Slaying the Dragon (Deception Duet #2) (32 page)

“Want me to pick the lock?” Eli asked.

I looked down at the caller ID, not really liking the idea of breaking into the house of the guy we were here to get information from, but what choice did I have? I needed answers. “Yeah. Do it,” I ordered, bringing my cell to my ear. “Benson, how did it go?”

“It didn’t,” he replied, practically yelling. I heard sirens and a commotion in the background, a sense of urgency washing over me.

“What do you mean? What happened?”

“I don’t know, but when we got here, our guy’s house was fully engulfed in flames. The entire street was blocked off, but we were able to sneak in. Apparently, there was evidence of some sort of bomb. There was a tripwire that triggered an explosion when the front door was opened.”

My eyes immediately went to Eli using his lock pick set to pry open the front door and my stomach dropped. I hung up on Benson in mid-sentence as Eli turned the knob and I heard a click. Everything after that was in slow motion as I felt a rush of heat. Meeting Eli’s terrified eyes, we escaped the scorching flames the only way we could. Placing one arm on the railing of the deck, we hoisted our bodies up and over, an explosion sending us flying onto the sand of the beach before darkness washed over me.

Mackenzie

“H
OW
DO
YOU
LIKE
this one?” Jenna asked, pointing to a rustic-looking crib made of reclaimed wood. “Oh, and it will transform to a toddler bed, then a twin bed, too. What do you think, Mack?”

I shrugged, indifferent about the whole process. Now that I wasn’t sure about anything in my life, the excitement of buying nursery furniture had faded. In its place was an overwhelming feeling of unease in the pit of my stomach. “It’s nice,” I said, my voice soft.

“And how about this mobile for over it?” Brayden interjected. “This whole setup is perfect, don’t you think?”

“Yeah,” I agreed, not even looking. I just wanted to get out of here and be alone. “It is. I’ll get it.”

“Really, Mack?” Brayden said. “Really? You really think it’s perfect? You didn’t even look at it! You’ve been out of it all day, and now you just agreed to give your baby
boy
a Disney princess themed crib.”

I finally looked at the nursery set and cringed at all the pink and purple surrounding me. “Sorry,” I offered. “It’s pregnancy brain, I suppose.”

I continued past them, running my hand against another crib that was a darker wood. Glancing up the aisle, every crib looked nearly identical. Did the kid really care what the furniture in his room looked like?

“No,” Jenna said, catching up to me. “It’s something else. You can’t fool us, Mack. We know you. What’s
really
going on?”

Sighing, I stepped into another nursery setup and plopped down on the glider, rocking back and forth. “It’s Tyler.”

“What about him?” Brayden asked. “I thought things were good between you two.”

“They were…until this morning when he asked me to move in with him…”

Brayden’s and Jenna’s faces lit up, displaying a level of excitement I hadn’t seen in a while.

“In Boston,” I finished. Their expressions fell just slightly, but not nearly as much as I had thought they would.

“Let me guess,” Brayden began, walking toward me. “You said no.”

“I didn’t really
say
anything. I yelled at him for even thinking I was willing to move somewhere I had only spent a few days just so he could be close to his friends and family. What about
my
friends? What about
my
life? Doesn’t he understand I worked my ass off for years to make the restaurant as successful as it is? How can he expect me to just walk away from all of it?”

“You said you were planning on taking a few months off from work after the baby was born anyway,” Jenna said. “The restaurant has been practically running itself for a while now. Not to mention we’ve been talking about expanding the brand into newer markets, Boston being one of the places we discussed. If you lived there, you’d be in a perfect position to manage the opening of that restaurant!”

“That’s beside the point!” I exclaimed, my face flaming. “His life is up there. Mine is down here. With everything going on, I can’t leave my dad. And I can’t leave you two! We’ve been practically attached at the hip for the past eight years! How can he expect me to pick up and leave the only family I have?” Tears began to well in my eyes at the thought of not being able to have my traditional Friday girls’ night, of not waking up some mornings to see Brayden lying in bed beside me, of not walking into the kitchen at the restaurant to another one of Jenna’s culinary experiments. When I was younger, I dreamed of finally going back to North Carolina, to the only home I thought I had. I finally had a new home, a new family that I loved more than I thought possible. I couldn’t abandon that again, not when the memory of what it was like to be forced from the only home I had was still fresh in my mind, despite the passing years.

“But we’ll only be a quick flight away,” Brayden assured me, rubbing his hand up and down my arms. “We’ll come visit as much as we can. And when you’re able, you can come see us, especially in those cold winter months.” He shivered in a dramatic manner, bringing a smile to my face. “I’m not a fan of snow, unless I’m watching it fall with a hot guy keeping me warm…if you know what I mean.” He winked.

“You moving won’t change our relationship,” Jenna added. “A few thousand miles can’t come between us, and you know it.”

“It’s just…” I took a deep breath, trying to compose my thoughts. All day, I had been trying to figure out what it was about Tyler’s proposition that I didn’t like. The truth was, it scared me. I would be in a new place, with a new family, with no support system like I had here. “Who will I run to when things get bad?” I asked with a quiver in my voice.

Brayden sighed dramatically. “You’re such a pessimist.”

“No, I’m not!” I insisted. “I’m a realist. Big difference.”

He rolled his eyes. “Who says things are going to get bad? How have things been lately?”

“Great. Better than great. Perfect…which is exactly why I’m worried. I’m just scared I’ll get there and will see a different Tyler than the one who’s been down here with me. I won’t be able to run to you guys for advice…”

“Of course you will! We’re always just a phone call away,” he interjected.

“Mackenzie,” Jenna said, her voice low. “You know as well as I do that this isn’t a place where you can raise a child. Don’t you want Triple B to be near children his own age he can play with? He won’t have that here, not when the population of this island changes each week.”

“I know.” I sank further into the glider, feeling defeated. “I guess I’m just scared of all this change at once. Not only am I going to have to completely rearrange everything because of the baby, but now I have to uproot my life? I just–”

“Do you love him?” Jenna interrupted.

I nodded without hesitation.

“And you know he loves you. If you don’t want to move to Boston, you know damn well he will stay wherever you
do
want to live. I think you owe it to him to at least consider Boston as an option.”

I sighed, knowing she was right. It was selfish of me to not at least start the discussion with Tyler. Yes, the idea of having to move to a completely new city scared me, but wasn’t that part of being in a relationship? Making sacrifices? Stepping out of your comfort zone? I would have been lying if the thought of Triple B growing up in Tyler’s gorgeous house hadn’t crossed my mind once or twice over the past few months. And maybe that was what was most important. Not what was best for me or Tyler, but what was best for our baby.

“I’m not saying yes, but I’ll think about it.”

“That’s my girl,” Brayden said, helping me up from the glider.

“But you promise you’ll both come visit every chance you get?”

“Of course! We can’t have Friday girls’ night without you!” He nudged me.

I wrapped my arms around both of them, pulling them in close. “Thanks, guys. I love you wholes.”

“And we love you, too, Mack,” Brayden said, kissing my forehead.

Mackenzie

S
ATURDAY
WAS
A
PERFECT
day. The air was crisp and warm, the sun was shining, a few clouds adding a beautiful texture to the sky, and the summer tourist season was over, leaving the island calm and peaceful for a change. On the outside, it appeared as though everything was just as it should be. But inside, I struggled to fight back the uneasy feeling growing stronger with each passing second.

As I stood on the sidewalk outside my restaurant, listening to Tyler’s voicemail pick up for the seventh time that morning, I struggled to control my anger. I had tried to reach him yesterday evening before girls’ night, but got no answer. At the time, I shook it off, knowing he’d be at my baby shower today. But now that it was thirty minutes past the time the shower was scheduled to begin, I questioned my entire relationship with him. I had told him how important it was to me that he be at my side today. I didn’t know what to think anymore.

“Mack,” Jenna’s voice cut through. I spun around to see her stepping outside.

“Hey,” I said, my expression dropping.

“I’m sorry, Mack, but it’s time.”

She placed her hand on my arm in a consoling manner and led me toward the front doors. “I’m sure there’s a very good reason he’s not here,” she offered. “He wouldn’t just not show up. That’s not like him.”

“Apparently, he’s not the man I thought he was,” I hissed. Pausing, I put a fake smile on my face, not wanting all my friends, who had traveled from far away, to see how upset I was about Tyler’s absence, especially Colleen and Olivia.

“There she is!” Brayden exclaimed, wrapping his arms around me as I entered the dining room of the restaurant that had been decorated in pastel blues and yellows. I blindly followed him as I approached each table, thanking everyone for coming. I tried to put on a smile, but my brain was elsewhere.

“Is everything okay, Mackenzie, dear?” Colleen asked, placing her hand on my arm as we sat eating lunch. I had barely touched the food in front of me.

“Hmm? What?” I responded, trying to snap out of my thoughts. I could feel the eyes of everyone sitting at our table, Olivia and Melanie included, on me.

“Are you okay?” she asked in a hushed tone.

“I’m fine. Just tired.” I continued to move my salad around my plate, a lump beginning to form in my throat.

“Does this have something to do with the reason my son’s not here?” she whispered.

I tore my eyes from my food and sighed. “I suppose.” I lowered my voice. “He asked me to move to Boston with him…”

“He did?” she replied in shock, her voice rising in pitch before she lowered it. “I had no idea he was thinking that. I thought he’d want to stay here.”

“Join the club,” I responded flatly.

“It threw you for a bit of a surprise, didn’t it?”

“Yes, but Brayden and Jenna smacked some sense into me after I told them I may have overreacted when he asked me. Now he’s just ignoring me.”

“Well, don’t worry. When I see him next, I’ll give him hell for missing this. He’s already missed so much of your pregnancy. Even if he
is
upset, he has no reason not to be here today.”

I placed a bit of lettuce in my mouth, a sick feeling in my stomach as I tried to swallow. I couldn’t shake what Jenna had said earlier. Tyler
wouldn’t
simply miss this. I never considered anything could be wrong, but I was now consumed with the idea that something had happened.

Our lunch plates were cleared and I proceeded through the spectacle of opening gifts in front of grown men and women, as if I were still ten and celebrating my birthday. Clothes, diapers, wipes, strollers, car seats… It was all there, and then some.

Finally, the guests began to trickle out. As grateful as I was to everyone for coming, all I really wanted was to go home, crawl into bed, and forget about the last two days.

“We may need a truck for all of this,” Brayden joked after the last guest had left and it was just him, Jenna, and me. I looked at the overflowing gift table. I had no idea where I was going to put it all.