Page 43 (1/2)

Not that she needed to iht as she walked to the entryhere she glanced out the peepholeand gasped when she saw Maddux standing on the other side Her heart raced with anticipation and hope She couldn’t i between theh to find out that she opened the door

God, he looked so good So gorgeous and golden and sexy, and it took restraint not to throw herself into his big, strong arer felt so alone in the world

“Hi,” he said, his voice low and husky as his war in every feature, every detail “Can I come in?”

Herat the moment was difficult, she nodded and opened the door wider for him to enter, then shut it behind hi roo as he took in the dozens of boxes stacked everywhere before refocusing his attention on her

“How are you?” he asked, tapping a dark yellow legal-sized envelope against his palesture almostnervous

“I’unshot wound was faring, which she’d thought about often since that night “How’s your shoulder?”

&nbs

p; “Getting better” He gave her a tentative seable”

“Good” She was glad to hear there hadn’t been any pere

His gaze kept traveling back to the disarray in her living room and all the sealed cartons in the vicinity When he finally looked directly at her again, she didn’t miss the flicker of worry that passed across his features “Are you going somewhere?”

“Noyes” The idle chitchat set her on edge, and she sed back the frustration rising to the surface “Most of these boxes are e for now, but yes, I’ll besoon to a smaller apartment so you can do whatever you ith this place You can lease it or sell it Whatever benefits you the most I should be out in a month”

He was quiet, his expression intense, and that envelope still tapped away, increasing her own anxiety because it was difficult to stand right in front of thehe was probably there to claim the property that was his, when all she wanted was him

“Madduxwhy are you here?” she flat-out asked hi to be put out of her ive it to him, and then he could be on his way, and she could fall apart all over again once he was gone Her heart was already tearing into shreds at the thought

He exhaled a deep breath “I wanted to deliver sos, actually,” he amended, and extended the envelope toward her “First, this”

She opened the flap and pulled out a sheaf of papers Right on the front page, she caught the words “transfer of all listed assets to Arabella Cole,” and beneath that, the complete list of all her father’s possessions and property that had been signed over to Maddux a few days after he’d secured all of her dad’s debt