“I can’t stay in this house forever.”

  His jaw flexed. “I know. I’ll take you somewhere today. Wherever you want to go.”

  I liked the idea of going somewhere with Blaise much better, but I felt bad for Gina. Did she have friends? Or was her life always taking care of Angel?

  “Gina could come too,” I said.

  Blaise narrowed his eyes at me. He didn’t want anyone going with us. That was clear.

  “Gina has friends. She can do something with them. We need to go to the ranch. Look into getting you set up in the office again.”

  He was going to let me work? Without a fight?

  A smile crossed my face. I was relieved that he was giving in to it without being difficult.

  “Really?” I wanted to grab his face and kiss it.

  A grin tugged on his lips. “Yes.”

  I started to say something, but a loud clatter interrupted me, and Blaise moved back, quickly jerking around to see what had happened.

  Angel was standing up, and her plate was on the floor, shattered. Then, she began to scream. Blaise shot up and reached for her, and she clung to him. My heart was racing as I watched the scene. No one else was speaking, but all eyes were on them.

  Gina walked around me and went to Angel. “That’s all for this morning, sis. If you can’t control yourself, then no breakfast down here,” she said to Angel.

  When Gina reached for her, Angel batted her hand away and held on to Blaise. He and Gina exchanged a silent look, and then he took Angel’s arms from around him and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

  “I’ll go with you,” he said.

  Angel visibly relaxed, and they walked out of the kitchen. My chest felt tight, and I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to handle this or feel about it. Angel needed him. That was clear. She felt as if he belonged to her, and she didn’t like sharing. How was I going to get her to accept me?

  “Sorry about that,” Gina said as she came back with a broom in her hand.

  “It’s okay. I just don’t know what I can do to make her feel okay with me,” I said, turning back to my plate of food.

  “Shit, that ain’t gonna happen. You’re the first female she’s had to see him with. Blaise never brought women here. Angel isn’t used to him touching another woman,” Gage drawled, leaning back in his chair, his eyes on me.

  That wasn’t promising.

  “Shut up,” Huck said to him.

  Gage shrugged. “What? She lives here. She needs to know. Hell, she’s family. Time she gets to hear all the shit.”

  Thank you, Gage.

  I agreed. If this was to be my life, then, yes, I needed to know what was going on around me.

  “Blaise tells her all the shit. Not you.” Huck’s tone held a clear warning.

  “Listen, he’s going to be up there awhile. She’s missed him, and that’s her way of demanding his attention. Want to go watch the new season of Yellowstone with me?” Gina asked as she finished cleaning up the mess Angel had made.

  The truth was, I didn’t want to watch anything, but I also didn’t want to go downstairs by myself for however long he was with her.

  I nodded and stood up, then took my plate. “I’ll clean up the kitchen. You cooked,” I told her.

  “You sure?” Gina asked me.

  Huck cleared his throat loudly, and I looked at him. He was focused on Gina when he shook his head. Aggravated by this entire situation. I glared at him.

  “Listen, Huck. If I want to clean this kitchen, then I am damn well gonna clean it. Stop telling people what to do where I’m concerned. I don’t belong to you.” My voice rose as I spoke until I was close to yelling.

  His eyes widened, and I heard Gage chuckle. Spinning around, I went to the sink and decided I would ignore them all. Except Gina.

  “Let me help,” she said, coming up beside me.

  She wasn’t their damn maid.

  I shook my head. “I refuse to let you clean after you cooked and served everyone. Go start your show, and I’ll be in there when I’m done.”

  A smile touched her lips, and she shrugged. “Okay.”

  Fifteen

  Blaise

  Garrett was getting what he wanted. Simply because I couldn’t tell her no. She wanted a job, and this was all I could allow without losing my fucking mind, worrying about her. Garrett wanted Madeline as tied into the family as she could get. He was doing it for Eli, and I understood that. Eli would fucking love knowing his granddaughter was here. Working within the family.

  She was right. I couldn’t keep her in the house, and she couldn’t go everywhere with me. There was shit she could never be a part of.

  This morning, having Angel in the kitchen and then dealing with one of her fits hadn’t sat well with me. Once, it had made sense for Angel to live in my house, but I didn’t see how this was going to continue to work. Not with Madeline living there, and Madeline would be staying.

  Now that we were at the ranch, I stood back and watched as Deidra showed Madeline the things that had changed since she’d been gone the past few weeks.

  Deidra had worked for my father most of my life. She was older than him, and he moved her around in different areas when needed. He’d put her in this position until Madeline’s return. I knew he hadn’t planned on allowing her to be gone long. If she hadn’t come back with me, Garrett would have stepped in.

  Things weren’t perfect, and we had shit to figure out, like the fact that she thought she needed money to live. I’d let her work, but I’d be damned if she spent her money on things she needed. She was mine, and I’d take care of her. What the fuck she thought she needed money for, I didn’t know.

  “Maddy!” Trev’s voice called out from behind me.

  I glared over my shoulder as my brother came walking into the office.

  Trev gave me his smug, bright smile, then looked back at Madeline. “You’re back.” He clapped his hands together.

  She smiled at him, and I fucking hated it. That smile was mine.

  “I can see you are broken up about my leaving,” Deidra said to him teasingly.

  Trev put his hand on his heart. “Oh, I’ll miss your beautiful face, Dee. But I’m sure you’ll be around.”

  Deidra let out a bark of laughter. “You’re full of shit. My feelings aren’t hurt. I have eyes. I understand. You boys like the eye candy, and this one is beautiful.”

  “Not his to look at,” I said.

  Deidra cut her eyes at me, then smiled. “Eli sure would love to know his baby girl’s daughter was here. Where she belongs.”

  Madeline’s gaze moved to meet mine. There were so many insecurities inside those blue eyes. Why? What more could I do to reassure her that she was all I wanted? Why did she look so damn haunted? Like at any moment, I was going to change my mind and walk away?

  “She’s home now,” I agreed, keeping my eyes on Madeline’s.

  There was a spark of hope there. It wasn’t what I wanted to see. I wanted to see her look at me with the assurance that she knew she was home.

  “Literally? Because if she’s moving in here, then I’m going to request she gets the room next to mine,” Trev said.

  He was trying to piss me off.

  “Go,” I growled.

  Trev threw out his hands like he was confused. “What did I do?”

  “NOW!” I ordered.

  I saw the grin on his face when he looked back at Madeline and winked. If I thought the fucker was serious for one second, I’d break one or more of his bones. He knew the ranks, and he knew Madeline was mine.

  “Play nice,” Madeline scolded him, still grinning.

  Damn, why did she have to smile at him like that?

  He bowed to her, then saluted me before backing out of the office.

  “That boy is a handful,” Deidra said. “He’s got Garrett’s charm with none of the edge.”

  Or black soul. Trev might be redeemable, but eventually, he’d have to face the truth of the family. When that day came and he had to be Garrett Hughes’s son in the face of hell, then he’d change. He wouldn’t be carefree and spoiled forever.

  “Now, if you have any questions, contact me. This is my number. I’ll be available at any time,” Deidra assured Madeline.

  Madeline thanked her, and when Deidra finally left, I closed the office door.

  “No. Not in here. This is my job,” Madeline said, her eyes big as she watched me moving toward her.

  “What? I wasn’t going to do anything. Just wanted my girl alone for a few minutes,” I said, coming behind the desk.

  Madeline moved back away from me, and a laugh rumbled in my chest. Damn, she was cute. She held up her hands in front of her.

  “Blaise, there could be cameras in here,” she whispered.

  I nodded. There were three. I pointed to the corner behind her, over the door, and then to the front of the office desk. Madeline’s eyes darted to each place, then back at me.

  “Why are you still coming at me then?” she asked nervously. “I need to work.”

  I shrugged as I watched her. Seeing her licking her lips, nervous, turned me on, but she was safe. Those cameras were watched all day by security. I wasn’t about to let some other man see Madeline when she was worked up. That was for my eyes only.

  “I wanted a kiss before I left,” I told her truthfully.

  She narrowed her eyes. “Promise that’s all?”

  I nodded. “Swear.”

  She stopped moving away from me and planted her hands on her hips. “Be good,” she warned me.

  I reached out and grabbed the loops on her jeans, then pulled her to me. “I’m always good.”

  She laughed then. The only other sound I loved better than that was when she was crying out my name while she orgasmed.

  “You, Blaise Hughes, are rarely good.”

  I brushed my lips against hers, then whispered, “I make you feel good.”

  She sighed and leaned into me then. “Yes, you do.”

  I started to cover her mouth when the office door opened. Madeline tensed, and I glared back over my shoulder to find my father walking inside.

  “You don’t want to give the security team a show,” he said.

  “I wasn’t going to,” I replied angrily.

  Madeline was stepping back from me. I hadn’t been ready to let her go yet. Damn Garrett.

  “Let Madeline get to work, and you come with me up to the house. We have a meeting to attend,” he told me, then walked past me toward Madeline. “Glad you’re back. Wasn’t the same without you.”

  She smiled at him nervously. It was clear he terrified her, and I wished she understood how unnecessary that was. Garrett would die to protect her. We all would.

  “Thank you for letting me come back,” she said.

  Garrett beamed at her. “Letting you? Hell, it was your job. Deidra was just holding down the fort until you returned. I’ll take this distraction away. When you get ready for lunch, go on up to the house and eat what Ms. Jimmie has prepared in there. No need for you to have to eat with the hands in the dining hall down here.”

  “Okay, I will,” she agreed.

  Garrett started to leave, and his eyes locked on mine. “Work to do,” he said simply.

  I shifted my gaze to Madeline. “I’ll come back later,” I said before following Garrett out of the room.

  Sixteen

  Madeline

  The last two mornings, when I’d woken up sick, Blaise was already awake and upstairs. I’d been trying to focus on working again and pretending there wasn’t another issue I had to handle.

  Today, however, I had decided that I would get a pregnancy test. I wasn’t sure how I would get it or who I could confide in to help me get it. I did have a car now, but Blaise always took me to work and picked me up. Waiting until he was gone again could be days or weeks. I never knew.

  Angel had been absent in the mornings since the plate-smashing incident. While I was taking my time eating the avocado toast that I’d made myself, trying to come up with a reason to drive to work today that Blaise wouldn’t question, Angel’s screaming rang through the house.

  Blaise had been talking to Huck about the first race of the season, which was two months away, when she did it. He stood up without a word and left the room to go see what was wrong. Huck drank his coffee and peered at me over his cup.

  “How you handling that?” he asked me.

  I knew by that, he meant Blaise having to go running when Angel had an episode, I shrugged. I was handling it. Not being here all day and feeling like my presence was keeping her confined upstairs helped things. I didn’t feel in the way as much.

  “You gonna snap over it eventually?” he asked me.

  Snap over it? I shook my head. “No …” I trailed off.

  He took a drink, then set his cup down. “You’re a woman. You don’t think you’re gonna get jealous, sharing your man?”

  I didn’t see it that way. It wasn’t as if he were sleeping with Angel. She just had emotional trauma, and he soothed her.

  “That would make me a bitch,” I replied honestly.

  He smirked, but said nothing more.

  I finished my breakfast in silence, and when it was time for me to go and Blaise hadn’t returned, I realized I’d been given my break. I would have to drive myself today. I didn’t ask Huck. Getting permission would likely lead to someone else driving me. Blaise had bought me that car because he said I needed one. I hadn’t driven it yet. Now was the one time it was going to come in handy.

  I’d placed the keys in my purse, and my own cash was also safely tucked inside. I cleaned my plate and cup, then wrote a quick note to Blaise and left it on the counter.

  Huck wasn’t around anywhere, so I took that as my time to escape. Just as I reached the door leading to the garage, I heard Angel scream out again. Blaise wasn’t going to be free anytime soon. Closing the door behind me quietly, I went down the row of cars until I found the silver Mercedes that Blaise had refused to return.

  I climbed inside, and it took a few minutes longer than I would have liked to figure out where everything was located in order to drive this thing.

  No one had come looking for me by the time I opened the garage door and backed out. Feeling accomplished, I made it down the driveway, and the gate swung open when I got close enough, making it all the easier to leave.

  If I was late for work and Blaise was alerted, then he’d panic. I decided that I would slip out to the closest pharmacy and get the test I needed on my lunch break.

  I was on the road for less than ten minutes when my phone rang. I winced, knowing only one person ever called me. The screen on the dashboard lit up and asked me if I wanted to answer the call.

  I replied, “Yes,” wondering if that was all I had to do.

  “Madeline.” Blaise’s voice came through the speakers on the car, and it was clear that he was pissed.

  “Yes,” I replied.

  “Where are you?”

  “On my way to work in the car you bought me that I never drive,” I replied as sweetly as I could.

  He sighed deeply and didn’t reply right away.

  “You were busy, and I didn’t want to disturb things,” I added.

  He muttered a curse. “Are you going straight there?” he finally asked.

  “Yes!”

  He was silent another moment. Then, “I’m sorry.”

  “It’s okay. I can drive. Angel needed you,” I assured him.

  “You come first,” he replied sharply.

  I didn’t want to test that, but it was sweet that he had said it.

  “I am fine,” I replied.

  But how long would my being there with her be fine? When was he going to decide that it was too much on Angel? He would grow weary of her fits, and the only way to stop it was for me not to be there. Not an issue I was going to tackle right now. I needed to stay focused on one thing at a time.

  “Did you finish your food?” he asked me.

  Smiling at his concern, I replied, “Yes, I did. Did you?”

  “No. Lost my fucking appetite when I saw your note,” he said.

  Maybe I should have told him I was leaving. I felt guilty now.

  “Go eat. Please,” I said to him.

  He grunted, but said nothing.

  “Independence is good for me,” I told him. I didn’t need to rely on him for everything.

  “I want you to need me,” he said.

  “Oh, I do. Regularly,” I assured him.

  I heard Huck’s voice in the background.

  “Call me when you get there. I’ve got something we have to go see about. I’ll stop by the ranch when I’m done.”

  “Okay. Be safe,” I told him.

  “Call me,” he repeated, and then the call ended.

  “Well, goodbye to you too,” I muttered to no one.

  Seventeen

  Blaise

  Although the pictures of Etta did look almost exactly like Madeline, I could see her in his face too. The son of a bitch didn’t know I had been tracking him for months. I was concerned that he’d been behind her abduction at the movie theater. Word had gotten out about Madeline, and anyone who had known Etta would know she was Eli’s granddaughter.

  Liam Walsh stood in ripped jeans and black combat boots, his Glock on his hip and his arms crossed over his chest as he spoke to the men with him. The cigarette between his lips hung loosely. From what I’d found on the man, he had cleaned up somewhat with age. There had been a riot within their organization fifteen years ago, and his father had been killed, along with several others. He had disappeared after that.

  Garrett had to know this, but he’d never felt the need to share it with me. Liam, along with a few of the guys he’d grown up with, had formed a biker club. They owned several strip clubs in Miami, had call girls they hired out to deep pockets, and ran a porn ring, where they filmed and uploaded to a private website that charged via monthly subscriptions. Seemed he had left the drugs behind and moved into the sex market only.