Shattered Virtue

by Magda Alexander

  I open with a soft question. “Have you decided what you’re going to do?”

  “Not yet. Madison has one more year of high school. Her prep school is close by, so we don’t want to move too far. We’re looking at renting something in Leesburg until she graduates. It will be easy to commute to Arlington for my job.”

  My hands clench around the glass of tea. I take a sip to wet my throat, which has suddenly gone dry. She wants to stay in the area, so I have that much in my favor. “I have a better proposal.”

  She stops pushing the swing. “Oh?”

  I set the glass of tea on the table in front of us. “I want you to live with me.”

  Her right hand clenches the chain of the swing. “I can’t do that, Steele. My place is with my sister. Fragile as she is, she needs the comfort of what’s familiar to her. And right now that’s Olivia and me.”

  Something deep inside me craves a physical connection with her. So I gently unclench her fingers and thread them through mine. “When I said you, I meant you and Madison. We can buy property together, you and I, and make a home for her. I already have a line on a place that’s familiar to her and one I’m sure she’ll love.”

  “Where?”

  “The property with that medieval tower. It’s available.”

  For a second hope gleams in her eyes, but then the shadows fall. “That house is falling apart. It will cost a fortune to fix it.”

  “We can determine if it’s worth saving. If it is, we’ll renovate. If not, we’ll raze it to the ground and start over again. Madison can house her horse there.”

  She laughs. “Not in the stable that comes with that property, she can’t. Have you seen the place? I have. The wood is rotted through.”

  “I’ll build her a place for Marigold and whatever other horses she wants to have.”

  “It’s a large property.”

  “Thirty-five acres. We can grow grapes, have our own winery.”

  “Horses and a winery?” Her teasing smile makes me glow inside. “That should prove interesting. Hartley can handle the horses, but what do you know about growing grapes?”

  I raise her hand to my lips and kiss it. “I can learn. We can name the vineyard after your mother, Marlena.”

  She gasps. “You don’t play fair, Steele.”

  I grow serious. “I’m not playing at all. I want you in my life, Madrigal.”

  She glances away. Is she considering my offer or figuring out how to let me down easy? While my life hangs in the balance, all I can do is hope. I forgot how to pray long ago.

  “How much is the property going for?”

  I slowly let out a breath, curl my tongue against my upper teeth to keep from shouting hallelujah. But then, like an idiot, I make a rookie mistake. I wave my hand, dismissing her question. “You don’t have to worry about cost. I’ll pay for it.”

  That glorious smile of hers disappears as her mouth slashes into a straight line. Untangling our fingers, she breaks our connection, and the ground I fought so hard to gain is lost. How could I have been so stupid when I know how much she values her independence?

  “If I’m going to be living there, Steele, I’ll pay half. Of all the costs. Whatever they may be.”

  I swear I hear a symphony, an Italian one. I nod and duck my head in an attempt to keep her from seeing the sudden moisture in my eyes. “Whatever you wish.”

  “How much, Steele?”

  When I quote her the figure I got from the real estate agent, she nods as if she’s mulling over the idea. “The house will cost the most to rebuild. We’d want to keep as much as we can of the original structure.”

  “Whatever you say.”

  She stops the swing again. “Stop agreeing with me.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  She throws back her head and laughs. “You’re incorrigible.”

  “Among other things. So yes?”

  She glances off into the distance before she returns her gaze to me. The tension that bunched up her shoulders when I first arrived has eased. “Madison’s going to need help, you know. I doubt she’s told us everything about what happened the night of our parents’ murders.”

  Regardless of my own personal interest, I’m good for her. I know I am. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be making such a proposal. “Whatever she needs, she’ll get. I think it will help her to be around both of us.”

  A smile lights up her eyes. “Even if you say so yourself.”

  “Yes.” This time I don’t offer so much as a hint of levity. “I never told you about my past. My mother abandoned my brother and me. I was five, only a year older than Madison when her mother died. So I know about being devastated by the loss of a parent. I can help her understand the effect that loss had on her.” And maybe helping Madison through her trauma will help me as well.

  Ducking her head, she looks up through her eyelashes in that move that makes my dick hard. “It will take a long while to get that house in order.”

  “Months, I would imagine.” I haul her into my lap, kiss her. “In the meantime, both of you can live with me.”

  “In Crystal City? That’s really far from her school.”

  “Wherever you wish. All I care about is being with you.”

  “You can be with me without us living together. This is a huge commitment. Why are you really doing this?”

  Because I can’t live without you sleeping in my bed so I can breathe you in every night. “I want to help.”

  She shakes her head. “Help? That’s it? You don’t require anything in return?”

  “Not a thing.”

  “So we’d have separate bedrooms?”

  Like hell, but I know better than to fall into that trap. “If that’s what you wish.”

  “Here’s what I wish. You in bed with me.”

  My lips quirk. “In that teenager’s bed you have upstairs?”

  “Yes.”

  “We’ll take it with us. But for what I have in mind only my bed will do.”

  “Such as?”

  “You’d have to agree to my plan to find out.”

  She throws her arms around my neck and leans in to suckle my lips. “You, sir, are so very good at negotiating.”

  “Thank you.” I accept the compliment by nodding and salaaming.

  “But seriously, Steele, what if things don’t work out?” She doesn’t have to say “between us.” I get her drift.

  I kiss her again, sweep my tongue into her mouth, and she trembles with desire. It will work out. She just doesn’t know it yet. “If it doesn’t, I’ll have a vineyard and the best wine I can produce. Maybe I’ll build a restaurant there as well. An Italian one. And work full-time as a chef.”

  She throws back her head and laughs. “Like you’d ever give up the law.”

  “I might someday, given enough of an incentive.”

  “Such as?”

  “My crystal ball doesn’t extend that far. We’ll just have to play it by ear and see what comes up.” I stroke the pads of my fingers against hers. She doesn’t realize how precious she is to me. And I can’t tell her. Not when she has so much to deal with. But one day soon, I will tell her how much I love her and want to spend the rest of my life with her. “I know you’re not ready for anything permanent. Not after everything that’s happened in your life. But if you’ll let me, I’d like to take care of you.”

  Leaning back, she glares at me. “I can take care of myself.”

  “Yes, you can. But there are others in your life—Madison, Olivia. This estate. The servants. And you’ll have to sit for the bar at some point.” She needs to take the bar exam in Virginia. Without it, she can’t practice law or work as a prosecutor for Arlington County.

  She drops her head in her hands. “God, that thing’s in two weeks. With everything that’s happened, I’ve hardly studied for it.”
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  “So quit the internship and study like a madwoman for the next fourteen days. I hear your boss will approve that scheme.”

  She looks up and laughs. “I just bet he will. I’ll need to talk to Madison about it. To see if she’s on board with this.”

  I clasp her hands, kiss them. “Go get her. We can talk to her together.”

  “Okay.” She rises from my lap, but not before she drops a kiss on my lips. A promise of sorts.

  I stand, sip the sweet tea. Guess I’ll need to get used to drinking the sickening concoction if I’m going to be a landowner in the Virginia countryside. It kind of goes along with the territory. A country squire with horses. The owner of a vineyard. God, who could have foreseen this? A kid from the worst streets of the city, now rubbing elbows with Virginia royalty. They’ll never accept me, but it won’t matter. I don’t aspire to such a thing. All I want first, last, and always is Madrigal. But the royalty part comes along with her. And I’ll do whatever it takes to make her happy.

  I don’t think she’s ever been surrounded by love. Caring, yes, but not love. I’ll make her the center of my world, give her enough room to grow into the woman she’s meant to be. If she’s this magnificent now, I can’t wait to find out what she’ll become. And for now, what we have? It’s enough.

  No sooner does she walk out than my phone rings. It’s after eight on a Friday night, and the call is from a number I don’t recognize. I should let it roll over to voice mail. But I don’t. Might be a client after all. Or a lost soul who got my number from someone after landing in the slammer for something he allegedly didn’t do. I click on the phone. “Trenton Steele.”

  “Hello.” It’s Mitchell Brooks. His voice is shaky, and he’s slurring his words.

  Has he started drinking again? “What’s going on? You sound like hell.”

  “I’ve been arrested.”

  “What for?”

  “For the murder of Holden Gardiner.”

  My hand clamps down on my cell. “What are you talking about? Holden committed suicide.”

  “No, he didn’t, Trenton. He was murdered with my gun.”

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  First and foremost, thanks to my astounding Montlake Romance team, especially Maria Gomez for reaching out to me, and Melody Guy for her amazing editorial skills. You pushed me to make the manuscript shine.

  Thanks to the Crit Divas—Loni Lynne, Andy Palmer, and Teresa Quill—for your great critiques and wonderfully snarky comments.

  Thanks to my fans. You guys are the best. You read my books at home, work, during commutes and lunch hours, in beds, planes, trains, and automobiles. You’ve made me laugh and cry, and blown me away by the insightful comments about my stories.

  And last but not least, to my wonderful son, Juan, his beautiful wife, Melinda, and the kids, Derek, Alicia, and Skylar. Your love and support mean the world to me.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Photo © 2014 Renee Hollingshead

  Magda Alexander loves piña coladas and walking in the rain. Okay, enough of that. Rewind.

  Magda loves reading steamy romances, which she’s been doing since she was ten. So when it came time to write a book, guess what she wrote. A no-brainer, right?

  Magda, a lifelong learner, graduated from the University of Maryland where she majored in business administration (because her family had to eat) and minored in English (because she needed to dream). She’s lived in Maryland most of her life and now resides close to the Catoctin Mountains in a city whose history dates back to colonial times.

  Visit Magda on Facebook at www.facebook.com/MagdaAlexanderRomanceAuthor or at her website: www.magdaalexander.com/. To find out about her newest release, sign up for her mailing list at www.magdaalexander.com/mailing-list/.

  Magda loves to hear from her fans. You may reach her at magdaalexander@gmail.com.