CHAPTER 13
Another fancy ball tonight.
Another 5-6 hours of my life lost, wasted, consigned to no man’s land.
I should be in the studio right now, not staring at my reflection in the mirror.
“Umm, what was that, Aunt Cleo?” The phone was balanced between my shoulder and ear as I threw the bra that matched my panties back into the drawer.
The dress I planned on wearing tonight required a bra-less state.
Matt sauntered into the closet, stopping to let his gaze drift over my half naked body.
Then he tapped his wrist watch impatiently.
I must be losing my touch, sexy undies with nothing else on and he wasn’t mauling me?
“He’s right here,” I said into the phone.
Matt immediately started backing out the walk-in closet.
“Why don’t you talk to him?”
I held the phone out to Matt, ignoring his grimace.
‘Take it.’ I mouthed silently.
With a heavy sigh he reluctantly took the phone.
“Hello, Cleo. How are you?”
I turned away from him and continued getting dress as he dealt with my Aunt’s demands for us to visit.
The seemingly never-ending cycle of parties was driving me insane.
Completely bonkers.
And Matt would simply explain we had to attend.
Why?
Why did we have to go to another party?
Networking of course.
Don’t be fooled, not all business deals took place across the table in boardrooms.
It was on the golf course, in exclusive clubs, at freaking parties sipping champagne.
I was so tired of it all.
Practising my fake smile in the ceiling to floor mirror, I pulled up the dress.
“I have to go now, Cleo.” Matt said before hanging up the call.
I gave him incredulous eyes.
“Did you just hang up on my aunt?”
“You look,” Matt put the phone down and came over to stand right next to me.
“Bloody hell, poppet. You look amazing.”
I did, but that was neither here nor there.
Snapping my fingers in front his face.
“Forget that, Matt. You can’t just hang up on-”
The ringing phone interrupted my words and I gave Matt an eloquent stare.
He raised his hand then ran his fingers down the exposed skin of my chest.
The dress had a plunging neckline as well as a low back.
“Beautiful,” he murmured as he bent his head to mine.
The touch of his lips across my own came with the expected rush of adrenaline.
The instantaneous flood of desire.
“How did I get so lucky?” he whispered when he released my lips from that explosive kiss.
The way Matt gazed at me.
God.
If I could bottle that look I’d make a fortune.
He looked at me as if there was nothing more beautiful in this world.
His eyes were an open doorway to his soul.
Unguarded.
“I’m the lucky one.” And I meant it.
We smiled at each other while the phone rang.
Lost in our own world, it was moments like these I treasured, when time stood still for us.
Then a loud knock on the bedroom door had us stepping away from each other.
Matt tenderly stroked my cheek with the back of his hand before moving off to see what George wanted.
I glanced at my reflection, undecided over my appearance.
Don’t get me wrong, I looked hot.
The blue satin dress was stunning.
The Kashmir sapphire jewellery gracing my ears, neck and wrist; a gift from Matt, was exceptional in its beauty.
I stared at myself and pondered how much I had changed.
It was May, a little over a year ago Matt had stormed into my life and saved me from certain harm.
Dr Brown had asked me once in a session if the fact he’d rescued me that night in the alley had given me a skewered perception of the man he was.
I hadn’t appreciated her question and told her so.
She’d smiled at me and wrote something in her notebook.
One day I would break into her office and steal it!
But back on point, she mentioned the possibility that our relationship was based on an unhealthy white knight syndrome foundation; that the intense circumstance of our initial meeting had cemented our personal perceptions of each other and we adhered to our given roles.
Matt, the knight; and me the damsel.
I had politely queried how long ago she’d graduated from Psych school and whether she was up-to-date on current counselling techniques.
Dr Brown had written something else down when I asked the question.
Huh.
Matt was my knight, but I wasn’t some person forever in need of rescuing; and Matt didn’t believe it was his job to protect me from all the ills in the world.
We were a happily married couple who struggled to spend enough time together, like every other married couple out there.
I sighed out loud.
Therapy sucked ass.
“Poppet, we should be leaving now. Are you ready?” Matt called from the bedroom.
“Coming.” I grabbed my clutch and hurried out the closet, remembering to turn off the lights on my way out.
I was getting much better.
Matt smiled as I walked over to take his outstretched hand.
“Best behaviour tonight.” he warned.
“Come on,” I muttered, embarrassed that he wouldn’t let me forget the last function we attended.
“How was I to know he was a Conservative MP? My comments were totally acceptable.”
Matt chuckled under his breath and led me out our bedroom.
“Just steer clear of any political conversations. You tend to get very opinionated during those discussions.”
“I’m not going to stand silent when someone starts spouting a load of-”
“Poppet,” Matt squeezed my hand gently.
“You’re highly intelligent, but sometimes,”
“What?” I jumped on it immediately.
Matt exhaled loudly.
“Sometimes you speak without thinking, I adore that trait, but it can be taken in the wrong context at times.”
“You look nice.” I changed the subject quickly.
The MP had given me the evil eye for the rest of that night.
Maybe I should try and filter my words.
Heck, who was I fooling?
Shit just came out on its own accord
“Thank you.” Matt hurried me along and soon we were in his new car heading towards Knightsbridge.
It was a Bugatti, and he’d bought it on a whim.
I told him it was disgusting the way he spent money, only after he said I wouldn’t be allowed to drive it.
He had made an off-hand comment about my driving skills and I had secretly vowed to take it out for a spin the next time he was away on business.
I knew what Matt was up to though.
The past few weeks he’d been dropping subtle hints about property values and prime real estate in certain parts of London.
Knightsbridge for one.
I was adamant we would not be moving.
The invitation to tonight’s private ball at one of his associate’s home seemed a tad convenient to me.
“How does this thing work?” I was fiddling with what I assumed to be the audio system.
“Does it have an interface I can use? What’s this button for, hon?”
Matt stopped at the lights and placed my wandering hand on his leg.
Patting it lightly, he said, “I’d rather have you talk to me than listen to music, poppet. Tell me what’s been going on at your studio. Do you have a concrete date for opening night at The Royal Ballet?”
“Yep. A week after your birthday. Um, what do you want for your birthday? Your mom called me. I think she’s planning something big.”
Matt’s jaw tightened in displeasure before he said, “All I want is to spend the day with you in front the telly watching scary movies.”
Ok.
Something was wrong.
“Are you dying and haven’t told me yet?” I teased as the lights changed and the car surged forward with a burst of speed.
“You are so impertinent.” Matt retorted.
He flashed me a sidelong grin while I traced circles over his thigh.
“What’s your friend’s name again?” My hand inched higher.
Matt watched me out the corner of his eyes.
“Franklin, and if you continue on the course you’re heading, I’ll need to pull over or risk crashing the car.”
I decided to be good, didn’t want him crashing this beast before I had a chance to take it for a spin.
“Franklin? Is he the one who invited us on that ski trip?”
“Yes, a very good friend of mine. Shame we couldn’t go, maybe next year.”
I bit my tongue.
Matt was delusional if he believed he would get me on the slopes.
“Will Bella and Nathan be there tonight?” I asked curiously.
I hadn’t really spent any one on one time with Bella since my in-laws’ anniversary party.
We’d spoken a lot on the phone but never could arrange a time to meet up outside the required parties we both attended.
We were the hard-working, not solely trophy, wives.
I liked our little club.
Maybe I should let Hannah become a member, she was my sister-in-law after all.
And although she technically didn’t work, she played a background role in some of the decision-making concerning Bradley Industries.
Hannah was just as smart as her brothers.
“Without a doubt.” Matt informed me.
He was really putting his foot down and I couldn’t blame him.
The car was built for speed.
“We should host a dinner party sometime soon. I’ve been quite lax in the social calendar.”
My snort wasn’t ladylike.
It was bad enough attending these things, now Matt wanted us to host them?
“There are certain expectations,” he stated coolly, probably sensing my reticence.
The snort had been eloquent.
“You don’t want us becoming social pariahs.”
This time my snort morphed into a splutter.
“Seriously? Pariahs? Matt, every week someone is inviting you to some function or whatnot. And I’m your unfortunate plus one. I doubt you’ll ever become a pariah.”
“Unfortunate?” he queried with an arched eyebrow directed at me.
“Eyes on the road.” I yelled.
We were going quite fast.
And I knew that speed camera had flashed us.
Matt would be getting points on his license for sure.
Matt turned his attention back to the road, slowing down a touch.
“Hmph, I can’t understand your continued reluctance over attending these soirees, poppet. It’s a way of life.”
“I’ll take a pint in a pub over it any day,” I said truthfully.
“Oh, talking about that; next week we’re having a night out on the town. Gerrard is organizing it so keep Friday night free.”
Matt was quiet for a moment then he replied with a disappointing, “Madi, I’m supposed to be a key speaker at the UK Business Leaders of Today gala. Have you not put these dates in your schedule as yet?”
He had given me a list of upcoming events we had to attend.
Said list was somewhere about, I couldn’t remember where.
I knew it had coffee stains on it and was a bit crumpled…
ok, I’ll just confess to scrunching it up once his back was turned and tossing it in the paper bin.
George had fished it out and scolded me.
Maybe Grumps was right.
My relationship with George was the wrong-way around.
“Ah, do I have to attend?”
Matt said nothing.
His silence made it clear what he expected.
Stupid business leader.
“Why can’t Adam-” I saw a possible way out.
A glimmer of light beckoning me.
“He’ll be away next week, poppet.” Matt replied.
The light dimmed.
“Can Nathan-”
“Nathan has done his fair share while we were in the States recently.”
“I’ve not been out with the guys for ages, Matt.” It wasn’t a whine, my complaint was a valid one.
Matt let out a derisive scoff.
“It’s a night out in a pub. I’m sure you can miss it.”
I fell silent after that, fuming to myself.
Huh.
I was going.
With or without Matt.
“Perhaps we can have a small dinner party for your staff when I’m not quite so busy.” he offered an olive branch.
Screw the olives and the branch they hung on.
There was nothing quite like stumbling out a pub, arm in arm with your friends and searching out a good chippy.
Matt probably didn’t know the delights of that situation.
“Perhaps,” I mumbled, already planning how I would get out of this gala next Friday.
I could fake a bad cold, but that would mean setting it up from a few days before.
Maybe a tummy virus; George would have to be in on it though.
Could I turn George to the dark side?
Assuming I was fine with his compromise, Matt started talking about his father’s increased presence in their offices and the effect it was having on him and Adam.
His exact words were: ‘we’d happily do away with him if only we could avoid being the prime suspects’.
I found nothing funny about patricide and told him so.
I may not like my father-in-law, may have even dreamt about doing him and his wife in myself; but I couldn’t verbally condone such violence.
When we arrived in Knightsbridge, Matt suddenly became tour guide.
“It’s too far from my work,” I said sharply.
“We’re not moving here. And look at all the CCTV cameras. Do you know the British public are the most watched in Europe? I read a couple of years ago they estimate there’s one surveillance camera for every 11 people. That’s completely out of control and not right in a democratic society. We’re only a few steps away from an Orwellian state. Mind my words, before you know it-” I stopped when Matt’s deep laughter filled the car.
This shit wasn’t funny.
It was a slippery slope into destroying open society.
“Oh, poppet, you’re an amusing little thing, aren’t you?”
“I don’t understand how you can find this funny, Matt.” I replied.
First patricide, now this?
Our sense of humour was definitely out of sync.
And his ease with blanket surveillance made me damned nervous.
What if he started watching my movements?
He already had eyes on me thanks to Mr Shadow who never smiled.
“It gives people a sense of safety.” he drawled, still chuckling.
“A false sense – oh wow. Did you see that house?”
Matt’s grin was smug and I vowed to dislike the area on principle.
By the time we turned down the private drive to Franklin’s house I had to admit I was impressed.
“Christ,” I muttered when the mansion came into view.
“What does Franklin do?”
“Investment banker, both him and his partner, Karen.” Matt answered.
“He’s doing quite well for himself.”
“Married, you say? Kids?”
Matt’s head snapped around, eyebrows raised.
“Yes to the first and no to the second. Why?”
“No reason.” I muttered.
I hoped Franklin had a shitload of nieces and nephews.
Why would anyone need all of this?
I squirmed in my seat, remembering Matt’s Surrey estate.
I guess if you had that much money you had to find some way to spend it.
Better you than the tax man.
“Poppet,” The car was slowing down on its approach.
“I need to warn you about Franklin’s eccentricities,”
“What?” My voice was filled with trepidation.
Matt hesitated for a moment.
“When it comes to his private life he’s a very free spirit for lack of a better description.”
Free spirit?
What the hell?
I blinked a few times.
“What does that mean? He’s some kind of neo-hippie?”
“Ah, simply put, he doesn’t subscribe to the expected rules one would deem acceptable in polite society. At least not within the walls of his home.”
What the fuck was Matt talking about?
His hand left the gear stick, covering mine for a moment before he gave it a gentle squeeze.
“Matt, if there’s any funky shit going on in there, I swear to God-” I was nervous now, extremely nervous.
These people believed they were untouchable, hell, they probably were.
“It’ll be perfectly fine, sweetheart,” he assured me.
Sweetheart.
He was calling me sweetheart.
I narrowed my eyes as he pulled up in front the mansion.
There were staff waiting outside.
“Just avoid the upper levels of the property.” he said firmly.
Now?
Right now when we were literally minutes away from entering tonight’s festivities he was going to drop this on my plate?
And what the hell happened in the upper levels?
Animal sacrifices?
Human torture?
Oh crap.
“Matt,” I hissed fiercely as two suit-clad men made their way over to the idling car.
“This is the last party you’ll force me to attend. I’m putting my foot down. I could’ve been at the studio-” I stopped when my door got opened and smiled politely as the man held a hand out for me.
“Thank you,” I murmured demurely while Matt got out his side of the car and nonchalantly tossed his car keys to the guy who held the door for him door.
Huh.
He’d willingly let some stranger drive his car but not me.
My sexy husband held an arm out for me and my heels crunched over the gravelled path as I made my way to his side.
“Smile,” he coaxed.
“We’ll have some much needed fun tonight.”
With my fake smile in place I let him lead me to the impressive double front doors.
Another member of staff opened up for us with a friendly ‘Enjoy your night’.
It was apparent Matt knew his way around.
At a leisurely pace we walked across the marble floors.
My eyes slid over the glistening surfaces and massive chandelier hanging from the high ceiling.
“This is,” I paused, thinking of the proper words to describe the grandeur.
“As nice as our place in Surrey?” Matt was fishing.
“Umm, nicer.” I replied.
Honesty was always best.
“Cheeky.” Matt shook his head.
The low strains of music reached my ears as we rounded a corner and came face to face with some party-goers.
“Matthew!” An oval faced brunette with pale skin and a smattering of freckles across her nose glided over once she spotted my husband.
“Darling, you made it.” She offered her cheeks which Matt promptly kissed before they hugged.
“Karen,” Matt smiled.
“You look ravishing. This is my wife, Madison.” Matt presented me, yeah, it felt exactly like that.
“Hello,” I greeted with my free hand up and ready to be shook.
Karen’s green eyes sparkled as her gaze travelled my form.
She tilted her head at Matt and his grin widened.
“What an absolute beauty you are,” she said right before enveloping me in a perfumed embrace.
“Um, thanks,” I was a bit uncomfortable.
Her boobs were pressed quite close to mine, intimately mashed together to be precise.
And although she was a looker, I didn’t swing that way.
“You’re not bad yourself.” Urgh.
Why did I say that?
Easing back from the love affair taking place between our boobies, I gestured to the space around us.
“You have a lovely home.”
She waved a dismissive hand as she addressed us.
“It’s nothing much. Come, Franklin has been wondering when you’d arrive. Nathan and Bella are already here. Really Matthew, you’re not usually this late to arrive.”
Slipping in-between my husband and me, she linked arms with us and took us further into her home.
Chattering away and nodding in a manner similar to a regal queen as her guests smiled in our direction, people kept coming over as we walked.
Matt was a very popular man.
I chewed the insides of my cheeks as Karen shooed them away and simultaneously fired rapid questions at me.
I tried to concentrate on my answers while taking in the décor.
We entered a massive salon filled with laughing people; tuxedo men and diamond women socializing with drinks in their hands and staff hovering at a respectable distance with platters of hors d’oeuvres.
“Franklin,” Karen called in a raised voice as she hurried us along.
“Look who’s here.”
Her husband turned away from a group of his guests.
The polite smile on his face morphed into something much more genuine as he saw Matt.
I remembered him from the auction night.
Hmm.
I wondered if he’d be as reserved with me tonight.
“Matt, old chap, good to see you,” Franklin and Matt did the guy hug thing, then our host leaned across to peck my cheeks lightly.
“Hello, my dear.”
“Hi,” I was going to work on my greetings.
“I’ve just mentioned to your wife what a lovely home you have.”
“Perhaps I’ll take you on a complete tour later. We have an impressive atrium upstairs.”
Upstairs?
Oh hell no.
I was curious as to what went on up there, but not enough to risk my person.
“No.” I exclaimed a touch shrilly.
Franklin’s mouth parted, surprised at my reaction.
Matt’s lips compressed into a tight line.
He was trying not to laugh at me.
Bastard.
“Ah, I’ve been in the studio dancing all day and, um, my feet hurt.” I glanced at Matt.
His cheeks were a nice shade of pink.
Yep, he was holding in his laughter.
I forged on.
“I wasn’t planning on doing much walking and your home is huge,”
“Her heels are quite high.” Matt said blandly, exchanging a look with Franklin who now wore a bemused smile.
“Yes,” I latched on to the excuse.
“Very high.”
“Another time maybe?” Karen patted my arm lightly.
Oh my gosh.
I was going to hurt Matt.
Hurt him real bad.
So bad.
“Oh, there’s Bella and Nathan,” I waved frantically at them, feeling awkward after Karen’s light touch on my arm and reliving our boobie affair behind my eyes.
What happened upstairs?
Matt coughed lightly before slipping his arm around my waist.
The tips of his ears were red.
He coughed again.
If I could get away with jabbing him in the sides I would have, but Bella and Nathan were making their way over so I focused on that.
Later I would deal with my husband.
Our night of socializing began.
I stuck close to Bella whenever the men wandered off to talk business or whatever they chatted about amongst themselves.
“Well, look at you, all dressed up,” a sultry voice said snidely from behind me.
“It pays being married to a wealthy man, yes?”
Fucking Medusa.
I recognized her voice, and why was she always at these parties?
Bella and I both turned around to face the blonde vision of hotness.
And honestly, she was smoking tonight.
Did she ever have a bad day?
“Louisa,” Bella smiled sweetly as they exchanged air kisses.
“Let it go, dearie.”
Louisa’s cerulean blue eyes hardened with contempt.
“Let what go, Bels? Can I not compliment Allison on her dress?”
I rolled my eyes.
“Really? I know you know my name, but if you can’t remember it, just refer to me as Mrs Bradley.”
Snap!
Medusa better not test me tonight.
My nerves were already shot to hell what with not knowing if at this exact moment someone was being horribly mutilated upstairs in a demonic ritual.
There’d been some heavy thumps above the ceiling in one of the rooms I’d walked through earlier.
We were stood in a quiet corner in one of the many rooms watching our men having a good time with the other guests.
Bella wanted a breather from the crush of bodies, and I had eagerly accompanied her; plying her with sparkling water and savoury pastries while fussing around like a mother hen.
She was carrying a life form inside her.
That deserved some pampering.
The thing was probably sucking her life force away.
Louisa’s peel of laughter didn’t reach her eyes.
“Mrs Bradley. Well, I must hand it to you, you’ve done quite well for a girl of your station.”
“Strike one.” I said coldly.
Louisa’s fingers tightened around the stem of her champagne flute.
Yeah.
She knew where this was going.
“Oh dear,” Bella suddenly stiffened.
“All that water wasn’t a good idea, Madi. I’ll be right back.” She gave me an apologetic look then glared a warning at Louisa before racing off.
See?
I bet the parasite was squishing her bladder.
An uncomfortable silence rose between Louisa and myself.
She regarded me coldly, that insincere smile curling her mouth prettily.
Again I reluctantly marvelled at the beauty she was.
Her hair was spun with gold, I kid you not, some genetic form of organic gold God had bestowed on her.
“Let’s dispense with the expected insults,” she said softly.
“Let’s,” I shot back.
She was the one starting things.
It wasn’t as if I had stolen Matt from her.
Wait…
had he been with her when we hooked up?
Oh crap.
Maybe that’s why she despised me.
I would need to ask Matt about this.
Medusa could be hating on me for a valid reason.
“I’ll give you some friendly advice,” Louisa stepped closer.
I held my ground, even though the urge to move away was great.
“It won’t be long before Matt becomes utterly bored of married life and his attention goes elsewhere. You’re probably not aware of the way men in this world operate. Learn to look the other way, darling,” she smirked, her blue eyes settled where Matt and Nathan stood surrounded by people.
Lots of beaming women.
Standing quite close actually.
Touching his arm, his shoulder.
The hell?
And Matt was laughing along…
was he flirting?
Louisa gave me a pointed look.