Page 60 of Deserving Maisy
Stone felt like an asshole, which made no sense. He hadn’t said anything that wasn’t true, but if he was honest with himself, that wasn’t the only reason he hadn’t been able to leave her behind. He could’ve reminded her about the possible pregnancy. Also…she was under his skin, but he’dneveradmit that. And no matter what she’d done, he couldn’t leave her to suffer her brother’s wrath. Especially not after seeing the bruises on her skin and knowing he’d drugged his own sister, apparently without a second thought.
“It’s been a long day and it’s only a little after lunch. I’ll get you settled and come back up to the lodge and grab us something to eat. I’m sure there’s nothing edible in my cabin.”
Maisy stared off into the distance and said, “He’s not going to be happy about this.”
Stone knew who she was referring to. “I don’t give a fuck.”
She turned at that and met his gaze. “He’s going to come after me.”
“He’ll have to find you first,” Stone told her. “And I’ve been told on good authority that’ll be easier said than done.”
“You don’t understand,” Maisy said with a frown.
“You’re right. I don’t. But for now, you need to sleep, let the rest of that drug work its way out of your system. Tomorrow, we’ll talk. I’ll tell you what I know, and you can tell me why the fuck your brother had me kidnapped, andwhy you went along with his lies.” His words came out sharper than he’d intended.
Maisy simply sighed and nodded.
“You’ll tell my friends and me everything?” he asked, not yet willing to believe getting answers from her would be easy.
“Yes. But he won’t stop. He needs me.”
“Then we’ll have tomakehim stop,” Stone said simply. But he had a feeling it wasn’t simple at all. “Come on. After lunch, I could use a nap too. I was up most of last night.”
“Doing what?” Maisy asked as Stone helped her stand.
“Making sure you were breathing,” he said bluntly.
Maisy tripped over her feet and would’ve fallen to the ground if Stone hadn’t been there to keep her upright.
“Easy,” he said, wrapping an arm around her waist as he walked her away from the lodge toward his cabin. “Alaska said she and the others are going to get you some clothes and toiletries. You can wear something of mine until they get back from town.”
“I don’t want to be a bother,” Maisy told him.
“You won’t. This is what they do.”
They continued walking and, after a moment, Maisy said softly, “I knew you had friends like this. People who were worried. Who would care that you disappeared.”
Stone gritted his teeth. “And yet you still lied to me,” he couldn’t help but point out.
Maisy didn’t respond, but it was just as well. Stone was still a little too raw about being betrayed by her to be forgiving right then. It felt as if he was being torn in half. Part of him was thrilled beyond belief to have Maisy herewith him, at his real home. The other part was pissed as hell and didn’t even want to see her face.
But she was his responsibility. Just as he hadn’t been able to leave her in Washington to face the repercussions of him vanishing into thin air, he couldn’t manage to give over responsibility for her to one of his friends. For better or worse, she was his. Fake or not, they had a marriage certificate filed in some computer database in Seattle that said so.
When he got to his cabin, Stone saw that someone had already unlocked it for him, which he appreciated since he had no idea where his keys had gone. Brick had told him on the way home from the airport that Ry was working to get his identification cards replaced, and he’d have new credit and bank cards in a few days. She’d deactivated his old ones the second they learned he was missing. He made a mental note to thank her for that.
He also had the thought that it was actually pretty handy to have a computer genius working at The Refuge.
He opened the door to his cabin and with his hand on the small of Maisy’s back, guided her inside. She stopped just through the door and took in his space.
The main room was open-concept, with the kitchen on one side, a sectional taking up most of the living room, and a dining table breaking up the two spaces. He had a gray rug on the living room floor, a fireplace opposite the sofa, and a huge bookcase on another wall. But the best part, in his opinion, were the floor-to-ceiling windows that faced the forest. They made it feel as if the cabin was completely open on one side. Like he was camping in the trees.
“It’s…”
Stone held his breath as he waited for her thoughts.
“…perfect,” she said reverently.
“Yeah,” he agreed. “Come on. I’ll show you where you’ll be sleeping.”
