Take A Chance On Me (26 page)

Her brothers and Sam rushed into the parking lot. She gunned the engine and spun out of the spot.

Everyone in Mitch’s life had lied to him. Betrayed him. Nobody, not even his mother, had stood by him. He’d risked his own career by destroying evidence, and his family had deserted him. When his life had fallen apart, he’d had no one.

Mitch didn’t trust anyone.

But he’d trusted her.

She threw the car in drive, tires squealing as she floored it out of the lot.

And what had she done? She’d gone behind his back and shared his deepest pain with strangers. It didn’t matter if her intentions were good. It didn’t matter she’d only wanted to help. All that mattered was that she’d done the one thing he could never forgive.

She could beg and explain until she was blue in the face, but it wouldn’t change anything. She’d violated his trust. Confided things that she’d had no right to reveal.

It was over.

The only thing left to do was go home.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Sitting alone in the depressing office, Mitch took another long drink of scotch. The burn in his chest matched the burn of the alcohol in his stomach. He stared into nothingness as he contemplated his wasteland of a life.

How could Maddie have done that? She’d betrayed him. Maybe not in the traditional way, but somehow this was worse. He’d told her things, things he’d never told anyone, and she’d told strangers. She’d involved his friends behind his back and hidden it.

The sound of her softly whispered “I love you” still rang in his ears, deafening him so that the rest of the world seemed muted.

Ironic. In that moment, when all trust had been broken, he’d known that he loved her too.

A real love. Deep and soul twisting, capable of bringing him to his knees.

She’d made him whole. Feel. Laugh. Burn.

With Maddie, things made sense. She made sense. Even now, he had to resist the urge to find her and hold her close.

She was his anchor in the ever-turbulent storm of his life.

A knock sounded on the door. He ignored it.

The last thing he wanted was company. He poured another two fingers of scotch. The liquor did its work, helping him return to the numb place he’d existed before Maddie had shown up in his life and turned the world upside down.

It would do for a while. It would have to.

Another knock, louder this time and more insistent. Before he could tell Sam to go away, the door opened and Maddie’s oldest brother walked in.

Mitch scowled. “This isn’t a good time.”

“No shit,” Shane said, sarcasm clear. Without waiting for an invitation, he sat down on the chair opposite Mitch’s desk. “What’d you do to my sister? She ran out of here without a word like a kicked puppy.”

Mitch took a slug of scotch, his stomach twisting. She was gone. Panic clawed at him with sharp nails.

He took a deep breath.

She’d be at home. His home.

Shane scrubbed the stubble lining his jaw. “Turns out that five minutes can do some damage after all.”

“How can I help you?” Mitch needed this guy out of his fucking sight. Now.

Silence. Shane jutted his chin toward the bottle of scotch. “I’ll take a drink.”

Mitch picked up the bottle and placed it in front of him. The blond man studied it, shrugged, picked up the bottle, and took a long, deep swallow. With a satisfied hiss, he placed it on the desk and slid back into the chair as though he didn’t have a care in the world.

“Maddie is gone.” The words sliced through the thin veil of Mitch’s alcohol-induced haze, bringing unwelcomed pain with them. “We’ve got nothing to say.”

“I don’t like the way you look at my sister,” Shane said, as though Mitch hadn’t spoken. “And I sure as hell don’t like the sound of what was going on in here before I barged in.”

The sharp sudden image of her round, pink ass in the air while he drove his cock deep inside her filled his mind. The sound of her screams and the scent of her arousal making him dizzy.

Shit. He shook his head, running a hand through his hair.

Shane’s mouth twisted into a sardonic grin. “Yeah, I kind of thought it was like that.”

Mitch cocked a brow. “Do you really want to discuss this?”

“Fuck no, and I’m not sure I approve,” Shane said, with green eyes so familiar that Mitch wanted to look away. “But you know what? In all the years Maddie was with Steve, I’ve never seen him look at her like that. Hell, he’s a decent guy. He’s nice and orderly. But there’s no way he’d try to take me down, no matter what I said to her.”

“Sounds like a real prince.” The last thing Mitch wanted to discuss was Maddie’s ex-fiancé.

“In fact, he would have sided with me.” Shane assessed Mitch, sizing him up. “If Maddie hadn’t asked you to stop, you’d have tried to tear me apart. You wouldn’t have gotten far. Jimmy looks calm and harmless, but the guy’s lethal, and I’ve kicked my fair share of ass, although I’m a lot less pretty about it than he is.”

Mitch had no idea what the guy was going on about and didn’t give a shit. “Are you done?”

“No,” Shane said flatly. “You’re in love with my sister. And she’s in love with you. As much as I don’t like it, I’m going to be a nice guy here.”

“You’re being a nice guy?” Mitch laughed and took another drink.

He loved her, needed her, wanted her right this instant.

“I’m going to be stuck with you, aren’t I?”

“No.” The word tasted like dirt in his mouth.

“Yeah, I am.” Shane put a file folder that Mitch hadn’t even noticed onto the desk. “You’re pissed as hell, but you’ll get over it.”

“No,” Mitch said again.

Shane pushed the manila folder over to him. “Maddie did what she thought was right. That’s the way she is, even if she goes about it in a backassward way. Don’t fuck up what’s obviously a good thing because she went behind your back.”

Mitch stared at the guy. “Less than an hour ago you were out for my blood, and now you’re playing matchmaker?”

Shane shrugged. “Yeah, well, I saw a little red when I, um”—he cleared his throat—“heard what was going on in here. She’s my baby sister. I’ve raised her since she was fifteen, and you don’t have the best past when it comes to women. Although you have been fairly monk-like for a while.”

Mitch stared at the folder, curiosity getting the better of him as he wondered what information it contained. “Your point?”

“I love her too and want her to be happy. I’ve been worried as hell about her. She was lost. Drifting along but not really living. I assume she told you about the accident?”

Mitch nodded.

Shane’s expression flickered, then cleared. “She never got over the guilt, no matter how many therapists I dragged her to. No matter how many times we talked to her, she couldn’t get it into her head that we didn’t blame her. Over time, she just became more and more compliant.”

“Yeah, I know,” Mitch said, because he understood Maddie. “But she’s better now.”

Because of him. Them. The way they were together.

“I can see that.” Shane smiled. “She used to be quite a little troublemaker. It drove my dad crazy, even though he loved her like mad. It was good to see some of her old spark.”

Mitch took another long swallow of liquor, waiting for the slow burn down his throat to hit his stomach before he spoke. “I don’t want her to be anything other than what she is.”

Shane leaned back in the chair and laced his fingers over his stomach. “I don’t think she ever really loved Steve.”

“Of course she didn’t,” Mitch interjected, compelled to make sure the record was straight. “The guy was all wrong for her.”

Shane nodded sharply. “I’ll deny it, but the day we opened the vestibule and found her gone, I silently cheered her on. That’s why I let her be. She needed freedom, a chance to breathe away from all the pressure. I’ve known where she was almost from the beginning.”

It wasn’t a surprise. Guys like Shane didn’t leave things to chance.

“When she finally called, she seemed like the old Maddie. The one I thought I’d buried along with my dad.” Shane picked up the bottle of scotch and poured another healthy dose into Mitch’s nearly empty glass before taking a long gulp from the bottle. “I figure you have something to do with that.”

Mitch’s throat constricted, already regretting sending her away.

“So here’s the deal,” Shane continued, opening the file. “My friend has methods of uncovering information, and he was able to find some things to help your father, and by default, you. He wasn’t able to find much on the embezzlement case, which basically confirms what you already know and what Maddie and your friend Charlie told us. Without Thomas Cromwell and whatever he took down with him in that plane crash, the evidence against you was circumstantial at best. Not enough to convict, but enough to taint your reputation and put you out of the Chicago power set.”

Mitch nodded, not at all surprised. Like Shane, he’d known people, too.

“Your father’s blackmailer is a different story.” Shane flipped through a couple of pages before coming to the picture. “She’s quite a looker.”

Mitch studied the photo. The woman with her raven-black hair was impossibly beautiful. “If you can overlook her tendency for blackmail.”

Shane chuckled. “We can’t all be perfect. Does she look familiar?”

“No.” Mitch picked up the photo and examined her brilliant blue eyes and snow-white ruby lips, but there was nothing familiar about the set of her face or expression. “I’ve never seen her before.”

“She didn’t get her good looks from her father.”

Mitch blinked. “What?”

“Your good friend Thomas had a long-term mistress in Greece. Rachel Brown, a.k.a. Kassandra Apostolis, is their daughter. Logan couldn’t find any link to you tampering with evidence.” Shane smirked. “Your MIT guy did a good job. If Logan can’t uncover it, no one can. Even if she has a paper trail of your father’s deal, there’s no way to tie it back to you.”

Relief swept through him, so powerful it would have knocked him over if he hadn’t been sitting. Something inside him eased.

Sam’s words came rushing back to him:
Stop trying to control everything
.

In that second, Mitch finally understood what he meant and gave up the fight. He stopped pretending that he didn’t care; stopped pretending that he was fine.

Maddie had been right, and he’d sent her away.

“Kassandra has a boyfriend,” Shane said, snapping Mitch back to the subject at hand. “He was staying in the same hotel. He filled a prescription for Ambien a couple of days before the trip.”

“How is this possible? My father’s handlers would have uncovered this all by now.”

“She had excellent fakes. She picked a common name. It’s harder to wade through all the red tape when you’re stuck using proper channels. All eyes are on the senator. He has no choice but to be careful. Logan doesn’t have those restrictions. Not saying it will amount to anything, but it’s enough to go on. Enough to cast suspicion and send the press digging into her background. But at the end of the day, you won’t end up disbarred. I’ll have Logan keep digging. He’s only been at it for a week.”

Mitch raised a brow. “He’s really that good?”

“Yeah, he is. He’s the guy they call when they want things off the record.”

People that talented cost money. Big money. Mitch’s gaze narrowed. “How was this information paid for?”

Shane steepled his fingers, his expression inscrutable. “She wants to save you. Let her. But it might not be a bad idea for you to take over with that trust fund of yours.”

Mitch’s lips tightened. “Have him give back her money and send me the bill.”

“Figured you’d feel that way.”

“I’m going to get her.”

“I told you I was going to be stuck with you.”

Mitch stood up, the alcoholic haze evaporating as adrenaline kicked in. “Don’t come looking for her anytime in the next couple hours.”

Shane’s eyes narrowed. “I’m not much of a take-orders kind of guy.”

“Tough. Where Maddie’s concerned, get used to it.”

“Understand that if you hurt my sister, there’s not a place on earth you’ll be able to hide. I’d better never see her cry like that again.”

Mitch ground his teeth as a muscle jumped in his cheek. He’d made her cry. He nodded. “Understood.”

Shane looked him up and down. “You want a job? I’m not as picky as those high-priced, old-school firms about reputation. You can’t get far in life without bending a few rules. I’m sure my legal team could put you to good use.”

Mitch laughed. There was no way in hell he’d be under this guy’s thumb. “Fuck, no.”

Shane shrugged. “Yeah, that’s probably stretching it.”

 

 

Mitch drove with record speed, pulling into his driveway and screeching to a halt. He was out of the car before the dust settled. He barreled through the door, yelling Maddie’s name, even though he hadn’t seen her car in the drive.

If only he hadn’t refused to talk and told her to leave. He’d been so damned sure that she’d be at his house. He hadn’t even contemplated being too late. His heart pounded as he yelled, “Maddie!”

His mom came rushing in from the kitchen. “What’s wrong?”

“Where’s Maddie?” Panic already clogged his throat.

Charlotte’s eyes widened. “She said she was going to see you at the bar.”

“And she hasn’t come back?”

“No,” she said, shaking her head “Did something happen?”

“I’ve got to find her.”

Charlotte put her hand on his arm. “What happened?”

He stiffened and looked down into his mother’s eyes. They were filled with concern, with loss and sorrow. They were sad, troubled eyes. He took a deep breath and said, “We got in a fight. I told her to leave.”

“Oh, Mitchell,” she said, whisper soft.

“I have to find her, Mom.” His voice shook. “She can’t be gone—all her stuff is here.”

“You’ll find her. Everything is going to be all right.”

It didn’t ease his anxiety. “What if she went home?”

His mother’s fingers trembled on his arm. “Then you’ll go get her.”

His throat grew so tight that he thought he might choke. “What if she won’t come back?”

“You’ll find a way to make it work. I promise.”

“How do you know?”

Her eyes grew bright and she blinked rapidly. In thirty-four years, he’d never once seen his mom shed a tear, even at her parents’ funerals. “Because you love her and she loves you.”

He couldn’t speak. Couldn’t even breathe. He managed a sharp nod.

She gave him a watery smile. “Now go and do whatever you can to fight for her.”

“I will,” he croaked out. Maddie Donovan was a woman worth fighting for, and he’d move heaven and hell to get her back.

His days of giving up were over.