by Lucy Monroe
His words did not falter, his Japanese smooth and unhesitating, and yet she felt the weight of his full regard. Like his attention was fully on her.
Like she mattered.
Succumbing to the desire to sit beside him, Maddie settled onto the smooth leather seat across from AIH’s media fixer. Relieved that none of the bodyguards had instructions to join them in the back of the limo, she was still grateful the other occupant gave her an excuse to give in to the irresistible urge.
The need to be near Vik was verging on ungovernable, just like it had been six years ago.
Maddie wanted to chalk it up to the exceptional circumstances. She just wasn’t sure she could.
Which was not enough of a caution to move to the other seat. There was simply no comparison between Vik and Conrad, who until that morning she had found slightly annoying but now considered flat-out obnoxious.
The PR guru took a break from typing madly on his tablet to silently acknowledge her. If his smile looked more like a grimace, she wasn’t interested enough in interacting with him to call him on it.
Besides, Perry’s fake exposé had triggered an ugly media frenzy beyond anything Maddie had ever experienced for her far more innocent escapades.
There was even speculation now that some of her riskier endeavors had been the result of orders from her master. That wasn’t even the worst of it. Maddie did not know how a virgin could be labeled a sex addict with obvious intimacy issues, but she’d stopped reading her Google alerts after that headline.
The limo had exited the parking garage and pulled away from her building when Vik ended his phone call.
“Are you okay?” he asked Maddie.
Honesty would reveal a level of vulnerability she wasn’t comfortable sharing with Vik, much less Conrad. She had no idea how her life had spun out of control so fast.
And Perrygate was only part of it. Her father’s ultimatum and the realization their relationship would never be what she wanted had been followed too closely by the equally alarming, if for different reasons, acknowledgment that she was actually considering marrying her girlhood crush.
“I’m fine.”
“Good,” Conrad said, as if he’d asked the question. “Containing this media bloodbath is going to take serious effort and you need to be on your top game.”
He didn’t have to tell her. Maddie had spent the time since Vik had dropped her off earlier worrying about what would happen if she couldn’t reclaim her reputation.
The all too real prospect of losing her dreams of opening a small charter school tightened Maddie’s throat, so she just nodded.
Once the media started looking more closely at Maddie’s life, her alter ego was bound to come to light and the probability of losing her volunteer position was pretty much guaranteed.
While she enjoyed the anonymity of her Maddie Grace persona, she’d only taken rudimentary steps to keep her two lives separate. She wasn’t James Bond, after all, just a socialite who craved time contributing as a normal person.
The only reason no one had cottoned on to Maddie Grace and Madison Archer being the same person before was that the news simply wasn’t all that interesting. Or it hadn’t been.
Her notoriety as Madcap Madison had been of the innocent variety, good for filler pieces in the social columns, but not salacious enough to really impact circulation numbers. Therefore she had not been interesting enough to be targeted by any serious digging.
She’d no doubt reporters were getting out their sharpest spades now. Perrygate was all that and a bag of chips for the gossipmongers.
The most painful part of Maddie’s predicament was that it wasn’t just her dreams on the line here; Romi was equally invested in the charter school.
Vik sent a text and then pocketed his phone. “Our lack of an immediate response opened the door to other spurious claims from supposed former lovers.”
Vik gave Conrad a look that left no doubt exactly who the VP of Operations for AIH blamed for that mistake.
Maddie felt no smugness at the media fixer being so obviously in the doghouse with Vik. Her life was too out of control to harbor even a hint of that, but she couldn’t help the small thrill of pleasure at him taking her side.
From the moment he’d stepped in and ordered Conrad’s cooperation that morning, Maddie had known she wasn’t alone in facing the painful consequences of her onetime friend’s betrayal.
Conrad tugged at the collar of his shirt. “We’re working on retractions, but the best strategy for solidifying the prank angle is to give the media hounds another story.”
“What do you mean? Like a two-headed baby from outer space, or something?” Maddie asked as her phone chimed to indicate a text from one of her select group.
Thinking it was Romi, she pulled out her phone and checked the message. It wasn’t from her SBC; it was from Vik and said, You are not fine. We will talk. Later.
She texted back. If you say so.
Vik pulled his phone out and replied to her text while speaking. “Or something. A glossy celebrity gossip magazine has already offered a two-page spread announcing our formal engagement in exchange for exclusive photos of a lavish, well-attended wedding reception.”
“We’re engaged now?” Had she missed something between the text convo and their in-person discussion?
Vik didn’t answer, but waited in silence for her to come to her own conclusion.
“It’s the best way to stop any more dirty snow falling in this avalanche,” Conrad said unctuously.
“Dirty snow? Really?” she asked sarcastically.
“Do you have a better word for it?”
“Perrygate.”
“Appropriate, but don’t use it on your social networks,” Conrad instructed her. “It implies a negative rift between you and Mr. Timwater. We’re dismissing all this as a joke gone wrong.”
“Then you can play it off as the bad joke that ruined a friendship. I won’t play nice with Perry.” She couldn’t.
Conrad frowned thoughtfully. “It would be better for you to be seen as the forgiving friend. Waiting a few months to cut the man from your life will increase your popularity.”
“I don’t care.”
“Timwater isn’t coming within a hundred feet of Madison, not even to apologize.” Vik’s voice brooked no argument.
And Conrad proved he was more intelligent than other evidence to the contrary because he didn’t make one. “Fine. Fine.” He started taking notes. “‘The Prank That Ended a Friendship.’ I can use that. We can spin the angle even. ‘The Bad Joke That Almost Ended an Engagement.’”
Maddie looked at Vik. “Is he for real?”
Part of her knew this was the way things had to be, that Conrad was just doing his job, but having her life reduced to clichés and headlines was not fun.
“It’s going to be okay, Madison.” Vik pulled her cold hand into his own. “Trust me.”
He had never hesitated to invade her personal space, or to touch her, though she’d never noticed him being so free with others. It was one of the reasons she’d convinced her eighteen-year-old self that Vik might return her feelings.
She’d realized later that the small touches were probably the result of the way his Russian grandparents had raised him. Maddie had figured she hadn’t seen him behave that way with others because he had so few personal relationships.
None but his grandparents and her father that she’d ever actually come into contact with.
That was one thing she and Vik had in common.
A very small inner circle.
She didn’t comment on this now, just gave thanks for the fact he was willing to offer her the kind of comfort she needed and had never been able to ask for.
Vik squeezed her fingers. “Conrad is one of the best in the business. Before this morning I would have said the best.”
Conrad flinched, proving he’d been listening even as he typed.
“And our engagement is the only way to restore my reputation?” sh
e asked almost rhetorically.
She didn’t see another way out, either.
Her father had more leverage for his plan than he could possibly comprehend. The realization of Maddie and Romi’s dreams relied on a reputation Maddie could not afford to lose.
Vik frowned. “I’m sorry, Madison, but nothing is going to make the story go away completely.”
“Why not?” Media fixers worked miracles.
Isn’t that what everyone said? If they couldn’t fix this, her and Romi’s dreams were going to crash and burn. There was no way Maddie was going to let that happen.
Conrad looked up from his tablet. “Some people will always believe that where there is or was smoke, there had to be some ember of fire.”
“But there isn’t one.”
The twist of Conrad’s lips said he was probably one of those people.
Vik’s hand moved to Maddie’s thigh, bringing her attention careening back to him and him alone. “I believe you.”
“No matter what the press has claimed, I’ve never even had a serious boyfriend,” she admitted painfully.
Something flared in Vik’s eyes, but he just nodded. “You’ve been too busy getting into trouble.”
“Not this kind of trouble.”
“I know.”
“And not even my usual in the last six months.”
Conrad’s head snapped up. “Is that true?”
“I haven’t done anything zany or even remotely newsworthy since I broke my pelvis in that botched skydiving landing.”
Conrad narrowed his gaze. “What about parties? Random hookups?”
“Did you not hear her, Conrad?” Vik asked, dropping the temperature in the limo with the ice in his tone. “Madison does not do random hookups.”
“She said she hasn’t had a serious relationship, that the men claiming to have engaged in BDSM encounters are lying. Miss Archer never claimed to be celibate.” Okay, so Conrad had been listening.
Vik didn’t thaw even a little. “You can take no random hookups as a given.”
“Can I?” Conrad asked Maddie, surprising her with his tenacity.
“Yes,” she replied firmly. “I haven’t been out in the evening except to attend charity events since my accident.”
“With Perry as your escort?” Conrad asked, sounding unhappy by the possibility.
Which she could understand, in light of recent events. She wouldn’t call the emotion she was feeling right now unfettered joy, either.
“A couple of times.”
Vik’s jaw hardened.
“Most events, Romi and I go together. Perry isn’t all that interested in helping others.” Maddie felt disloyal admitting that truth, but Romi had always said it.
Perry had never been as interested in the causes Maddie supported as the A-listers and potential business contacts he could meet at certain events.
“You’ve been at most of them, yourself,” she offered to Vik.
He frequently represented AIH at that sort of thing, being an expert at making connections Perry only aspired to. Maddie knew that Vik also supported the causes in very tangible ways, both on behalf of the corporation and personally.
The gorgeous, corporate white knight nodded.
“That could work in our favor, unless you were photographed with your date for the evening,” Conrad mused. “Even then, we could make it work.”
“Vik hasn’t had a date with him at one of these events in over a year.” Knowledge that revealed how much attention Maddie paid to Vik.
A fact she’d done her best to hide even from herself, darn it.
His raised brow and knowing look said he realized that, too.
“That’s good. We can back-engineer a budding relationship you’ve taken pains to keep out of the media spotlight.” Conrad took more notes on his tablet. “This works.”
Maddie turned toward Vik. “We’re really getting married?”
“You tell me.”
“Only it doesn’t seem possible.” Everything since her nearly spilled cup of coffee that morning felt like a dream, at times odd, unpleasant and bordering unbelievable.
“Believe it,” Vik said, unconsciously answering her silent thoughts.
She narrowed her eyes, trying to read him. “How can you take this so calmly?”
“What am I supposed to be upset about?”
“Yesterday you were a free agent. Today you are engaged.” Didn’t that bother him, even a little?
Or was it something Vik had planned all along? Somehow, she couldn’t quite dismiss that possibility.
“We are not engaged yet.”
Something went tight in her chest. “But—”
“We will finish this discussion after you meet with the lawyer.”
What did that mean? Did he think they were engaged, or not? Were they engaged? Had she said yes? She was pretty sure she hadn’t. And she might know her choices were very limited, but did Vik? Really?
He returned his attention to his phone and sent a text.
This time she had no doubts it was to her.
Sure enough a few seconds later, her phone chimed. Trust me.
Trust him. Right. He thought it was that easy? “You aren’t going to try to talk me out of signing the paperwork?”
“I told Jeremy threatening Romi could boomerang on him.”
“He didn’t believe you.”
“He has a hard time backing off once he’s set a thing in motion.”
“Are you saying he’s already started the wheels of destruction for Mr. Grayson’s company? They used to be good friends.”
Vik shrugged noncommittally. “He’s done the research on how to make it happen.”
“And he didn’t want to waste his efforts?” Her dad could be so cold, but then that wasn’t breaking news.
“You and I have agreed Jeremy could have no idea how spectacularly it would come back to bite him on the ass.”
“But you aren’t trying to change my mind.”
Conrad stopped typing and listened as if he, too, was curious about what was motivating Vik’s behavior.
Vik ignored the other man, his focus entirely on Maddie. “Those shares ultimately belong to you.”
“My father doesn’t see it that way.”
“It never occurred to Jeremy that any child of his would consider AIH as a means to an end rather than the end itself.”
What did he know? Did Vik realize she had always intended to use her income from the shares to run the school?
It wouldn’t be a long stretch from what she’d told him that morning.
What he couldn’t know was that Romi would do the same. She wanted the school as much as Maddie.
Vik’s dream was something quite different, but obviously just as important to him. “You want the company.”
“Like your father, I want to leave a legacy for my children.” Some might think the lack of emotion in Vik’s deep tones belied his words.
Maddie knew better.
His dark brown eyes burned with certainty. “Archer International Holdings will be that legacy.”
“But we’re not engaged.” She couldn’t help the small bit of sarcasm.
Maddie was unsurprised by Vik’s lack of response.
CHAPTER FIVE
MADDIE’S TIME IN the lawyer’s office went quickly, though the elderly man did ask if she was sure she knew what she was doing.
Maddie had no doubts.
Vik stood when she came back into the anteroom, no sign he was in any way upset about what she’d been doing. “All finished?”
“Yes.”
“Do you have any plans for the rest of today?”
“No.”
Vik put his hand on the small of her back and walked with her out of the law office. “Good.”
“Why?”
“We have a photo shoot with the magazine photographer this evening. He’ll join us for dinner at your father’s mansion. My grandparents will be there.”
“Playing happy famili
es? Is that really necessary?”
“Yes.”
When they reached the parking garage, he led her to his car, the limo and SUV full of bodyguards nowhere in evidence.
“Conrad is in the limo with a redheaded decoy.” Vik opened the passenger door of the black amethyst Jaguar XJL for Maddie.
She settled into the luxury car. “Better her than me. I would have made a lousy celebrity.”
“You think?” he asked. “Your father thinks you’ve been doing your best to become the next reality TV star.”
“Just Madcap Madison, version two-point-oh.”
Vik’s expression went from smile to grimace, reflecting Maddie’s own conflicting feelings about her mom’s escapades in the light of adulthood. “In many ways Helene Madison Archer was an amazing woman and she raised a strong and impressive daughter, but the way she chose to cope with the things she didn’t like in her life wasn’t healthy. You must see that.”
“I do.” It had taken some time, but Maddie had come to that conclusion a while ago. The Madcap was something Maddie was doing her best to drop from her name. “Believe it, or not, I’ve always been very careful what part of my life I allow the media into.”
“Perry isn’t so choosy.”
Vik was in the driver’s seat, their identity obscured behind the Jaguar’s tinted windows, when she replied. “Perry is an idiot who relied on our friendship to protect him from the consequences of his lies.”
“It is.”
“You think so?” She indulged in an old favorite secret pastime as he drove out of the financial district and through Chinatown toward Van Ness.
Watching Viktor Beck.
Memories of their recent kiss played over in her mind, a mental movie she could not seem to turn off and that caused a visceral reaction in her body. A reaction she wasn’t sure if she should try to suppress, or not.
If they were getting married, reacting to his kiss was a good thing, right?
Thankfully, she didn’t have to answer the disturbing question of whether she would marry him for the sake of her dreams if she wasn’t attracted to him. How much of her father’s ruthlessness colored Maddie’s spirit?
She was sure Jeremy Archer would say the papers she’d just signed answered that question, but that wasn’t how she saw it.
