Chapter 32 #2
It’s probably the universe reminding me I need to get my act together, especially since it’s barely seven in the morning.
Too bad.
I don’t give a single shit what the universe says right now.
After cleaning up the broken glass, I take my newly poured drink and stand at our oversized windows for the next hour, taking in the quiet Sunday morning. Wishing that stillness were here with us.
Someone keys in the code on the front door, and in steps Mase.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“Good to see you too.” He tosses his overnight bag aside.
“It’s not you. Fucking Leo. I called him before I called you to get home—”
Suddenly, Leo bursts through the door, toppling into Mase, and under any other circumstance, I’d be laughing at the sight of him.
His hair is wild, his shirt is buttoned incorrectly, only part of it is tucked in, and he pulled up his pants inside out.
Talk about the paparazzi.
For fuck’s sake. If anyone was following him, the stories they’d spin from his looks alone wouldn’t sit well with our clients, or more importantly, Mom.
“Where have you been?” I snap. “Are you that fucking dense you couldn’t tell I needed you home immediately?”
“I—”
“I swear to God, if you stayed for morning sex…”
“Can you shut up? The girl lived in Brooklyn. There was an accident on the bridge, we got stuck in the middle, and then my phone died.”
“You went to Brooklyn to get laid? Times must be tough,” Mase mumbles.
Leo chuckles and slaps him on the back. “God, it’s good to see you. But I’m guessing this reunion isn’t for fun. What’s going on?”
I rub my temples, already done with repeating the same story, but I know he’s going to want every detail.
I tell him everything.
Mase fills in the details as I go.
“Fucking hell.” His voice echoes through the space.
“Shut up,” Mase snaps. “You’re going to wake up Maddie.”
“Too late.”
All three of our heads whip toward the staircase.
Maddie’s standing bleary-eyed, in her gray linen slippers and a matching robe, looking far too fragile and pale for my liking.
“Mads. Come here, please.” I widen my arms, needing to hold her as close as possible.
“I heard everything.” She doesn’t move closer, her voice low, scared.
My chest tightens.
I gesture again, more urgent this time. “I don’t care if you’re sick. I need you in my arms.”
Still…she doesn’t move.
“Skye needs to go potty,” she says, void of emotion.
Leo’s on it and calls Benny to see if he can walk her while I stare at Maddie, lost for words.
Mase must sense the tension, because he’s unnaturally still beside me.
He hasn’t seen his sister in ages. With football season in full swing, he’s been everywhere but here, and normally he’d already be halfway across the room hauling her into a hug.
The fact that he isn’t? He’s clocking the same thing I am.
Something’s off.
What the hell is going on?
When Leo hangs up, he whistles Skye over and loves on her before putting on her leash and collar. He opens the door and hands her off to the security guard, who will wait for Benny.
“Mads?” I try again.
“I need to tell you something.” Her voice barely carries. Her eyes flick between all of us. “All three of you.”
Mason leans forward, every protective instinct he owns lighting up. “What is it, Madeline? You okay?”
She retreats back up the stairs. “I need to get something. I’ll be right back.”
Mason and I exchange a look, then his eyes drop down at my drink.
He doesn’t have to ask.
I pour one for him and Leo.
We sit in the living room, waiting for Maddie, in a tense silence. A few minutes later she returns with a few envelopes in her hands.
The doorbell rings. “That’s Addie. Hold on.”
She hugs her best friend, not holding back from her.
“I love you, Adelaide, but why are you here so early?” I stand and greet her.
“I called her.” Maddie’s still keeping her distance, and I don’t like it one bit. “When I overheard you all talking, I called her immediately, because I didn’t want her home alone. She’s connected to me, just as much as you two are.” She gestures between Leo and me.
“Good call, babe.”
Adelaide makes the rounds with a quick hello to Leo, then she wraps Mase in a long hug before sitting next to him.
Her attention is on Maddie, encouraging her to talk.
Maddie fiddles with the papers in her hand, looking down nervously. “So.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake, spit it out,” Addie says, and it’s the first time I’ve seen a trace of a smile on Maddie’s face.
“I’ve been keeping a secret.” She scrunches her nose, nervous, then looks at Leo. “Do you remember that artist Cherry who donated the piece to Building Unity?”
“Yeah. The one with like a million followers?”
“Three-point-five million,” Addie corrects.
Maddie’s lips twitch.
Leo shrugs. “Okay, three million. What’s the point?”
“Surprise.” Maddie throws up her hands awkwardly. “I’m Cherry.”
I furrow my brow, confused. “Wait, what?”
“I…um…”
Addie throws her head back on the couch when Maddie stumbles over her words.
“What our girl is trying to say is that she has a secret identity and has been living a double life as an infamous artist with a cult-like following named Cherry. She’s most known for her glass sculptures.
People from around the world have commissioned pieces from her, and no one knows who she is. ”
I bite my bottom lip to hold back my smirk. “Your name is Cherry?”
“Uh huh.” Finally, I get a smile out of my girl.
“When did you start this?” I ask.
“Two years ago.”
Wait… “Two years ago? I fucking knew you missed me. Cherry.”
Leo groans. “Seriously, that’s your takeaway?”
“Three million followers,” Mase says slowly.
I can see him putting things together in his mind.
“We know you’ve gotten hit a few too many times and need extra time to catch up,” Leo teases, tapping the side of his head, and it lightens the room instantly.
“No, you idiot. I’m just in awe. That’s amazing, Madeline, but why not tell us? I don’t get it.”
“It’s not like I wanted to keep it a secret, but I liked having something just for me. I felt naughty keeping this secret life no one knew about.”
“That’s what makes you feel naughty?” I raise a brow, causing Mase to chuck his bottle of water at me.
“Seriously, Davenport?”
Maddie ignores him and looks straight at me. “You’re not mad, are you? I know we don’t keep secrets, and I should have told you earlier, but it still felt like a hobby until recently.”
She goes on to tell us about her workspace here in the city, where she goes on her early morning runs, and how she’s been burning the candle at both ends.
Only then does my irritation spike.
She’s going to run herself into the ground.
She already worries me enough with how many hours she puts in for M-Squared.
“Why is it not a hobby now?” Leo asks.
Addie chimes in, “Oh, you know, because the best manager in town brokered her a deal for a custom piece for four hundred thousand.”
Leo spits out his scotch all over the table.
“Seriously, Leo? Clean that shit up.”
“Four hundred thousand?” he repeats.
“Trust me. I couldn’t believe it myself. So now, I’ll have my own studio and a new boss.” She smiles at Addie, but I can tell she’s still nervous about something. “And it just feels more legit.”
Mase must see it too, and his big brother mode kicks in. “What else is going on, Maddie? Why now, why tell us today with everything going on?”
Her hands start to tremble as he lifts the envelopes, and that snaps me into protective mode.
I’m up and moving before I can even think. I scoop her up bridal-style, then take us both over to the couch.
“Easy,” she murmurs weakly. “I haven’t been sick in two hours. Doesn’t mean it’s over.”
“You can throw up on me if it gets that anxious look off your face. What’s going on?”
“Don’t be mad.” She looks nervously between Mason and me, and my hackles are up instantly.
“I get fan mail in the PO Boxes I have set up. Some of them are weird, which isn’t unusual.
People start obsessing over figuring out who I am and where I live.
Comes with the territory when you stay anonymous.
But there have been ones over the last year from someone with the initials D.T. , and they seem pushier than others.”
“Let me see.” She hands them over, and ice slides down my spine as I read them.
“What really put it over the edge,” she continues, “is when I made my PO Box here in New York. D.T. was the first person to send me a letter.”
“Why is that bad?” Mase asks slowly.
“Because I hadn’t listed the box publicly yet.” Her voice cracks. “I don’t know how they found it.”
“Fuck,” I mutter when I read the last letter.
Then my head snaps to Mason.
He knows.
This is bad.
He takes the letter from me and reads some of it out loud.
There are demanding ones like…
Cherry,
I insist you answer me. Now!
Sweeter, but still weird ones like…
Cherry,
I’m still waiting. Please, darling, I need my piece.
And the one that has me dialing Ethan immediately.
Cherry,
Answer me, or you’ll be sorry.
“Madeline.” Mason raises his voice. “What were you thinking?”
Addie takes the last letter out of Mason’s hand, her face draining. “You didn’t show me this, Maddie Grace. This is really bad.”
“I never opened it,” she admits. “I was busy and shoved it into my bag. I didn’t see it until now.”
“Bad?” Mason is on his feet now, pacing like a caged animal. Big brother mode unlocked. “You have someone tracking you, showing up to your building, to your floor, knocking on your door not once, but twice. This isn’t bad. This is call-the-fucking-police-or-you-could-get-killed bad.”
“All right, calm down,” Leo tries.
“Calm down?” Mason explodes. “I’m not calming down. This was reckless as hell, Madeline. You’re smarter than this. What were you thinking?”
He slams his glass on the side table, and it shatters everywhere, his drink flying over my couch, and I can’t even say one word about it.
I don’t blame him.
He’s saying everything I won’t say to her.
Leo steps in. “Anything else, Maddie?”