True to her word, Adelie helped pin fabric and then held it up to keep it from dragging on the floor as Ella guided it through her sewing machine. The friendly chatter and jokes about Hawk’s uneasiness with airplanes and confined spaces and how Ella worried she’d have to drug her husband if she wanted to get him to take her on any kind of honeymoon, the prattle about Charlotte’s boyfriend, and about how Grammy Larsen’s job working at Ever After Sweet Shoppe had lasted longer than she’d planned on, but how she enjoyed sneaking treats every chance she could, warmed Adelie’s heart.
Still, by the time she left, she wasn’t ready to go back to Maddox’s house. Her heart ached for the connection they’d shared while in Paris. Though Ella had called his mansion her home, Adelie wasn’t sure where that was anymore.
***
“Would you hold still? You’re making me dizzy.”
Maddox hadn’t been able to stay in one place. He’d hardly slept the night before. His final conversation with Adelie before she’d darted from his home had been a broken record in his mind ever since. How could he have ever let this happen?
Showing what a good friend he was, Duncan had come at Maddox’s request, but he didn’t get the chance to take Maddox’s offer and sit down. Instead, he’d stood in front of the closed office door, jacket in hand, and gaped at him.
“You’d pace too if you’d just lost the love of your life,” Maddox grumbled.
“The love of your life?” Duncan’s tone was snider than usual. Maddox gave him a sidelong glance. While his friend was notoriously snappish at his own office, he wasn’t usually that way here with him. Had something happened?
Duncan brushed something from the jacket in his hand. “I can’t say I’ve ever had that pleasure.”
Upon first arrival, Duncan had admitted he’d gotten into another spat with his assistant over something completely trivial. Seriously, how could booking flights be cause for an argument?
While Maddox’s best friend had fired plenty of assistants in the past for lesser reasons—he’d fired one girl for spelling a name wrong on a company invitation, for goodness’ sake—it wasn’t like Duncan to complain this much about Rosabel and do nothing about it.
It gave Maddox a sneaking suspicion that the rumors Duncan also complained about—that something more between him and Rosabel was going on—were true. If that was the case, Maddox couldn’t understand why Duncan wouldn’t just admit he had feelings for his assistant.
“Forget it,” Maddox said, regretting he’d invited Duncan over in the first place. He’d needed someone to talk to, though. Speaking with Duncan in person wasn’t the respite he’d hoped for.
Duncan placed his jacket on the bar, crossed the room, and stopped Maddox with his hands on his shoulders. “Look. I’m sorry. I didn’t know you liked her so much. I thought you—”
“I told you how I felt about her,” Maddox argued. “Don’t tell me you’re taking Ruby’s side in this.”
“It was crazy rushed, man,” Duncan said in his defense. “You just up and married her. How else is it supposed to look?”
Maddox shook his head. “I didn’t care how it looked. It wasn’t supposed to leak, not until we were ready.”
“And now that it is, the whole world is going to think the same thing as Ruby.”
“I have to do something,” Maddox said, frustrated by the entire turn of events. “She thinks this is all about the money for me.”
“Ruby?”
“No,” he snapped. “Adelie.”
Duncan lifted his hands. “You mean it’s not about the money?”
Maddox worked to keep his frustration in check. “No, and while we’re on the subject, why did you tell Ruby at all? You’re the one who warned me about getting Ruby involved.”
Duncan shrugged. “When Ruby called me to find out where you were, I didn’t answer. She talked to Rosabel instead. Then when she got a hold of me later, I assumed Ruby knew when she mentioned you were in Paris.”
Maddox sank onto his couch and ran his hands through his hair. Relief seeped through some of his frustration. At least he knew Duncan hadn’t betrayed him.
“Sorry,” he said. “I’m just on edge from all of this. I know you’re trying to help me.”
Duncan inclined his head to one shoulder. “Don’t get me wrong, I’ve got problems of my own. I’d get a fake wife myself if it hadn’t turned out so rotten for you. Maybe that would get my staff to believe there’s nothing going on between Rosabel and me.”
The words struck Maddox. He wasn’t about to confront Duncan about Rosabel again, not since he’d closed up about her so entirely the last time he’d tried.
“That’s just it, though. Our marriage has been mind-blowing, the way she’s so perfect for me, the way I feel like I’d do anything for her. Adelie is such a sweetheart. She makes me want to conquer the world for her—if it needed conquering. I don’t want it to be over.”
Duncan frowned at him. “Then what are you still doing here?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know how to prove it to her, how to prove I care about her and not the money.” Thanks to Ruby, Wonderland was in the way. It’d been in the way since he’d met Adelie, when it started out as something good and beautiful he’d created in honor of his mother.
“You could always close Wonderland.”
Duncan’s words traveled to Maddox as if from a distance. The thought was so simple and obviously meant as another joke, but it struck a chord inside Maddox. Slowly, he rose to his feet and stared at his friend.
“You’re a genius.”
He held a palm toward him. “I wasn’t being serious.”
He glanced out the window of Maddox’s office, which he’d purposefully located in the White Rabbit’s house so he could take in the exhilaration of the park without anyone knowing he was there.
Unable to wipe the dawning smile from his face, Maddox strode over and clapped him on the back. “Can I borrow Rosabel’s assistance again?”
“Rosabel?” Duncan said, as though he’d forgotten who she was.
“Yes,” Maddox said with a laugh. Rosabel, the one everyone in Duncan’s office thought Duncan was having an illicit relationship with when really the two could hardly stand to be in the same room together.
Maddox still wasn’t sure why Duncan hadn’t found a different assistant, one who would suit him better. He had to have feelings for her.
“You sure she won’t mind taking care of a few things for me?” Maddox asked.
Duncan paused before his lips twisted against a smile. “She won’t mind. She loves doing extra work.” His tone gave Maddox the impression the opposite was true.
Maddox retreated from the idea. Rosabel had helped him out a lot the past few weeks, and he didn’t want to make her feel unappreciated.
He surrendered his hands. “You know what? Never mind. I don’t want to bother her.”
“No, please,” Duncan said too eagerly. He tapped his screen. “She loves to be bothered.”
Maddox opened his mouth to protest when a woman’s voice could be heard through Duncan’s phone.
“Hey, there, Assistant. My buddy has a request for you.”
Maddox didn’t like it. How could Duncan treat her this way? How could Rosabel put up with it?”
Sneering, self-satisfied, Duncan offered him his phone. Reluctantly, Maddox took it
“Hey, there, Rosabel.”
“Hey, Mr. Hatter,” Rosabel said sweetly. Was she annoyed? She hadn’t been when she’d coordinated his honeymoon at the last minute. Maddox should have considered her feelings more carefully.
“I’m sorry to bother you again. You did a fantastic job with my accommodations in Paris. I just wanted to thank you.”
“Oh?” Her tone turned shrewd. “Would you please tell Mr. Hawthorne how nice it is to hear those words once in a while?”
Maddox froze with the feeling he’d landed himself in some kind of battle between the two of them. A battle he was sure he wanted nothing of. A
s Duncan had said, he had his own problems right now.
He cleared his throat awkwardly. “Yes, well, that’s all I wanted to say.”
“Sorry,” she said, sounding exasperated and repentant. “I shouldn’t talk to you like that.” She cleared her throat as well and then her tone brightened. “Mr. Hawthorne said you had something to ask me?”
Maddox grimaced. He could take care of this himself. Or hire his own assistant. He didn’t have time for that, though. Truly, he needed Rosabel’s help. Maddox spilled his idea, reassuring himself that he’d make it worth her while.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Adelie stared at her medical terminology course page. The test results were in, and hers were unbelievable. A ninety-three percent? Even after how muddled she’d felt after things with Maddox when everything capsized, even when she hadn’t been able to think as clearly as usual, she’d still managed to remember everything she’d studied?
She could live without him after all. That was evident from the results of her test.
But she didn’t want to.
Her conversation with Ella and Grammy Larsen clamored through her mind. She wanted to follow their advice, to talk to Maddox, but she wasn’t sure how.
Among everything she’d considered doing—contacting her bank and refunding him what was left of the money he’d awarded her; going to Westville City Hall to have their marriage annulled; hiding out in her family home for the rest of her life—none of the options held much appeal.
It was much like the way she felt in her home. She’d held onto it for so long because of the many cherished memories here, because of its safety. But a home was about the people who lived there more than anything else. Not that she didn’t love Suzie, but this was completely different.
She didn’t need safety. She needed the out-on-a-limb kind of bravery Maddox had encouraged her to find, that she would never have dared to seek before she’d met him.
Adelie slammed her laptop closed and rose to her feet so fast she nearly knocked it from the table. An idea struck her. It was terrifying and tempting and made her feel as though her joints had turned to jelly. But she had to.
She rushed out to the street, into her car, and drove toward the WV3 television station. It was a large rectangular structure with two massive satellite dishes on the roof. If only she’d thought to get Wendy Hendricks’ contact information, but during the two encounters with the pesky news anchor, her thoughts had been too skittered to even consider it. Hopefully, she could find her now, or at least talk to someone who could help her.
A live broadcast. The idea terrified the socks off of her, but she couldn’t think of any other way to prove to Maddox that she’d changed; to tell not only him but the world how she’d come to feel for him during their too-short marriage.
She’d braved a photo shoot. She’d navigated Parisienne streets alone. She’d stood up to his ex. She could do this.
The sun was a goldenrod yellow, highlighting the shrub beds speckled with spring flowers and glinting off the entrance’s silver knob. Adelie reached to open it when it turned of its own accord, and Maddox stepped out.
Adelie took a staggering step backward. His appearance lit a match to her pulse, sending it sky-high. Heat flushed in her cheeks, and her vision tunneled. In his black, button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled to his forearms, his tan slacks, and tousled hair, she saw only him.
“Adelie?” he said in surprise. His hand found her elbow. The touch was a charge all its own.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
“I could ask the same thing about you.” He stepped out, letting the door close behind them. The sun glowed, presenting a halo everywhere she looked. “I was just about to head to your house because I wanted to show you something.”
A metal bench sat in a collection of daffodils. Maddox accompanied Adelie to it, guiding her to sit down before taking the open space beside her. She had come to life having him close to her once more.
“Show me what?” she asked.
He pulled out his phone and tapped on a YouTube broadcast. The stage was one she recognized, the WV3 studio she’d seen on her TV screen more times than she could count. She also recognized Wendy, with her dark hair. But sitting across from her on the interview hot seat wasn’t Ruby or even Duncan, as Adelie suspected it might be.
It was Maddox.
Adelie tensed in an instant. “Oh no. Maddox, what did you do?”
“Quiet, or you’ll miss it,” he said with a smile.
After a brief introduction, the anchor’s background changed. Wendy stood in front of Wonderland’s whimsical gates, but instead of gaping open in welcome to the hordes flocking in for a day of festivity, the pave stone distance from the gates to the top hat ticket booths, to the park’s entrance, the spinning, coiling rides, everything was motionless, as still and silent as the morning Maddox had given her a private tour.
Wendy lifted her stout microphone to her lips and spoke.
“Wonderland is closing its doors, folks. The white rabbit is staying in hiding. Reasons behind this sudden, bold move by the park’s owner, Maddox Hatter, continue to be a mystery, especially considering his recent, outlandish remodel of the attraction.”
The screen returned to an image of Maddox, sitting across from Wendy in the WV3 studio. Strangely enough, in the news broadcast, he was wearing the same black, button-up shirt and tan pants he currently wore, sitting beside her.
“Did you just film this?” she asked.
He squeezed her knee. “Keep watching.”
“Mr. Hatter,” Wendy said, “thanks for joining me here at the studio.”
“Thanks for having me,” Maddox said, resting a hand on his knee. Adelie didn’t fail to notice the wedding ring on his finger. Her gaze flicked to his left hand now, and butterflies coiled in her stomach at the silver band circling there.
“This news of Wonderland’s sudden closure is quite the story. Would you care to share your reasons for such a drastic change?”
On the screen, Maddox shifted in his seat. His tone turned from friendly to something more sinister.
“Some rumors have begun to circulate regarding my recent marriage to Adelie Carroll, and I like to think that the truth is better than anything else, wouldn’t you?”
“I would, indeed,” Wendy said with a little chuckle. “All right, then, what is this truth?”
“That my personal life is no one else’s business. I married Adelie Carroll because I fell in love with her, and we prefer to stay out of the public eye from now on.”
“And what about Wonderland? Will you sell the park?”
“That remains to be seen,” he said.
Wendy’s broadcast shifted back to the image of her at Wonderland’s gates. “And there you have it, folks. Looks like our billionaire is keeping things pretty close to the chest.”
Wendy continued her story, giving a brief history of Wonderland along with its recent success, causing faithful attendees to marvel at this sudden and unexpected closure of such a successful park.
The video began buffering, and Maddox locked the screen with his thumb.
Adelie flurried between amazement, shock, and complete ecstasy. He’d said he loved her—on TV. He’d closed Wonderland. She wiped her clammy palms on her thighs and attempted to shake sense into her brain.
“Maddox,” she breathed.
His eyes were pinned right to her. “You can search it—it’s all over the internet by now. WV3 was eager for a juicy story, so when I told Wendy I had one, she hurried to get it out before anyone else.”
“I—how? Why? Why would you do that?” Adelie couldn’t seem to form the words. They came out in a jumbled blur.
He lowered his phone to his knee. His lips lifted into an irresistible smirk. “Do you really have to ask?”
She reached for his hand. “You can’t close your park. What about your mom? Your tribute to her? And your investors—what about Duncan?”
He lifted her hand to his l
ips and pressed a lasting kiss to her knuckles. The touch simmered in her stomach and curled her toes in her shoes.
He spoke against her hand. “I did it because I couldn’t think of any other way to tell you I love you.”
Adelie’s breath caught in her throat. She shifted to face him, eager for the closeness he offered.
Maddox laced his fingers with hers and put his free arm around her, drawing her to him. “I wanted to tell you I don’t care about the money or the brand, but how would you ever know with the park still running as it was? You need to know, none of it matters, not if it jeopardizes you. You’ve come to mean more to me than I ever thought you would, I want us to stay married. I want you to continue to be my wife, Adelie.”
With deliberation, Maddox shifted from the bench and knelt before her. Her heart pounded like a rabbit’s hind leg. Digging in his pocket, he retrieved something and offered it in his palm. Her ring glistened in the morning sunlight.
“Adelie Hatter, will you still be my wife?” Maddox asked. “Wear my ring, take my name, and share a life with me?”
Moments like this usually landed a spotlight on her and made her feel as though a thousand eyes were watching, made her feel as though anything she said would be the wrong thing. But that dormouse was gone, hidden in a teacup. This time, Adelie sat up straight, chest fairly bursting with assurance and confidence.
“No expiration date?”
Maddox chuckled. “No end in sight. I want you forever.”
She waited for a sign that this was the dream. This was the riddle, the confusing path leading only to more confusion. That any minute now she’d nibble and change size once more.
There was no shift. No confusion. No sudden change. This was reality, life outside of the rabbit hole. Maddox Hatter was kneeling before her, asking her to be his wife. Because he loved her. Because he’d gotten to know her and still wanted her.
Her response came so easily it was a wonder all of its own.
“Yes,” she said, grinning from ear to ear. “Yes.”
His mouth made the journey to hers with direct targeting, with deliberation and tentative slowness. The pressure was just enough. Once, twice, three times, each touch opened a new door within her, flipping on switches and creating light inside her. She mapped the way, matching his motion for motion. Resting a hand on his shoulder, his neck, weaving her fingers into his hair.
Alice And The Billionaire's Wonderland (Once Upon A Billionaire Book 3) Page 19
