“Did you see anyone? Where did the shot come from?” Worry had clearly spread to Max’s face as he questioned her.
“It’s just all gone,” she said as she strained to remember. “Couldn’t it have been one of your workers hunting? Someone from Male Order accidentally straying onto your property?” She suddenly felt exhausted by the inquisition taking place. Her eyes heavy, she leaned back into the seductive comfort of the bed beneath her. She couldn’t help but begin to drift back into the softness of her healing rest. It was all too much to experience at once, all this love and fear and confusion pouring over her simultaneously.
“That’s enough for now, baby. We’re sorry to put you through all of this, but we want to know everything. We care so much about you, Audrey, and we trust you. And we want you to feel the same with us,” Max said with a soothing tone, clearly doing his best to be gentle with her in her weakened state. She lost herself in the words as she drifted back towards unconsciousness.
* * * *
Audrey fell back on the pillow, her eyes fluttering as they did their best to comfort her.
“I don’t like the sound of this at all,” Max said as he pulled his brother away from the bed. “This Sasha guy is responsible for this, I’m sure of it.”
“Don’t jump to conclusions, Max. If it were him, why wouldn’t he just shoot her? I’ve heard many a stray bullet on our property, too. Why are you so convinced this maniac is hiding out, waiting to get her?”
He felt as if a boulder had settled in his throat. “I picked something up when I found Audrey, something that clearly didn’t belong to her.” He pulled the silk handkerchief out of his pocket. It was still dusty from where he’d found it in the tire tracks left just beyond where he’d found her.
“Name any man—or woman, for that matter—in Male Order who carries a handkerchief like this while hunting. And why was there a car up on the ridge? How did it even get up there?”
Silas shook his head, just as unable to answer as he was.
“I will find answers, Silas. I assume you’re with me.”
* * * *
After days of being watched like a hawk by Max and Silas, Audrey finally convinced them she was capable of looking after herself for an afternoon.
“Mason will take wonderful care of me, I’m sure of it,” she insisted as both men’s brows furrowed at her stubborn resistance to their doting, constant attention.
“We just want to make sure you’re safe, Audrey. We have a tendency to be a bit…protective. That’s all,” Silas asserted from the edge of the bed.
“You can’t watch me every moment for the rest of time, Silas. And don’t you have a business to attend to? Don’t you have more important things to think about right now?”
“What could be more important than your safety?” Max countered, inching his way closer to her. He took her face in his rough hands and tenderly kissed her on the forehead.
“Please, Max. I know you’re just looking out for me, but I really need this. Go work, and when you come home, I’ll be right where you left me.”
They looked in each others’ eyes for a long moment, his gaze clearly searching hers as he finally gave into her cajoling.
“We’ll be back in three hours, Audrey. We are giving Mason strict instructions to check on you once every half hour,” Max finally responded.
“Yes, sir,” Audrey teased in her most obedient voice.
The moment they left, Audrey carefully slipped out of bed and let the silk pajamas she had borrowed from Silas slip to the floor. She tiptoed into the master bathroom and drew a bath for herself in the massive bathtub. As she carefully climbed into the warm suds, she basked in the peace that had begun to settle over the house again since the accident.
Although her lovers were convinced that Sasha was lurking around every corner waiting for an attack, Audrey knew that wasn’t his style. He was all business, all the time, and would do anything he could to destroy them professionally. He was an aristocrat by birth, and he could manipulate anyone and bend them to his will. He might threaten her, but somehow she wasn’t afraid of him any longer. She had made the decision that she could no longer live with fear haunting her every breath. Although her body still felt weak, she felt stronger than ever before. She had made a decision. She would face him when the moment arrived to do so.
Audrey submerged her entire body in the hot water and then carefully emerged from the bathtub, wrapping herself neatly in several luxurious towels.
As she walked into the bedroom, she hatched a plan to fill the rest of her afternoon alone. She would dress herself and convince Mason that she was fine alone, and that she wanted to cook a romantic dinner for Max and Silas. Audrey would cook a simple meal for the three of them, and they would finally begin to relax once again.
She was resolved to live this new life to the fullest, the excitement for her future in this gorgeous, foreign world truly taking hold of her. She felt like herself again, but far improved. She couldn’t wait for her two men to return home.
Chapter Thirteen
The moment they stepped into the entryway of their house, the incredible smell of saffron, garlic and tomato hit Max.
Silas looked at him, wide-eyed. “What did she do?”
They both raced into the kitchen, the concern for her washing over him. There Audrey stood, whistling to some jazz tune as she stirred something in their massive soup pot. She looked absolutely charming, her tiny frame dwarfed behind the stove. She was wearing one of his old work shirts and had tied a red handkerchief around her hair to keep it from getting in her face.
“You are in so much trouble, missy!” Max said as he crossed to her, fully intending to pick her up and carry her back to the bedroom. “Remember what you promised? That you wouldn’t move from that bed, that’s what! And where the hell is Mason?”
“Wait, Max. First, you must try this. It’s my favorite French dish, bouillabaisse. We used to eat this all the time when we would visit my grandmother by the seaside.”
She held a wooden spoon to his mouth, and he sipped the rich broth she had concocted for them. Immediately, his intentions melted as the powerful flavors made him forget everything else. She then gave a taste to Silas, quickly spurring an identical reaction in his little brother.
“Dammit, Audrey, you shouldn’t be in here! And what did you do with Mason? Answer me! ” Max finally mustered, gathering his wits.
“I dismissed him for the night,” she replied, a cool nonchalance masking her troubling statement. “Here, please. Sit down, boys. Forget about everything else and let me serve you this dish. I’ve worked very hard, and I hope you’ll enjoy it.”
God damn, this woman is persuasive.
Before Max could say another word, Audrey had placed one finger on his mouth in a hushing moment. She grabbed him by the shoulders and tenderly sat him down at the small table she had carefully set for just the three of them.
Placed before them was a simple meal but one of the best he’d ever tasted—she completed the delicate soup with a fresh out of the oven baguette and a bottle of rosé from Silas’ collection.
They ate in silence, enjoying her masterful work. Was there anything she couldn’t do or make perfectly? It had been months since they’d eaten a home-cooked meal of this quality. Mason did well enough, but nothing could compare to this.
“You’re still in trouble, you know,” Max said as he finished off the last morsels remaining of the dish.
“The minute you’re completely well, I’m going to give you a nice long spanking for this,” Silas added.
She nodded quietly, a small grin forcing itself onto her face.
“You’re awfully quiet, Audrey,” Silas noted as she looked down at her barely touched dinner. “You know we’re just worried about you, right, baby?”
She again nodded silently, but as he looked more closely at her, Max noticed the tears welling up in her eyes.
“What is it, darlin’? What’s the matter? Are you hurting?” Max asked, the ache of seeing her unhappy spreading through him forcefully.
She finally looked up at them, clearly gathering her courage to vocalize what she was thinking.
“I was thinking today about the future. I’ve been so happy here, and I can’t thank you two enough for everything you’ve done for me. But there’s something huge we need to talk about if there’s any chance this can continue,” she said quietly.
“Tell me,” Max replied, a pit of anxiety forming in his stomach.
“I need you to tell me about Jackie. I’ve told you of my past, and it hurts that neither of you trust me enough to be honest with me.”
The minute she said the words, Max felt his heart race as the memories immediately rushed back to him of that terrible night three years ago. She stared him down as he searched for something to tell her in response.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” he finally replied, the words tumbling out of his mouth. Silas looked on, also apparently lost on how to approach the tender subject.
“I don’t care if you
want
to talk about it, Max. I have to know.”
Silence loomed in the room as he grasped for a way to begin. He took a deep breath and searched for the words. “She was ours, always had been since the time we were children. We were days away from being married, and then she died. What else do you want me to say?” The anger boiled inside of him, desperate to erupt.
“There’s a lot to say, Max! God forbid I find out what's actually happening in your heart. That you actually open yourself up to me, or to your brother for that matter. The pain is written all over you,
mon cher
, and clearly whatever you're hiding is slowly killing you, slowly crushing the free spirit inside of you. And I hate to see that happen to anyone, much less to someone who I care about so deeply.”
Max felt his body tense with anger. “What makes you think you can just waltz in here and undo years of history? She died in my arms, Audrey. Because of me. Nothing you can do will change that.”
He felt his face heat to a scarlet red, his mouth twisted by the weight of the words he had delivered. Tiny beads of sweat gathered on his forehead. This wasn't a man he ever wanted to show her, but the pain radiating through him made it difficult to hide the bubble of rage inside of him.
“Why can’t you let me in and finally unburden yourself?”
A silence settled over the three of them as he looked Audrey in the eye, desperate to avoid lashing out at her.
“What do you want to know about it, Audrey?” he finally mustered.
“I want to know what happened, that’s all. And why it’s driven such a wedge between you two. It’s that simple.”
Max took a deep breath and gathered his strength.
How can something this simple be so damn hard?
“When we built The Arches the first time around, I installed a complex telephone system in the house, with wires running through all the walls. The technology was still pretty new, and I didn’t realize the danger of the internal system heating up inside the plaster. The night of the fire, I was working late in the studio and Jackie had gone to sleep. Someone had accidentally left the phone off the hook in the kitchen and the heat it produced caused the flames to spread rapidly throughout the living quarters. By the time I smelled the smoke, I was too late to get her. Trying to save her almost killed me, and I’m sure you’ve noticed the scars.”
Audrey nodded silently, taking in every word of his story. Suddenly, Silas chimed in quietly, telling his side of the story.
“I was in Europe when it happened, actually. The war had ended, but I had gone back to attend engineering classes at Oxford, working on my early plane designs. When I got the call from Max, I was just so damn angry that I wasn’t here. I was gone a lot back then, first fighting and then studying. She came with me when she could during those last years, but she missed Male Order and hated being so far away.