CHAPTER
THIRTY-SIX
She was gone.
He couldn’t believe it.
When he pulled himself out of bed the next morning, he was still in shock. Even Spike seemed confused, barking around the house and sniffing the air for Madison’s scent. When he finally gave a heartfelt whine, Kyle had to grit back his own pain.
God! He’d had no ideaanythingcould hurt this much, not even the beatings his father had given him for being too soft. Well, his dad would have definitely gotten out his belt last night. Kyle had broken down, with Spike in his arms, whining and licking his face. He’d even let the little guy sleep with him since they were both upset about Madison being gone.
Dammit, he’d known she could dig her heels in, how protective she could be. How many times had he admired it? But now it was working against him. She’d decided this Dassault was going to ruin all of them, so she’d made the one-woman decision to save them all from their terrible fate.
What the hell was he going to do? He couldn’t see a plan forward with her blocking him. He needed help again. OperationKyle and Madison needed support, and he knew exactly who to call. Forget about her being angry that he was calling their family together.
Everyone arrived together, and Kyle wondered if he had Brooke to thank for the perfect timing. She was the first to wrap her arms around him, and he didn’t care that he leaned in more than usual. “I’m so sorry, but we’re here. We’re going to figure things out.”
Axel gripped his shoulder. “I do not have a cleaver, but I will do what I can to bring you two back together.”
He choked out a laugh, remembering how Madison had taken her cleaver over to Axel’s to force him to see sense when he and Brooke were at odds. “It might come to that. Hey, Doc.”
“I’d hoped our dark times were over,” Sawyer said, giving him a man hug. “I wish I could have been there for you guys last night.”
Phoebe socked him in the shoulder before giving him a bear hug. “Tell me where Madison is. I’ll break into her place the way she did mine and force her to talk to me.”
Another one of Madison’s classic charge-in moments, lying her way into Phoebe’s apartment to keep Phoebe from walking away from Sawyer. She’d helped all of them, but she wouldn’t accept help in return.
Dean tapped Kyle on the shoulder, his phone in the air. “She’s at the restaurant. I kinda hacked into her phone. Don’t tell her, but we were worried.”
He huffed out a relieved breath. He’d hoped as much. He’d installed a cot in the back room of the restaurant in case someone needed a break, so she’d probably slept there. “Thanks for checking,” he said, giving Dean a half hug.
Jacqueline kissed his cheeks, murmuring assurances, butthen Thea came forward, trying valiantly not to cry. “This is all my fault! I was the one with the brilliant idea to send the breadbasket to Christophe Flaubert. I thought he was nice.”
“Chérie,we’ve discussed this,” Jean Luc said gravely as he rubbed her back.
“Thea, you were right!” Kyle hugged her again, rocking them in place. Hadn’t he tortured himself with the same thoughts before reframing them? “Flaubert wanted to help.”
“But Auguste would not hear of it, of course,” Nanine said tightly as she came through the door.
Kyle met Nanine’s eyes. She was standing next to Carl, her hand tightly clenched around his. Her usual understanding gaze was absent. Instead, he saw a helpless rage in her eyes.
“No, he wouldn’t.”
Keeping an arm around Thea, he drew Nanine close. She kissed his cheeks Parisian style and then laid her head against his chest. That alone devasted him. Nanine had always been strong—at least until the heart attack and the destruction of her restaurant.
She straightened and touched his jaw. “Madison came to see me this morning to tell me what happened and why she feels she has to leave because of Auguste’s threats.”
His heart pulsed thickly in his chest. God, if she’d done that, she was moving fast. “I see.”
“Let’s all sit down,” Brooke said softly. “We have much to discuss.”
“Does anyone want coffee?” he asked, remembering how every crisis had been handled with acrème, another reason he was glad he’d tucked Spike in a side room so he could devote his full attention to the task at hand.
His friends shook their heads and shrugged out of their coats. The trail of people into the salon was like a funeral procession, and he fought off his rising alarm. These were their roommates, their family. They’d figured out solutions toeverything they’d faced together since coming back to Paris last August.
Did everyone think there was no hope?
He didn’t sit. He couldn’t. Facing the room, he swept his hand in a gesture that encompassed all the people gathered in front of him. “Look, if you’re all thinking the situation is hopeless, maybe I shouldn’t have called this meeting. Because right now, I’m looking for help. I refuse to accept defeat. I love Madison…”
