Chapter Four

“Wait. Hot Naked Shower Guy is Cole Mitchell?”

Maddie made a face and nodded in response to Dani’s wide-eyed question.

“Mmm-mm.” Dani drew out the appreciative sound as she watched Maddie load the dishwasher. “He was so hot back then. I remember when he used to work on the lawn with his shirt off and we’d stare at him from the upstairs window.”

“I remember that we weren’t allowed to speak to him,” Maddie said.

Dani passed her a handful of silverware. “Because Dad was overprotective about boys back then.”

He might have been protective with Dani, but he was suspicious of Maddie. She schooled her features into a smile and shrugged it off.

“I didn’t get to see Cole at the party. Is he still handsome?”

Maddie thought about the kiss. “And then some.”

“Ready!” Sam’s voice carried from the bedroom into the kitchen.

“I’ll tuck him in, and then I want to talk to you about something. Erase the worried look. It’s not bad.”

Maddie poured herself a cup of coffee. “I’ll be in the living room.”

A few minutes later, Dani was back. “I know you were hoping that my three-week vacation here with you would make me want to move to Chicago, but I can’t.” She held up her hand when Maddie protested. “You want to look out for me because that’s who you are, but I have a life back in Texas. True, it’s been rewritten, but it’s where home is.”

“You can stay here until summer’s over,” Maddie pleaded, hoping her sister would agree.

“No, we’re leaving tomorrow evening like we planned. Sam needs to be around his friends in the neighborhood. Plus, I want him to have some time to enjoy summer before school starts in August. We’ll be back next month for the camping trip he signed up for. Anyway, I wanted to talk to you about something else.” Dani’s face brightened. “I used the first half of my inheritance money to start the renovations on the house and buy the wheelchair-accessible truck.”

“That sounds like a but…”

“It is.” Dani grinned. “He said if I ever needed the rest of it to just tell him, so I decided that I’m going to ask Grandpa to go ahead and give me the balance of my inheritance. When I get back home, I plan to buy Sally Nelson’s florist shop. What do you think?”

Maddie swallowed and forced a smile. She couldn’t come clean that she didn’t know where their grandfather or the money was, and she didn’t want to erase her sister’s excitement and give her something more to worry about. “I think it’s a great idea,” she said. The only problem is I don’t know where to get that money. Who has that kind of…

Her cell phone rang, and Maddie went to grab it from the kitchen table. She recognized the number as one from the hotel and answered.

“My suite. Half an hour.” Cole’s terse voice in her ear made her stomach tighten. She stared at the phone after the call abruptly ended.

“Who was that?” Dani asked.

“Just work. I have to run back to the hotel, but I shouldn’t be long,” Maddie promised and left the apartment. All the way to the hotel, she entertained various reasons why Cole might have called her. Judging by the cold-day-in-hell way he’d thrown her offer back at her, she guessed he didn’t want that.

As she drove, the sky darkened, and then seconds later, a heavy rain beat down on her car. Perfect. The weather is mirroring what I feel. But if I can just hold everything together for a little while longer, I know I can make things work out. How, she didn’t know, but Maddie was an optimist even though lately it seemed nothing was working out right.

Maddie parked and dashed through the rain and into the hotel, shivering when the cool air hit her skin. The ride in the elevator up to Cole’s suite seemed to take forever, and once the doors opened, she made herself move forward with a confidence she didn’t feel. Raising her hand, she knocked on the door and waited.

…

Cole rubbed a hand down his face and looked at the information on his laptop again, but the numbers didn’t change. Samuel disappearing with the substantial amount of money he was supposed to leave in the operating accounts as part of the deal pissed Cole off. He’d taken that money, along with hiding his assets. The hotel was more than upside down. It was going to take a lot of hard work and more money than he’d anticipated to rescue it.

A knock sounded, and Cole rose to get the door. Maddie.

Her hair was plastered to her scalp from the torrential rain he’d seen through the suite’s expansive windows. On any other woman, what would have looked disheveled didn’t on her. The softness of her skin, the pouty fullness of her lips, and the lushness of her curves in the short blue dress she wore were a siren’s call. His body clearly wanted her now as much as it had at the ball, but he wasn’t going to touch her. Oh, how he wished he could, though.

She ran the tip of her tongue across her upper lip and took a deep breath as she shivered. “You’d think a storm in July would be warm.”

Glad that she couldn’t read his mind, he stepped aside and let her in, then closed the door behind her. Excusing himself for a second, he went into the bathroom and returned with a towel to give her. She rubbed her hair with it, never taking her gaze from his.

Cole was drawn to the line of water slowly rolling downward to disappear into the V at the top of her dress. He jerked his attention away from that and glanced down at her feet instead. She wiggled her camouflage-painted toes.

Grinning, she said, “I lost a bet to my nephew over a board game, but I’m pretty sure he cheated.”

Cole folded his arms, and her grin faded. Her chest rose and fell rapidly as her breathing quickened. She looked sweet and vulnerable, but he kicked that thought to the curb. Like the other members in her family, she’d perfected the ability to fool others.

“I’ve decided to take you up on your offer,” he said abruptly.

An emotion he couldn’t quite catch flickered on her face before she smoothed her expression. “I’m glad, but I have some conditions.”

He stiffened. “What kind of conditions?”

“I need some money up front.” She named a sum that nearly made him raise his eyebrows.

He kept his expression neutral as he said, “That’s a large sum.”

“It is.” She laced her fingers together but not before he saw the faint shaking.

Since Samuel was known to be a regular at casinos, Cole’s mind went immediately to gambling debts. The men hired to collect the money weren’t above threatening a debtor’s family members.

“Are you in trouble?” He didn’t particularly care for anyone in the Russell family, but he didn’t like the thought of a woman being in danger.

“No.”

“Then why mention money now when you didn’t earlier?”

A downward turn of her brows that quickly dissipated was the only reaction he got. “Why I did or didn’t and why I want the money is my business.”

She spoke pleasantly, but her tone said there was no leeway with that condition. He had an urge to tell her to forget it but reminded himself that Pierce was right. Having her around could lead him to her grandfather, and he wanted that more than he wanted anything. “All right. The next condition?”

“My sister and nephew will be returning to Chicago for a camping trip next month with a group he was part of this summer. My sister can’t make it, so I promised to take him.”

“What does that have to do with me?”

She bit her lip and glanced down at her feet nervously. “It’s supposed to be a father and son weekend camping trip. He wants me to go, and I am, but I promised I’d find a friend to do the father things with him so that he won’t feel left out.”

Cole wanted to say no, but when she looked up earnestly at him, he remembered what it was like to be the kid whose father never showed up. “Fine, I can do that. Meet me back here tomorrow morning. I’ll have a contract ready for you to sign, and then I’ll give you a cashier’s check.”

“A contract?”

“Come on, sweetheart. Did you think I wouldn’t protect myself?” He hooked his finger at the top of his tie and tugged, pulling it loose. After tossing it on the sofa, he put his hands on his hips.

“Protect yourself from what?”

“From you getting any ideas that this”—he pointed from himself to her—“will be about anything more than the job and sex.” He knew he spoke harshly, but he didn’t want her thinking that was an option. There would be no romance. No relationship.

She gasped and put her hand against her chest. “Oh no! Then I guess I’ll have to tear up the list of how I planned to use you.”

Cole stifled the smile that threatened to emerge, keeping his expression impassive. “You can be as sarcastic as you like, but I’m serious.”

“So am I.”

He stared at her, trying to figure her out, but couldn’t. She talked like the upcoming contract between them was no big deal, but her hands shook. She acted like a gold-digger but wore an air of innocence. At the ball, she’d been into him, and now she was aloof. He didn’t know if that was because she’d been playing a game from the start. She was a paradox, and he didn’t like it. He wondered what she’d be like in bed and then dismissed the idea. She was his enemy. Never his lover. Not that she’d know that. As soon as he got what he wanted from her—a way to Samuel—he was done.

“I should go.” She ran a hand through her hair. “It’ll take me a couple of hours to get my own contract drawn up.”

“You’ll have a contract for me to sign?”

“Absolutely.”

“Why?” He couldn’t fathom what that contract would hold. He was the one taking all the risks.

“To keep you from getting any ideas that this”—she motioned between them—“will be about anything more than the job and sex.”

She’d thrown his words back in his face. He blinked. “I’m definitely not looking for more.”

“Good. Neither am I.”

“Then we’re on the same page.”

“Absolutely.” Maddie whipped open the door as if she couldn’t wait another second longer. “See you tomorrow.” She stepped out and closed it quietly behind her.

Before Cole could process what had happened, there was another knock. He absolutely didn’t feel any disappointment when he found his friend Mason on the other side of the door.

“The woman I passed in the hallway. Was that Maddie Russell?”

“The same. Hang on a second.” Cole held up a finger, then called his attorney and told him what he wanted put in the contract for Maddie.

“You’re making a mistake,” Mason said quietly after Cole ended the call.

“I’ve already heard the same warning from Jake. I don’t expect you to understand. You gave up avenging Adam’s death, but I won’t.”

Mason stiffened and narrowed his eyes. “I didn’t give up. I made my peace with what happened. I choose to focus on loving Olivia rather than letting the past destroy either of us.”

“I understand you fell in love with and married Olivia. Good for you if that’s what makes you happy. But you’re wrong. Fighting for justice isn’t what destroys.” Cole moved to the bar to make himself another drink. He tightened his grip on the glass and stared at the contents. Happily ever after for Cole meant avenging Adam, not love and marriage.

“It is when it becomes an obsession.” Mason’s voice rose slightly. “Chasing revenge damn near destroyed me.” He put his hand on Cole’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “You’re setting yourself up for destruction. Trust me on that.”

Cole raised his arm to knock back his drink and set the empty glass down hard. “I’m in control.”

Mason snorted his disbelief. “I said the same thing word for word.”

“I’m not you.” Cole took a deep breath to calm himself. “I haven’t forgotten the look on Adam’s face as he died. He looked right at me and—” He stopped abruptly, not wanting to think about the events that haunted him. “I won’t quit until it’s done.”

“Okay.” Mason nodded. “You do that, and when it all falls apart, remember that Jake and I are here for you.”

“Thanks, but it’s not necessary.” Knowing his friend was speaking from a place of concern just as Jake had, Cole pushed down his irritation and switched the conversation to talk about Mason’s young daughter. He listened and nodded at all the right times, but his mind was on his plan to finish getting the revenge they all rightly deserved. He’d been honest when he’d told Mason he was in control. He was the one with the upper hand, the one with all the power.

He wouldn’t fall apart, and he wouldn’t be destroyed, because he didn’t have anything left to lose.