With Abandon: With or Without, Book 4

the counter long enough to get down two plates and fill them, before
    bringing them both to the bar.
    Good? What did that mean? “Why’re you going to Reynolds Hall?”
    “We. Why are we going to Reynolds Hall.” After retrieving another glass of orange juice, Aubrey came back to the island. He sat on the stool next to Matt’s and picked up his fork. He stabbed the sausage and brought it up to his mouth, but he didn’t take a bite. “Because we’ll have the whole place to ourselves.
    Mom and Dad are on their cruise and Thompson and Martha left for their vacation this morning.”
    Giddiness tingled through Matt at the prospect of spending time alone with his mate at the plantation.
    Aubrey had been so attentive lately. Tara was right. Aubrey loved him. Matt wanted to punch the air and yell Yes , or maybe give himself a high five. Instead, he grabbed Aubrey by the face, knocking the fork right out of his hand, and planted a big kiss on his lips. “Thank you.”
    Aubrey gasped.
    Matt giggled at the stunned expression, picked up Aubrey’s fork, handed it back to him and hopped
    from the stool. “I’m going to pack.” He raced to the guestroom, found a bag and began stuffing it full of clothes. He was halfway through when he realized he hadn’t used his color identifier. Oh well, it was just going to be him and Aubrey. With any luck he wouldn’t be wearing many clothes while they were there
    anyway.
    He tossed the color identifier in the bag before zipping it up. He slapped his hands together and
    rubbed them in anticipation. Oh yeah, this was going to be awesome. He hurried back to the kitchen to eat.
    An hour later they were on their way to Savannah.
    Somewhere between Atlanta and Macon, Matt’s curiosity got the better of him. “Who were you
    talking to this morning?”
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    Aubrey remained quiet for several moments. The tension grew thick enough to suffocate.
    Squirming in his seat a little, Matt wondered how he could take the question back.
    “A pack member’s wife. He’s missing.” The answer was curt and didn’t encourage further questions.
    Instinctively, Matt knew he needed to drop it. Aubrey was suddenly on edge. Swallowing hard, Matt
    nodded. “Oh.” When would Aubrey feel comfortable discussing pack business with him? Given the recent
    closeness they were establishing, the refusal kind of hurt.
    Okay, get a grip, Matt. It doesn’t concern you. If it did, Aubrey would tell him.
    Aubrey patted his leg and squeezed it. With a sidelong glance, he grinned. “It’s nothing for you to
    worry about, sugar.”
    The action and words didn’t do much to stem Matt’s curiosity or erase the slight hurt that his mate
    wouldn’t confide in him, but they did show that Aubrey cared. For now that was enough. It did make him
    wonder if the missing member had anything to do with them going to Reynolds Hall though. Before he
    could ask, his phone rang.
    “Want me to answer it so you can talk on the speaker?” Aubrey asked, pointing at the screen in the
    dashboard.
    Matt had forgotten he’d synced his phone with Aubrey’s car. The screen said the call was from
    Logan. “Yeah, go ahead. Ten bucks says he called to tell me Dad freaked over his piercing.”
    Chuckling, Aubrey pushed the button on the steering wheel.
    “Hello?” Matt stretched his feet out in front of him. This should be interesting.
    “You’re not going to fucking believe this.” The rumble of Logan’s car idled in the background.
    A small voice said, “Ummm…you said a bad word.”
    Eddie?
    Matt looked at the clock. It was noon. Eddie should be at home and Logan at lunch. “Is that Eddie?”
    “Yeah. Listen. I need some advice.” Logan’s voice got quieter, and the engine shut off. “Eddie, go
    ahead and unlock the door. Here are the keys.” Matt’s little brother chattered over the jangle of keys, asking if Logan would play Mario Brothers with him. Logan said sure, and a car door slammed.
    Matt’s stomach got queasy all of a sudden. Something was wrong. “Logan? What’s going on? Why is
    Eddie with you? Is everything okay?”
    Aubrey caught his hand and squeezed it.
    “Sorry, I had to get him out of here before I could talk. I have a bit of a problem.” His voice cracked.
    Logan’s voice never cracked. He was unflappable.
    Apprehension skittered through Matt, and his heart began to hammer.
    “Sterling and I went to lunch, and we ran into Mom. She was with some human