Page 41 of Exposed

“I wanted to tell you that I talked to Maddie.” Strain laced his voice, but not the high-strung tone that had become the norm since Maddie had been avoiding him.

“Good, I’m glad she finally got in touch. Do you feel better?”

Ethan’s deep exhale reverberated in his ear. “Not really. She’s on a cruise with some guy.”

All of the air left Nate’s lungs. He opened his mouth but couldn’t form any words. He rubbed his hand over his chin. Maddie had told him?

“Are you there?”

Nate cleared his throat. “Ugh, yeah. Sorry. Just a little shocked.”

“Fuck, tell me about it. Funny thing is I don’t see any new friends added to her Facebook page.”

“Could be texting,” Nate offered.

“I get that. But don’t you think they’d be connected?” Ethan was an investigative guy by nature, and after meeting Riley he’d started a PI business. So it came as no surprise that he would have thoroughly checked into Maddie’s personal pages.

Nate leaned against the patio door, his gaze drifted over the dark ominous waves he’d swam in only hours before. Waves he could have died in. Life was too short. Had he died hours ago, he never would have been with Maddie. And had he not nearly died, he’d probably still be pushing her away. He valued his friendship with Ethan—more than anything. But he couldn’t deny his feelings for Maddie anymore, and he wouldn’t. Ethan would have to accept it, and if he didn’t… it was a risk he was willing to take.

“You’re assuming it’s someone new. It could be someone she’s been friends with for a while.” His tongue burned with the urge to tell Ethan everything. But he couldn’t… not with the case hanging over them. He chewed the side of his cheek as Ethan scoffed on the other end.

“You’re right,” he said, his voice gravelly. “I don’t know why I bothered. It’s impossible to find something out about Maddie until she wants you to.”

“Maybe you should fly down and see her when she gets back. I think it would do you both good to clear the air.” And for him to tell Ethan that he was banging his little sister. Nate stifled a groan and pressed his fingers into his eye socket.

Ethan sighed. “Yeah, I’ll check out some flights. Thanks for answering. You know, you can gimme a call too sometime.”

Guilt swarmed in his stomach like bees from a kicked beehive. He’d been distant, but only because he’d had no damn choice. Nate had always been the most outspoken among him, Ethan, and Cal. The outrageous one no one took seriously. He wore that hat well, but there was more to him than lewd jokes and getting laid every other night. He cared dammit. He cared about his friends, he cared about his job, and for fuck’s sake, he cared about Maddie.

He didn’t want to lie any more than he already had.

“Sorry, dude. Just been super busy. We’ll go for a drink when I’m back.”

“Sounds good. You okay, bro? You’ve been off lately.” Concern softened the timber to his voice and an ache spread through Nate. If he lost Ethan’s friendship over this, it would really fucking suck.

“I’m fine. This job is draining me though.” And that was as close to the truth as he could get.

Ethan guffawed. “You’re tired? I can’t count on one hand how many times I’ve heard that from you. Sounds like you need to get laid.”

Nate let out a curse. When it came to Maddie, his desire would never be sated. It wasn’t like the one-night stands that gave him a quick fill and left every other aspect of his psyche empty. Maddie was so much more.

She was it. And for as long as he lived, sex with another woman wouldn’t compare. A chill tickled his spine. By sleeping with Maddie, he’d sealed his fate.

“Maybe you’re right.” His voice drifted off and his gaze swept across the room and to the bedroom door. It had been over an hour since he’d hovered at the door and listened for Maddie. “Listen, I’m going to crash. I’ll call you when I’m back in town and we’ll go for that drink.”

“Sounds good.” Ethan disconnected and Nate slipped his phone in his back pocket and strode out of the room. As he neared the front door, he pressed his weight into the balls of his feet and inched closer. He lowered his eye to the peephole, his breath coming out in slow, even puffs.

The coast was clear. He couldn’t take not knowing what was going on inside their suite. He trusted Dylan would call him if anything happened, but he needed to hear for himself that everything was fine. Even if all he heard was Maddie watching TV. He grabbed his key card from the entryway table and slipped it into his pocket, then dug his feet into his shoes. He’d take a quick trip down to Dylan’s room and listen in for a few minutes. That would settle him enough so maybe he could get some damn sleep.

He cracked the door and slid out, and it swung firmly shut behind him.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket and pulled up Dylan’s number.

On my way down.

He hit send, but his gaze drifted to the solid door across from him. He strained his ears and tilted his head toward their suite. Nothing. He blew air through his lips and took a few steps down the hall.

A door creaked open and his hackles rose. Hector stepped out of their suite, an unlit cigarette dangling from his lips and his phone alive in his hand. Hours ago, he’d unintentionally killed Hector’s cousin, and with the lit and steely gaze from his eyes, the shit would hit the fan if he sensed anything.

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