Trapped in the Crash

Prologue

Madden

The rain turned the sky dark outside the floor-to-ceiling windows of his office. Madden made his way around his desk, undid his blazer’s button, and sat at his desk, firing up his laptop. The Russell meeting was at nine and he wanted to be prepared.

‘Come in,’ he said when someone knocked at the door.

‘Good morning, boss.’

‘Good morning.’

Vicky’s heels clacked on the floor as she crossed to his desk. She set his coffee to the right of his computer and his mail to the left.

His screen came on and he turned his attention to his email.

Most were reports he no doubt should look at.

The personal messages he most definitely would ignore.

Eric sent him a reminder of the fundraiser gala on Friday.

Theo sent a link to an article about the importance of connections.

Theo knew he would never read that, but his business partners pushed their beliefs onto him regardless.

Madden reached out for his coffee. When his eyes lifted from his screen, they found Vicky still standing there. Her tight curls framed her face, beautifully, her lips a dark shade of red, dressed in a flattering pantsuit. And she stared.

‘Did you turn into a salt statue?’ he asked, raising an eyebrow.

‘Your father died.’

Both of Madden’s eyebrows flew up now.

‘Well aware.’

‘Yesterday.’

He nodded, drinking the hot, bitter brew.

‘Again, not breaking news.’

‘You didn’t say anything.’

Of course, he didn’t say anything. He hadn’t seen his father in years and he wasn’t about to start now.

‘Are you going to the funeral?’

‘Did I ask you to cancel any meetings or appointments?’

‘No, but—’

‘Then you already have your answer, Vicky. Is there anything else?’

She humphed, shuffled on her feet, but didn’t move.

‘Vicky?’

‘He was your father!’

‘That’s very much what I hold against him.’ Madden turned his attention to his mail. ‘Is Eric coming in today?’

‘He’s in Vienna.’

Of course, he is.

‘So you’re really not going?’

Putting the mail down in front of him, Madden leaned back into his chair with an elongated sigh.

‘Tell me this.’ He interlaced his fingers on his lap. ‘If I didn’t tell you about it, how did you find out?’

‘Your sister-in-law called. You hadn’t replied to her texts about funeral arrangements.’ Vicky squinted. ‘I didn’t know you had a sister-in-law. I didn’t know you have a brother, Madden!’

Madden began to form words to the effect of ‘you’re not my mother’ and ‘that’s my personal business and none of yours’ when she put a finger up and her eyes opened wide in that threatening way that put him on edge all day afterwards.

‘Don’t you even try that on me, Madden Price.’

Oh fuck, now she full-named him.

‘I make your doctor appointments, I get your prescriptions, I make your hairdresser appointments, and I even pick your suits. Don’t you dare tell me your personal life is not my business. Especially when I am the one getting calls from family members I didn’t even know existed!’

Madden shuffled uncomfortably in his chair, his eyes instinctively avoiding the reproachful gaze of his secretary.

‘Over the years,’ she continued, ‘I’ve gotten the feeling you don’t get on with your family.’

Madden scoffed. Understatement of the century.

‘And that’s fine, if you want to cut them off, but honestly, she sounded lovely and she asked how you were doing before she even said anything.’

Susan was indeed lovely, and how his jerk of a brother had managed to keep a woman of that caliber was a mystery that ought to be studied by science.

‘What is it going to take for you to forget about this?’

Vicky gave him the hand on the hip, tilt of the head look that was very much her way to ask if he was kidding.

‘Designer bag? Shoes? A VIP pass to something?’

‘You insult me so casually, Madden. This is not a material issue. It’s your family and at least one of them seems to care about you enough to reach out to your workplace. If for her alone, you have to go.’

‘And if I don’t?’

‘If you don’t,’ she said, fiddling with her bracelet as if it was terribly important to do so, ‘I would expect a very cold and uncomfortable work relationship for a few months.’

Months?

Madden sighed, dropping his head back. When Vicky wanted to punish him, she ignored him.

She did her job perfectly, of course, but it was like working with a robot, and a distraction he didn’t need.

He would put up with it if that meant he didn’t have to set foot in Troham ever again, but not for months.

And Vicky always kept her word, he’d tested her before.

‘Will you call your sister-in-law back yourself or should I do it for you?’

Madden straightened in his chair and turned back to his letters.

‘Get out of here before I fire you.’

‘Sure thing, boss,’ she smiled, opening the door. ‘Oh, and the shoes? Louboutin, size five.’

Madden grunted to himself as Vicky closed the door behind her. The cost of those shoes would be nothing compared to the absolute hell it would be to return to his childhood home.

And yet, despite his gut rebelling against the idea, he reached for his phone and scrolled down. Susan Price appeared in large letters across his screen as he made the call.