Page 83 of Deserving Maisy
Maisy felt good about her plan. She wasn’t sure how to make it happen if Jason was no longer living at the house, and she had a feeling it wouldn’t be easy to talk Jack into letting her confront her brother, but in order to move on with her life, she had to do it.
Sighing, Maisy eased a leg up and over Jack’s thigh and smiled when his arm tightened around her.
“You okay?” he murmured, sounding mostly asleep.
“More than okay,” she told him.
She fell asleep with his scent in her nose and his warmth seeping into her bones. She had no idea what the future held, but for once in her life, she was actually looking forward to whatever came next.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Stone’s three-month wedding anniversary had come and gone. Things with him and Maisy were better than ever. He hadn’t realized how tense he’d been until Maisy was back sleeping in his arms and they’d worked things out between them.
Maisy wasn’t her brother.Shehadn’t kidnapped him. She was as much a victim in what happened as he’d been. It had taken that talk with Henley to truly and honestly see that. Once he stopped to think about what her life had been like, it wasn’t a hard decision to forgive her.
Being back at The Refuge was therapeutic for Stone. He loved the corner of the world he and his friends had carved out and couldn’t imagine living anywhere else. Thankfully, Maisy was fitting in perfectly. She helped out where she could, and everyone had embraced her wholeheartedly.
But neither of them could forget that her brother was still out there. Likely fuming over losing Maisy’s monthlystipend and not being able to find her to force her to change what Ry had done electronically.
The time was approaching when they needed to head back to Washington so Maisy could meet with the lawyer and sign the papers that would give her full and legal access to her inheritance. Stone didn’t like it, but in order to cut ties with Jason once and for all, it had to be done.
Maisy had talked to Stone about her plans for the money. She didn’t want it, felt as if it was somehow tainted, which he didn’t agree with, but he’d never tell Maisy what to do with her own money. She and Ry were working out plans on what charities to donate the bulk of it to, and he’d never been as proud of anyone as he was of his wife.
Wife. Stone hadn’t planned on getting married, hadn’t really thought much about it all. But now that he was, he couldn’t imagine not coming home to his cabin every night and having Maisy there. Couldn’t eventhinkabout sleeping without her in his arms. The sex was amazing, but it went deeper than that. The connection they had, the emotional bond, was more intense than he ever could’ve imagined.
When it became obvious to his friends that he’d forgiven Maisy and they were now more than simply roommates, he was on the receiving end of a barrage of teasing. But he didn’t care. They could rib him all they wanted, he’d never been happier.
Though he’d be more relaxed once their trip to Seattle was over and done with. He wasn’t thrilled that Maisy wanted to go back to her house and get her diary, the pictures she’d taken years ago, and the other evidence, but ultimately, if they wanted Jason to go down for his crimes, they needed that stuff. The case against her brother wasmostly circumstantial as it was, the police would need the other evidence to get a search warrant so they could dig up the basketball court in the backyard and hopefully find poor Martha’s body.
Brick had suggested to Maisy that he and Tiny go to the house to get everything, but she’d refused. It had taken a bit of talking to find out why she was so determined to get the evidence they needed to take to the police herself, but eventually she’d given in and told them that she needed to see her brother one more time. To say all the things she hadn’t felt safe saying before. And with him, Brick, and Tiny at her back, she was confident no harm would come to her.
Stone wanted to protest, tell her it was asinine to get anywhere near her brother, but he also understood her need for closure. And the fact that she was smart enough to not do it on her own, to literally want some muscle behind her, ultimately made Stone give in.
Not to mention, he had some things to say to Jason as well.
So they’d be leaving in two days. They’d called the lawyer in charge of the trust and he’d agreed to meet them at the bank manager’s office first thing in the morning the day after they arrived. Then they’d go to the house and get the evidence Maisy had left behind, along with anything else she might want, since Stone had gotten them out of the house without even a suitcase. He’d let her say what she needed to say to her brother—if he was even at the house—then they’d spend another night at the hotel before heading out the following morning.
All in all, the trip would be as short as possible. Even thinking about going back to Washington made the hairon the back of Stone’s neck stand up. He felt antsy, hyped, just as he used to feel before a dangerous flight when he’d been in the Army.
This morning, Brick was having their weekly check-in meeting. Everyone would talk about what they were doing on The Refuge, discuss things they wanted to change or implement, and generally keep everyone’s finger on the pulse of their business. Stone honestly enjoyed these meetings. Liked hearing his friends’ ideas for the place. It felt as if so much had happened in the weeks he’d been gone.
Tonka started, giving an update on the animals he looked after, then Brick gave a rundown of their financials and donations, which were up five hundred percent over a few years ago. Owl discussed the progress on the building of the hangar for the helicopter, and Brick added that hopefully in another month or so, the investigation into Carter Grant and what had happened out on his island would be wrapped up and they could arrange to have the chopper delivered to The Refuge.
Stone was more excited than he could express about having a helicopter on the property. He hadn’t realized how much he’d missed flying until he and Owl had flown down to the Mexican border to save Reese. And even though it was now evident that Grant had used the helicopter as bait to get his hands on Lara, Stone couldn’t deny that he’d loved the Bell when he and Owl had test-flown it.
“What are Ry’s plans?” Pipe asked Tiny.
“Why?” he asked sharply, eyes narrowed.
“Easy, man, I’m just wondering,” Pipe told his friend.
“Sorry,” Tiny apologized. “I don’t know. She’s been working with Maisy to fuck over her brother. After that’s done…I’m guessing she’ll be leaving.”
“Where will she go?” Spike asked.
“Don’t know.”
“Do you care?” Brick asked.
