by Sosie Frost
“Don’t you Granddad me. That boy is dangerous.”
“He didn’t cause the fire.”
“Don’t be so sure.” The cough bent him in two. “His family ain’t no good. His sister is a known woman. His friends in the city don’t have a dollar between them that they haven’t stolen from someone’s pocket. He had his eyes on you from the beginning, and if I weren’t tethered to this damn oxygen tank I’d take care of him once and for all.”
“But you liked Maddox.”
“That was before he almost killed you.”
“It wasn’t him!”
“You don’t remember a thing from that night, Jo-Jo. I do. Stay away from him.”
Granddad coughed again. Too hard. I handed him more water, but he batted it away, accidentally spilling the contents over him and the floor. He swore. It only caused more coughing.
Would it always be this hard to watch him? To see the man who raised me get sick?
Get weaker?
Granddad silenced again. He stared at the TV, but he wasn’t ignoring me or losing himself in the show. His mind was fine, just cluttered with impatience, rage, and…regret?
Like he wished he hadn’t survived the fire.
The thought ached in my chest. I cleared my throat, changing the subject.
“I have a job today,” I said. “I had to make every cookie I know for Nolan Rhys. His campaign fundraiser is today.”
Granddad fiddled with the remote. “That Nolan. He still pestering you?”
“You have no idea.”
“Might be time to consider him.”
Gag. “No thanks, Granddad.”
“He’s been after you as long as Maddox.”
Yeah, but Maddox actually loved me. Nolan? He was evil. Manipulative. Someone who would kill to get what he wanted.
And no one knew but me.
“I’m not interested in Nolan,” I said.
“You’re twenty-two years old. It’s time you start thinking about your future.” Granddad set his jaw. He tapped my hand. “I’m not gonna be here forever. And that candy shop—”
“We’re gonna rebuild.”
Granddad didn’t answer, and I wasn’t going to say anything else. My future was buried under twenty-five pound bags of sugar and nothing was going to change that. Not Nolan.
Not Maddox.
It was getting late. I leaned over and kissed Granddad’s forehead. Wrinkled. The gray dusted hair that was once midnight black. Everything faded with age. I just hoped he wasn’t giving up. If only he had some faith in the candy shop. Instead, he started to sound like the rest of Saint Christie. They preferred to remember the past while I worked hard for my future.
Once I proved that Nolan was responsible for the fire, nothing would stop us from rebuilding, forgiving, and starting our real life.
Then maybe, finally, I could imagine a life with Maddox again.
I didn’t know what I dreaded more—Granddad’s silence when I wished him goodbye or Nolan’s campaign event.
His campaign circus.
The fundraiser filled the ballroom/continental breakfast hall of the largest motel in Saint Christie. After he bought the majority of rooms in the hotel, he asked for favors from most of the townsfolk to put up more of his campaign organizers. This included decorators who festooned the motel with stars and stripes. The only thing Nolan loved more than the acclaim of the town was his name scrawled in posters throughout Main Street.
Fortunately, I could duck His Majesty. I waved over the nearest staffer and informed her of the cookie situation unfolding in the back of my car. She and an intern unloaded my trunk, and another passed me an envelope with a check.
Easier than I thought it’d be.
“Josie!”
My skin crawled. The artificial charm slathered over his words, sticking to me like simple syrup left in globs on a counter.
Nolan approached me with an outstretched arm. At least he shook my hand instead of forcing me into a hug. Not that the handshake was much better. His grip was too firm, too aggressive. His palm swallowed my fingers.
I got the feeling that he liked that.
Nolan grinned, baring teeth too sharp for his smile. He might have been handsome if I wasn’t so sure he’d bite me like a jawbreaker just to scrape out the sugar inside.
“I had hoped to catch you before the fundraiser began.” He hadn’t released my hand. Those blue eyes studied parts of me I wished he wouldn’t imagine. “I wanted to thank you for your support in my campaign. I hope I’ll have your vote this November.”
We were surrounded by too many people for me to make a scene. He pulled a Rhys for My Rep sticker from his pocket and gently patted it onto my shirt. If we weren’t in sight of everyone, I was sure his hand would have patted lower.
If he had a soul, and I had any other life, maybe we might have found a common interest in each other. Nolan wasn’t bad looking—he was actually attractive. Blue eyes, blonde hair, and every inch he fought to six feet exuded confidence. He was two years older than me, Maddox’s age, but even in high school his gaze lingered too long. He thought his name would get him far with me. It didn’t, and that was the greatest insult of all.
“I brought the cookies.” I placed a step between us. He immediately closed the gap. “Your campaign people are just finishing the set up. I’ll be out of your way in a minute.”
“You’re never in the way, Josie.” He said my name, testing it, probably imagining how it would sound spoken with a Congressman and Mrs. Rhys. “I have a few minutes before I’m needed. I was hoping you’d join me for a cup of coffee.”
Absolutely not, but did he expect me to say no? I wasn’t sure how much I could get away with around him, not now that Maddox was back in town.
“You’re awfully busy,” I said. “I should get going.”
“I need to talk with you, Josie. Let me buy you a cup of coffee, and we can settle things.”
Nolan either wanted to do business with me or to pin me against the wall. I didn’t trust either proposition.
“Maybe some other time.”
Nolan didn’t let me run far. “Maddox is out of jail.”
I stilled. The coy edge in his voice forced me to turn. Nolan rubbed his strong chin.
“Keeping secrets?” he asked.
I swallowed. It didn’t help. All the cookie dough I ate for breakfast solidified into a rock in my stomach. I forced a smile, if only to keep up appearances.
“What do you want?” I whispered.
“Just a cup of coffee, Josie. A chance to talk.”
Like I had a choice.
Nolan offered his arm. The thought revolted me, but I wouldn’t challenge him at Maddox’s expense. I took his elbow. My skin somehow looked darker, less cinnamon and more toffee under his hand. He liked that, but I wasn’t used to being a fetish.
Anne’s Beans wasn’t owned by Anne Wilks anymore—she sold to Tommy Waddock ten years ago who willed the property to his second wife, Anne Markson. They kept the name, but the locals still called it Tommy’s place. In any case, it was the best shop to get a cup of coffee in the town, especially when Anne, Tommy, and Annie each sent their customers to my family’s shop for a treat with their drink.
Rebecca Darcy worked the shift tonight—nine months pregnant to a husband she hadn’t seen in ten, but the town kept that quiet as poor Cade was on his second tour and did all he could. We sat, but Rebecca hovered, winking as I claimed the corner table. She was one of the townspeople who thought Nolan and I made a good match.
Well, most everyone thought it.
Nolan ordered two coffees. I didn’t touch mine. He added just enough creamer to match the coffee to my skin tone. Then he savored every drop, licking his lips as he dumped in enough sugar to open his own candy store in the cup.
I said nothing, but that was fine. Nolan didn’t like me for my conversational skills. He glanced over me as though I were a thousand dollar contribution to his campaign and smiled.
“Di
d you sleep with him?”
My breath caught. I stared at him.
“Excuse me?”
Nolan was direct. I was sure he imagined every moment I spent beneath Maddox.
“I asked if you slept with him.”
I licked my lips. “I don’t think that’s any business of yours.”
“Did you, or didn’t you?”
“I’m not telling you.”
“We had an agreement, Josie.”
My stomach twisted. “No. You told me what you wanted. I never agreed to anything.”
He sighed, blowing on the coffee to cool it down. “I’m only doing this for your own good.”
That wasn’t true. He wanted to control me.
And he could.
I lowered my voice, hissing just like the disgusting snake pretending to be a prince. “You threatened Maddox’s life. You said you’d kill him if I stayed with him.”
Nolan didn’t flinch. “I said no such thing, Josie.”
“You meant it.”
“It’s hard to prove intent.” He stared me down, the blue in his eyes deceptively sweet. “Maddox is the wrong man for you. If you stay with him, you’ll get hurt.” He sipped his coffee. “And so will he.”
No doubt. And Nolan would be the one pulling the trigger. No—he’d hire someone else to do it, the same sort of low-life and hardened man that Maddox nearly became.
I hated this. These horrible threats shouldn’t have existed in a small town like Saint Christie. We weren’t a big city. We didn’t have crime. We had…Maddox. His family was bad news, and he looked kinda scary in a leather jacket with his tattoos, but the town wasn’t unsafe. Our biggest threat came from a raccoon appearing in the afternoon and the occasional firework that exploded too near a cranky neighbor’s house.
But Maddox always said darkness lurked anywhere a shadow was cast—big city, small town, campaign fundraiser, or candy shop.
Nolan’s family was supposedly legit, and their favorite son a man of principal and ethics. The town trusted him, but I knew the truth. Nolan hated Maddox, and Maddox had enough skeletons in his closet and crimes in his past that no one would think twice if one day he stopped coming around.
I had to do whatever I could to prevent Nolan from hurting the man I loved.
And I was running out of ways to keep Maddox alive.
“Maddox went to jail, Josie. Rightfully.” Nolan’s eyebrows rose. He almost looked handsome, but I didn’t trust his twisted smile. “I’m trying to save you from making a bad mistake. You’re involved with a man who has a record. A bad one. Vandalism, assault, theft. Arson.”
“Maddox didn’t burn down my shop,” I said.
“You don’t need to protect him.”
Like hell. “I know who the real arsonist is, Nolan. He can’t hide forever. Soon, everyone else will know too.”
“Josie, are you threatening me?”
I knew better than that. “It’s so hard to prove intent, isn’t it?”
“You’re snappy today. Little too much Matthias in you.”
“I just think it’s time for the world to know the man you really are.”
He sighed. “And I think you might be a bit lovesick and naïve. Do not trust Maddox. Don’t endanger yourself by letting him in your life.”
“It’s my life.”
“Don’t waste your heart on men who don’t deserve it.”
“Don’t tell me who to love.”
“Love is a dangerous game, Josie. People get hurt far too easily. Do you understand?”
Damn it.
How was this happening again? I had already broken up with Maddox once to appease Nolan. I lost him to Nolan, to the fire, to the justice system that failed us all.
Nolan wanted me, and I had no idea the lengths he’d go to coerce me into bed. I wasn’t about to be tied to the train tracks, but I couldn’t risk Maddox’s life until I proved it was Nolan who destroyed mine.
He sipped his coffee, offered me a smile, and then challenged me with another devil’s game.
“I’d like to buy your property, Josie.”
My heart stuttered to a stop. I didn’t answer. I didn’t have the words or the caffeine to imagine all the perverted scenarios that he would concoct. Didn’t that bastard do enough? I denied him once, and he set fire to my property. He burned it to the ground and left me with nothing.
What would he take if I refused him again?
“Absolutely not.” I said.
“The shop is gone, and you have no plans to rebuild. The lot is on Main Street, and the vacancy does nothing for the town. Let me take it off your hands.”
“It’s my family’s property.”
“And your family is running out of money.”
My insides turned into a slushie. “You don’t know anything about my family or our finances.”
“How’s your grandfather?”
His question was slimy, and he dared to ask it with a smile.
“He’s fine.”
Nolan nodded. “One of my campaign managers works at Willowbend. She knows your grandfather. Said his lungs were pretty badly damaged after the fire. He can’t work, and he can’t sell his business. You can’t rebuild the shop if all the money goes to his treatments. Or…” Nolan stared at me. “His gambling debts?”
Like Nolan didn’t have any vices. I didn’t speak, didn’t even acknowledge him.
“It’s time to sell, Josie. Time for a change. A new direction in your life. Find someone who can help, who wants to support you.” He reached for me, taking my hand. “You know I could take care of you.”
Repulsion and rage battled in my stomach. I had no idea which would win out, but it wouldn’t be pretty. I was taught to be polite, to be gentle, to be independent.
So why could I only imagine smacking him with a saucepan and kicking him between his legs?
“I will only say this once, Nolan. I’m not interested.” I forced him to hold my gaze and read my lips. He stared at them, but not to hear the words—he imagined what I’d do with them. “I don’t want your money. I don’t want your name. I’m keeping the property.”
His grip tightened over my wrist. My heart pounded as his voice lowered, a deliberate growl.
“You will not talk to me like this.”
Likewise. “I have a few more choice words I could say.”
“That’s Maddox talking.”
“He always could turn a phrase.”
Nolan’s grip turned painful. “Josie, I am only asking once.”
“But I will say no a million times.”
“Isn’t it enough that I would offer you this, even knowing I am lusting after another man’s scraps?”
I’d flip the table if he didn’t let go of me, but I didn’t know what happened after that. Who he would target next. What he would do.
Nolan strong-armed the town, but he had yet to raise his hand to me. Testing his patience wouldn’t save any of us.
“Let me go.” My voice was low, my own threat. “You’ve insulted me. If you respected me at all you’d apologize and release my hand.”
“And if I don’t?”
Hell if I knew.
But I didn’t have to find out.
The bell over the door rattled, but the chime choked off as the door was nearly ripped off the hinges. I didn’t have time to stop it. A blur of dark leather crashed over the table. Nolan’s chair was tossed back. The mayor slammed onto the floor.
Maddox prepared to strike.
“Stop!” I dove forward to grab him.
Nolan didn’t move, he waited for Maddox to make the first mistake. A dozen outcomes terrorized my mind—a fight, the police, charges, Maddox sent to jail for protecting me.
Or, Maddox ending it right then and killing Nolan on the floor of a coffee shop.
“Maddox, no!”
My cry probably echoed over the town. A dozen onlookers rushed inside the shop, and most of Nolan’s campaign hurried to his aid, rushing to help him from the ground. The
rest separated Maddox from Nolan.
One man or a dozen, it wouldn’t matter. Maddox seethed, jaw clenched and eyes narrowed for the hunt.
“You don’t touch her.”
He didn’t care who watched. The threat resonated, and the news of the fight between town hero and villain would race through the streets. Nolan would never forgive him for upstaging his campaign rally.
God, this wasn’t the welcome home I hoped he’d get, but it was the one I knew he’d have.
“Maddox,” I whispered. “I’m fine. Please leave.”
He didn’t listen to me. He seized my hand where Nolan’s grip had nearly bruised. Difference was, Maddox’s grasp would. He pulled me from the store and tugged me into the street.
This was a disaster. I didn’t need the rescue. It was Maddox who needed the most help, the most protection. And now that he’d humiliated Nolan, I’d never save him from his own impulsive destruction.
I was out of time. I had no choice. I had to prove it was Nolan who targeted me, who set fire to my shop. The sooner he was behind bars, the easier I could protect the man I loved.
If I wasn’t already too late.
Someone was going to get hurt, but I’d do everything in my power to ensure it wasn’t Maddox.
6
Maddox
That bastard put his hands on her. He was lucky I didn’t put him through the window.
Josie struggled until she realized how bad it looked for her. How bad it looked for me.
I had no idea why Nolan wanted her this time or why she would even meet with that son of a bitch. Then again, it wasn’t like she had been very forthcoming the last time I saw her.
Any other woman was better off opening her legs than her mouth. But it’d never been that way with Josie. I wanted in her heart. In her head. I had to know why she’d endanger herself in Nolan’s presence, or if she even realized how dangerous that man was.
How the fuck did she survive without me for a year?
How did I survive without knowing she was safe?
Her apartment was close enough, but everybody watched me drag her away. Where the hell did they all come from? One raised voice, and the damn church bells rang to alert the village that Andrew Maddox had returned, and he’d claimed the virtuous again, ready to steal innocence and draw blood.