Chapter 5

CHAPTER FIVE

Roman

I speed through the night, my head pounding as I listen to Maddie’s frightened breaths.

Mason might kill me for not ending Vigo. The Vendettis are the kind of enemies you don’t let slip through your fingers. Vigo shot at me just this morning. Vincent again tonight. In our war against the Italians, I could have made a major victory.

But I couldn’t do it. Not in front of Maddie. I’m not scared of death, or of handing it out. My reason for hesitating is a long-game strategy.

I actually need this woman to trust me. Because in this war, the Vendettis pale in comparison to completing that tunnel.

I ignore the fact that she felt amazing in my lap. Or that I went absolutely insane when Vigo put his hands on her.

I don’t do relationships, and certainly not with a woman like Maddie. One who requires extra attention and care.

I’m going to help Maddie now, make her feel warm and safe, because she is the key, and if I’m careful, this whole night could play to my advantage.

Except for the part where I don’t know where Luke is.

That scares the shit out of me.

As soon as I get this car into a safe location, I’m going to search the trunk.

I speed down the dark empty streets, probably doing eighty.

Fortunately for me, I’ve just moved from our previous Kincaid building and my new place is a property that no one in Vegas knows about.

Mason and I are careful to put some of our real estate through shell companies. It keeps our holdings from being known and it helps us in situations like this. I don’t want to be found tonight.

I need to recover and then think. How am I going to deal with Vigo and Vincent? How am I going to use this interaction with Maddie to my advantage?

I’ve still got the phone to my ear and Mason is spitting a slurry of questions, but I can’t talk and drive. My head is buzzing. Slowing down, I fumble with the button and finally hit the speaker function.

And then, I hand the phone to Maddie.

She feels it hit her arm and her fingers fumble to grab the device. “Hello,” she breathes out, her voice trembling with fear. I wince, my fingers brushing down her arm before I grip the wheel again.

“Who is this?” Mason barks back.

“Umm. Maddie.”

“Maddie?” Mason asks with all the disdain a CEO of a multi-billion-dollar company is capable of.

“Maddie Reid.” Maddie croaks out into the waiting silence.

Mason pauses and I know he’s beginning to understand. I will him to soften his approach but it takes every ounce of my energy to drive the car. “And you’re with my brother, Roman?”

“Yes,” she says, sounding scared out of her wits.

“Tell him what happened,” I direct, punching the gas again.

In halting words, Maddie begins. “I was on a date with Vigo Vendetti and he was dropping me back home.”

“You were on a date with Vigo?” Mason cuts her off. “Have you been seeing each other for a long time?”

This is what I appreciate about Mason. I’m normally good with details but tonight, I’m struggling. Between the head injury and my reaction to Maddie…

Mason is asking all the right questions. Maddie clears her throat. “This matters?”

“Yes,” Mason says. “It does.”

“No, first date.”

“How did you meet?” he asks her, his voice softening. I can hear him closing doors in his house, moving about. Is he getting ready to leave? Come back to Vegas? I hope so. I could use some help right about now. Between Maddie and Luke, I need more hands.

“Bar. Last week. My friend convinced me to go out and he was there.” She keeps going, telling him about the medical student who was out with Vincent. The return to her house. The two pops she heard.

“See anything?” Mason asks.

“She’s vision impaired,” I sigh out, finally turning into the parking garage of my building.

“Hear anything?” Mason asks without skipping a beat.

“I heard the trunk open and close,” she answers. “After the…the shots.”

I lean toward Maddie and the phone. “I’ll check it as soon?—”

“Don’t.” Mason talks to someone off the phone and then he’s back. “I don’t want your fingerprints anywhere near the trunk.”

The word ricochets through me. He’s assuming the worst. That Luke is dead.

My knuckles tighten on the steering wheel as I turn into the entrance for the parking garage. Slowing, I grab my phone from Maddie and hit another button to open the gate.

It clanks open and I pull through, shutting it behind me. As it closes, I let out some air. I stop the car and rest my head on the steering wheel. Fuck, my head is pounding.

“We need to see a doctor,” Maddie is saying. How long has she been talking? I tuned out for a minute, but I hear her now. “I don’t know how he drove, but I’m worried he has a concussion.”

“Thank you, Maddie,” Mason rumbles. “I have a friend that I can send to you for medical care so you don’t need to leave the apartment again tonight.”

“I offered for my friend Lucia to examine him. She’s a vet, not a doctor, but Roman said…”

I lift my head and gently press the gas, pulling into a spot next to the elevator and slump down into my seat. Getting us here, took whatever bits of energy I had left. “You don’t want your friend anywhere near your house,” I say and then I close my eyes.

A small hand lightly touches my arm and then slides up my sleeve, skimming over my neck before delicate fingers twine into my hair. It’s light and soothing but it infuses me with a bit of energy.

I have to get Maddie inside. She can’t do it herself.

It’s that thought that pushes me up out of the seat, opening the door, and stumbling around the car.

Her door opens too, and she steps out into the lights of the garage.

It’s the first time I’ve really seen her tonight. She stands in a cute strappy dress that hugs every gorgeous curve, her long blonde hair flowing down her back.

Vigo’s comment about her joining him in his bed is making a hell of a lot of sense.

Maddie is a knockout.

She keeps her hand on the frame of the car as she scoots around the door and I step up, placing a guiding hand at her waist, my arm curving around her.

Beautiful and so vulnerable.

She comes willingly into the cradle of my body, her breath catching. “I’m scared.”

“I know, sweetheart.” I tighten my arm which settles her even closer. Every instinct spurs me to protect this woman and my other arm comes around her, holding her close.

I’ve forgotten about Mason, forgot he’s on the phone. “Get her up to the apartment,” he orders. “You’ll be safe there.”

Mason’s words help push me into action as I keep one arm around her, heading to the elevator.

The doors slide open, and I know as soon as we’re inside, no one can touch us. This is the second building Mason and I built to be a fallout shelter.

They cost a fortune, but they’ll withstand a massive earthquake or the blast of a bomb.

I hear another voice and I recognize the voice of my other brother, Leo. He and Mason are both married, and things have been so hot here in the city, they’ve taken their wives to our compound in Colorado.

“I’m coming too,” I hear Leo grunt. Normally, I’d worry about Leo’s temper. Right about now, however, I could use a bit of Leo’s aggression. In fact, I think it might be exactly what this situation requires. I turn off the speaker and put the phone to my ear.

The less Maddie knows about my family, the better. Because as much as my head pounds, it’s starting to work again. I don’t think she realizes who I am. Doesn’t know I’m the man who has been pressing her to sell her house.

Anonymity is a major asset.

“The women…” Mason starts.

“Will have the entire team of security,” Leo answers. “At least for tonight, we’re both going.”

“We’ll be there soon,” Mason says as the elevator doors close. I know the call will cut off any second as I slump against the wall. “Take care of Maddie until I get there.”

“Call Jack,” Leo adds. “He’ll bring the doctor.”

The line clicks. After my father’s death a few years after my mother’s, Mason became my parental figure. Through my teen years, he was the man who sent me to college, who set me up with a job, who taught me how to hold a position of power.

We understand each other in ways most men would not. So I know his last words to me about taking care of Maddie were said for a reason. We both see the truth. She isn’t just a small asset in this war, she’s the key to the Italian’s undoing.

I slide my fingers down her spine. I have always lived in Mason’s shadow. But today…with Maddie…I might have finally made the decisive move that propels us forward.

“No sleeping.” Maddie wraps her arms around me, squeezing. “I don’t have a lot of experience with human medical care, but I know you can’t fall asleep if you’ve got a concussion.”

I lean against the wall, appreciating the feel of Maddie’s body pressed to mine.

My hand settles into the small of her back, the curve perfect under my palm, as her full breasts crush to my chest.

Who knew Vigo and I would have something in common? I pocket my phone, my eyes closing, as I lift my other hand to her hair, running my palm down the silky length. “It was so dangerous to come outside and help me.”

Am I chastising her for coming to my aid? The understanding of the danger she was in tonight settles like a weight on my chest, as I drop my nose to the crown of her hair. She smells like apple blossoms and crisp white wine.

It’s such a strange mix for me. I’m feeling so protective over this woman, even knowing that if ever I was going to become emotionally involved, she is the last person, for several reasons, I should choose.

“My gran would have said the same,” she mutters into my shoulder. “’No sense,’ she’d say.”

My hand on her back, fists into her dress. “Imagine if I was more like Vigo.”

“You aren’t?” she asks, shaking her head against my chest.

Is she worried she’s not safe with me? I pick my head up, opening my eyes to study her. “I don’t go around shooting people in the street.” Except I do. I mean, not often. And in my defense, the man we killed today was attempting to kill us. Actually murdered my father in cold blood. Does that make me bad? Or the type of man who can keep the people around him safe?

Is it both?

And if I’m being honest, Maddie should be frightened of me. My intentions are less than noble.

Maddie doesn’t pull away, if anything she burrows deeper into me, her face nuzzling into the crook of my neck. She breathes out, warm air rushing over my skin. “I just need to know,” her voice has dropped to a whisper, “and I probably should have asked this before I got in the elevator, but am I going to be safe here with you? I don’t know who you are or how you know Vigo.”

My sweet little vulnerable bird needs to be safe, and she wants me to be her haven.

I can work with that.

Vigo unwittingly pushed Maddie right into my arms. He never was any good with the subtleties.

“To answer your question, I’ve known Vigo almost all my life. We grew up together, so I’ve got loads of experience with how shitty he can be.”

She nods into my neck and then starts to back up. I feel the loss of her body heat and I let out the lowest rumble of dissent. I want her back on my body, her softness against me.

The elevator chimes and the doors slide open.

“Lights,” I call out, the apartment lighting up. Everything in my apartment is voice- or phone-activated. It’s part of the security that my Uncle Jake installed.

“You have voice commands too?” she asks.

“That’s right,” I answer, as I take her hand and lead her out of the elevator and into the foyer of the apartment. “What do you need me to do to help you navigate?”

“I can see enough,” she answers, her fingers still twining in mine. “The lighting in here is good so I see the outline of things. Shapes. Blurs of color.”

That makes it easier for sure.

My phone rings and I pause in the kitchen, Maddie stopping with me, as I pull the device out of my pocket and pick up. “Yeah?”

“It’s Jack.” Jack worked for my father before he started working for Mason. “I’m fifteen minutes out. I’ve got your doctor with me.”

“Fifteen?” Good.

“Should I blindfold him?”

I see Maddie’s eyes widen and, inwardly, I grimace. She can clearly hear Jack on the other end of the phone now that we’re in the quiet of the apartment with no background noise. I want us both to be safe here. Which means keeping our location under wraps.

But I can see why blindfolding doctors might make her question the type of man she’s with. She tries to pull her fingers from mine, but I hold tight.

“Can you put me on speaker?” I say to Jack.

“You’re playing through the sound system. Dr. Levine can hear everything. Fire away.”

“Dr. Levine,” I say in my most polite voice. “Would you mind if Jack covered your eyes? We’ve had an incident with the Italians and we’re trying to keep a secure location.”

“Not a problem,” the doctor answers. “Completely understand.”

“Thank you.”

I hang up the phone, pulling Maddie the rest of the way through the kitchen and into the living room to sit on the couch.

She follows my lead, but unlike the elevator, she doesn’t settle against me as she sits, her fingers slipping from my grip.

“Everything all right?” I ask gently, leaning back and closing my eyes. My head is pounding to a steady thrum as I cover my eyes with my hands. I know how to soothe an upset woman. I’ve been trained since childhood.

“Fine. I…” She swallows. I uncover my eyes to see her hands twisted together in her lap. “I need some more information.”

I reach for her hands again, covering them with mine. I feel her tremble of fear. “I’m going to protect you, Maddie.”

She gives a little nod, but her body language couldn’t speak any louder as she leans further away.

Is she worried? Scared of me?

She should be…