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Madison hated being put on the spot, but she didn’t have to think twice. “If it doesn’t cost him his job, I’d rather be with Matt.”
Hunter sighed like he’d expected her answer, and he thought they were both insane. “Tell you what? Since it’s going to take Deke at least a few days to negotiate with Senator Pershing and you’ll literally be in a location where no one can find you, we’ll let Matt take you—against our better advice—and hold off on accepting his resignation. You good with that?”
Madison didn’t hesitate. “Yes.”
“And you’re sure you’re up to this?” he asked Matt.
Her cowboy’s jaw hardened. “She will not die on my watch. I’ll protect her with my life.”
“Then get out of here. But be warned, if anything happens to her—anything at all—you’re fired.”
CHAPTER TEN
Matt gripped the wheel and headed due east toward the meet point with Jack Cole. He must be out of his fucking mind. He knew the cold, hard truth; Madison was safer without him. But he’d let his jealousy, his sex drive, and his fear that he’d never see her again override his good sense. He’d nearly punched a teammate who, until today, he’d merely found annoying, and he’d threatened to quit the best job he’d ever had.
For her.
In the tense silence, he glanced in his mirror. The Edgington brothers were following in Logan’s sleek SUV. The dark roads were blessedly empty. Beside him, Madison was quiet, one bare foot braced on the edge of the passenger’s seat. Her chin rested on her knee. Somewhere along the way, she’d taken down those braids he’d wrapped his fists around. Now, she looked lost in thought, her wavy hair surrounding her like a dark, silken curtain.
He should say something. After all, he’d fucked her roughly right before he’d fucked up her whole plan. Despite that, she’d all but pleaded with his bosses to let him protect her. Why? He’d bet she was second-guessing herself now.
“I like it better dark,” he blurted.
Fuck. He should have kept his mouth shut. Madison hadn’t asked his opinion.
“Huh?”
“Your hair,” he clarified. “When I saw your wedding pictures, I almost didn’t recognize you as a blonde.”
She turned. Under a passing streetlight, he spotted her frown. “Todd made an offhand comment on our second or third date that he wasn’t usually attracted to brunettes. Being the silly little pleaser I was, I bleached my hair shortly after our engagement.”
Her assessment of herself disturbed Matt. Was that the reason she let him do whatever the fuck he wanted with her in bed? If he couldn’t control himself and she lacked the will to refuse him, how much would her spine bend before he broke it?
The question unsettled him.
“When I fled DC, I dyed my hair brown again.” She shrugged. “This is almost my natural color.”
Matt remembered tangling his fingers in the rich coffee strands their first weekend together. Now, their post-wedding fling felt like a hundred years ago. He needed to get his head screwed on straight if he was going to keep her alive. “What happened at Nash’s?”
“Is he okay?”
“He’s fine. He lost a lot of blood and had to have a few dozen stitches, but help arrived before he bled out.”
“Oh, thank God. I called 911 as soon as I could. I didn’t want to leave him alone to fight off the intruders, but—”
“You did the right thing. You saved his life.”
She still looked torn. “He told me to run. I knew if I opened that bedroom door to help him or even grab my phone from the kitchen…”
“You’d be at Todd’s mercy now, if you weren’t already dead. We still don’t know who those guys were. Police are trying to identify their bodies.” But Matt suspected Todd had sent those thugs. At this point, the senator would only hire killers as a last resort. On the heels of Brent’s murder, the optics of another death in the family might look suspicious and warrant more scrutiny.
“In the moment, it felt awful. So much of the last few days have.” She stared out into the night.
He wished he could unload this trauma from her shoulders. He’d grown up knowing exactly the kind of shit his dad could pull, but her husband’s capacity for murder had shocked Madison. His ruthless pursuit to silence her must be even more terrifying. Not knowing where she’d lay her head any given night or whether she’d even be alive tomorrow was crushing her. Matt was used to violence; it came with his job. When he wasn’t working, he compartmentalized. As a kindergarten teacher, then a political wife, she had no experience processing brutality. Throw in orgasm with lack of sleep, and no wonder she was so close to her breaking point.
Matt wished he could pull over, take her in his arms, and reassure her. As soon as they reached Jack’s fishing cabin, he would.
“I know, honey. I hate that you’re going through this. You can talk to me. Tell me how you feel. Scream, yell, cry. Whatever you need. I can take it.”
