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“Madeline.” His voice was husky.
“Hmm?” I replied, adding a slight sway to my hips.
“What are you doing?”
I reached up and pulled out the pins holding my hair up, then shook it loose.
“Getting ready for bed,” I replied.
Blaise’s hand grabbed the back of my panties and jerked me back against him. “That’s not how you get ready for bed. That’s how you get bent over and fucked.”
Enjoying the fact that I could get to him so easily, I bent over and put my hands on the back of the sofa. “Don’t make threats,” I told him, looking back over my shoulder.
“Jesus Christ,” he growled and began stripping off his tuxedo while he stared at my open legs.
I knew he could see between them. I’d left them open enough so he had a view.
The loud sound of a phone ringing interrupted us, and Blaise muttered a curse. I looked back at him as he answered his phone.
“What?” he barked out.
While he listened, he ran a hand through his hair while his teeth were clenched. “Move them in, but wait. I’ve got to get out of this damn tux. I’ll be there in twenty. Make no move, but hold them.”
He ended the call and jerked off his tuxedo jacket as his eyes met mine. “Have some mercy on me and cover yourself while I get changed. We’ve got an issue I have to go handle,” he said as he looked at me one more time with need in his eyes, then groaned before turning to go get changed.
I grabbed the throw on the back of the sofa and wrapped it around me. He was going to do family business. I could see the hardness behind his eyes as he focused. I didn’t know what he was doing, where he was going, why he had to go. All of that was foreign to me. The fear that settled inside my chest, knowing it could be dangerous, was difficult. Before, when he’d rushed off, I hadn’t really dwelled on what he was doing.
I wished I could go back to that. Maybe not knowing was easier.
Blaise was pulling on a black leather jacket as he walked back out of the bathroom. I saw the flash of metal on his hip before the jacket fell into place, covering it. Swallowing hard, I lifted my eyes to meet his.
“Is it dangerous?” I asked him nervously.
The corner of his mouth lifted, but it wasn’t truly a smile. “For them,” he replied.
That didn’t answer my question. Blaise stopped and grabbed the back of my head, then pressed a hard kiss to my lips before dropping his hand and putting distance between us.
“Get some rest. Not sure when I’ll be back.”
I wanted to know more. He was leaving, and the idea of him never coming back terrified me. This was his life. He didn’t seem scared. He was the opposite in fact. Blaise didn’t worry that he could make a wrong move and the bullet would hit him this time. Not only did he act invincible, but everyone else acted as if he were too. But Blaise wasn’t Superman. He was a human. That leather jacket did not make him bulletproof.
He didn’t look back at me as he walked toward the stairs. I stood there until he was out of sight and I heard the door close upstairs. Dropping the throw, I made my way to the bathroom to get a shower and pray I could get some sleep.
Tonight had been an emotional roller coaster, and it wasn’t over.
After letting the warm water wash me clean, I was slightly more relaxed. However, until Blaise was safely back, I doubted I would feel relaxed enough to sleep. I chose a pair of panties and a nightgown from the closet and then dried my hair with a towel.
My life had been so different one year ago. I’d just graduated high school. There were no plans to do anything more. I had thought Luke and Cole needed me. My life had been focused on getting by one day at a time.
My closet had consisted of four different outfits, two pairs of shoes, an old T-shirt that I’d slept in, and five pairs of white cotton panties. I’d never had much, but I hadn’t been bitter about it. I had my family. I’d thought my family was something that we weren’t. I had noticed things started to change with Luke and Cole, but I’d overlooked it.
Standing in the mirror now, I didn’t look like the same girl. I was starting to forget her. She had been brave and determined to keep her family together. She hadn’t made plans for her future. I had thought she was happy, but had she been? She hadn’t known the only person who cared about her safety was a man she had never met. One who would become the most important person in her life.
