Chapter 15 Madeleine
Chapter fifteen
Madeleine
“Are you listening to me?”
“Huh?” I promptly stop biting my thumbnail and spin on my heel to face Scarlett, accidentally knocking over a mannequin in the process. “Shit. Sorry.” I bend down to pick it up, and Scarlett helps me as we adjust it back onto its stand.
“Are you okay?” she asks with a slight frown. “You’ve seemed a little distracted today.”
Me? Distracted?
Pshh.
It’s not like I’ve been spending every second of today replaying the best sex of my life with my bodyguard and not my fiancé.
Nope. Not one single second.
And I definitely haven’t been overanalyzing how I felt when I woke up in his arms as if I could finally breathe again for the first time in a long time.
Or the disappointment that followed as he kissed my temple and then slipped out of my room to help Vin and Alex with something.
Fuck. I drag a hand down my face, knowing things just got so much more complicated.
Not to mention that on top of all that, today is—
“Madeleine?”
Shit. “Sorry,” I reply, forcing a smile as I take a seat on the bench beside us, leaning my back against the wall.
“I guess I’m not really in the mood to shop.
” I had hoped that spending the day with Scarlett and Alina would help me forget what today is, but I realize there’s only one person who can do that for me.
And he’s not here. I glance toward the store entrance and spot Asher standing guard, alert and ready for any potential danger.
“Honestly, I’m not either.” She returns the pink sweater to the rack and joins me on the bench.
“Did I just hear you say you’re not in the mood to shop?” Alina walks up to us, bags hanging from both arms. “Since when?”
I sigh. “Just didn’t get much sleep last night.”
Probably cause I was too busy getting fucked into oblivion.
“Yeah, me neither,” she responds, sitting on the free space beside me and yawning.
“Did you buy out the store?” I ask, glancing at her bags.
She laughs, giving a slight shrug. “I might have gone a little overboard. I just want this Christmas to be…perfect.” Her eyes appear a little lost, and she quickly shakes her head.
“Is everything okay between you and Eli?” Scarlett asks, catching me off guard.
I tuck my hair behind my ear and furrow my brows. “Why wouldn’t everything be okay?”
She casually lifts her shoulders. “I don’t know. You just haven’t complained much about him recently. Thought you might have had a change of heart…”
“About Eli?” I scoff. “No way.”
She grins. “You know, once upon a time, when he entered a room, it was like he was the only one you had eyes for.”
I tilt my head back, staring at the ceiling. “I probably just needed glasses.”
“Oh, please.” Alina nudges my shoulder with hers.
“The man worships the ground you walk on. What girl wouldn’t be enamored by a man like that?
And did you forget about the part where he saved your life not too long ago?
” She dramatically places the back of her hand across her forehead. “So romantic.”
“I’m taking away all your romance novels. They’re clearly a bad influence on you,” I tease.
“Don’t you dare!” She laughs. “Besides…” She waggles her brows. “I’m pretty sure that at the cake tasting, Eli would have preferred a sample of you instead. He couldn’t take his eyes off you.”
A flush creeps up my neck, and I quickly look away, turning my attention to my manicure.
Scarlett sits up straight. “Wait, what did I miss?” Her eyes bounce between me and Alina. “I knew I should have skipped my weekend getaway with Leo so I could have gone!”
“You didn’t miss anything,” I tell her, waving a dismissive hand. “Besides, Leo would have actually murdered me if you did that.”
“But something did happen between you two,” Scarlett insists, her eyes reading me like an open book.
My lips part. Then close. Part. Then close.
“I knew it!” she exclaims, pointing a finger at me and beaming with excitement.
Heat engulfs me, and I cover my face with my hands.
“Oh my God, this is amazing!” Alina practically squeals in delight. “You and your bodyguard. Well, technically, it’s your childhood crush. Or would we consider this your brother’s best friend?”
I shush both of them, peering around the store before quietly saying, “Yes, something—well, I guess some things—have happened.” They both look ready to cheer, so I quickly cover their mouths with my hands.
“But nothing can come of it. I’m engaged to another man.
” I lift a shoulder, dropping my hands. “It was just…a little fun to get out of my system before the wedding.” I feel the bitter lie roll off my tongue as I watch them deflate.
“Nothing more than that. Now, can we please talk about something else? Like anything else?”
Scarlett doesn’t appear to believe me, but for my own sake, she nods and rests her head on my shoulder.
Alina relaxes against the wall, crossing her arms over her chest. “What should we do now?”
“I’m game for anything,” I reply.
Anything to keep my mind distracted from everything else that is currently taking over my thoughts.
A moment passes before Scarlett’s voice cuts through the silence. “I know what we can do.” She pulls out her phone and starts typing a message.
“What?” Alina and I ask at the same time.
Scarlett’s phone vibrates, and a smile spreads across her face. “He’s ready for us.”
Alina and I share a look.
“Who’s ready for us?” I ask.
An hour later, I find myself standing in the center of a sparring ring, with Alina and Scarlett beside me and Mauro in front of us.
I groan as I glance around the space. The place reeks of sweaty men, mostly guards, who come here to get their daily workouts. It’s disgusting. “When I said I was game for anything, I probably should have clarified that I meant anything except this.”
Scarlett grabs my arm and drags me toward the dummy in the center. “Come on. It’ll be fun.” She gestures to Mauro. “Mauro’s a great teacher.”
He smiles proudly, crossing his arms over his chest.
I roll my eyes.
Mauro has spent the past few months with Scarlett, helping her learn self-defense.
More importantly, he has helped her come out of her shell by showing her how strong she truly is, whether she realizes it or not.
She may never be quite the same after everything that happened to her, but it makes my heart happy to see how far she’s come.
He points to me.
“Oh no.” I step back, nudging Alina forward. “She volunteers as tribute.”
Hey, he may be my brother, but he still intimidates me.
Alina swallows nervously, her big brown eyes appearing like a deer in headlights. “W-what do you want me to do?”
He gives her a come-hither motion with his index finger, and she takes a few steps until she stands directly in front of him. “Now what?”
He tilts his head and slowly reaches around her, locking his hands behind her back. And because Alina is Alina, she wraps her arms around Mauro and rests her head on his chest. He stiffens, his neck transforming into a deep shade of red.
“Like this?” she asks, closing her eyes.
Scarlett and I exchange glances, doing our best to contain our laughter, but eventually, it slips out.
Mauro shakes his head, drops his hands, and steps back.
He points to Scarlett, who walks over. She lets Mauro attempt to wrap his arms around her, but before he can clasp his hands together, she thrusts her hands forward, making a fist in front of her pelvis and lifting her knee directly toward Mauro’s groin.
He quickly places his hand on her knee, stopping her before any damage can be done.
“You want to hit them where it hurts,” Scarlett says, smiling. “You can also use your forehead to hit the attacker’s nose if you’re tall enough.”
Mauro places a hand on her shoulder and then looks back at Alina.
“Ah. So, you didn’t want a hug. Got it.” She laughs nervously, adjusting her glasses. “Sorry, I don’t know what I was thinking,” she murmurs, looking down at the floor and shuffling her feet.
Mauro approaches her and reaches out his hand, using two fingers to tilt her head up. She bites her bottom lip as he points to her eyes and then gestures back to himself.
“Eyes on you,” she whispers.
He nods in response.
I look at Scarlett, who returns my look with a face that clearly says, what the hell was that?
No idea, I mouth.
Just then, a phone rings, snapping Alina out of her daze. She jumps backward and pulls her phone out of her pocket, her expression falling as she checks the screen.
“I have to take this,” she says without looking back, leaving the ring and heading out the front door.
Mauro’s eyes never leave her.
“So, should we call it a day or…” Just as I lift my leg to step between the ropes, I’m suddenly lifted into the air and placed firmly on my feet. “Jesus, Mauro! You can’t manhandle me in front of the men here. They’ll think they can walk all over me.”
Scarlett bends over, laughing, gripping the rope for support.
One side of Mauro’s lips lifts in a grin as he motions for me to meet him in the center of the ring.
“Fine,” I huff, rolling up my sleeves.
He stands before me, looking triumphant, but that’s probably because he’s forgotten what I’m capable of. Maybe it’s time to remind him—and everyone else—who I am.
A small group of men gathers at the side, eager to see how this will unfold.
“You all might want to watch and take notes,” I tell the onlookers, who chuckle, likely thinking it’s a joke.
“Ready?” I ask, locking eyes with Mauro. He nods and reaches out for me.
But I’m too fast for him.
As I spin around, I wait until his chest presses against my back, his arms wrapping around my waist. I bend backward, knowing I won’t be able to reach his nose, but it gives me the leverage I need, causing Mauro to stick out one of his legs for balance.
The moment he does that, I quickly bend forward, grab his leg by the knee, and pull it up with me, making him lose his balance.
A collective gasp escapes from the onlookers as Mauro’s back hits the mat.