them and she worried just how they’d finish out these last few days.
As they headed down the dock toward their hut, Jenna slowed. “My sister and my mom—”
“I see them,” he said, reaching for her hand and giving it a slight squeeze.
A sense of relief speared her. She didn’t even know she’d been holding her breath, but with the simplest of touches, some of the tension left her in a long exhale.
Then she remembered the charade. He’d most likely taken her hand because her family was watching. That had to be it, because he’d not touched her and barely spoken a word since...the moment she didn’t even have a name for.
“There you guys are,” her mother exclaimed. “We just knocked and wondered where you went.”
Jenna pasted on a smile, a bit relieved that others were here as a buffer. How ridiculous was that? Since when did she need a buffer between her and her best friend? This entire situation had gotten out of control and if she didn’t do something to reverse this mess, she’d risk losing the best thing that had ever happened to her.
“I hope we can steal your woman away for a few hours,” her mother went on, oblivious to the turmoil.
Mac stiffened at her side, she had to assume over the whole “your woman” comment. Jenna tried not to take it personally, though it was rather difficult. Everything about this week, this farce, had become personal.
“We thought with the rehearsal tomorrow and the wedding the next day, we’d take you out tonight.” Amy beamed and clasped her hands. “Just us girls.”
The thought of going into that bungalow alone with Mac, who may or may not be regretting what they’d just done, didn’t exactly appeal to her. She may be a coward, but she needed time to think. Time away from his intense stare, time from his kisses, his touches...
“Give me a few minutes to wash up,” she told them, pulling her hand from Mac’s. “We found the most incredible waterfall and—”
Oh, no. Was she really going to start in on why she needed a quick shower? Her hair was clearly damp, her clothes were clinging to the wet parts of her body. It was obvious she hadn’t just been out on a stroll.
“Go right ahead.” Jenna’s mom turned her smile toward Mac. “We’ll keep him company. I want to hear all about what you’ve done today.”
That’s precisely what she was afraid of and why she had to get ready in record time.
* * *
“Make the call.”
Mac sank down onto the leather sofa in the bungalow, rubbed his forehead and gripped his cell. Ryker’s demand was simple, yet so difficult to act on.
“Shane isn’t backing down,” Ryker went on. “He actually intercepted a piece of art that’s due for your auction in Miami in two weeks. It was a legitimate piece, not one we had to acquire, but he’s showing his hand.”
Which meant the O’Sheas needed to show theirs. Shane was ballsy, that was for damn sure. The man obviously didn’t know who he was dealing with, or he was too stupid to care.
But to make the ultimate call on a death was not something Mac took lightly. Still, Shane had threatened Laney and now he was throwing his weight around like he could control the O’Shea family. Hell, no. That man had been a proverbial thorn in their side for years and the fact he thought he could use power against them was unacceptable. But trying to kidnap their sister was grounds for the ultimate punishment.
“I left a voicemail for Braden, but he hasn’t returned my call.”
Which meant the decision was Mac’s to make. Obviously Ryker’s choice was to end the conflict before it caused even more trouble. But Mac was starting to get even more concerned with Braden’s silence. This wasn’t like him and if Mac hadn’t been so wrapped up in Jenna, he would’ve focused more on his own family than his hormones.
“Let me try to reach Braden one more time,” Mac said. “I’ll let you know.”
“Make it fast. I’m done with this guy.”
Mac hung up and eased forward, placing his elbows on his knees. Nothing kept Braden quiet for this long. Something was wrong and Mac couldn’t tackle any other issue until he knew what it was.
He called Braden, not surprised when he got voicemail, too. After leaving an urgent message, Mac fired off a text. Maybe if he kept badgering him, Braden would answer.
Pushing off the couch, Mac stalked to the fridge to grab a bottle of water. Of course, he had to be careful of the blooms in there because Jenna would murder him in his sleep if he so much as touched a petal.
After grabbing a water, really wishing he had something stronger, he took his phone and the bottle to the deck. His mind was a jumbled mess, between the Shane situation, his brother’s unexplained absence and the encounter with Jenna at the waterfall.
Standing on the edge of the deck, watching the orange sun settle on the horizon, Mac recalled the way Jenna had responded so perfectly to his touch. All that pent-up passion just waiting for the right man to come along and release it. For reasons he didn’t even want to explain to himself, he wanted to be that man. He wanted nothing more than to...
What? He wanted her in his bed and beyond that he couldn’t make plans. He’d be heading back to Miami as soon as this wedding was over because he had an auction that would be in the final stretch of preparations.
Mac took a long pull of his water and willed his phone to vibrate. After waiting another ten minutes, he shot off another text, demanding a reply of any kind or he’d be on the next flight to Boston.
After a few minutes, Braden’s reply came.
Zara and I are dealing with something. Don’t come home, but business is on you for the next few days. Will talk in person later.
Well, that answered one question but stirred up a whole host of others. What was going on with Braden and Zara? Surely not relationship issues. Those two were so in love it was almost sickening. Braden was so protective, so fierce about keeping Zara safe from their world. Surely nothing had happened to Zara. If so, Braden would’ve called in all forces to deal with the issue.
Then what was going on?
Mac finished off his water and sighed. At least Braden was safe, but the fact he’d passed all business decisions to Mac spoke volumes as to the severity of Braden’s problem.
This also meant Mac would have to make a decision about Ryker’s pressing matter.
Damn it.
Mac knew Braden wanted this family to take a less aggressive role in battling their enemies, but Shane had proven time and again that he was nothing more than a menace. He harassed Zara, he’d fought with their late father more than once and now he was getting too close to their main goal of retrieving the scrolls. Mac had to assume that’s why he intercepted the recent art, just to prove he could get that close to their operation and slip beneath their noses unnoticed.
Unacceptable.
But, trying to
