Page 14 of Ruin Me
Suspicions whispered in my ear, but I discounted them. There was no way she would use my bathroom forthat. I narrowed my eyes at her to pick up more clues.
Her body showed no signs of lassitude, so she hadn’t released her tension. If anything, she was more tense than when I’d left her. Under my intense stare, she brought her hand up to cover her necklace.
The protective gesture rubbed me the wrong way. Was it a gift from another man? Was that why she slapped me yesterday? Because I’d trespassed on someone else’s playing field? With a viciousness I reserved for my business rivals, I crushed my curiosity into dust. I had no business wondering or getting upset about who gave Madison gifts. Not when her presence was a constant reminder of how I’d failed Lola.
Madison straightened and a determined gleam entered her eyes. “We should prep for your appearance for the event in two days. I have a list of media and political people you need on your side.”
She met me at my desk with a dossier. Jasmine, fleeting and arousing, wafted from her position standing beside me.
To stifle the urge to inhale deeply, I breathed through my mouth and curled my fingers into my palm until the sharp bite from my nails helped me to focus.
Madison’s list comprised a few people in my circle, including Douglas’s mayor, Valentino DeLuca. There were also a few surprising names of people I’d courted for years but never got my foot in the door with.
While schooling my features, I segmented the personalities. “I have ongoing dealings with this group and won’t need to spend much time with them other than to show my face.”
Madison reached for the pile, momentarily brushing the side of her soft breast against me.
My muscles locked in place, and I forgot to breathe through my mouth. Jasmine flitted up my nose to fill my lungs and paint sensuous scenes where I wrapped Madison’s naked body around myself.
“Mayor DeLuca has connections to some of the hottest fashion houses coming out of Italy right now,” she said, noting I’d singled out Valentino DeLuca’s name from the rest of the list.
The reminder cleared the increasingly disturbing images of the two of us from my mind.
“Spend more time with him to give Elsie face time. After all, you both need to benefit from these events.” Madison stacked the names to the side, and I couldn’t stop myself from staring at her delicate ear or the soft luster of her skin as I trailed my gaze down her neck.
Maybe you should be the one on my arm.
Instead of allowing the rogue thought out, I grunted and shoved another set of names at Madison. “These people will be more challenging.”
“What? Are you afraid that you can’t win them over with your sunny disposition?”
I glanced at her face, wondering if my imagination was fucking with me. Had a note of flirtation entered her voice? The slight uptick of her lips could be the same sarcasm she’d been handing me from our reunion. But I… Hell, I didn’t know if I wanted her to be unfeeling or not anymore, and I didn’t like being confused. I was a decisive man in all my dealings, yet somehow Madison could shift the ground from under me.
“Let’s just say I’ll need more than my enviable status to get these men to give me the time. Once I’m in front of them, they won’t be able to deny my charm or the benefits of doing business with me.”
“That’s where Elsie comes in. Have her approach Hayden first.” Madison pulled the dossier on Hayden Mills, heir to one of the largest international media conglomerates. “He’s never met a model he doesn’t try to steal from someone else. I’ll have her drop my name before?—”
“What will your name do that my name won’t?”
Madison chuckled while shaking her head. “That’s between Hayden and me. What matters is we’ll have given him two reasons to meet you.”
Whatever was between Madison and Hayden wasn’t my business, yet my gut churned from the possibilities. Even as we discussed the other names on the list, I surreptitiously watched Madison. To hell with her keeping her secrets. I was going to find out how close Hayden was to Madison, and if she knew what was good for her, they better be long-lost siblings separated at birth.
CHAPTER 7
Madison
The first time I confessed my love to Kent Luxe, I was sixteen. My pubescent heart didn’t care that he was Ife’s father or that he was married. I blurted out my feelings with no regard to where we were or who was around. Lucky for me, we were alone in the kitchen while Ife and Oyinlola were in the den.
What could I say? I was determined to be a home wrecker if it meant having my crush for myself.
No other man in my life really saw me until Kent. The boys in school saw me as exotic because of my vitiligo, wanting to see just how much of my body was unmelanated. They didn’t care if I fought with my parents, the stress I was under to perform to Nikita Montgomery’s standards, or my inability to cope with disappointment.
Kent did.
He wasn’t patronizing, like some of the other kids’ parents. He spoke to me as an equal, where everyone else treated me like a child. He showed me how to confront my shortcomings in a way that wasn’t destructive. He was everything my teenage heartsaw as a hero, and incredibly handsome on top of everything else.
Even after my first confession when he distanced himself, I couldn’t stop my feelings for him. At eighteen, I planned an elaborate declaration, convincing Ife and her mother to go on a mother-daughter weekend trip and leaving Kent at home and alone.