.
They settled into an awkward dance—Kelsey sliding beneath the covers while Mac removed his shoes and jacket, debating whether to keep his dress shirt and slacks on before deciding it would be ridiculous to sleep fully clothed. He stripped down to his undershirt and boxers, then carefully slipped under the covers beside her, leaving a distance between them that Kelsey could fill if she wanted.
Kelsey closed that distance immediately. She turned to press herself against his side, her head finding the hollow of his shoulder as if it belonged there. Her body trembled with suppressed sobs.
Mac pulled her closer. “We’re going to get him back,” he said, the only thing he could think to say. “I swear to you, Kelsey. Whatever it takes.”
She nodded against his chest, tears dampening his shirt. “I can feel the pill starting to work,” she murmured. “Don’t leave, okay?”
“I won’t,” he vowed, stroking her hair gently. “I’m right here.”
Her breathing gradually slowed and deepened as the medication took effect. Even in sleep, her body remained tense, and small tremors ran through her occasionally. Mac held her, one hand continuing its soothing rhythm through her hair, and stared at the ceiling.
How had he come to this moment? Six months ago, he’d been in Singapore, selling his company worth billions. Minimal attachments, maximum freedom, his focus entirely on relinquishing any connections. Exactly as he wanted it.
After Marlene died, Mac had sworn never to make himself that vulnerable again. Never to let someone become so essential to his happiness that they could destroy him with their absence.
Yet here he was, lying in Kelsey’s bed, his heart racing with fury at what had been done to her and her son, his mind already calculating exactly how much of his considerable fortune and influence he would spend to make it right.
