His to Take (41 page)

He frowned fiercely, his hazel eyes looking mysteriously moist. “I will always worry
about you, regardless of what happens today. But if you give me another chance, I
will stay and care for you every single day. I will never, ever leave you again.”

He grabbed her hands, and she felt the shock of his touch all the way to her heart—a
bittersweet homecoming. Bailey felt her knees go weak.

“I’m sorry. I miss you. I love you.” His chest buckled, and he looked as though he
held back tears. “I want you forever.”

It took all of Bailey’s self-control not to leap into his arms and admit that she
loved him, too. But he had to understand how she felt. “It’s not that simple, Joaquin.
I’ve been left by everyone I’ve ever loved, including you.”

He closed his eyes. “God, if I could take that day back, I would, baby girl. In a
heartbeat. When I thought I’d lost you forever, I freaked out.”

“I know. Just like I know you didn’t mean to hurt me when you left me. But you did.”
She sighed. “I’m human. I could die tomorrow. I can’t do anything about that. I can’t
live with wondering if you’ll run away every time you’re overwhelmed by potential
pain and loss.”

He shook his head, looking insistent and determined. “I want every moment I can get
with you, until fate decides it’s time for one of us to take our last breath—whether
that’s tomorrow or a hundred years from now. But I can’t live another second without
telling you how much I love you. I know you might reject me, and I’ll have earned
it. But at least I know I’ve faced my fear and been one hundred percent honest with
you.”

God, he sounded like a different man. Bailey scanned the familiar, masculine angles
of his face and marveled at the resolution there. “What changed?”

“You,” he said as if the truth was obvious. “You make me want tomorrow. You make me
ready to face whatever comes next, good or bad.” He pulled her closer, and Bailey
didn’t resist. “I want you to know . . . I spoke to my mother. We’re on good terms
again. I called Kata and Mari this morning. I’ve apologized. I won’t let my family
down. I even reached out to Nate’s parents to offer my condolences. I think they needed
it.”

“That’s great.” Bailey really meant that. For Joaquin, those were
huge
steps. Maybe he was truly serious.

“Caleb gave me a job. Hunter, Logan, and I are going to take over his business. The
three of us spent a lot of time talking last night, planning. I’m really looking forward
to . . . belonging again. But life would be so much better with you beside me.”

“Joaquin . . .” Bailey’s tears spilled over. How was she supposed to resist that?

“Can you forgive me?”

There was one fundamental difference between him and nearly everyone else who’d ever
left her: Most had gone without much thought for her feelings. Joaquin was reaching
his hand across the chasm between them to bring her into his world. He hadn’t plotted
to leave her, but he’d come up with a plan to coax her back into his life. It touched
her.

“Yes.”

“Oh, thank God.” He pulled her against him and filtered his fingers into her hair.
“Bailey Benson, marry me. Please put me out of my misery, put me in my place when
I need it, and take me into your heart, the way you’re in mine. I swear, I won’t let
you down.”

He couldn’t have been more earnest if he’d tried. The swell of need emanating from
him bowled her over. And she loved him so much it hurt.

Joy brought another rush of tears to her eyes. “Yes!”

Joaquin smiled at her, so full of joy and life—and relief as he reached into his pocket
and slipped a gorgeous diamond solitaire on her finger. She glanced down at the winking
gem, then back up to her new fiancé. He beamed, so clearly embracing their future
together. Elation brimmed between them. She couldn’t be more thrilled.

As he sealed their new bond with a seeking kiss that quickly turned demanding, Bailey
warmed against him and melted as the wedding guests around her clapped. She laughed
and cried at once, feeling as if she’d finally found her family.

D
ON’T MISS THE NEXT
W
ICKED
L
OVERS NOVEL FROM
N
EW
Y
ORK
T
IMES
BESTSELLING AUTHOR
S
HAYLA
B
LACK

Wicked for You

Ever since he rescued her from a dangerous kidnapper, Mystery Mullins has wanted Axel
Dillon. When he returned her to her Hollywood father and tabloid life, she was grateful . . .
and a little in love. Mystery wasn’t ready to let Axel go, even after the soldier
gently turned her away because, at nineteen, she was too young.

Now, six years later, Mystery is grown, with a flourishing career and a full life—but
she’s still stuck on Axel. In disguise, she propositions him in a bar, and the night
they spend together is beyond her wildest dreams. Mystery steels herself to walk away—except
the sheets are barely cold when her past comes back to haunt her.

Once he realizes Mystery isn’t the stranger he thought she was, Axel is incensed and
intrigued. But when it’s clear she’s in danger, he doesn’t hesitate to become her
protector—and her lover—again. And as the two uncover a secret someone is willing
to kill for, Axel is determined to claim Mystery’s heart before a murderer silences
her for good.

C
OMING SOON FROM
B
ERKLEY
B
OOKS

Dear Reader,

Intrigue. Drama. Passion. Danger. Secrets. For Lexi Blake and me, those are the ingredients
of a page-turning book. One night, over a bottle of wine (which is how much of our
collaborating starts), we thought . . . what if? What if we wrote a series with all
those elements? We started with a sexy romance, then added nail-biting stakes along
with politics, wealth, and edge-of-your-seat action and surprises. From that, our
new series, The Perfect Gentlemen, was born.

We’re thrilled to introduce to you a group of brothers-by-choice and the strong women
who stand beside them to solve a shocking murder and uncover a long-buried scandal
that will rock the foundations of their friendship—and America. Each book will be
set in a dazzling city with a new couple to cheer on, but will bring back the characters
you know and love as the friends confront a criminal force set on the destruction
of everything they hold dear. Turn the page for a sneak peek at the first book in
the series,
Scandal Never Sleeps,
which releases on July 7, 2015 from Berkley Books. We hope you’ll love the Perfect
Gentlemen. Happy reading always!

Shayla and Lexi

E
VERLY Parker looked around the swanky bar and felt out of place. This wasn’t her crowd,
even though she worked with some of these people. She wasn’t a big bar hopper. She
didn’t watch the clock and wait for five p.m. so she could hit her favorite watering
hole. No, she was a work-long-hours-and-go-home-to-a-good-book-and-hot-bath kind of
girl. But tonight, she wanted to be someone else—anyone who hadn’t buried her mentor
and friend an hour ago and wasn’t now staring down the possibility of losing both
her job and the roof over her head soon.

“Hey, are you going to nurse that drink all night long?” Scott leaned over and gave
her a wink. He was on his third margarita. “Because I think you should down a few
glasses of wine and be my wingwoman. Harry from accounting is here and I swear I’m
going to die if I don’t go out with that hunk of man soon. He’s the only truly beautiful
boy at work. He should be mine.”

Everly smiled. After she’d started at Crawford last year, she’d met Scott during her
orientation. Initially, she’d mistaken his playful nature for a come-on. But he’d
finagled her into having coffee with him shortly thereafter and apologized for giving
her the wrong impression. He’d admitted that he hadn’t been himself because he’d just
been through a rough breakup with his boyfriend. Scott sometimes used his happy-go-lucky
face to mask his somber moods. To finally see him let go of his lost love and dip
his toe in the dating pool with a hot guy thrilled her.

Honestly, Everly wasn’t sure she believed in true love. Attraction and affection,
yes. But love? Her father had been burned by the concept. He’d taken the profound
loss of his wife’s abandonment to his grave. Her mother had always seemed so distant,
as though she’d spent her life up until the moment she’d walked out on them longing
for something else. “Scott, I don’t even know what a wingwoman would do.”

He sat back and thought about it for a moment. “Well, first you’re going to have to
go over there and talk me up. Tell him how perfect I am, what a great guy I am, then
slip him a roofie so I can have my wicked way with him.”

She rolled her eyes. Sometimes Scott had a vivid imagination. “Sure. I’ll get right
on that.”

“I tried,” he said with a long sigh, his gaze trailing to the back of the room.

Everly’s stare followed. A waitress in a female version of a tuxedo carried what looked
to be a cheese plate past a large black man wearing a nondescript suit and aviators.
He guarded a door that led to what she could only imagine was a VIP section.

“See that? I heard a rumor,” Scott whispered in her ear. “While you were in the bathroom,
Marty from processing stopped by and told me the craziest story.”

“You shouldn’t listen to him. He’s a horrible gossip.”

“Do you want the scoop or not?”

She was kind of afraid that the next big scoop after this one would be “Wonder Girl
Gets Fired After Kindly Employer Dies.” She’d shot through the ranks like a comet,
and now she was going to hit the ground with a great big thud. She wasn’t sure what
she was going to do when the new boss came in and found out his or her head of security
was a too-young-for-her-position hacker who everyone except Maddox Crawford thought
couldn’t handle the job. Maddox had been her champion, her mentor in this crazy corporate
world. He’d also been a surprising friend.

At first, she’d been devastated by his death. But now, almost a week later, her brain
had begun working overtime, and she had questions—the sort no one seemed to want to
answer.

Maddox Crawford had been an experienced pilot. Had his death really been an accident?

Not according to that mysterious, inexplicable e-mail she’d received last night.

“Sure. What’s the big scoop?” Everly decided to disregard her own advice. She would
listen to any gossip that took her mind off her troubles. She needed one good night
before she faced whatever crap tomorrow would bring.

She took a healthy gulp of the Sauvignon Blanc she’d ordered. Scott was right. She
needed to live a little before the hammer came down on her head. If things went the
way she suspected, she would be lucky to afford box wine next month.

“You know how the Great Crawford had some seriously powerful friends, right?”

She didn’t follow the gossip rags the way everyone else did. In fact, she purposefully
avoided that tripe. Why fixate on the problems of celebrities when she had so many
of her own? Besides, when it came to people like Maddox, more fiction than truth filled
the tabloids. They wanted a good story, and real life tended to be too boring. The
Maddox she knew had worked hard—ten and eleven hour days, often six days a week. He’d
cared about his employees. She bet no one reported on that. “He knew a lot of people.
Men in his position often do.”

“He also knew one very
powerful
person,” Scott whispered.

She wasn’t sure what he was insinuating. “I don’t doubt that. He was in a very lofty
position, Scott. It’s not so surprising he knew key players.”

Scott huffed, his frustration evident. “Damn it, don’t you know who I’m talking about?
Zachary Hayes, the forty-fifth president of these United States, the hottest man to
ever hit the White House. They were friends as teenagers, according to rumors. I’ve
heard the president is a sentimental man. I think he attended Crawford’s funeral and
is even now somewhere in this bar.”

Maddox had told her once that he’d attended the same prep school as the current president
and that they’d been close back in the day. The two of them had been part of a small
group of friends who had dubbed themselves the Perfect Gentlemen. The rumors of their
hijinks had been the stuff of legend . . . and come up in some really low-blow preelection
campaigns against Hayes. Everly wasn’t sure if they’d meant the name to be ironic,
but she suspected so, given Maddox’s reputation.

She let out an exasperated sigh. “Yes, the president of the United States is here.
I’m so sure.”

Scott looked pointedly back toward the VIP room. “Have you seen the surprising number
of men in black suits hanging around here?”

“Scott, it’s a wake. The majority of people in this bar came straight from the funeral.
Are you really shocked they’re wearing dark suits?”

“And the sunglasses?” Scott shot back. “How many people besides crazy, scary feds
do you know who wear sunglasses inside a crowded bar at dusk?”

She turned and caught a glimpse of two overly large men standing by the entry to the
back room. When a woman stumbled toward them, they gently but firmly turned her away.
Everly caught a glimpse of metal. Maybe Scott was onto something. “Holy shit. I just
saw a SIG SAUER.”

Scott’s brow rose. “Who is Sig?”

Clearly, Scott hadn’t been raised around firearms. “It’s the weapon the Secret Service
uses. I know because my father was a cop and a complete gun nut. I knew how to shoot
practically before I could walk. I don’t know if that guy is actual Secret Service,
but he’s carrying a similar piece.”

Scott stared at the doorway being guarded by the aforementioned black-suited, aviator-wearing
bodyguards. “Just think, the hottest of all the commanders-in-chief might right now
be sitting in that room, downing shitty tequila.”

“Somehow, I think they’d give him the good stuff. And it’s probably not him. More
than likely, it’s some pretentious CEO or trust-fund playboy Mad knew. Surely, the
president would go someplace more secure. Besides, if he was here, the press would
be crawling everywhere.”

Scott shrugged as if he saw Everly’s wisdom but still liked his own theory better.

Grinning, she canvassed the room to see who else from Crawford Industries had come
to pay their liquid respects to Mad and noticed Tavia coming her way. The stunning,
polished executive dashed toward them, her standard professional smile in place.

“Good to see you here, dear. I thought you’d go back to Brooklyn after the service.”
Like many raised on the Upper East Side, she said the word
Brooklyn
as if it were a virus she didn’t want to catch. Those poor deluded people thought
the city only existed between Midtown and Harlem and wouldn’t dirty their designer
shoes by walking on the rest of the island. But in every other way, Tavia had proven
personable, if a bit high strung. The woman couldn’t sit still for anything.

“Scott convinced me to stay for a while.” It hadn’t taken much. Her loft had been
so quiet for the last five days. The silence had become intolerable. She hadn’t realized
just how much she’d come to depend on her boss’s friendship.

Over the last couple of months, he would show up on her doorstep out of the blue and
uninvited with some project to talk about. They’d spend hours gabbing and eating.
At first, she’d worried that she would have to fend off a lecherous boss, but he’d
actually been surprisingly sweet. Kind, even. He’d taken a profound interest in her,
but not as a lover. Somehow they’d fallen into a comfortable companionship, as if
she’d known him all her life. There had not been a single spark between them.

She was going to miss him so much. The ache she felt at never seeing him again definitely
hurt. Everly took a sip of wine, wishing again that she was someone else and somewhere
else. Escape sounded great about now.

Tavia tapped a Prada wedge against the floor. The shoes might be a few years old,
but they still looked sleek and classy. “Hey, I wanted to pass on a little insider
info. Crawford’s lawyer is meeting with the executor of his will tomorrow, so it looks
like we’ll have some news about the company’s future soon.”

Scott went a little green. “So the pink slips could go out in quick order. God, I
don’t want to look for another job. It took forever to find this one. And it has so
much potential.”

Tavia shook her head, her pale hair jerking over her shoulders. “There’s always a
shake-up after someone new takes the reins, but you should be fine in the executive
development program. They usually take out the players at the top. The new guy tends
to like to bring in his own leadership team because he’s sure he can trust them. It
also serves to show everyone who’s the boss. If anyone’s going to get the boot, it
will be me and Everly.”

Scott rolled his eyes. “It could be any of us. I’m not exactly a peon, thank you very
much, just rotating through all the departments until the program ends.”

Surely Tavia knew that. Three margaritas and a funeral had left Scott prickly and
morose.

“Which means you’ll be valuable, Scott,” Everly assured her friend. “You know something
about every part of Crawford, having spent six months in most of the major departments.
You’ll be fine.”

“Exactly,” Tavia agreed. “But before I’m kicked to the curb, I need to make sure the
new boss understands the importance of the foundation’s work. It’s excellent PR, and
we all know Crawford Industries needs that now. With all the turmoil, our stock is
down substantially. I’m hoping the new head honcho will think it looks bad to fire
me two weeks before the annual fund-raiser. If he keeps me until then, I’ll have a
little time to convince whoever takes over that I’m worth what Maddox paid me.”

The fund-raiser was the most important social event of the year at Crawford. Two weeks
didn’t seem like a long time to sway a new boss, but Tavia was right. Crawford Industries’
support of her International Women and Girls Education Foundation was a true public
relations gem. For a playboy like Maddox to give generously to fund educations for
females in third-world countries had bought him a lot of good press and goodwill.

So why had Maddox told her privately that he wasn’t going to the gala this year? Everly
frowned. He’d said it casually over dinner one night when they’d been going over her
plans to strengthen their cyber security systems. He hadn’t exactly explained other
than to say it was complicated. Then again, everything was complicated with Maddox
Crawford.

He’d spent time with her, but he hadn’t trusted her with his secrets. And she’d understood
that—right up until his plane had gone down and she’d received that mysterious e-mail.

Before his death, Everly had suspected he was hiding something. Now, she was almost
certain of it. She wished she’d asked more questions and pressed harder, because needed
answers now.

But she wasn’t going to be able to unravel all his mysteries tonight. Starting tomorrow,
she’d probably have lots of time to figure out what Maddox had been up to . . . and
find a new job. Tonight, she just wanted to get blitzed enough to sleep through the
night.

One white wine wasn’t going to accomplish that.

“I’ll be right back.” She stood and scanned the place. The bar was packed and seemed
hopelessly understaffed. It wasn’t likely the waitress was going to make it back anytime
soon.

Everly couldn’t help but notice a couple of well-dressed waitstaff coming in and out
of the back room, but they didn’t stop to help anyone else. If she wanted another
drink, she would have to fend for herself.

Everly moved past the tables of coworkers. She stopped and said hello to some, but
could barely handle the speculative stares of the rest. She knew what they thought.
She wasn’t stupid. Despite the company being a large multinational conglomerate, the
corporate office of Crawford Industries still functioned like a small town. Gossip
abounded. There was no one they liked to gossip about more than the boss.

She’d been linked to him from the moment she was hired. Her first day on the job,
he’d shown her around personally, sparking the rumors that she was Crawford’s mistress.
When he’d bumped her up to head of security after only six months on the job, the
chin-wagging had become unrelenting. Though that made her job difficult, Everly had
put her head down and worked. She’d stopped a corporate spy and helped the FBI track
down a ring that had used Crawford subsidiaries for phishing expeditions. Still, no
matter how effective she’d proven herself, the employees still speculated that she’d
slept her way to the top.