“You’ve had enough,” I tell her as I stand. “We’re leaving.”
For once, she doesn’t argue. Maybe she sees something in my expression that warns her not to push me right now. Or maybe she’s finally realizing how drunk she really is.
Riley helps Maddie stand, and Vander moves to steady her other side.
As we make our way toward the exit, Maddie stumbles again, and this time I’m the one who catches her. She looks up at me, her pupils dilated from the alcohol.
“My hero,” she chirps, followed by a giggle.
“Let’s go,” I say, already moving toward the door.
Behind us, I hear Riley laughing on her phone and telling someone—likely one of her fiancés—about how intense we all are. Rhodes mutters something I can’t hear, but his tone is amused.
The cool night air hits us as we exit the club, and Maddie takes a deep breath, steadying herself. “I’m fine,” she says, trying to pull away from me. “I can walk by myself.”
“Sure, you can,” I tell her, but I don’t let her go.
She looks at me for a long moment, then relaxes against me slightly, letting me guide her toward the SUV without further protest.
The drive to Riley’s place is quiet except for the soft music playing through the speakers. Maddie’s leaning against the window, her eyes half closed, while Riley chatters away about something her fiancés are planning for next week.
When we pull up to Riley’s house, her three men are already waiting outside.
“Thanks for the ride,” Riley says to Rhodes, who’s driving, before she turns to her friend. “Don’t forget to fill out that form, Mads. Trust me, you won’t regret it.”
Maddie mumbles something that might be an agreement as Riley slides out of the vehicle. She’s immediately surrounded by her men, all three of them checking her over like she’s been gone for days instead of hours. The tallest one, Archer, shoots me a nod of acknowledgment before they disappear inside.
“Home,” I tell Rhodes, and he pulls back into traffic.
The rest of the drive is silent. Maddie’s asleep, her head resting against the window.
When we arrive at her place, I’m the one who carefully opens her door and extracts her from the SUV. She stirs as I lift her, her arms automatically looping around my neck.
“Mmm not that drunk,” she mumbles against my shoulder.
“I know,” I tell her, as I carry her toward the entrance. Vander’s ahead of us, clearing the path, calling the elevator, and unlocking her door when we get up to it.
Once inside, I take her to her bedroom. The space smells like her, something floral and sweet that’s been driving me insane since the day we started this assignment. I set her down on the bed as gently as I can, and she immediately curls onto her side.
“Shoes,” she mutters.
I kneel and carefully unbuckle the straps of her heels, sliding them off and setting them aside.
“Can you manage the rest?” I ask.
She nods, already reaching for the straps on her dress.
I turn away to give her privacy and find Vander standing in the doorway with a glass of water and what looks like pain meds.
He moves past me and sets both on her nightstand while I keep my back turned. I hear the rustle of fabric, then the soft sound of her sliding under the covers.
“Okay,” she murmurs quietly, and I turn back around.
She’s tucked into bed, the covers pulled up to her chin. She sleepily stares at the water and medicine Vander left, then up at him.
“Thank you,” she says, and Vander actually smiles at her and nods.
Rhodes appears with a small wastebasket, setting it on the floor beside her bed. “Just in case,” he says.
