Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
W hen Madison rushed through the door, the daycare manager already had one eyebrow lifted, and her lips were pursed as if she’d been sucking on something sour.
“I’m so sorry. I know I’m late. I was stuck on a call, and then I hit every red light?—”
“We’ve discussed this, Ms. Amherst. Even paying for late pickup, there is only so much we can tolerate.”
Madison swallowed back her urge to scream. “I’m only ten minutes late.”
The woman arched an eyebrow. “Ten minutes that Jax has been waiting for his…” Her words trailed off. “Mother?” Her inflection made her opinion of Madison’s abilities clear.
A swell of guilt rose in Madison.
“I’ll do my best to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” she managed past the knot in her throat. The door behind the desk swung open, and a younger woman came out carrying a smiling Jax.
“There’s my guy!”
Jax let out an excited shriek and lunged for her. The two daycare workers exchanged a look Madison didn’t care to decipher. They had been judgmental from day one.
Jax had originally started coming to this daycare as an infant while Opal worked part time, and after her death, Madison was forced to explain to them what had happened. Then when she had to describe the custody situation, you would have thought she was Jezebel, looking to taint everyone around just by her presence.
However, the location was convenient between her home and the office, and Jax seemed happy there, so she would suck up the nasty looks and jabs they threw her way.
Madison zipped up Jax’s hoodie and turned for the door. Her phone buzzed with the alarm company’s tone.
What the hell? Again?
Security Alert. Front Door open.
Madison cursed under her breath as her phone rang. After several false alarms, the security system company had gone over her house, and found a few loose sensors, but nothing obviously tampered with.
The owner, a friend of James Bloom, had come out to oversee the work, and even he seemed confused by the misfires. He had ordered all new hardware for her system, but it hadn’t arrived yet.
“Ms. Amherst, this is Elite Security Systems. We received an alert from our system that your front door sensor registered open for a few moments, but it is now showing it is closed. The system did not trigger the alarm speakers. Because of your recent issues, we didn’t automatically notify the authorities. Would you like us to ask for a roll-out?”
She definitely didn’t need another bill for a false alarm.
The door opened, but the alarm hadn’t gone off? Had she forgotten to set the alarm?
“Thank you. I’ll be home in ten minutes. I’m sure it’s just another mistake.”
Pulling into her driveway, Madison turned the car off and rested her head on the steering wheel.
One peaceful day without something going wrong. Is that too much to ask?
The late afternoon sun cast a warm, golden glow over her small lawn. It was almost spring, but the chill wind picking up reminded her of Atlanta’s unpredictable weather.
“How do you feel about hotdogs for dinner, buddy?” That was about all Madison felt up to today. “Maybe some trees?” she asked. The only vegetable Jax consistently agreed to eat was broccoli—and that was only after he’d dunked it repeatedly in ranch dressing.
“Yes.” Jax nodded enthusiastically, drawing out his latest word. Madison lifted him into her arms, his favorite miniature garbage truck clutched in his hands.
She took a step toward the front door, only to freeze. The door was standing ajar. Scanning the frame, she didn’t see any damage. A feeling of unease ran through her, and she paused just as another wind gust rattled the small tree in her front yard. The door creaked open a little farther.
Did I not pull it all the way shut?
She’d been in a rush, juggling Jax’s diaper bag, her work bag, the endless to-do lists, and notes for witnesses she was supposed to interview that day over the phone. It was definitely possible.
Hesitantly, she pushed the door open a little wider, her grip on Jax tightening. Her heart thudded a quick rhythm in her chest as her gaze traveled over the entryway and into the living room beyond.
The sight made her stomach lurch. Cushions from her couch lay slashed open, their stuffing spilled out. The glass coffee table lay in shards across the floor, and her television screen was a fractured web of cracks. The intruder had pulled the family photos from the walls and smashed them on the ground.
It felt like more than a robbery—It felt personal.
Jax, sensing her distress, clung to her shirt and whined. Holding him close, Madison stepped back out onto the porch, unable to tear her eyes away from the destruction inside.
Spinning, she ran from the house to the car, slid into the driver’s seat with Jax still in her arms, and locked the door.
Why hadn’t her alarm gone off? The sensor registered the fault only twenty minutes ago.
What if they are still in there? In the house!
Heart pounding a staccato rhythm, Madison quickly backed the car out of the driveway and parked two houses away on the street where she could still see the entrance to her house.
Her breath came in short, shallow gasps as she dialed 911, then froze with her finger over the call button.
The warning her new lawyer had given her rang in her ear. Felix had repeatedly brought up the dangerous nature of her job and had used the attack four months ago on Cami as proof. If she called the police now, there would be an official report. Something Felix would spin to make her look bad.
What should I do?
Tears filled her eyes as Jax, annoyed by being confined, fussed. Allowing him to stand in her lap, she used one hand on his back to support him as he gripped the steering wheel. While Jax pretended to drive, making rumbly sounds with his lips, Madison struggled to get her emotions under control.
She couldn’t go back to the house, but she also couldn’t call the police.
Should she call James’s friend Brady? He was a security expert…
Alex.
Her pulse quickened. She hadn’t heard from him since she practically mauled him at the club. Part of her was disappointed he hadn’t tried to contact her again, but another part acknowledged he was just doing as she asked. She’d told him she didn’t have space in her life for anything else…
With a trembling hand, Madison pulled the black card out of the cardholder on the back of her phone and dialed his number, and hoped that further involving him in their lives wasn’t a mistake.
It only rang once before he picked up.
“Madison?” His voice was calm, deep, steady.
An instant wave of relief swept over her at the sound of his voice. She sucked in an uneven breath. “Alex… I, um... I need your help. I came home, and someone had broken in. My house—” Her voice cracked. “Everything is destroyed.”
A pause, and then his voice dropped, his words clipped. “Where are you now?”
“I’m in my car… on the street,” she whispered, cradling Jax closer. “I didn’t see anyone, but… I’m scared to go in. I don’t want to call the police, and I have Jax?—”
“Don’t move. I’m on my way.”
He hung up before she could respond. Lowering the phone, she stroked her fingers over Jax’s back. “It’s okay, buddy,” she whispered. “Everything will be okay.”
The next minutes stretched like hours as she waited, trying to keep Jax entertained and happy with a half-eaten pack of crackers and letting him climb all over the front seat.
Her mind couldn’t stop seeing her wrecked belongings. Madison hadn’t looked close enough to see if anything was missing, but whoever it was wreaked the destruction on her home in a short time frame.
She glanced up as a sleek, dark car rounded the corner, stopping just short of her driveway, a large dark SUV behind it pulling into her driveway. Alex stepped out of the sedan, and just the sight of him soothed the edges of her fear as he strode toward her car.
She was losing it .
He wore his standard Brioni suit, but even at a distance, there was a lethal energy and focus coming off him she hadn’t seen before. Pushing the door open, Madison stepped out of the car and instantly felt the weight of his gaze as it swept over her. Whatever he saw during that intense perusal seemed to satisfy him.
Madison offered him a wan smile, doing her best to stay calm, but what she really wanted to do was fold herself into his arms.
A large, broad-shouldered man with tattoos covering his neck and hands approached them. Alex said something to him in Russian, and the man gave her a single curt nod before entering her house, weapon drawn.
“Liev will check it out.”
Alex’s hand dusted over the top of Jax’s curls, and then he used his knuckle to edge her chin up. “Angel.”
“Charming.”
Alex’s lip twitched the slightest bit before the anger was back, crackling in his eyes.
“What happened?”
“I got an alert on my phone that my front door was open, but I’ve had a lot of false alarms lately. I thought maybe the wind blew the door open. When I got inside, everything was a wreck, Alex. Completely trashed.” She swallowed, trying not to think about the other rooms in the house she hadn’t seen yet.
His expression didn’t soften, but Alex shifted closer, wrapping an arm around her and pressing a kiss to her temple. His spicy cologne filled her nose, and for the first time since she came home, her heart slowed to a reasonable pace.
“Did you see anyone? Notice anything strange on the drive here?”
Madison shook her head. “No, just came straight from daycare…”
She closed her mouth as Liev emerged from her house. He met Alex’s gaze with a slight shake of his head. Alex nodded, then turned back to Madison and gently lifted Jax from her arms, resting the toddler against his chest, and murmured something she couldn’t make out. Jax, oddly enough, stilled and snuggled against Alex’s shoulder.
A second car pulled up, and two more men stepped out, exchanging a few sharp words in Russian with Alex. Madison watched him slip effortlessly into another language, his tone authoritative and direct. The men nodded, disappearing into the house without so much as a glance her way. She shivered.
This was not an Alex she recognized.
Gently taking her elbow, he guided her up the steps of her porch and into the house. “Take a quick look around. See if anything is missing and then pack a bag for you and Jax.”
Madison gaped at him.
His expression firmed, and Alex met her gaze, his eyes unwavering even while he stroked a hand down Jax’s back.
“You called me for help, Angel. You could have called the police. But you didn’t. You called me. Now I’m going to take care of you.” He pulled his head back a little and smiled down at Jax, and Madison’s heart melted a little. “Both of you.”
Leaving Jax with Alex, Madison quickly jogged upstairs to pack a bag of essentials for both of them. She pushed back the tears that threatened and ignored the mess as she gathered what she could.
No room had been spared, but hers was especially bad. Her clothing had been pulled from their hangers and shredded, her books and jewelry dumped on the floor. Salvaging what she could, she hurried on to Jax’s things.
Thankfully, Jax’s clothing was mostly untouched, though almost all of his stuffed animals had been ripped to shreds. There was a violence to the carnage that was deeply unsettling.
Alex’s face hardened as he took in her expression when she reached him.
“Well, at least I get a shopping spree out of it,” she tried to joke, but her words came out flat.
“You’ll be safe in my home,” he said, a statement that left no room for argument.
“No, we can’t do that. A hotel will be fine. I don’t need to be ‘kept safe.’ Someone broke in. That doesn’t mean they’ll come back.”
Alex’s jaw flexed. “No.”
She threw up her hands. “You can’t just say no, Alex, and expect me to follow along. Jax and I can go to a hotel until I can get this cleaned up.”
“A hotel,” he muttered darkly, but before he could continue, Liev approached him and said something in a low tone. “Wait for me outside,” he instructed brusquely.
When they were alone again, he said, “Daylight, Angel. When someone would have expected you to be home. My security team says this wasn’t a robbery. Your jewelry is still here, as well as cash and computers. This was a personal attack. What would have happened if you and Jax were home when these people broke in or if you walked in on them?”
Madison's lips wobbled, but he didn’t relent. “Why didn’t you call the police, Madison?” He pushed, staring at her expectantly.
“Because Felix would use it as proof my job is too dangerous for Jax.”
That seemed to give Alex pause, and his eyes flickered. “Your new case... the cover-up with the fire and police department. Have you had any threats?”
“Nothing overt.” Madison shook her head. Adrenaline was now rapidly leaving her body, leaving her dizzy and sick. But glancing around, there was nowhere to sit. Then his words hit her. “You’ve been listening?”
Alex ignored the question. “Have there been threats, yes or no?”
“No. But after what happened with the last case... who knows?”
“What about Felix?”
“What about him?” She pressed hard at the skin under her eyes, willing the tears not to fall, as Alex’s large hand lifted to her shoulder so that his thumb stroked her collarbone in an oddly soothing way.
Breathe. Hold it together just a little longer. You can do this.
Do. Not. Fall. Apart.
“Could he have done this? To frighten you?” Alex probed.
Madison shrugged. “He’s certainly capable of it, but I don’t see how he could have gotten past my security system. It’s supposed to be state-of-the art.” She made a face. “Then again, I’ve had a lot of problems with it.”
“Liev said as much. He thinks they used an outside jammer to trick the alarm into thinking the door was closed.”
“They?”
“The amount of damage done so quickly, it was most likely a crew, not an individual.”
A sudden rush of dizziness hit hard, and the ground seemed to tilt beneath her feet. Madison swayed, her breath catching, but before she could stumble, Alex’s arm locked around her waist, holding her firmly against him. “I’ve got you,” he murmured.
Jax chose that moment to wail, expressing his displeasure at the disruption of his evening routine and abrupt jostling when Alex had caught her.
Madison tried to straighten away from him, to take Jax. But her knees felt like jelly, and Alex’s arm only clamped around her harder, holding her securely against him. It struck her then—He was still holding Jax effortlessly in his other arm, balancing the toddler while supporting her body.
My home, just like my life, is in a complete shambles and here’s Alex holding us both up in the middle of it.
A nervous giggle escaped her lips, distracting Jax.
Alex lifted a dark brow. “Care to tell us what’s so funny?”
Madison lifted her hand to cover a snort. “Just thinking about wholly accurate metaphors.”
Alex looked confused, but Jax screamed again, drawing his attention. “That’s too loud.”
His tone wasn’t harsh, but astonishingly, Jax closed his mouth, and then gave Alex one of his devilish smiles before opening his mouth wide to scream again. Instead, of a shriek he let out a loud, long breath like a silent scream. Closing his mouth, Jax grinned from ear to ear, clearly delighted with his joke.
Alex laughed his whole face transformed. “This kid is a genius.”
And then, to Madison’s complete shock, he gave the toddler a loud kiss on the cheek, sending Jax into peals of laughter.