Page 39 of Echoes of You

“We put him in jail, and he won’t have a chance to mess with Maddie,” Lawson argued. “I can reach out to Atlanta PD and—”

“No,” I cut him off. “She doesn’t want that. And as much as I want to push, I’m not going to. I get the sense this guy has controlled every facet of her life these past few years. I’m not about to do the same.”

I knew I’d already been pushy, convincing her to go to the doctor and staying with her, but this wasn’t something I would force her into.

“He’s right,” Holt said. “I’ve worked with a number of victims of domestic violence over the years. Taking back control of their lives is one of the most important things they can do. We just have to support her along the way.”

Holt’s years running his security company had put him in a position to guard all sorts of people. He’d dealt with stalkers, attempted kidnappings, the works.

“What do you think we need to be on the lookout for?” I asked him.

Holt rocked back and forth as if the sound the blades made helped him think better. “I need to know Adam better. His patterns and history.”

“You can’t ask Maddie.”

Holt sighed. “Okay. Let me look into this guy and see what I can find. I might be able to dig deep enough to get a better sense.”

Lawson’s brows furrowed. “Doesn’t he run some big charity?”

Roan scoffed. “Like that means anything.”

“Could just be a way of hiding his darkness,” Holt said.

My gut twisted at that, a million possibilities playing on an ugly loop in my head. What had Maddie been exposed to?

* * *

The scentof vanilla and peach swirled around me as I pulled someone against me. That smell had my body responding on instinct, tightening, wanting.

“Nash?”

My eyes flew open.Oh, crap.The body I was curved around was Maddie’s, and there was no hiding how I felt about that.

I quickly rolled to my back. “Shit.”

She laughed. “Please, like this is the first time I’ve woken up to your hard-on poking into my butt.”

I groaned. This had happened too many times to count. Puberty had not been kind to me while Maddie shared my bed several times a week.

“I need a cold shower.” Or a hot one where I let loose those thoughts of Maddie I tried so hard to keep buried.

“That does not sound like fun. But I can make breakfast while you’re doing that.”

“That’s the least you could do.”

She scowled at me. “What the heck did I do?”

I glared at her without any real heat. “If you didn’t have such a great ass, this wouldn’t be a problem.” And if she didn’t smell so good or wasn’t so damn gorgeous.

Maddie gaped at me. “You did not just say that.”

I shrugged. “It’s true.”

She pinched my side—hard.

“Rude.” I snagged her wrist, tugging Maddie closer to me. She sucked in a breath, and her gaze dropped to my lips.

Shit. Shit. Shit.I’d studiously ignored the desire in those gorgeous blue eyes over the years. Blocked out the looks that begged me formore. But, damn, it had been hard—the hardest thing I’d ever done.

---