AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Blaise Hughes was addictive.
I walked around to the side door that led into the kitchen. I wanted a bottle of water before I went up to my room. Also, I wanted to avoid Melanie if she was still here. She knew I had stayed with Blaise, and facing her wasn’t something I was looking forward to. It was an awkwardness I knew I’d have to deal with eventually, but I was going to put it off.
Opening the door slowly, I listened for voices and didn’t hear anything. Relieved, I stepped inside and quietly shut the door behind me. As I headed over to the fridge to get a water, I heard Saxon’s voice. He sounded angry, but the only word I made out was my name. I tiptoed over to the hallway and heard Melanie, but she was talking softer. They sounded like they were in the library. I eased closer until I heard Melanie clearly.
“Yes, that’s what we will do.” Her voice was calm.
“She’s nineteen. She has no idea who he is or what this is. Can’t you protect her?” Saxon was upset. Not just angry.
I bit my lip as I waited.
“I don’t know what you expect us to do. It’s not like we are talking about some random guy. It’s Blaise,” Melanie said. “I had hoped Trev would be the one who won her over, but with her being as charming and beautiful as her mother was, I should have been more prepared for this.”
“Would her mother have wanted this?” Saxon shot back at her.
“That’s hard to say, and it truly isn’t of importance here. You’ve grown up in this world. You know how things are done and how they are handled..”
Frowning, I tried to figure out what she had meant by that exactly.How things were handled? In the horse racing world? What did that have to do with me?
“Dammit!” Saxon shouted. “Can you talk to Garrett? Can Dad? Someone needs to fucking do something. She has no one protecting her.”
Was Saxon this scared of Blaise?I wasn’t being beaten and held against my will. Maybe I needed to explain things to him. Saxon had this idea of Blaise that was far scarier than reality.
“She is more protected now than anyone in the family. There is no better protection. You’re letting your feelings for her get involved, and, son, if those feelings are deep, you had better check them now.” She sounded like she was warning him. Her voice had lowered, and she’d snapped out the last part.
“That’s it then? We just stand back and let Blaise have her?” Saxon sounded defeated.
“He’s the boss,” she replied.
“Not yet!” Saxon argued.
“He might as well be. Loyalties are already shifting. You’ve seen it too.”
The boss? Loyalties? What in the heck were they talking about?I needed to google horse racing, apparently.
Melanie’s heels clicked on the hardwood as she began to walk. I hurried back to the kitchen and slipped out the side door before either of them saw me.
My gaze went to the stables as the conversation I’d just heard replayed in my head. Those other questions I had for Blaise had just tripled. Tonight, I needed some answers.
Did he know that the Houstons were scared of him? Or that Saxon thought he was taking me against my will?He’d said he’d let Melanie know I was with him.Wouldn’t he know if they were concerned?
I heard footsteps inside coming closer, and I took a deep breath, put a smile on my face, and opened the door, as if I were just getting here. Saxon was inches from the door when I walked in, and he was scowling when his eyes met mine. It fell away, and he seemed to instantly calm down.
“Hey,” I said, hoping I sounded surprised to see him.
“Uh, hey, Maddy,” he replied. “You’re back.”
I laughed. “Yeah, I am.”
“Oh, there you are, Madeline,” Melanie’s voice called out from the other side of the kitchen.
The awkwardness I had worried about was gone. Instead, I was now struggling to pretend I hadn’t heard anything they said. As if I wasn’t confused and baffled. I was never a great liar.
“Yes, I am sorry I didn’t take my phone. I forget I have it at times,” I told her. That sounded like something I would have said before.
She shrugged and continued smiling at me. “I understand. It’s fine. Blaise let me know the moment you left with him. Are you staying for a while, or do you have plans? I can make sure Mrs. Jolene brings you lunch to the house.”
Melanie was an excellent actress, which didn’t make me feel better.
