“Uh oh. Why don’t I like that look, Morgan?”
“What look, Darlin’?”
“That shit eating grin you are currently wearing...” I was lying of course. I loved that look. I loved everything about this man. Morgan leaned over the bed and brushed his lips against mine.
“You worry too much Darlin’.”
This did not instil any confidence in me whatsoever. “Mmmmhm, and if you get arrested I am not bailing you out.”
Morgan just chuckled and wrapped his arms a little tighter around me. Hiding my face in the crook of his neck, I sighed in contentment and relaxed. “Are you hungry, Darlin’?”
I nodded, but before I could answer there was a knock at the door. “You think about what you want and I’ll deal with whoever is on the other side of that door. If it’s one of the guys, then you may need to remind them about what happened to Dan?” He winked at me and I couldn’t help but laugh.
“That’s only allowed if I’m asleep.”
“Can’t we just pretend you were napping? They don’t know the difference!”
I laughed and whoever it was knocked again. “Will you just open the damn door, babe!? Find out before you sentence them to life without children.”
He got up off the bed and grumbled the whole way. Pulling the door open, with a “What?!” He stopped dead when he saw his father on the other side of it.
“Is that any way to greet ya old man, son?” He moved to hug his father and I got up off the bed. Moving to the door, I greeted him with a hug too. “What brings you to Nevada?”
“I had some last minute business to take care of. Nothin’ to it.”
I nodded and Morgan just gave him a look. “Pa, why ain’t you home with Ma, like I told ya to be?”
Anderson just glared at Morgan. “Boy, watch who you’re talkin’ too. I just said I had some last minute business to take care of.”
I moved to Morgan’s side and ran my hand along his back. “We were just about to get some lunch. Have you eaten yet, Dad?” He shook his head, still glaring daggers at his son. “Well, would you like to come join us?”
“That’d be real nice, Darlin’.” Finally, he looked away from Morgan and gave me a smile.
“Try not to kill each other while I get changed.” I gave Morgan a quick kiss and pushed him out the door. He and his Pops butted heads all the damn time. I don’t know what started it, but someone always had to be in the room with them. Not wanting to ruin Addison’s hard work of keeping them alive this long, I quickly changed into a pair of jeans and a tank top before slipping my feet into some flats and grabbed my bag. Pulling my hair up as I opened the door, I was greeted by Morgan and Anderson’s yelling. “Christ, I was only gone less than ten minutes! Can ya’ll just not for once?”
They both turned and looked at me. Morgan sighed, “Sorry, Darlin’.” He came to me and kissed my head. I looked over at Anderson and he straightened. He was standing his ground. “Stubborn old goat!” I heard Morgan mutter beside me and had to fight not to laugh. “Come on, before I have to separate you two into separate corners.” I squeezed Morgan’s hand and walked past Anderson toward the hotel room door.
Once we stepped into the hall, Nate and Bryan fell into step behind us, radioing the others that we were on the move. There was a little cafe just down from the hotel where we were staying, so we were headed there. I stepped into the elevator and once the four of them joined me, I pushed the button and leant back against Morgan. A little voice in the back of my head wondered what business Anderson had here, of all places. Sure, I didn’t know the man very well, but given the situation, wouldn’t it have made sense for Addison to come too? She would be safer here. Unless... I felt Morgan’s arms wrap a little tighter around me, pulling me from my thoughts. I looked up at him and he gave me a smile. I pressed my lips softly to his and closed my eyes. I had to stop letting my imagination run wild.
When we stepped out of the elevator I took Morgan’s hand again, hugging his arm with my other arm. I felt as though someone was watching us as we walked out the door. With Ghost out taking care of Josh, shouldn’t that feeling be gone now? I turned my head and looked over my shoulder past Nate and Bry, checking to see if we were being followed by someone. Not that the boys didn’t already have eyes on us, but I was just trying to ease this sinking feeling. Not seeing anyone I turned back around and kept walking towards the cafe.
“You okay, Darlin’?” I nodded and tried to give Morgan a smile, but I still felt like someone was watching me. Was I being paranoid? Morgan led me into the cafe and we were seated straight away. At the table, I picked up my menu and wiggled closer to Morgan as I tried to decide on what I wanted. I heard Anderson mutter under his breath “Any closer and you’ll be in his lap.” Apparently Morgan heard it too because I heard snort from beside me. Resting my hand on Morgan’s thigh, I squeezed softly and ignored Anderson. I could only hope that Morgan did the same.
A few hours later...
After lunch, Anderson seemed to be in a worse mood than when he arrived. I was trying not to let it get to me, but it was starting to affect Morgan’s mood. I had had enough family time for one day. I signaled to the waitress for the cheque. I wrote down her tip and handed it back to her along with my card. While I waited for her to bring it back, I finished the last of my water. Once she returned, we all stood up and walked out of the cafe. Morgan wrapped his arm around my shoulders, and I cuddled into his side as we walked. I knew I had to deal with all of Michael’s things but I just couldn’t face any of that right now. God, I hope he was prepared.
When we got back to the hotel room, I went into the bedroom, putting my bag down on the bed before walking into the bathroom to wash my hands and face. I was drying my hands on a towel when Morgan came in to check on me. I didn’t have time to speak to him, because his phone rang as soon as I took a step towards him. He gave me an apologetic look, and I walked past him as he answered it, going into the other room to give him some privacy. Just as I stepped through the door, I found a gun pointed at the side of my head.
“You’re nothin’ but a worthless gold digger, Maddison, and I am puttin’ an end to it now.” I could hear the sound of my heart beating faster and as the blood rushed to my head, I heard the muffled voice of Morgan as he called for Anderson to go to the bedroom but instead, he pulled the trigger.
Everything went black.
I sat up straight, gasping for air. Looking over to my side, I saw that the bed was empty. I looked around and frowned when I saw I was in the bus bedroom. My phone rang. Automatically, I picked it up and looked at the message. When I saw the date, I lay back down and almost cried.
It was just a dream….
CHAPTER THREE
Maddie
I lay back down in bed and cover my eyes with my arm as I try to calm myself back down. That dream felt so real. My brain began to over think and analyze what happened and left me with questions. Was Josh really related to Morgan? God, I hope not. I didn’t want to have to deal with THAT drama. Despite being together awhile, I didn’t really know too much about his non immediate family. All he ever said was that his dad and mum split when he was ten and they moved to Australia. I’d never met his dad, and when I asked about him he’d just say, “he’s gone away.” I didn’t want to question it in case he had died. Josh and Morgan were polar opposites. Josh was an asshole who cheated on his girlfriends; a trait I hadn’t seen until I was one of them, yet Morgan was such a sweetheart. Mind you, I had just gotten to know him, so he could have a whole other side to him. Moving my arm from over my eyes, for the first time I noticed that Morgan wasn’t there. He must be out in another part of the bus or something.
I let my thoughts go to the other questions; I was stuck on the one. Why was I now dreaming about Tim again? I hadn’t thought about him in years. I hadn’t let myself. When he left, he broke me. I couldn’t get out of bed for weeks, my grades took a major nose dive, and Uncle Michael was close to putting me in hospital. I wouldn't eat, so I
lost so much weight I was just skin and bone. I couldn’t deal. I let out a sigh and began to rub the spot over my chest where the old familiar ache was.
Tim had been my best friend maybe half the time that Jas had been. I’d known Jasmine all my life. My mum and hers met in birthing classes, and ended up being roomed together in hospital as they both had the same due date. When mum died, Jas’ mum Hannah was there to help as much as she could. Jas and I were born within a couple of minutes of each other; me at 11:59 pm and Jas at 12:01 am. Tim came into my life after dad died. He used to cheat off me in tests once we hit high school. Soon after we became friends, and I actually helped him rather than him cheating off of me. Somewhere along the way we developed feelings for each other. We started dating and were together two years. He was my first everything. First boyfriend, first kiss, first love and the first person I had slept with. What hurt the most, though, was the night after our first time, he left. I later found out that he and his family moved back to the US for his dad’s work.
I tried to call and got nothing. His phone had been disconnected. Over the years he had been pushed to the back of my mind, but now I wondered what happened to him. Did he follow in his dad’s footsteps and join the army, or did he find his own path? Before I could pick up my phone and check on Facebook, Morgan came in with coffee. I smiled at him and sat up.
“Mornin’, Angel”
“Hi, handsome, you’re up early.” He leant over and kissed my temple after handing me my coffee and I closed my eyes.
“I had some calls to make and didn’t want to disturb you. You looked so peaceful sleeping.” I nodded and blew on my coffee before taking a sip and let out a small groan. God, this was good coffee.
For the rest of the day, I tried to be normal and not let my dream get to me. Morgan and I went to meet up with Jas, who was the last one left at the campground. I was thankful for that because I knew she wouldn’t make an ass out of herself with him. I hugged her as though I hadn’t seen her in days like I always did.
“God, I am going to miss you, Jazzy. Sure you can’t come?” Jas laughed.
“I wish, Maddie, but I have to go home and be an adult.” She pulled back and made a face and I laughed. “YOU.” She turned to face Morgan. “You take care of our girl. She is very special and we want her safe.”
“Yes, Ma’am, I’ll make it so.”
That was obviously the answer she was after, because she grinned like the Cheshire cat and hugged me. “I love you. One day, or I will track you down.”
“When I can, I will, babe. I promise. I will get a message to you somehow.”
Jasmine nodded and hugged me super tight again. “Such a lucky bitch!” I couldn’t help but grin. In the back of my mind though, my dream was still there.
“Hey, babe, could you please give us a minute?” Morgan nodded and kissed my head.
“Of course. I’ll be over with Lucas.”
I smiled and watched him walk away, then turned back to Jas and let my smile drop. “Okay spill. I know that smile. What happened?”
“I dreamt about him last night…”
“What?! No fucking way! You haven’t thought about him in years! What was the dream about?” I nodded softly and leant back against my truck and proceeded to tell her the whole dream. By the time I finished telling her about it, Jasmine’s mouth was hanging open.
“Jas, shut your mouth or you are going to catch flies.” She swatted my arm and leant against the side of my truck.
“Do you think it’s true?” I shrugged my shoulders. “How could it be? It was only a dream.”
“Hang on a minute… Josh told me that you had met his parents.” I shook my head.
“Nope. Not me. He said his mum and dad split, and he and his dad came out here. Never met his dad either. He told me that “He went away”. Whatever the hell that means.” I shrugged again and ran my hand through my hair.
“No, he definitely said it was you. The night he was going to ask you to marry him.” I frowned and turned my head to look at her.
“Want to try that last part again?!” Jasmine realized what she had said and cursed.
“Shit. You never knew that?” I shook my head no.
“He was going to ask you, but then you found out about his bitch on the side and well… tossed his ass to the curb.” I let out a sigh and shook my head.
“I’m gonna have to ask him, aren’t I?” Jasmine wrapped her arms around me and nodded her head.
“Only way you are going to know, honey.” I laid my head against her shoulder and closed my eyes. God, I was going to miss her. We hadn’t been apart since we were born. Now? Who knows when I would see her next.
CHAPTER FOUR
Ghost
My plane landed in Australia and I took a deep breath. This was somewhere I never thought I would be again. The old man had moved us back to the U.S. when we were younger, and shipped me off to some pretentious military academy. I had no contact with anyone but the teachers and the other guys. I had tried to write to Maddison, but they always got sent back. I didn’t know if it was her or someone else, so eventually I just stopped writing and left her alone. Since my injury, I had left the Army and gotten into security. I was hired by a major U.S. recording label, and they needed some extra eyes on one of their stars who was out here on holiday at the moment. I was to meet up with his head of security, Lucas, and we would go from there. He’d come out here for some festival and decided that he wanted to stick around and sightsee. Since it was the end of his tour, for the time being, it all worked well timing wise.
All the other guys had opted to go back to their families, which I guess was understandable. I did the small stint back home with Mom and Dad, but a month was all I could stand before I up and left. Dad wasn’t shy about his disappointment in me. He thought I should have gone straight back after my injury but after being discharged I couldn’t go back there. Not mentally. It wasn’t safe. Mom always went along with what dad said, so it was like arguing with a wall. Maybe now my kid brother would get the recognition that he deserved. He was the one who wanted to be like dad and follow in his footsteps. Not me. Matthew had told me once that it wasn’t to make dad proud. He wanted to be part of the military so that he could fight for a world where his mom and sister could wake up and be safe. I admired that about him. So he went his way and I went mine. I checked in with mom every couple of weeks in the beginning but just stopped. I cut all ties. The road was my home now.
Arriving at the hotel, I paid the taxi driver and got out. Looking up, I let out a low whistle. Who the fuck was he trying to impress? This place was as close to the beach as you could get without actually being on the beach itself, and one of the tallest buildings on Surfers. No doubt he’d called in top floor. Heading inside, I checked in using the name Lucas had given me and headed up to the suite. Taking my phone from my pocket, I texted Lucas and told him I was here and had checked in. Hitting the button for my floor, I rolled my neck to crack it, trying to ignore the fact that I was in an elevator. I fucking hated these death traps. I avoided them at all costs usually, but fifty stories of stairs? Not today. Letting out a breath once I reached the top, I was out as soon as the doors were opened wide enough and all but ran into Lucas.
“You okay, man?” I could hear the humour in his tone but I bit down my asshole reply.
“Hate those fucking things.” I squared my shoulders and held out my hand. “Ghost.”
He held his hand out to me and shook mine. “Lucas. Thanks for coming out.”
“No problem.”
“Come on, and I will introduce you to Morgan before we go get you up to speed so you can go get some sleep.” I nodded and followed Lucas down the hall toward one of the beach facing rooms. Lucas knocked and the door opened. Walking into the room after him, he motioned to a spot near the door.
“You can drop your bag there if you want to.” I nodded and dropped my bag down. He moved over to the glass doors and I waited for him to come back. About five minutes
later, he walked back through the doors and following him was Morgan Young. He’d made it big in the music scene a couple of years back, and had been releasing number one hits left right and centre. Now, I was working for him. My business was about to go big if I did this right.
“Ghost, this is Morgan. Morgan, this is Ghost. He’s replacing the guys while we are out here.” Morgan raised a brow and looked me up and down. It took all I had not to react.
“Think you are good enough, hot shot?” I shrugged and gave him a look.
“I’m here, aren’t I? From what I hear you can be a bit of a diva. Let’s keep the theatrics to a minimum and we’ll do fine.” Morgan looked over to Lucas and raised a brow before looking back at me with a smirk.
“Welcome to the team. One rule. What’s mine is off limits. Got it?” I gave him a nod. “Copy that, boss.” Just as he was about to say something, the hotel room door opened up and we all turned to look. My heart fucking stopped when I saw Maddison there in a white dress with her blonde curls hanging loose around her face.
“Snowflake?” Maddison stopped dead and looked up from her phone. Before any of us could say anything, she was back out the door. I felt Lucas and Morgan’s eyes on me and turned to see them glaring at me. I shrugged my shoulders because there was no way that I could form a coherent sentence right now. Turning my back to them, I grabbed my bag from next to the door and left the room. What the fuck kinda small world was this shit?
CHAPTER FIVE
Maddie
Okay seriously. This shit wasn’t funny. Walking into Morgan’s and my room and seeing my ex-boyfriend standing there like they were old friends was just messed up. What kind of hell game was the universe playing at, and so soon after having that dream? Did I kill someone in a past life or something? What the hell was going on? I didn’t stick around like I should have. I was back in that elevator faster than they could blink. At least I knew Tim wouldn’t follow me. When the doors opened at the bottom, I walked from the elevator to the front doors and crossed the road to the beach. I took a deep breath and tried not to lose my shit. One word and I was losing it.
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