Three Made in Heaven [Made in Heaven] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (17 page)

“9-1-1, what’s your emergency?” Maddie relayed the situation quickly just as the intruder got the front door open.

“Charlie, wait!” she yelled, but he was out of her office and about to face a possibly armed man.

“Stay in the office, Maddie, and lock the door,” he yelled from the other room. Maddie heard loud banging sounds coming from the main room and ran from her office, ignoring Charlie’s order and the disembodied voice of the 9-1-1 operator.

She saw a few chairs overturned in the main room, which explained the noises she heard. One chair was obviously flung at the entrance. She ran behind the counter and grabbed the bat that Charlie and Cole had bought for her and insisted she keep there. She heard shouts coming from outside and could not sit idly by in her office waiting for the cavalry to arrive. What if that guy hurt Charlie? Granted, Charlie could rip the guy in two just by the size and bulk difference alone. Their friendly neighborhood shoplifter was a bit on the scrawny side and no more than average height. Add to that, Charlie had several years of mixed martial arts training. Still, Charlie was unarmed.

“Charlie!” Maddie yelled when she ran outside. She ran a little further into the parking lot, wondering if Charlie wasn’t answering her because he was hurt. That was when she heard the footsteps behind her. The bat she was holding fell to the ground, making a loud clunking sound.

Suddenly, the scene became eerily familiar. She was running through the dimly lit parking lot and the familiar sounds of footsteps were getting closer. Her body was bombarded with too many sensations earlier to notice the prickly feeling in her neck, but she noticed it now. She realized then that the shoplifter was there at the same time Declan came to harass her at work. After all, she didn’t have that prickly sensation when she first met Declan at Angela and Kellan’s housewarming. It was no wonder that she, Cole, and Charlie could not figure out who would want to hurt her. How could she have figured out something that was most likely a random act of violence? It could have just as easily been Angela closing up tonight.

Maddie knew what she would see when she turned around, so she was not surprised to find the hooded man from her nightmares step closer and point his gun at her. She was able to see the shoplifter’s face clearly as he stepped even closer to her.

“Please…don’t,” Maddie pleaded. Her voice shook and her body trembled. “Just take what you want and leave.”

Suddenly, the world felt as if it was moving in slow motion. She heard her name called.
Cole?
Impossible, she thought. He wasn’t due back until tomorrow. She thought she heard Charlie call her name as well. A shot rang out, and then Maddie’s world tilted and went black.

Cole was in a state of panic when he awoke Saturday morning from his nightmare. Speaking with Charlie did little to reassure him even though he knew that Maddie was safe in their bed sleeping peacefully. All he managed to do was send Charlie into panic mode right along with him.

Cole knew that he would be unable to enjoy his last day in Washington. He needed to get back to Maddie and Charlie today. He went online to change his plane ticket as soon as he got off the phone with Charlie, and after saying his good-byes to his family, he headed for the airport.

After his plane landed, he hopped into a taxi and headed straight for Maddie’s studio. His gut was telling him to go there, and the sight he saw when he arrived gripped him with near paralyzing fear. A man wearing a hood was running after Maddie. Cole recognized the very familiar scene as Maddie turned around and the assailant raised his gun, aiming it at her.

“Call the police,” he barked at the driver, and then he tore out of the cab running toward the horrific scene. “Maddie!”

Cole heard Charlie shout for Maddie as well and watched him running toward the shooter. The left side of Charlie’s head was bleeding. Cole reached the shooter first and tackled him to the ground. The gun went off on their way down and Cole watched in horror as the bullet struck Maddie, the impact causing her to fall backward.

“Oh, God…please…no.”

* * * *

“Why isn’t she waking up, Cole?”

It had been twenty-four hours since they brought Maddie to the hospital. They were fortunate that the bullet only grazed her arm, but it was the concussion she sustained from hitting her head on the asphalt that concerned them. She still hadn’t woken up.

Charlie and Cole refused to leave Maddie’s side with the exception of the few minutes Charlie allowed for his stitches. The asshole managed to get in one good shot to the left side of his head by his temple. They were struggling with the gun when the assailant clocked him with it and ran off. God, how he wished that Maddie stayed locked in her office like he told her to. Charlie shuddered to think what would have happened if Cole hadn’t arrived when he did. When he recovered enough to run after the scumbag, the guy already had his gun aimed at Maddie. He wasn’t sure he would get to her in time. That was when he heard Cole call out for Maddie and watched him sprint toward her. Cole tackled the guy to the ground, and Charlie’s heart nearly stopped when he heard the gunshot and watched Maddie hit the ground hard. When he reached them, he kicked away the gun that Cole managed to disarm and ran to Maddie. Cole joined him shortly, and Charlie knew that the assailant would not be getting up any time soon.

“She will be fine, Charlie,” Cole reassured. “She suffered a trauma and I think maybe it’s just her brain’s way of protecting itself.”

“I just want her to wake up. I need to see for myself that she’s okay. We could have lost her.” Charlie’s voice broke on the last sentence.

Cole ran his hands through his hair in frustration. He was obviously thinking the same thing. “Let’s go get our girl, Charlie.”

* * * *

Maddie sat in a giant teacup just staring at the wheel in the center. She felt Charlie and Cole’s presence before they even sat down on either side of her. They each took one of her hands and laced it with theirs.

“Why the teacups, sweetheart?”

Not looking up at them, she said, “This is where I thought I lost you. That first time we met, I was sure that I made the two of you up but I didn’t care. I wanted you any way I could have you even if only in my dreams. Getting pulled away from you like that was devastating. I was afraid I would never see you again.”

“We are right here, baby. Look at me.” When she still didn’t look up, Charlie gently tilted her face toward him. “We’re not going anywhere.”

“I was so scared when you didn’t answer me, Charlie. I thought he hurt you and that I would stumble upon your bloodied body, just like in that nightmare I had. Then I heard Cole,” she said, turning to face Cole. She released her hand from his and placed it on his cheek. “I was afraid he would hurt you, too. When I heard your voice…” A choked sob prevented her from finishing her sentence.

Charlie and Cole wrapped themselves around her. “What if you guys aren’t really here?” she whispered. “If I lost you, I don’t want to ever wake up.”

“You didn’t lose us, sweetheart.” Cole kissed the top of her head and gave her a squeeze. “You’re in the hospital with a mild concussion. Thankfully, the bullet only grazed your arm. Charlie fell asleep on the chair beside you, holding your hand. I climbed into bed with you and I am holding you in my arms right now. The asshole that shot you…well, he’s in the hospital with his own injuries. A few broken bones, possibly some internal bleeding, and after he recovers, he’ll be going away for a long, long time. He’s never going to hurt you again. You’re going to be okay, Maddie. The three of us are all okay and we are together.”

“Forever,” Charlie added. “Oh, and your parents are here. We have a lot of explaining to do.” He brought his lips to her ear and whispered, “Time to wake up, baby.”

Eight months later

Maddie closed her eyes to bask in the warm glow of the Hawaii sun. She lay in between Charlie and Cole on an oversized blue beach towel with her toes curling in the sand. The entrance to their hotel on Waikiki Beach was just a mere few feet away. Charlie’s dream version did not do the real Hawaii justice. He was right when he said he should have added more green and turquoise to the water.

They had already visited several beaches during their stay so far, including Waimea Bay from Charlie’s dream. Waimea Bay was definitely the most memorable, even though they almost never made it there. Maddie had surprised Charlie and Cole by wearing the white monokini bathing suit she had worn in their shared dream. She felt it was appropriate for that particular beach. When she opened up the bathroom door to reveal her swimsuit, her men pounced on her. They took her both together and separately several times over. By the time they made it to the beach, all of their energy was zapped.

Maddie’s thoughts strayed to the safe up in their suite and the precious jewelry the three of them stored in it, their wedding bands and her engagement ring. Neither she, Cole, nor Charlie felt comfortable without them, but they didn’t want to chance losing them in the water.

She thought about the day Charlie and Cole proposed six months ago. After the shooting incident, the two of them still hovered over and shadowed her until Maddie finally put her foot down. She knew that they loved her and were just concerned, but since she was no longer in any danger, the three of them needed to move past it and get on with their lives. After all, Maddie had a business to run, Charlie and Cole had new jobs to start, and they had some house hunting to do and a condo to sell.

A few days before Christmas, Maddie received a phone call from Charlie and Cole. The number showed that they were calling from their condo. The call was short, cryptic, and after giving her an address where to meet them after work, they hung up. Angela was acting very strangely around her all day, and even her parents weren’t calling her back after she had left them several messages.

Evelyn and Dan Sutton were shocked when they learned of their daughter’s relationship status, but Maddie knew they were more hurt than anything that she waited so long to tell them. They pretty much figured things out when they arrived at the hospital to see Charlie and Cole both glued to her bedside. Maddie later told them the same pen-pal story she told Angela and apologized for keeping them in the dark. She should have known that her parents wouldn’t pass judgment on her. They weren’t sure how such an unconventional relationship could work, especially without jealousy, but they knew their daughter was levelheaded and they accepted both Charlie and Cole into their lives. It didn’t take Charlie and Cole long to win them over with their charm and to see that the two men adored their daughter.

Maddie arrived at the mysterious address Charlie and Cole provided her after she was done with work. She pulled up the neatly paved driveway that curved up to the front door of a two-story Colonial-style house. She felt warmth blooming in her chest at the sight of the house. It looked so inviting. She wondered who lived there.

The door was thrown open before she even had the chance to knock. Charlie stepped outside, and without so much as a “hello,” he put a blindfold on her, took her by the hand, and pulled her along inside. He led her to what seemed like the back of the house before coming to an abrupt stop, positioning himself behind her.

She gasped at the sight before her when Charlie removed the blindfold. Cole was there, too, beaming at her. She was standing in a large open room, devoid of any furniture, with white walls and a built-in fireplace. In the center of the room dozens of glowing candles were placed in a large circle on the floor. Inside the circle, a beige and cream striped picnic blanket was spread out. Maddie noticed a bottle of champagne with three glasses, a large bouquet of red roses, a box of chocolates—she loved how her men never failed to indulge her sweet tooth—and finally, her eyes landed on a stack of papers and a pen.

Now she understood what all the secrecy was about as well as what the stack of papers on the picnic blanket meant. They had found the perfect house. Maddie knew it the second she pulled up in her car.

“Would you like a tour, sweetheart?”

“Yes, please.” She grabbed both Charlie and Cole in a tight hug and then ran for the stairs, laughing all the way up. The spacious four-bedroom, three-bath home was perfect, complete with a large den and family room, a finished basement, and even an outdoor pool. She was in the master bedroom when Charlie and Cole finally caught up with her. Already ideas for paint colors and furniture styles were forming in her mind.

“No pressure, baby,” Charlie said. “Nothing is set in stone if you don’t like it. We just thought—”

“I don’t like it,” Maddie said. “I absolutely love it,” she added quickly before they jumped to the wrong conclusion. “It’s perfect.”

“
You
are absolutely perfect, Maddie.” Cole wrapped Maddie in his arms and Charlie came up and hugged her from behind.

Both men took her by the hand and led her back downstairs and into the candlelit circle, where the three of them stood in the center.

“We are so happy that you love this house as much as we do, Maddie,” Cole said with a quaver in his voice. “But it wouldn’t have mattered either way in this moment. I love you so much, have loved you for most of life, and will love you for the rest of my life and whatever comes after that. Wherever you are is home to me, even if it’s in a one-bedroom condo.”

Charlie took a deep breath and said, “I love you, too, Maddie. I love you so much that the thought of being without you makes it hard for me to breathe. We may have doubted each other’s existence from time to time, but the experiences we’ve shared over the years and the parts of ourselves that we’ve only shared with each other made all of those dreams more real to me than anything.”

Maddie was speechless. The words were so heartfelt and mirrored exactly what she felt for them. Never breaking eye contact with her, Charlie and Cole both took a knee and Maddie let her tears fall freely.