and I don’t understand why.”
“Because the Hadley Walker I know loves to argue.”
Well, that was true. I could see his confusion.
“When have I ever argued with you about something you needed?”
“Fuck,” he clipped. “Just when I think I’ve figured out all the reasons I love you, all of the ways you make me happy, you prove I haven’t.”
“Funny, the other night I was thinking about all the reasons why I’d fallen in love with you. But then I realized I wasn’t done falling because you keep giving me new reasons to love you. Then I thought there’d be nothing better than falling more every day for the rest of my life until my dying breath.”
Brady stood frozen, the look on his face easy to read—he liked what I’d shared, and by the way his chest wasn’t moving, like he was holding his breath, he liked it more than a little bit.
I felt the same about what he’d said.
“We should stop talking,” he weirdly suggested. “You gotta know I want nothing more than to take you upstairs and show you how much what you just said means to me. But I found something important about Liberty’s case and I need to call my team over here to discuss it. If it wasn’t about her, we’d be going upstairs and I’d show you how much I fucking love you.”
God, I wanted that.
But Liberty was more important.
“Well, then, you better call your guys over so you can tell them what you need to tell them and I can be a bad hostess and not invite them to stay for dinner. Though, I am my mother’s daughter so I’ll set out some snacks and offer them a drink. But they ain’t getting more than that from me.”
“They don’t need snacks and they are not staying for dinner.”
“Honey.” I couldn’t keep the horror-struck tone from my voice that he’d suggest such a thing. “I said bad hostess, not heathen.”
Brady smiled and his body shook as he silently heaved with laughter until he could no longer hold back and it became audible. Deep, rough laughter filled my living room and I wanted to hear that sound for the rest of my life.
But I was also Hadley Walker so I was bound by the laws of nature to give him attitude when he was laughing at me.
“I don’t see what’s funny, Brady.”
That just made him laugh harder.
24
“You’ve got to be shitting me,” Matt seethed, not taking his eyes off the bank statement I’d handed him.
Luke, Logan, Trey, Matt, and I were sitting around Hadley’s dining room table waiting for Drake and Carter. In the meantime, we were looking over bank accounts and printouts of emails Dylan had found. I was explaining the money trail when I heard Hadley’s excited voice.
“Hey! You’re home.”
My gaze slid from Matt to the front door in time to watch Liberty walk in followed by Drake. His tired eyes came to mine and he jerked his chin in greeting.
“Got in this morning,” Liberty replied.
“Yo,” Trey greeted and stood.
The rest of us followed, meeting Drake in the living room while Hadley hugged her cousin. She rocked her back and forth then scolded, “Shouldn’t you be home sleeping?”
“And miss hearing all the latest gossip? No way.”
“What, you got time for gossip but no love for me?” Trey groused.
Liberty disengaged from Hadley and stepped into Trey’s widespread arms. A millisecond after Trey had closed his arms around Liberty, Drake grumbled at Trey to let go of his woman.
“You sure you’re hung up on that caveman? You and I can run away and—”
“And I can kick your ass, you don’t step away from my woman,” Drake cut off Trey’s good-natured tease.
“You could try, but even with a bum leg you know I’d take you,” Trey volleyed.
Liberty patted Trey on the chest, stepped away, and asked, “You know, one day he’s gonna pay you back, right?” Trey looked confused so Liberty continued. “When you find a woman, Drake’s gonna hand you shit as payback.”
Something flashed in Trey’s eyes then he quickly covered the look with one of his devil-may-care smirks.
“That’s not gonna happen. I got a lotta love to spread around, too much for any one woman to handle.”
“Swear to God, your comebacks suck, brother.” Matt snickered. “A lotta love to spread? More like, a lotta—”
“And we’re done,” I cut in before the conversation deteriorated any further.
“I got your number, Trey Durum,” Liberty rejoined. “One day, a woman’s gonna swoop in and knock you on your ass and