Must Be Magic (Spellbound) (29 page)

“Or they’ll worry.”

Well, hell.

His eyes narrowed. “Okay. They get five seconds.”

“Thirty,” she countered, taking a step back from him, undoing the tiny buttons he’d barely noticed along the side of her dress. “I’ll be waiting in the bedroom.”

“Fifteen,” he shot back, waiting until she was out of sight before he pulled open the door.

His father walked straight in without waiting for an invitation. Bryce would have preferred Dante’s company.

“I realize we didn’t end things well earlier and I wanted to clear the air.”

“Now isn’t the best time,” Bryce argued, wondering if he was still angry enough to want to throw his father out of the room.

He was.

“I made some mistakes, some things I can’t take back. I can try to fix some of it, but the rest… Some things can’t be changed.”

Bryce struggled to follow his father.

“The Calders and Lancasters,” he began, but Bryce cut him off.

“No more, Dad.”

Thomas Lancaster shook his head, his age more apparent tonight than Bryce could remember seeing in a long time. No matter what had happened in the past, Bryce knew the close call with the plane had taken a toll on his father. He’d hugged him on the beach that morning, something he hadn’t done in years.

“The thing I really wanted to talk to you about is keeping tabs on the Calders. I think after everything that’s happened we should look at—”

“You keep tabs on my family?”

Oh fuck.

Darby stood in the bedroom doorway, her accusing glance sliding back and forth between him and his father.

“You don’t understand,” he tried, realizing that any argument he made wasn’t going to matter to her.

Without looking at his father, he motioned to the door. “You need to leave.”

If his father wanted to disagree, he didn’t voice it, leaving with no more than a murmured “I’m sorry” on his way out.

“You keep tabs on my family?”

He nodded. “There have been some cases—”

“How long? And when were you going to tell me? Before or after we went home and I moved in with you?”

“I’m not even a DA anymore.”

She didn’t look like she cared. “You spied on us.”

“Don’t you think that might be a bit harsh coming from someone whose family is paid to investigate other people?” He closed his eyes the moment the stupid comment left his mouth. He really wasn’t helping his cause. “Darby, wait.”

She was already to the door, giving him no more than a murderous glare before she walked out and slammed it behind her.

Well, fuck.

Chapter Thirteen

“It’s Bryce,” Dante said. He stood in front of the door but made no move to open it after the third impatient knock, waiting for her.

Darby turned away from her brother, hugging the pillow a little closer to her chest and trying to pretend she was interested in the movie Riley had on the television. “I don’t want to talk to him.”

“Darby,” Finn put in softly from his chair on the opposite side of the suite’s living room.

The resort’s supervisor, still shocked about his boss’s extracurricular activities, had upgraded all their rooms after their
ordeal
.

“It’s the third time he’s stopped by looking for you,” Finn added.

She didn’t say anything.

“This isn’t cool.” Riley crossed her arms. “I’m starting to feel sorry for the guy.”

“What did I miss?” Violet said over the cell phone set to Speaker in the middle of the table in front of Darby, the last of her question ending on a grunt of pain.

“I’m taking you to the hospital,” Reece said in the background.

“It’s fine. I’m fine. The baby is fine.”

“You’re lying,” Dante said from over Darby’s shoulder, leaving the door now that the knocking had stopped.

Violet scoffed. “This baby is not arriving until all of my family is safe and sound and back home. We’ve discussed it.”

“I wasn’t part of that conversation,” Reece clarified.

“So what exactly did Bryce do?” Violet asked.

Riley leaned forward. “Darby’s just finding out that Bryce kept tabs on us.”

“Really? I thought everyone knew that.”

Violet knew too?
Jesus.
Darby tossed aside the pillow. “How did I not know that?”

Everyone shrugged.

She glanced at Finn, then Dante. “You knew about it?” How was it possible that she looked after the day-to-day running of their PI firm and that particular subject had never come up in conversation?

“It wasn’t a secret. McNally gave us a heads-up about it long ago.”

Riley made a sound of disbelief. “McNally was the one keeping tabs? Typical.”

At least Darby wasn’t the only one in the dark about everything.

“Keep me posted,” Violet said. “Reece is going to have a stroke if I don’t go pretend to have a nap or something.”

“You’re in labor.”

“I’m not,” she countered. “Love you guys. See you all soon.”

Violet hung up and Dante slipped the phone back in his pocket, his gaze landing on Darby. Something flickered in his eyes.

Darby picked up the bowl of fruit even though she felt no interest in having any. After eating so little for those few days on the island, she assumed she’d be ravenous anytime regular food was put in front of her.

Apparently not.

She studied her twin. “You’re not saying anything.”

He shrugged.

“No
I told you so
?” He’d been damn good at them once upon a time.

“Is that what you think I’d do?” he asked, surprising her.

“Well…yeah,” she decided on. “You’ve never been his biggest fan.” More than once she’d had to talk him out of getting physical with Bryce. The most recent incident little more than a few weeks ago after Bryce’s cross-examination of Riley in court.

“Things change.”

For which one of them?

As if reading her mind, he snapped, “I saw the look on his face this morning, Darby. It killed him to let you out of his sight.”

Her stomach bunched at hearing her brother’s observation, but she ignored the sensation. She picked up his glass and sniffed the contents. “What the hell are you drinking, anyway? You just said things change and now you’re back to growling about him.”

“He shouldn’t have let you go. I wouldn’t have if I’d been in his place.”

Riley whistled. “Somebody just caught the train to creepy town.”

Cringing, Dante let out a breath. “I did not mean that in a creepy way. Just that, he shouldn’t have let you walk away. Again.”

Darby shook her head, still a little lost.

Looking like she was getting comfortable, Riley stared at Dante. “Are we finally going to hear the big secret, or are you two going to keep playing the psychic twins all night?”

“This isn’t that big of a deal,” Dante said to her, ignoring Riley altogether.

Darby was pretty sure her mouth fell open even though part of her—okay, maybe
all
of her—knew she was overreacting. “You of all people should understand—”

“What I understand is that you can’t keep walking away and hiding behind me—”

“That’s not what I’m doing.” She’d needed to talk and Dante was always there for her. Okay, so maybe she had been counting on the fact that staying with him might hold Bryce at bay, but only for a little while. Maybe. Right?

“Aren’t you?” Dante challenged as though he could sense her uncertainty. “You’ve done it before.”

She started to shake her head, wanting to deny that this was the same as what happened in Florida, but ten minutes after she’d walked away from Bryce last night, she knew she’d let her fear take over. Even after everything they’d been through together, she couldn’t quite shake the fear that their feelings for each other weren’t enough.

Maybe Bryce keeping an eye on them was part of the territory, but what if it was a sign that too much had happened for them to ever be able to fully trust each other?

And if they couldn’t trust each other… “I’m not the bad guy here. I just… Losing him hurt so much the first time.” She closed her eyes. “I can’t go through that again.” The first time had nearly broken her.

With a sigh, Dante pressed a kiss to the top of her head and left the hotel room, but his comment about her running and hiding seemed to hang on the air.

A tense silence descended in the room, making it all the more obvious when Riley switched channels on the television.

“The remote is right there.” Darby nodded to the remote on the table beside her sister, the one that went ignored in favor of using magic.

Riley arched a brow. “Wow, you have been hanging out with a Lancaster, haven’t you?”

“They’re not always wrong. We don’t have to use our magic just because we can,” she countered, regretting her sharp tone almost instantly. “Sorry. It’s been a long day.”

Riley stood up. “I get it.” She offered a weak smile. “I should probably see what’s up with Dante.”

“I sounded like a total bitch, didn’t I?” she asked Finn when Riley left.

He held his finger and thumb an inch apart.

“Great.” The day just had to get worse. “Dante and I hardly ever fight.” Darby sank a little lower in the couch, closing her eyes and wishing Dante hadn’t made so much sense.

Or maybe that was just the exhaustion talking.

“I know.”

She half expected Finn to leave, too, but when he stayed where he was, concern written into the soft frown on his face, she sighed.

“Part of me wanted to stay.” She ran a hand through her hair. “I knew it was crazy, I mean who would choose to stay stranded on some deserted island? But at least then I didn’t have to deal with the stupid tension and rivalry between our families.”

And those weren’t even the parts that had worried her the most. The moment real life intruded she and Bryce were right back to square one. Hell, they weren’t even home yet and already there were problems.

“I just wanted to be with him.”

“So be with him.”

“It’s not that easy.”

“Yes it is,” Finn said. “It
is
that easy. Every couple has moments that seem impossible to overcome, but you do it. You hang in there and find a way through. You and Bryce have already overcome more than most people.”

“And Dante?”

Finn cocked his head. “Still think you’re not hiding behind him?”

She wanted to deny it, but the longer they talked, the harder it was to pretend that she hadn’t relied on her brother a little too much. “That doesn’t stop him from being an important part of my life.”

“Whatever Dante’s other problems with Bryce are, old or new, he’ll get over it. For you. More than anyone, he’s always put your happiness first. Do you really think he’d just turn his back on you now?”

“He’s worried I’ll get hurt.” Or she’d assumed as much. She glanced at the closed door, not as entirely sure that’s what was on his mind now.

“You’re hurting now,” Finn said gently.

“Maybe it’s for the best,” she whispered, wishing she knew how much of her fear stemmed from the emotional upheaval of the last few days.

“If you really believed that we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

“When did you get so wise?”

“I’ve been where you are.”

Darby just wished she knew exactly where that was. “And Thomas Lancaster?”

He gave her a grim look. “I’m afraid he’s part of the package.”

“Doesn’t it bother you that he hates us so much?”

“I don’t think he does. I think he hates whatever it was that came between our families in the first place.”

Rising, Finn followed Dante’s lead and dropped a quick kiss on her head. “Get some rest. Things will look better in the morning.”

“Is that the old Calder optimism talking?”

He winked and let himself out of the room.

“From bad to worse,” Bryce mused, catching sight of Dante Calder weaving around tables and chairs and heading right for the bar.

Exactly where Bryce was. Where he’d been the last couple of hours, though he’d done more staring at the beer in his hand than drinking.

As if reminding himself, he lifted the bottle to his lips. He set it aside, watching in stunned fascination as Dante actually slid onto the stool next to him.

“Don’t tell me. You couldn’t find any puppies to kick.”

Darby’s twin merely motioned to the bartender. “Something on your mind, Lancaster?”

“Yes, actually. I’m trying to decide what’s worse. Getting on another plane in the morning or talking to you.”

Dante nodded. “I would have thought getting dumped would have made the top of that list, actually.”

If the stick-up-his-ass Calder was looking for a fight…

“Sorry.” Dante waited for his beer, taking a long drink before turning to face Bryce. “I never said thank you.”