“She headed out into this… on foot...? Jackie surveyed the broken landscape out the van window. “How the hell could she have known where to even begin looking?” Ryan was quiet as he drove.

“I don’t know,” I answered. But we ended up in the same place, only hours apart…” I shook my head and leaned my forehead against the air conditioned glass. “She never should have been out here in the first place. Dean fucking ordered her not to… and she came along anyway. I should have stopped her. Willful is one thing… reckless is another…”

“Maggie wants to save the whole world,” Ryan said, looking over at me. “She always has. Just like she’s always loved you.”

I caught his eye. “You know, I always thought the two of you were the ones who’d end up together. You seemed so comfortable… you had so much more in common…”

Ryan smiled. “Not so much as you’d think. Mostly, it was just you.” He looked back to the road.

“It wasn’t easy, growing up under the weight of the Decker empire,” he sighed. “Dad, before he died… then Grandma Bess… We grew up with a narrow set of rules and a wide set of expectations, Joe. There were things I didn’t feel like I could tell a soul, but her. She got me through some awful times, growing up. She was my friend… But you were always the only man for her.”

“I asked her to marry me…,” I said. “I want that more than anything I’ve ever wanted in my life. But the look on her brother’s face when he saw us… the betrayal in his eyes…” My bandaged arm throbbed with my heartbeat. “I don’t think he’ll ever fucking forgive me. I could live with that if I had to, but I could never live with coming between Maggie and the only family she’s got left. They were just finding each other again…”

“Dean will forgive Maggie,” Jackie piped up from the back seat. “And whether he realizes it yet or not, it isn’t his decision… how two grown people live their lives.”

“It’s not just Dean,” Ryan added. “You know how Bess always felt about the Blake’s living in the guesthouse. She and Dad spent the last part of his life going at each other about it. She’s always used TexStar as a bargaining chip… a way to have and maintain total control over all of us. But she never won the Blake battle with Dad. Even after his death… He made her sign legal papers to allow Dean and Maggie to stay on after their father died.” He shot me a look thick with meaning. “She’ll take everything if you cross her on this. The money, the company… everything. She resented those two kids from the beginning, and if you marry Maggie…

Bess will have the retribution she always wanted, one way or another. I know Maggie loves you, Joe. She has her whole life. And you’re a damned fool who doesn’t deserve her, if you don’t love her back. But there will be a price to pay. And you’d better make goddamned sure you’re willing to pay it before you put Maggie’s heart on the line. Because if you hurt her, Dean won’t be your only concern. You’ll have to answer to me, too.”

I dragged myself up the stairs to my room, aching from head to toe. I’d seen Dean’s rental in front of the cottage and I knew he was there. Like a watchdog… keeping danger at bay.

I ached for a shower, but settled for running a hot bath. My arm was throbbing painfully, and the doctor had warned me to keep the bandages dry.

I settled in and turned on the water jets. Leaning back, I let the water pound against my back. I dipped my head and let the water stream from my hair. Slowly, my muscles began to unknot and I relaxed into the heat. The last few days had felt like an entire lifetime. I ran one hand over my gritty chest.

The immaculate house looked just as I’d left it. The maid had straightened my room and made up the bed with fresh linens. The bath towels were perfectly folded and the suits in my closet perfectly pressed. I’d lived my whole tidy life in a perfect routine of organization and efficiency. Nothing had ever challenged that routine, and nothing had ever changed… Not in thirty-three years… Not until Maggie…

I ran my hand down to my cock. It was hard, pummeled by the bubbling water and my memories of her. Never in my life had I met a woman who challenged me, maddened me, pushed me… loved me the way she did. I knew in my gut, there had never been a choice. The moment I’d seen her, the second I’d touched her, I’d known there was nothing I wouldn’t give for more.

Now that I’d found her, I’d never risk losing her again…

From now on, the risks would all be mine.