7. Chapter Seven
Chapter Seven
Parker
H aving Madison signing her contract, thinking she would be staying in The Pink Diamond, was the highlight of my month. After I realized that, I decided Ryan was right. I needed a hobby.
“Katie,” I approached my personal assistant as I was leaving my office for the day. “There is something I want you to do first thing tomorrow morning.”
“Yes, sir?”
“I want you to make a list of hobbies.”
Katie tilted her head to the side. “Hobbies, sir?”
“Yes.”
“Okay,” she hesitated. “How many hobbies should I include on the list?”
“Ten should be fine.”
“Got it.”
“Thank you, Katie.” I tapped her desk with my knuckles and left.
Passing through the lobby, I noticed Melany was on shift. She had made it pretty clear she disliked Madison, so we had that in common.
“Melany?”
“Mr. Wilson?”
A genuine smile formed on her face. She seemed so nice and friendly. So different from my newly employed event planner. I felt bad about what I was about to ask from her, but I spent too much time obsessing over all the ways Madison could fuck me over. It was bad enough that she would spend the next few months at The Gem, grating on my nerves. I should at least try to get her out of my head when she wasn’t in front of my eyes. Which meant I needed someone to monitor her for me.
“Did everything go smoothly with our new colleague?”
“She isn’t happy with her room, sir. She made quite a fuss about it.”
Of course she did. She expected The Pink Diamond, and I gave her a regular bedroom in the main building. It was supposed to be for staff members who lived on the property. I had none, so for the past few years, the maintenance guys had been using it to store crap they rarely used. They moved everything out, but it still smelled funny.
I didn’t enjoy torturing people, but Madison had to be taught that she couldn’t just demand things from me. I also hoped that by the end of her stay here, the thought of coming back would never, ever cross her mind. Even if the President of the United States asked her to plan his wedding at The Gem.
“Mel, I was wondering if you could keep an eye out and let me know if she does anything suspicious?”
“Who? Miss Hartley?” She asked, and I nodded. “Of course, Mr. Wilson. What should I be watching for, exactly? ”
“Anything that seems off.”
“Should I inform the rest of the staff?”
“No. I want this to be between you and me. I trust you to be discreet about it.”
“Sure,” she beamed at me. “I’ll do my best not to disappoint you.”
“Thanks, Melany,” I said as I walked away.
I knew I was being paranoid, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that Madison was up to something. She was too savvy and too quick to read people. And it was obvious she was hiding something.
Walking into the Blue Diamond, I took my suit jacket and my tie off. As I was unbuttoning my shirt, a splash of water came from the pool area. I froze. I didn’t have to be a genius to know who would be impudent enough to go out there without an invitation.
That woman turned out to be harder to get rid of than cockroaches and mosquitoes combined.
I approached the windows slowly and removed the curtains a bit. Madison was soaking in the hot tub, a cocktail glass filled with something green on the edge of the tub. All I saw was the messy bun on the top of her head and her bare shoulders with two thin black straps.
The sight of her made my jaw clench with irritation. What was she doing there? I put her in the main building. Away from The Pink Diamond and me.
I started buttoning my shirt, but her phone started ringing before I could finish and storm out to confront her. Droplets of water slid down her skin as she stepped out of the bubbling water with the grace of a cat and revealed a stunning black two-piece bikini. Her long legs carried her towards a nearby lounge chair. I had a perfect view of her toned stomach, then her round, perfect ass, as she turned her back to me and answered her call .
She was unaware that someone was watching her, and I felt like a perv for doing so. But she had no right to soak in that tub.
Another thing that shouldn’t be happening was the straining of the fabric of my slacks against my erection. I resisted the urge to adjust myself, only because I was still staring at her ass, and touching myself while watching unsuspecting women wasn’t my thing.
Madison’s call ended, and she returned to the hot tub with her phone in hand. She carefully climbed back in, typing something. A second later, my phone buzzed in my pocket.
Madison: Annie and her fiancé are coming tomorrow at eleven.
Madison: Just letting you know. In case you want to join us.
I glanced up. Her phone was on the edge of the hot tub, right next to her glass. Her face tilted up to the sky. The entire situation screamed sex in the hot tub and I had to remind myself I hated her.
Moving away from the window, I shot her a quick series of texts. I couldn’t exactly walk out right now and kick her out. Not with that erection. I needed to calm down first. Maybe a cold shower.
Me: I’ll be there.
Me: How was your first night at The Gem?
Her answer came as I was just going into the bathroom.
Madison: I found a handsaw in the bathroom.
A smile formed on my face despite my efforts to suppress it.
Me: Ready to leave yet?
Madison: You wish. I love a good challenge.
I scowled at my phone, frustrated that she wasn’t backing down. She was supposed to be running away by now, not embracing a challenge. But then again, if she wanted a challenge, I would be more than happy to give her one, so I sent another message.
Me: I’ll add some thumb screws for your enjoyment.
It was a risky move, pushing the boundaries of our banter, but there was something about Madison that made me irrational.
Her response came almost immediately.
Madison: How considerate of you. Do they come with instructions?
I chuckled under my breath, impressed by her quick wit. Then guilt slammed into me like a ton of bricks. The only benefit from it was that my erection disappeared as fast as it appeared, allowing me to skip the cold shower.
Driven by guilt, I called Jess, who’d been like my personal therapist for years, and after I asked her out to dinner, I marched out to the hot tub.
I couldn’t help it and let my gaze fall down to Madison’s chest just for a millisecond. Then my eyes met hers. She didn’t even flinch at my thunderous mood. I walked past her to her lounge chair, took her robe, and approached her from behind.
“Up,” I ordered as I held the robe for her.
She slowly stood up and exited the hot tub, but instead of slipping into the robe, she took it from my hands and put it on herself, leaving it open. Surprised by her defiance, I could only stare at her for a moment before finding my voice.
“What do you think you’re doing?” I asked, my voice tinged with anger and frustration.
She looked at me, her eyes glinting with amusement. “You’re not the only one that likes to challenge people, Mr. Wilson. I’m quite good at that, as you will find out.”
“Your presence here is not appreciated,” I said, my voice low and dangerous. “You are making a big mistake, and I advise you to correct it. ”
I refused to glance at her barely covered breasts again, although the thought of doing so had stuck in my head.
Madison just stared at me, impudent as always. I took a deep breath, trying to regain my composure. “Or I’ll make it my personal mission to show you just how much you don’t want to be here.”
She raised an eyebrow, a smirk playing on her lips. “You can try, but I have the feeling you’re underestimating me.”
With that, she walked away, leaving me standing there, my anger mingling with confusion and a strange sense of arousal.
***
Katie and I were the first to arrive at the meeting the next day. Madison appeared shortly after.
“You brought company.” She eyed Katie. My assistant steeled her spine like she was under attack. “Scared I might try to stab you with a steak knife?”
“I’m not even going to dignify that with an answer. I could snap you like a stick.” Not that I had ever hit a woman, but I had already caught myself fantasizing about drowning and strangling her. Besides, she wasn’t a woman. She was a Hydra.
“Digging yourself deeper into the stereotype, aren’t you?”
“What stereotype?”
“Oh, you know. The brainless macho man that thinks women are attracted to brutes. You seem like a person who spends most of his time in the gym and hasn’t touched a book since he learned how to read.”
God, how I hated that woman and every syllable that came out of her mouth .
She allowed her gaze to roam down my body, deliberately showing disinterest in what she was seeing. She was trying too hard to make me believe she found me unattractive, which was quite suspicious.
I loved the idea of her being attracted to me. Wouldn’t that piss her off?
I wasn’t bulky like she implied, but I spent a lot of time in the gym, trying to wear myself down enough to fall asleep at night.
“You’re the one to talk about reading,” I flashed her a grin. “Fashion magazines and restaurant menus don’t count as reading material, Miss Hartley. Nor is our list of spa procedures.”
Melany had already informed me about Madison’s daily visits to the spa. At least she hadn’t demanded that I pay for her massages.
“Are you spying on me, Wilson? Are you that scared of me? Is it because of your last assistant? Afraid I might turn your entire staff against you?”
“It’s your third day here and my staff already hates you, Madison.”
Katie cleared her throat. “Annie Foster and her fiancé are here, sir.”
I glanced behind my shoulder, then looked at Madison again. “Behave,” I warned.
“You should smile a little,” she said. “You look like you’re trying to hold in a fart.”
Katie giggled while I rubbed at my forehead. Madison noticed my irritation. “I told you that you would be the one with the headache.”
“I never argued about that.”
Annie reached us and hugged Madison, then introduced her to Roger. I already knew him, so we shook hands briefly. He was a screenwriter. A good-looking guy, but not what you would picture Hollywood's sweetheart with.
Madison stirred the conversation towards the event she was supposed to plan and I was supposed to endure. She was all professional. Not a trace from the woman that joked about stinky farts just moments earlier.
“Anything else decided besides the venue?” She asked the happy couple.
“And the wedding planner,” Annie pointed at Madison. “Not really. We have mostly disagreements.”
“That’s normal. Planning a wedding is a process. Take it one step at a time. Tell me about your biggest disagreement.”
“Flower arrangements. I want roses everywhere. Roger thinks roses are boring.”
Roger exhaled like he had been having that discussion a thousand times already. “We all know that roses are a symbol of love,” he said. “We are obviously in love if we are getting married. Aren’t roses a little anticlimactic?”
Writers.
“Roses aren’t just a symbol of love,” Madison offered. “They could mean a lot of things. Passion. Friendship. Purity. They are even associated with secrecy and confidentiality. Have you ever heard of the term sub rosa ?”
“No,” Annie and Roger said at the same time.
“In ancient times, people used to hang roses from the ceilings, or carve them into ceilings as decorations. It was understood that everything said under the rose would remain confidential.”
Roger snorted. “Yeah, well, we are getting married in front of three hundred people, so I don’t think there will be anything confidential in our wedding tent.”
The number of guests made my head spin. Six hundred feet stomping on the grass. And that didn’t even include the staff that would have to make multiple trips back and forth. That would ruin the gardens, but the restaurant couldn’t fit three hundred people .
“Three hundred people is a lot,” I started.
“We will figure it out,” Madison cut me off with a wave of her hand like she was royalty and I was the peasant she ruled over.
“We can’t do this.” I shook my head at all of them. “It’s too much.”
“Of course we can.” Madison shot me a look, then tried to turn it into a joke. “He has the habit of underestimating me. It works to my benefit, though. I always end up surprising him.”
They all chuckled. And I? I was suffocating.
“Will you excuse us for a moment?” I asked, placed my hand on Madison’s lower back and gave her a push forward. Then I removed my hand from her and shoved it into my pocket. Because damn, it felt good touching her.
She walked ahead, but I could see her hesitating on where she was supposed to go.
“The Pink Diamond,” I instructed.
“You sure are dragging me down there a lot. Why don’t you just give it to me?” She muttered under her breath.
I had yet to reveal to Madison that I occupied Тhe Blue Diamond. Since she sneaked around and used the hot tub, I wasn’t sure I wanted her to know I lived there. I didn’t want her sniffing around my personal space.
The moment we entered the Pink Diamond, she whirled around and crossed her arms over her chest. “You’re being rude.”
I cocked my head to the side. “You’re rude all the fucking time and you seem to get away with it.”
“Not to my clients, I am not,” she yelled at me with eyes blazing with anger. “What’s your problem?”
“I don’t have a problem,” I lied. “I just don’t like the idea of people ruining my property.”
“If you want to keep it pristine, maybe you should close it off and let no one step in.”
I sighed, rubbing the back of my neck, not wanting to admit it, but that would be my first choice indeed. But that want wasn’t compatible with the promise I had made four years ago.
“Look,” she started. “I don’t really care. Keep your secrets to yourself. But we have to come up with a solution. You can’t sabotage the weddings.”
“I know.” I tugged at the collar of my shirt. The truth was I wanted to scream at her, even though this time I was the one causing trouble. “Now that you mentioned secrets, are you ready to share what happened in New York?”
“Nothing happened in New York.”
“Annie Foster called and you just ditched everything?” I asked again. She opened her mouth to answer, but I lifted my hand up in the air, signaling her to shut up. “I’m not finished. How am I to know you won’t ditch Annie at the last minute?”
What I wanted to ask was how was I to know that she wouldn’t ditch me to deal with a Hollywood wedding, but her finding out that I was counting on her doing her job wasn’t in my interest.
“Why would I ditch Annie?”
“Why did you ditch everyone in New York?”
“I didn’t ditch anyone in New York,” she said through gritted teeth.
“What happened then?”
“That’s none of your business.”
“It is, actually. Since I’m your employer and I’m the one who will suffer the blow if you fuck anything up.”
“With the way you dragged me away from our meeting, I would say you’ll manage to do that all on your own.”
As much as it hurt my ego, I had to admit that she was right .
“So you won’t tell me about New York?”
“There’s nothing to tell,” she lied.
I decided to play along. For now, at least. “What do you suggest, then? For the gardens?”
“Not sure yet. I think it would be best to find a solution that could be used for all five weddings.” She paused. “Maybe talk to an architect and build something that would fit nicely amongst the villas.”
The idea of changing anything felt like someone was cutting me in half.
“You want to turn my hotel into a construction site?”
“You asked for my suggestion.”
“Well, you’ll have to work with what you’ve got.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “Is that going to be a problem?”
“No. No problem at all. I’ve worked with delusional people before.”