Chapter 29
“Madison!”
Troian pushed me out of the way to get to Madison, wrapping his arms around her as she fell into a fit of giggles and patted him back in earnest. I let them have their moment and made my way back over to Qwill.
“I’m so sorry,” I leaned in and whispered, shaking my head. “I was really looking forward to our evening together.”
“It’s okay.” He whispered back, letting his lips brush against my clothed shoulder as he bent down. “We can make up for lost time later.”
Thoughts of a naked Qwill ran a track through my brain and my dick wanted nothing more than for my brain to meet it at the finish line. But business first, then pleasure.
Madison and Troian walked into the apartment, my brother shutting then door behind him as they both made their way to stand in front of Qwill and I.
“Sorry about just showing up like I own the place.” Madison chuckled to herself.
I snickered at her choice of words. “No, that would be me. I own the whole building.”
The shift in conversation truly felt like it had crafted a draft so cold that I felt like I could see the goosebumps forming on Troian’s bare arms. Qwill looked equally as surprised, but he wasn’t the first to speak.
Madison wasn’t sure what the hell to say as she turned to my brother just as his mouth fell open in shock.
“What do you mean, you own the building?”
“I bought it.” I nodded, smiling wide, looking between the shocked faces of my varying company. “I thought it was time to spend some of the money you gave me while earning myself some passive income.”
“So what, you’re like, a landlord now?” Troian scoffed in disbelief.
“Good for you, dear.” Madison nodded. “Owning property is the most lucrative decision to make in the long run.”
Troian looked like he was about to have a conniption. Qwill simply smiled and snaked a hand across my back as he rubbed it affectionately.
“I’m proud of you, baby.” Qwill placed a kiss behind my ear and the jolt of praise made a beeline for my cock. There was no way I was going to be able to hide it if I kept thinking about other ways I wanted to be praised by him.
“I’ll regale everyone with my news later,” I promised, looking back at Madison with inquiries burning holes in my retinas. “What was so important that you decided to fly down to Piper?”
“Right, the news.” Madison gave a look to Qwill, a sweet smile staining her lips as she gestured to herself. “Sorry dear, I didn’t introduce myself. I’m Madison Cross.”
“Qwill.” He said back with a tight smile, not the usual affection littered in the lines of his lips like they usually were. Given the reputation Madison’s family held, I couldn’t say I blamed him for a less than warm greeting.
She seemed to take note of his cold response, but instead of getting irate at the perceptive rudeness Qwill had given her, she softened. Madison walked forward and there was regret embedded in her eyes when she spoke again.
“I don’t blame you for that,” Madison nodded.
“My family’s chosen to die on a particularly stupid hill that Orbs are less than humans.
” Her sigh was heavy and bridled with brimstone.
“It’s fucking ridiculous, obviously, but I want you to know that I don’t share my family’s proclivities for bigotry. ”
“More big words.” Qwill said, giving me a knowing smile, but he looked back to Madison and presented his scaled hand. “I appreciate that, Madison. It’s nice to meet you. I’m Thayer’s boyfriend.”
“Nice to meet you as well, Qwill.” Madison beamed back, shaking his hand eagerly before returning her gaze to me. “Love is a beautiful thing.”
Before I could use the moment to propel my unsaid feelings for Qwill, my brother was like an antsy chihuahua needing to release their unshakeable energy.
“I’m super happy for my brother and his boyfriend for making things official, but I’ve been an emotional wreck for days waiting to hear back from you so, if you don’t mind. ”
Laughter filled the apartment as Madison’s rich and bold hilarity bounced off the walls. It was a pleasant sound, but of course, it paled in comparison to Qwill’s hearty laughter.
Or his moans, for that matter. Which is what I was really wanting to hear reverberate off the walls so we needed to get this show on the road before I told Qwill about the final part of news I had to share about my returning show to Downpour.
It was tomorrow after all, and I’d like to let off some steam with my new boyfriend before I had to rehearse for the show tomorrow morning.
“You said Cross,” Qwill’s start of conversation broke through my mental reverie. “I thought you were a member of the Rhodes family?”
“I am,” She reassured him. “I’m just the only one married.
I was born Madison Rhodes, but I married a wonderful man named Harrison Cross when I graduated from college.
” I saw her face sour, more backstory on the back of her tongue that made her features turn to a more somber caricature.
But she must have thought better about sharing it, as her demeanor returned to the friendly expression she’d been displaying since she walked through the door.
“Anyway, I’m sorry I’ve been so silent on responding to you all.
” She regarded each of us individually with a look before settling on Troian.
“It’s been hectic as hell back home, especially with Aspen’s arrest.”
“We heard.” Troian nodded. “Weird timing with what Casper and Cheyenne did to Thayer.”
“Weird timing is always Warren’s calling card.” She sighed, crossing her arms in defiance. “That’s how he keeps getting away with all this crazy shit.” She shook her head. “But that’s about to come to an end.”
“It is?” I asked.
A smile proceeded her again. “Aspen’s arrest certainly didn’t look good, and the timing was most likely planned by Warren to give him an alibi, but Aspen never name dropped him.
Not even during her interrogation about why she kidnapped all those petrylle in D.C.
” She gave me a curt nod. “That’s where Cas and Chey fucked up.
Letting it slip that Warren gave them the order to kidnap you, or Troian rather, implicated him in a way that he can’t weasel out of.
Warren’s still Warren though, so there’s a chance he might get away with it because of his connections, but he’s at least under the police’s scrutiny now and he can’t avoid questioning forever. ”
“He’s being questioning about the warehouse kidnapping?” Qwill interjected.
“Not yet. He’s using everything he can to avoid flying down here and speaking with the police, but now that Aspen’s name is being thrown across every cop’s screen within a hundred mile radius from D.C.
, it’s inevitable for him to be forced to speak with them.
” She uncrossed her arms to hold her hands together in triumph.
“Which means, the family has way bigger fish to fry than to worry about tracking down money that my son gave to his husband upon his death.” Madison nodded at Troian. “It’s over.”
“Over over?” He said back.
“As in, no one’s going to come looking for either one of us again?” I added.
“Casper and Cheyenne are missing. No one’s heard from them, seen them, nothing.
They’re fucking ghosts and those girls will not be found unless they want to be.
Aspen’s in jail as they build a strong case against her stupidity.
Lafayette is trying to do damage control with his media influence, so he’s been in New York trying to buy our family’s name back.
” She chuckled incredulously. “And Warren is dodging fires left and right, since headlines saying that the White House Chief of Staff ordered his sisters to kill their cousin’s husband and kidnapped his twin by mistake instead.
The only one back at the family estate in Massachusetts is Lincoln, and who knows how long that’ll last.”
I had no idea that there were that many Rhodes siblings, but hearing that they were otherwise occupied was all I needed to hear.
That didn’t mean that Troian and I were completely out of the woods as far as danger was concerned, but it sure as hell made me let out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding on to.
“You’re sure Thayer’s safe?” Hearing the concern from my twin was heartwarming.
“The family is officially fractured.” Madison stated, to prove her point and really make it twist in the flesh of her story.
“Our father isn’t going to live much longer.
When he eventually dies, the siblings will be more concerned with the money that they might get from him.
All thoughts of the money, my money, that Alec’s father and I gave him, that you were rightfully given, will be all but forgotten.
” She placed a hand on my brother’s shoulder. “It’s over over.”
“Thank fucking god.”
Troian came over to me and pulled me into a quick hug. “I’m so sorry about all of this.”
I pulled him back by the shoulders to stare into the dark eyes we shared. “Once again, this is not your fault, Troy.”
“Thayer’s right.” Madison said as we stepped apart. “This is my fucked up family’s fault. Always has been, always will be.”
I strolled back over to Qwill, wrapping an arm around him in a half hug as Madison meandered her way over to the window in the living room.
I was just about to subtly ask them to leave now that everything was looking better on the Rhodes-getting-back-at-us front so that I could return to the evening I had planned with my boyfriend, but Madison sighed deeply and giggled to herself before rejoining us back towards the front of the apartment.
“Now that the family is fracturing, you know, Piper wouldn’t be the worst town to settle down in.”
Troian snickered. “It’s way more small town than what you’re used to back in Massachusetts.”
“Small town,” Madison cooed, echoing Troian’s words in a more sing-song way. “I like the sound of that.”
“Well,” Troian grabbed Madison’s hand and began to steer her towards the front door of the apartment. “My brother’s too nice to kick us out, but we should go. He was having a night in with his boyfriend, after all.”
“Ahh, young love.” Madison placed a hand over her heart as Qwill and I followed them towards the door. “Enjoy yourselves!”
I would’ve been embarrassed by all the implications but I was too wound up with all the good news both internal and external that I really didn’t give a fuck. “Thanks for telling me in person, Madison. And it was great to meet you.”
“You as well.” She said as she spun on her heels, giving Qwill a curt nod. “It was nice meeting you as well, Qwill.”
“Likewise.” Qwill said back.
“I’ll text you.” Troian said to me knowingly.
I nodded like a puppy dog eager for them to get out, because I was. “Sounds good.”
They started to depart and I closed the door to cut off the view of them. I turned around to face Qwill again, tossing my arms around his neck, minding his gills of course, as he pulled me close.
I’d been dying to tell him how deeply I felt for him, but the greed to spew my feelings was waning.
There’d be time for those, and I didn’t want to rush the words out simply because I was running the high of my day, of my past few days.
I wanted to tell Qwill how I felt in a more appropriate setting.
So instead, I wanted to tell him about all the life updates I’d had a hand in since the last time we’d seen each other.
“I have so much to tell you.”