Chapter Thirty-Eight
Madison smoothed her fingertips over Alex’s arm when they stepped into the ballroom of the downtown hotel, her pulse quickening at the sight of the glittering crowd. She wasn’t surprised by all the heads turning their way.
Beside her, Alex was absolutely devastating in his tailored tux. Her gaze wandered to his perfectly trimmed beard and the curve of his lips—lips that had been on her skin less than an hour ago. Her stomach fluttered at the memory, and happiness filled her chest.
Things had changed, just as she had told Cami they would, once Alex knew how she felt. It just hadn’t been in the way she thought they would. At first in the middle of her lust-filled haze, she was horrified that Alex had heard her tell Cami that she loved him. But the minute the words were out of her mouth, Alex’s expression had gone practically feral. He’d stroked and caressed every bit of skin he could reach while his mouth claimed hers until Madison thought she might have passed out for a moment.
After that night, everything was different. Alex seemed—happier wasn’t the right word—lighter. He hadn’t said the words back. She’d known he wouldn’t, but every night, he showed herhow he felt, and every night, she repeated the words when he asked for them.
Maybe it should bother her more than it did that he couldn’t reciprocate, but she understood why he couldn’t. And if his daily care of her and Jax didn’t show how he cared, his insanely hot response to the words from her did. It told her what she needed to know.
Madison’s lips curled with a smile when she thought about why they were late to this fundraiser tonight. Putting on her new heels that looked so cute at the store had been a nightmare. No matter how she contorted, she couldn’t get the thin, crisscrossing leather straps to attach properly.
After watching her struggle, Alex had knelt, his large hands surprisingly deft as he secured them. He’d lingered, tracing his fingers along her ankle, his eyes darkening.
“Too sexy,” Alex had murmured.
“It’s just a shoe,” she’d teased, already breathless from the way his fingers trailing up her leg made her feel.
“I wasn’t talking about the shoe.”
Now, as they entered the ballroom an hour late, she shivered at the echo of his touch.
“Are you cold?” Alex murmured in her ear.
“No.” She beamed up at him.
His gaze swept the room, his shoulders suddenly turning rigid before he returned to his relaxed posture. “Mikhail’s here,” he said, using the champagne flute they’d been given at the door to hide his lips.
Her eyes followed his, spotting the dark-haired man in a perfectly tailored suit. His expression was unreadable, but his eyes were sharp as they tracked her across the room.
“Really? He comes to these things?”
“I didn’t know he’d be here. We generally try to not be at the same events, and we don’t speak in public,” Alex said, his voicelow. “Just ignore him. He’s only staring right now because he’s an ass.”
A chill ran down her spine. “Okay,” she said, with more confidence than she felt.
After thirty minutes of Alex introducing her to several business associates, Madison was ready to leave. It wasn’t that the event was boring—it was. The problem was shereallydidn’t like the women in the room openly ogling her husband.
“I’m sorry. I know this isn’t your idea of a fun night out. Do you want to go check out the silent auction? I have a few more people I need to talk to, and then we can go.”
“Yes!” she exclaimed, with just a little too much enthusiasm.
Alex chuckled quietly and pressed a kiss to her temple. “I’ll come and find you in a few minutes.”
“I’ll be fine. Go handle your business, Mr. Kovalyov.” She shooed him with her hands, glad for the reprieve. If she had to hear one more conversation about the problems with shipping in Asiatic waters, she thought she might cry.
Surprisingly, the silent auction had several intriguing items, and Madison carefully wrote her bid for the family passes to Zoo Atlanta. But even focused on the offerings, she could feel Mikhail’s gaze like a weight on her shoulders.
Turning from the tables, a well-dressed woman with sleek blonde hair and a dazzling smile stopped her. “Oh my god, you’re Madison Amherst! FromMurder She Spoke, right?”
Madison returned the smile as a small cluster of guests were drawn by the woman’s enthusiastic comment. Within moments, Madison found herself in conversation with several of her listeners. She did her best to answer their questions about upcoming episodes and listened politely as they offered their own theories of who was responsible for Jesse’s death.
“Did you know Jesse’s mother is the beneficiary of the life insurance? That could be motive. You said on episode three that they didn’t get along.”
Madison tried to hide her surprise. She did know about the life insurance. In fact, it featured heavily in their next episode. Not wanting to give anything away, she smiled politely. “I think you might be on to something.”
The middle-aged man looked pleased. “My wife found it on someone’s FacePlace post. I always say she should work for the FBI,” he joked.
