“That is true,” I agree with a grin.
“You don’t think you can get her to drop hers?” Conrad asks.
“Maybe. If I put in a little more effort. It’s just not worth it, though.” I eye my brother curiously. “You’ve never talked to me much about sleeping with women before now. What gives?”
He shrugs. “You obviously want her and feel protective of her. Seems like a waste for you to have to abstain for the next month.”
“Abstain? Who said anything about fucking abstaining?”
“It’s going to be hard to juggle your day and night bodyguarding duty with her living here and find willing one-night stands at the same time.”
“Goddammit!” I mutter, because he’s right. I won’t be bringing back any women. Hell, I won’t have time to even look for any women to bring home.
“What’s wrong now?” Madison asks as she comes down the steps. She’s changed out of her leggings and sweater into pajamas – long-sleeve satin ones with a folded-down collar that are a pale purple and hugging all of her curves in all the right places. “Well?” she asks again when she’s standing next to the kitchen island and crosses her arms over her chest.
“Nothing’s wrong. At least nothing else,” Conrad answers when he gets up from his seat. “Cannon just knows I’m right again, and he hates it.” He gives me a slap on the back as if to say, I told you so again, and then he’s heading for the stairs. “Goodnight.”
“Goodnight,” she replies kindly to him. I start to ask why she’s not grumpy at him when she says, “I like him.”
“Well, too bad since he’s head over heels in love with his pregnant girlfriend,” I remind her.
Madison lowers her crossed arms to wave a hand in the air. “Not like that. He just seems…decent.”
“And I don’t?” I ask her.
She opens her mouth to say something and then sniffs the air loudly. “Is that…”
“Cinnabon coffee?” I finish for her when I lift the mug from the coffee maker and take it to her. “Yep.”
“How…” she trails off when she wraps her hands around the mug and takes a deep sniff. Again, it’s like the tension in her body drains away, all because the brown liquid works some sort of magic on her.
“I stole some of the K-cups from your stash.”
Madison eyes me over her mug as she takes a sip as if she doesn’t believe it’s the same flavor she’s used to. “Thank you,” she says quietly as if she doesn’t like saying the two words. Or maybe she’s saying them in reference to more than the coffee. Who the fuck would know with her.
And since I don’t want her to think I went out of my way to make her comfortable, I tell her, “It’s no biggie. I just wanted to see for myself what the fuss was about since you had enough to feed the world.”
She eyes me with a look of disbelief. “Want to taste it?”
“No, thanks,” I respond since I wouldn’t put it past her to throw the hot liquid on me before letting me take a sip from the same mug she’s drinking out of.
“You sure?” she asks again.
“Why are you acting like you trust me all of a sudden?” I question her.
She shrugs and takes a seat in the chair at the table that Conrad just vacated. “I trust your brother…”
“What the fuck?” The words explode out of my mouth before I can even consider them.
“His reaction to what happened tonight was genuine surprise.”
“Of course it was,” I mutter. “I expected Bailey to come after you, but what they did still shocked the shit out of me.”
“So, you and the Savage Kings will try and keep me safe from Bailey if I don’t drop out of the election?”
“Yeah, we will. And if I find out who they are, I’ll kill them.” After my comment, I realize that she said the word ‘if’ like she wasn’t sure she wouldn’t drop out.
“Kill them?” Madison says when she sits the coffee mug down on the table, her eyes wide in horror. “Just like that, you would…kill them?”
“You think that was the first time those men have used violence against women?” I ask her, and she lowers her eyes.
“No, probably not. They weren’t exactly…squeamish about hurting me.”
“Then they don’t deserve to live. And you are not dropping out of the race,” I tell her.
Her tongue wets her lips as if to soak up every drop of her coffee, and then she says, “Earlier tonight, I was ready to call it quits. I would’ve done what they wanted and not thought twice about it to make them stop…”
“They won’t touch you again,” I promise her.
“If you say so,” Madison replies as if she doesn’t believe me.
Which is fine. I haven’t earned her trust yet. But I do intend to keep my promise.
And tomorrow, I plan to pay the former police chief a visit.
Chapter Thirteen
Madison
The guest bed in Cannon and Conrad’s house is comfortable enough. The sheets and comforter are warm and cozy. I should feel safe knowing that there are at least four men in or around the house who are armed. I saw Cannon’s gun when he came in with it and heard him tell the prospects to try and shoot the men who had attacked me. There’s no doubt in my mind that Conrad also keeps a gun at the ready.
And yet, four men with at least four guns doesn’t seem like enough after what happened earlier tonight.
Cannon is probably right. Those men have probably done much more than threaten other women. And dammit, I’m still terrified of them coming for me here.
I don’t sleep a wink as I toss and turn. Eventually, when my phone says five a.m., I get up and take my suit for the day and my toiletries into the bathroom in the hall, locking the door behind me to shower and get ready for another day.
Once I’m clean and dressed, I look at
