“I want to be her friend,” Max argued, his voice firm.
“You want to f**k her. You have a thing for her and I don’t blame you. But Maddie is mine. She was always meant to be mine. I can’t f**king live without her. So find yourself another woman,” Sam growled loudly.
“I don’t want to f**k her,” Max replied, his voice coming nearer to the stairs, obviously walking away from Sam.
Maddie could see them coming toward her, but they didn’t see her. The two men were in a stand-off, shooting each other irritated and downright hostile looks.
“You want her in your bed and it isn’t happening,” Sam rumbled.
“Oh, for Christ’s sake, Sam. Pull your head out of your ass for a minute and listen. I’m not into f**king incest.” Max’s jaw was clenched, his hands fisted as he added, “Maddie is my sister. My blood relative.”
Sam appeared to be rendered speechless, because he didn’t reply. He just stared at Max in bewilderment.
Maddie froze, the two men only about ten feet away from her, but they were so engrossed in their conversation that they hadn’t noticed her.
Max exhaled deeply and ran his hair through his auburn hair. “We were separated. I was adopted, she wasn’t. I didn’t even know about her until I saw her at the wedding. She’s the image of our real mother. And she and I have the same f**king eyes. After I looked more into my adoption records, I found out she was my sister. I was going to tell her. I just haven’t had a chance. I really wanted to tell her first.”
Maddie tried to digest the information, her overwhelmed brain struggling to acknowledge the fact that she had a brother. But the notion was so surreal that she wasn’t sure how to react.
Joy.
Confusion.
Denial.
She had a brother, and she had never known it, a sibling she had never known existed.
Max Hamilton is my brother. No wonder I feel so connected to him.
She gasped loudly, the noise carrying through the cavernous area. Both men whipped their heads up to look at her. The intensity on their faces made her waver, her heel catching on the luxurious carpet on the stairs.
Reaching toward the banister, she missed, unable to save herself from a fall she knew was coming, her body teetering and unstable. For one very brief instant, she caught Sam’s eyes, the fear in his gaze chilling.
Everything happened in slow motion for her, a horrifying moment that she knew she would remember forever. She screamed as she saw Sam leap onto the railing that guarded a very long drop to the bottom floor, his expression determined as he vaulted toward her as she began to tumble, his massive body flying over a treacherous drop that would probably kill him, or at least cause massive injuries. Max’s body had been right in front of Sam and her brother hadn’t realized she was struggling, so Sam had taken the fastest route to her, the only way to get his body in front of hers. Momentum had them both plummeting down the staircase, but Sam had tucked her into him, his arms around her protectively, shielding her with his own body.
The plummet to the bottom was a nightmare, and Maddie could do nothing but scream into Sam’s chest, his arm wrapped around her head, his body taking the damage during the punishing dive to the bottom of the steps as they fell at a frightening pace, rolling over and over until finally, their bodies stopped, Sam’s back hitting the wall at the bottom with a force brutal enough to bring them to a halt before he rolled forward, sprawled on top of her.
“Sam! Sam!” Maddie’s voice was frantic and terrified as she screamed his name, panicked that he was injured.
He wasn’t moving, and his weight lay inert and heavily on her body.
Oh, God. What if he’s injured? I don’t want to move him. He could have spinal injuries. Please. Please. Let him be okay.
“Maddie! Sam! Are you okay?” Maddie could hear Max’s muttered oaths as he crouched next to them.
Max’s frightened voice broke through her panic attack. She had to do something. Her whole body was trembling and she was panting like she had just run a marathon as she answered, “I’m okay. I don’t know about Sam. He’s not moving. I’m scared to move him. I don’t know what kind of injuries he has.”
She tried to think, to push aside the horrifying memories of him jumping that gulf and protecting her with his own body. He hadn’t given a thought to his own safety, his only goal to reach her and save her from injury.
“Oh, God. Sam, talk to me. Please,” she whispered, begging him to speak, her whole body tense with the agony of not knowing if he was going to be okay. “I love you. I love you so much. Please be okay. Please.”
“Maybe I just like this position too much, sweetheart.” His voice was a husky rasp, barely audible, his warm breath caressing her ear, his mouth resting right next to her temple.
Oh, Jesus, he’s alive.
Maddie’s heart slammed against her chest wall, beating so rapidly she was lightheaded. “Don’t move. I’m not sure how badly you’re injured,” she whispered back.
“Ambulance is on its way,” Max said urgently, trying to reassure her.
“He’s alive,” she answered, her eyes meeting those of her newly-discovered brother, eyes so much like her own.
Sam started to stir, groaning as he tried to move off her.
“I said don’t move,” she demanded sternly.
“God, sweetheart…I do love that bossy, sexy doctor thing you do,” he told her, his voice groggy. “I’m squashing you.”
“I don’t care. Stay,” she pleaded. “Wait.”
“Will you tell me you love me again?” he asked, levering some of his weight from her with his forearms.
Holding him in place by pulling her arms from her cocoon and wrapping them around his body, she exclaimed, “Yes. I love you. I love you. I love you, Sam. Now stay still until the ambulance comes.”
“Sunshine, I’ll stay here forever just to hear that,” he murmured in her ear. “Marry me?”
If she wasn’t so terrified, she would have smiled. Sam was definitely playing this situation to his advantage, but she didn’t give a shit. As long he was okay, she would do anything he wanted, give him anything he asked.
“Yes,” she agreed breathlessly. “I always planned on saying yes.”
“Knew you were a tease,” he mumbled, disgruntled.
“I plan to deliver,” she informed him tenderly, her hand lightly stroking his hair, her relief in hearing him speak overwhelming.