With his hands on his hips, Merrick slowly turned his head from side-to-side like he was trying to hypnotize a snake about to strike. "I heard you say Enzo did this. I wouldn't put anything past my father. Right now those are the only facts we have. Let's focus on what we know and worry about the rest when we can get to him. I'm going to call and have another helicopter on standby for when the storm pa.s.ses."

Maddie's head fell into her hands. Merrick tightened his lips and stared at MJ, a thousand questions running through his eyes. MJ didn't have any answers.

"I'll leave you two alone," Merrick said. "Let me know if you need anything."

MJ watched him leave and close the door behind him. Between the crashes of thunder, he listened to the soft sobs from behind Maddie's hands. Why hadn't she told him? Why would Enzo want them apart?

A pain stabbed through his chest. Was the woman in the woods right? If the woman was his subconscious telling him not to trust Maddie, had he known all along that she was hiding something from him?

"Mads," he said, twisting his fingers through her hair. "You have to talk to me. I have to have answers."

She didn't budge. He took her hands and pried them away from her face, turning her body to face him. "Now, Maddie. You will tell me now."

"No!" She tore her hands from his, grabbed his pinkie finger and yanked her engagement ring off of it. "I changed my mind. I want to marry Talan," she said, her blue eyes hard as steel. "When I get off this island, I never want to see you again."

The weight of her words slammed into him. His future flashed before his eyes and left a black, gaping hole in its wake as she put the ring on her finger and left him sitting there all alone.

Twenty-Four.

G.o.d, the absolute anguish in MJ's eyes as she put the ring on her finger was enough to make her heart stop. She'd never forget that look. It would haunt her until the day she died.

She didn't want to marry Talan. Her words to MJ were childish sharp jabs of revenge for making her come here to get her ring back.

That's what MJ did to her. He made her say things she regretted.

If she'd stayed away from him, her father wouldn't be in the hospital. She wouldn't be stuck here without a way to get to him. When would she stop making mistake after mistake when it came to MJ?

Maddie swiped at the hot tears of grief and sorrow streaming one after another down her cheeks.

After her father recovered-and she wouldn't think of any other option-she and her dad could hop on a plane bound for somewhere far, far away and never return. Running away seemed like a very viable option. If only the d.a.m.n storm would stop.

A sprinkle of water from the window in her room hit her bare legs. She turned to see she'd left it open a few inches. She climbed onto the window seat on her knees and gazed out. The air was charged with electricity. The solar garden lights on the side of the hotel shone in the dark, glittering like Christmas. Two figures moved in the shadows of the lights. A man and a woman holding umbrellas.

Who the h.e.l.l was outside the hotel in this mess?

She leaned her forehead against the windowpane and squinted, trying to see better. It was Roger and Heidi.

No. That wasn't Heidi, it was the woman Maddie had seen in the woods. The woman who told her to leave the island.

Roger pa.s.sed her an envelope. "I couldn't get what you wanted. This will have to do." Lightning flashed out over the water. They both turned to watch it crackle and disappear before facing each other.

"Anything less won't do," the woman said. Maddie could barely hear her from all the way up on the second floor with the wind blowing and the rain hitting the window. "I was promised the t.i.tle to the property and I want it back."

Roger held up his hands. "He couldn't get it. Don't shoot the messenger."

Maddie's door swung open. "You're not marrying him," MJ said, striding toward her. "And you owe me an explanation." His brows sat low over his eyes, a dark, haunted expression lingered on his face.

This day had drained her. She had nothing left inside her to give. "I'm not doing this, MJ. Please leave." She pointed to the open door.

"I'm not leaving." He sat down next to her and leaned against the windowsill, staring at her expectantly.

"Then I will."

She stood and he grabbed her arm. Both of them froze at the sound of the woman outside yelling. "This isn't what we agreed to. I'm not keeping my end of the bargain if he's not."

MJ jerked his head around to look outside. "That's her," he said. "That's the woman I saw in the woods." He glanced back at Maddie. "She told me not to trust you."

Maddie swallowed past the knot in her throat and knelt beside MJ. "Why would she say something like that?"

MJ traced his finger down the gla.s.s. "I don't know Maddie. You didn't tell me about the Old Man threatening you, so maybe she's right."

Maddie fisted her hands, and outside, Roger laughed. "What are you going to do about it?" he called after the woman.

She chuckled. "Reveal his secret. What else?"

Unease spread through Maddie's stomach. The secret. Could she mean the same one Maddie had been hiding for a year and a half?

Roger took his gla.s.ses off and let his head fall back, looking up at the dark sky like he wished it would suck him up and take him away. He turned and faced the hotel, and Maddie swore he saw her and MJ watching out her window.

She darted back out of the window seat. "Did he see us?"

When MJ faced her, she flinched. She'd never seen him so angry. "I don't know what he's hiding, but I'm in no mood to put up with his bulls.h.i.t."

He stood and stalked out of her room.

Lightning flashed, followed by a deafening crack, striking somewhere on the island. Tonight she was on the edge of losing everything, all because of one man and his secret. If it came out, Maddie wasn't sure what would be left for her in the light of day.

She followed him downstairs. Her feet hit the entryway as MJ disappeared down the hallway toward the lounge. Someone had set up a candelabra in the corner by the archway into the kitchen. Five flames flickered, sending shadows across the murals on the walls, transforming redbirds into winged demons.

Maybe she was the one who had never grown up and was afraid of ghosts.

She made her way across the tiled floor feeling the air thrum around her, alive with the raging storm.

More candles blazed on the fireplace mantel and hearth in the lounge. The large, wooden sliding door to the patio was open, the air rushing in made the flames sway and dance. Beck, Joan, Heidi, Merrick and Rachael glanced at her when she walked in behind MJ. They sat in the dim light on the leather sofas that lined the walls. It could've been their intense, curious expressions that sent a foreboding sensation through Maddie at the sight of them.

"He won't stand for this!" Roger shouted outside.

Every eye in the lounge darted to the patio door as a woman with long, jet-black hair streaming water down onto her black halter dress stepped over the threshold with Roger standing directly behind her.

The woman scanned the room with wide, ebony eyes, her lips curved into a cunning smile. "My mother, Gina Montgomery, is alive," she announced. "Enzo Rocha is my grandfather." She stepped inside and lowered her eyes at Merrick. "And you're my father."

"My mother's alive?" MJ said, almost choking the words out.

Maddie resisted the urge to run to him and hold him in her arms.

"Gina's alive?" Merrick gripped the arm of the couch and pushed himself up onto his feet. "Who are you? Why should we believe you?"

"You shouldn't," Roger said, stepping inside. "Enzo put her up to this. She's trying to get her hands on a property you own, Merrick."

The woman laughed. "That property was supposed to be my payment for keeping Maddie Simcoe away from MJ so she wouldn't tell him our mother's alive."

Maddie's stomach roiled. In front of her, she watched MJ's back and shoulders stiffen. "Wait," he said, comprehension setting in. He turned to Maddie with so much hurt in his eyes, she knew no explanation, no amount of begging would ever be enough to make this up to him. "You knew my mother was alive and you didn't tell me?"

She opened her mouth and couldn't find her voice.

"I warned you not to trust her," the woman, MJ's sister, said, blinking at Maddie in false sympathy.

"Your grandfather threatened to fire my dad," Maddie said. Standing in front of MJ with the truth out in the open, Enzo's threat seemed insignificant in comparison to the secret she'd kept from him.

"I can't believe you wouldn't tell me."

Maddie wanted to run from the room, but her feet wouldn't budge. She wanted to fall to the floor and beg him to understand, but her knees wouldn't bend.

His chest expanded with a great breath. His hands rose to his head and he clutched and pulled at his hair. "I have to get the f.u.c.k out of here."

Pushing past her, he stormed down the hall to the entryway and threw open the front door. Maddie ran after him. "MJ, stop!" He couldn't run off into the rain and lightning.

She paused at the door for only a second before dashing out after him. She couldn't see him, but heard his footsteps crunching over the path of broken sh.e.l.ls. Catching up to him under a tree weighed down with heavy limes and rain-soaked leaves, she grabbed the back of his shirt. "Stop! Please!"

He spun and batted her arm away. "I've never wanted to strangle someone so much in my life. And the fact that you betrayed me terrifies me. It kills me, Maddie. Not you! Anyone else in this f.u.c.king world but you."

Desperation overtook her, and she grabbed the front of his shirt. "How could I tell you? She abandoned you. I know exactly how that feels, MJ. I couldn't do that to you. I love you too much to bring that hurt into your life."

He gripped her wrist and tried to tear her hands away, but she held tight. "That's bulls.h.i.t," he said. "You were afraid your dad would get fired. Like that's anything at all when it comes to telling me my mother's alive."

"My dad's in the hospital! You don't think that's a coincidence do you? Your grandfather did this. I came here and he hurt my dad!"

"You don't know that."

Maddie dropped her hands. "You have more faith in your grandfather than you do in me?"

"You're about equal now in my book."

She sucked in her lips, willing her emotions to steady. Crying wouldn't help her. She had to make him see reason. "Do you remember the first time we got drunk?" she asked.

"What does that have to do with this?" he spat.

Undeterred, she continued. "It was the day before I turned eighteen."

Maddie held the phone receiver tight in her sweaty hand. It had been so long since she'd seen her mom, and now she sat on the couch crushed. "You're not coming home?" she said. To Maddie's ears, her own voice sounded like the same little girl she'd been the day her mom left.

"I can't make it, Angel. I'm sorry. I'm in L.A. and I have an audition tomorrow. I have a good shot at getting this part and then your momma will be on TV! Isn't that great?"

"Yeah. That's great." Maddie tried to smile, tried to sound encouraging. "Good luck."

"You know, now that you'll be eighteen, you can come out here with me! Wouldn't that be fun? Two single women living in L.A.?"

Maddie laughed, but it sounded how she imagined cardboard tasted. Dull. Flat. Dry. "I'm going to college, remember?"

"Yes, that's right. You've always been serious and responsible." She laughed, but it sounded like mocking laughter to Maddie.

"I have to go, Mom. I'll miss seeing you. Let me know how your audition goes."

"I will, Angel. Have a great birthday." She made kissy noises into the phone.

"Bye," Maddie muttered, and hung up.

Devastated, she ran out the door before the tears burst free and her dad saw her. The last thing she wanted was for him to think another birthday with only him wasn't good enough. It was more than good enough. Her mom was a joke. She couldn't be bothered with Maddie. She wouldn't even call again for another six months.

Maddie was stupid to get her hopes up.

Outside, she leaned against the back of the garage and sobbed. Sliding down onto her bottom, she dropped her head into her hands and let it out.

"Mads? What's wrong?" MJ sat down beside her.

"She's not coming," Maddie said between her fingers. "I don't know why I care."

His arm went around her shoulders. "Because she's your mom. She's supposed to want to be here for your birthday."

He pulled her to him and let her cry against his shoulder for so long, the sky turned dark. Finally, he held her back and lifted one finger. "Be right back."

Maddie tried to pull herself together while he was gone. She dried her eyes and took deep breathes. There was no use crying. She had everything she needed anyway-a home, food to eat and two people she could always rely on, her dad and MJ.

He came back holding a bottle of vodka. "I think we need to celebrate your birthday early. What do you say? Back by the lake?"

She smiled and couldn't hold back her laughter. "I like that idea."

The two of them headed out, not bothering with a golf cart. They took big gulps of vodka that stung the backs of their throats as they walked. By the time they got to the lake, Maddie was already tipsy and couldn't stop giggling.

"I'm sorry your mom sucks," MJ said. "I wish my mom was around for you, like your dad's around for me."

Maddie lowered herself to sit, crashing down on her b.u.t.t in the gra.s.s. "I wonder what she'd be like. I bet she'd believe in ghosts."

MJ chuckled and sat beside her. "n.o.body but you believes in ghosts, Mads." He took a big swig of vodka and held the bottle up in the moonlight. "We just about killed it." He handed her the bottle. "Go ahead. You take the last drink."

She did and tossed it aside. "I'm hot." She plucked the front of her T-shirt out, filling it with air and let it go. "I want to swim."

"Swim?" His gaze followed her as she stood and stripped off her shirt.

"Yeah," she said, looking down at him, her head spinning. "Swim." She unb.u.t.toned her shorts and shoved them off.