But the instant they set foot in Savannah, being his sometimes wife would be over.
* * *
Chapter 11
«^»
Alex stared out the window in his offices, his hands clasped behind his back. He wanted to ignore the woman standing opposite his desk, but he knew the confrontation had been a long time coming. He and Madison had managed to slip into the city unnoticed and enjoy nearly two weeks without the press or anyone else infringing on their privacy. He'd done his best to keep it that way, and though he'd taken her out only a few times, that had been their undoing. Word traveled too fast and he didn't want anything to get back to Angus and spoil the deal that was days away. They were both back to the real world, Madison caring for a widower's children and he … well, he was confronting his mistakes again.
"Are you at least going to look at me?"
"We have nothing to say to each other, Elizabeth."
"You're upset that I called you when you were on your little vacation. I said I was sorry."
"You lied to my secretary. You nearly cost Parrish her job."
"I just wanted to talk with you."
"So talk."
"Not when you're this … cold."
He turned his gaze from the view of the harbor. "I haven't changed, Liz."
"Yes, you have. I saw you in town with her. Everyone did. But they don't know what I know."
Alexander faced her fully. "And that is?"
"You're married, aren't you?"
His shoulders tensed. "No."
"You're wearing a ring, Alex. Like hers."
He glanced down at the band. He hadn't taken it off yet. He couldn't, as if doing so would unravel his life with Madison. "It's just a ring."
"Then why on that finger? And did you register as Mr. and Mrs. Donahue just to shack up for a couple of weeks of hot sex?"
Alex's features went taut. She'd had him investigated. "Damn you."
"Is it true?"
Alex refused to respond.
"No, you'd never marry. Not even for good sex."
"Don't be vulgar, Liz."
Liz's gaze slid between the look on his face and the ring he twisted. "Why were you her lover and not mine?"
He stared her down. "This conversation is over, Elizabeth."
Suddenly she was close. "What is she to you? I have a right to know."
"We're … friends."
Further words snagged in his throat as he looked past Liz to Madison standing in the doorway, his secretary behind her.
Liz twisted, smiling thinly and running her hand down his chest before she stepped away.
"Maddy," he said, moving around the desk and coming to her. The look on her face made him stop in his tracks.
Madison fought the hole digging in her heart and searched his gaze, his handsome features. "Friends, Alexander?"
He glanced briefly at Liz. "Not now, Maddy."
It hit her then. Really hit her. They'd been together most of the time since returning from Michigan. He worked out of his home, picked her up after work. Not because they didn't want their marital status to get back to Angus, but because Alex wasn't ready to admit to anyone, even to the one person he should, that they had a relationship. A very loving, honest relationship. Until now.
Liz glanced between the two, hiding her smile. "I'll see you later, Alex."
"No." Madison said, without taking her gaze from Alexander's. "Don't bother. I'll go." She turned on her heels and left.
Alex was stunned motionless.
"I knew it," Liz said. "I knew you didn't want what she had to offer."
Alex's features pulled tight, and he bolted from the office, skidding to a halt before the elevators. She was already inside, and the doors were closing. "Madison."
She didn't speak, her wound so clear in her eyes. A tear fell. Alex swore he heard his heart fracture. The door hushed closed.
He didn't lose her. He didn't. He wouldn't let it happen. She was in for a surprise if she thought she could leave him without a fight.
* * *
The timer binged. Madison jolted up from where she lay curled on the sofa, blinking first at Kat, then the table between them. "A drumroll please," she muttered, and together they leaned over the glass table to stare at the plastic stick. Positive. "Wonderful." Madison flopped into the sofa. A baby. Alex's baby. The thought of holding his child inside her sent unbelievable joy through her. And sadness. She was on her own.
Katherine settled in the Louis XIV chair with all the elegance of his queen. "You don't look that upset."
Madison stared out the window, not seeing the flat, grassy land leading to the best deep-water view in Savannah. "I'm not. I was hoping my suspicions weren't true, is all. Dang. We used tons of protection."
"Apparently one of those icky things broke."
A little smile curved her lips when she thought of the times making love with him was so vigorous it was entirely possible. Especially the night they'd drunk wine on the beach.
"You're not going to tell him, are you?"
Madison looked down at her hands clenched in her lap. She'd been on her way to his office to tell him her suspicions when she'd heard him tell Liz… "No. I won't."
Katherine frowned. "That's not fair to Alex."
"I can't. He'd insist on marrying me because of a baby and resent me and our child for forcing him into a corner." Her voice broke. "I couldn't bear that."
"I think you underestimate his feelings for you."
Madison turned her gaze on Katherine.
"I've seen him a few times since you returned from Michigan. Everyone is talking about the changes in him. Until a couple of days ago, he wore a sappy smile he couldn't wipe off."
That was a comfort, but she had to be realistic. "He'd made it perfectly clear what he wanted, Kat. I understood that going in. That scene only proved it." Her voice wavered again, and she swallowed. "I'm trying to respect his preferences, when I'd rather scream to the heavens how much I love him." She cocked her head. "You know he rarely asked about my family. It's like he didn't want to dig too deep. Or get involved any more than what he could handle on a temporary basis."
"Well then, I guess you aren't going to like this any more than the Mercedes." When Madison wouldn't answer his calls, Alex had done what a millionaire did well, he'd sent her a gift. A new Mercedes delivered to her door. She'd sent it back with an envelope. In it was the diamond ring she'd worn while playing his wife.
Madison felt dread dip through her as Kat twisted to the side table and slipped a paper free from her planner. She leaned forward to hand it to her.
Madison stared at her Wife Incorporated statement and the six-figure deposit he'd made in her account. "Damn him."
* * *
The next morning she hadn't calmed yet as she strode into his corporate office and slapped the paper on his desk. "Explain this."
He didn't have to look. "I paid you as I would any person, lawyer or financier—" he shrugged "—who'd helped me get that company." His heart had jumped to life the instant she'd stepped inside and was now beating furiously. Even if she was spitting mad.
"You might as well have left twenty dollars on the nightstand."
Instantly his look turned black. "Don't cheapen what we have."
She shook the bank draft. "You did!"
Remorse cloaked his features, and he moved around the edge of the desk, slowly, because she looked like a doe about to bolt. "I'm sorry. I did it to get you here, Maddy and you need the money, I know you do."
"Not from you. I was a banker, Alex. I can take care of myself. I work for Wife Incorporated because I want to, because I'm good at it. This—" she flicked the draft "—tells me what I've ignored because of my feelings for you. We don't want the same things. We don't even see the same things, or you would have told the truth about us to Liz."
"She already knew."
"That doesn't matter. She was as much the public eye as a newspaper – and if you want to play it safe, then fin
e…" Madison's eyes burned, her heartache stealing her breath. "Play alone."
Alex's heart slammed against the wall of his chest. "No, dammit." He hesitated, grinding his hand over his face. "I don't want to end this, Maddy."
She shook her head. "You don't have a choice. The first chance you had, you gave me up like a sacrifice, rather than admit we were lovers. I don't want to be the best-kept secret in Savannah."
That sounded like a threat. "And you think a proposal will change that?"
"No, not from you." She turned toward the door.
Panic seized him. "What do you expect from me?" She glanced. "Did I ever demand anything from you?"
She hadn't. She only gave. "No expectations. We agreed."
Her gaze narrowed, her temper rising as she faced him. "Right, we did. And now, don't expect anything from me, Alexander. I don't want your high-priced crumbs."
His features tightened, and he felt backed into a corner. "Did you give me your virginity so when the push came, I'd feel guilty enough to marry you?"
Hurt clutched at her throat. Tears burned her eyes. Alex realized his carelessness an instant before she slapped him.
The imprint of her hand reddened on his tanned cheek as she tore the bank draft in two, then turned away.
"Madison – I—" Alex cursed foully. What had gotten into him to say that!
She threw the shredded paper back over her shoulder as she strode from his office.
He dropped into his leather chair and swung toward the view, a profound and cutting sadness ripping through his chest. He leaned forward, bracing his elbows on his knees, his hands over his face. Oh, God. What have I done?
And why didn't he go after her?
* * *
Alex had told himself this was what he wanted. Safe. Life with boundaries. Except he was coming apart at the seams, the ache in his chest increasing as the days passed. He couldn't work, snapping at everyone, and he couldn't sleep – she walked through his dreams when she did. Tossing back a gulp of brandy, he relished the burn on its way to his stomach as he stared out the window. Even in the darkness, he could see the azaleas she'd planted in the garden. They'd argued mildly about it. He hadn't wanted them. She'd said he needed to join the living, that the condo looked as if no one lived here. It was never a home, not to him. He'd forgotten what home was until Madison showed him.
He rubbed his face and sighed. God, this hurts.
He glanced to the side, his gaze falling on a framed photo of her holding her fish and smiling like the sun. Just to look at her made his chest burn with pain. Beside that picture were more. She'd dug them out of an old storage box, pictures of his parents, of him as a child. She hadn't done it for herself, but for him. And it made him see that putting his heart in a box wouldn't protect himself from pain.
No, he thought, he'd brought that upon himself. Again. He'd betrayed her with cruel words. He'd pushed her away because he was afraid she had what he wanted, and he was too scared to take it. His throat tightened miserably and he sank into a chair. He missed her. Nothing filled the emptiness. Nothing ever would. He looked up at the phone, then went to it, dialing. A recording told him the number had been disconnected. Panicked, he called the operator for another listing. There wasn't one. Alex raced outside and drove to her apartment. A For Rent sign hung in the window. He rapped on the door, anyway. Then, standing on Gaston Street
in the middle of the night, Alex felt the impact of how much he'd lost – and how deeply he could love.
* * *
She'd vanished. And very slowly he was going mad.
"Dammit, Katherine, tell me where she is."
"I can't. She asked me not to."
Alex ran his fingers though his hair as he paced before her desk. "I can't believe she'd cut me out like this."
He looked awful, dark rings under his eyes and she'd swear he'd slept in his clothes. If he slept at all. "She needs to be alone."
"I need her."
Katherine's heart clenched at the softly uttered words, hurt and lonely and in love. But he would be the last man to admit it aloud. She leaned forward, her elbows braced on the desk. "You could find her if you wanted."
"I do want! Good Lord, I've called and looked everywhere and," he stopped long enough to glare at her, "why didn't you tell me she was a partner with you in Wife Incorporated?"
"She's a silent partner. Ten percent. The dividends pay her bills, but don't keep her head that far above water."
What bills did she need to pay except her own? And it wasn't like Madison to run. But then, no one hurt her like he had.
Katherine rose from her chair and skirted the edge of her Queen Anne desk. "You wounded my friend deeply and to rail at you now would be rude, but Alexander, you apparently said some awful things."
He rubbed his face and sank miserably into the plush chair. "I practically accused her of trapping me."
"Oh, Alex."
Shame mapped his features. "I've ruined the best thing that's ever happened to me."
"Want some cheese with that whine?"
He lifted his gaze. "I don't need jokes. I need you to tell me where she is."
"I can't. I swore a Kappa Delta oath."
Alex had had enough. His future was at stake and he'd be damned if he'd let their sorority pact keep him from the woman he loved. He rose, looming over her petite form. "You either tell me, Katherine Beaucamp Davenport, or I will tell Cookie Ledbetter that Savannah's leading lady has a tattoo on her hip."
Her eyes flew wide. "You wouldn't dare!"
He arched a dark brow, the sharp snap of a raven's wing.
"You're that desperate you'd sully my reputation?"
"You got it."
* * *
Chapter 12
«^»
The deadline was up. Angus O'Malley was in town and prepared to sell. Timing couldn't be worse, Alex thought as he headed to his office, his steps hesitant. He didn't want to be here, not now.
"You look awful."
Alex jerked a look to the far end of his office, to the grouping of furniture artfully surrounded by palms. Angus rose from the sofa with his lawyers.
"I know. I apologize for the delay."
Angus inclined his head to his lawyers. The men departed quickly as Angus crossed to him.
Alex slung his briefcase onto the desk and sighed, raking his fingers through his neatly combed hair.
"What's the problem, son?"
Son. God, he could use his own father right now. He never felt so alone in his life. "There's something I need to tell you."
"That you're not married to Madison?"
His gaze flew to the old man's.
Angus smiled. "You don't think I'd sell my company to anyone without a thorough background check. I've known for some time."
"I apologize for lying, Angus. Madison—" he swallowed … it hurt just to say her name "—she didn't have anything to do with the lie. She helped me in a bad situation. I wanted this company badly and assumed if you thought I was married, you'd sell faster."
"I wouldn't give up my life's work to anyone else, son. Sean asked me not to."
Alex's eyes widened. "You knew my father?"
Angus nodded, recognizing the longing in the man's voice. "You're his image. It nearly killed me to be the one to take the company. And I've been watching you for years."
Alex's features tightened. "Why?"
"Your father and I … we started out the same, nothing but ideas and our tools. But we each had a little capital. If we'd been wise, we'd have pooled our resources and merged." He sent him a wry glance. "But we Irish tend to be too stubborn for our own good."
Alex smirked to himself.
"When Sean passed away, I felt obligated to watch over you, but knew you wouldn't accept help. And it was me who sent the lawyer to the jail when you were a kid."
"I always wondered how he'd found me." Alex rubbed his face, impatient to leave, to find Madison.
"I'm proud of you son, if that means any
thing."
Alex's throat clenched. "Yes, it does. I appreciate your saying so, Angus."
"So, what did you do to Madison?"
He looked at Angus, yet only saw the destroyed look on Madison's face when she'd slapped him. His chest constricted and he fell into the nearest chair, clutching his head. What a jerk he'd been. He'd no right to ask her forgiveness. But he had to. He felt barren and useless without her. He couldn't live like this. Not when he loved her more than his own life.
He loved her – truly, madly loved her. And the fear that it might be too late sent him out of the chair. "I can't buy your company, Angus. Thanks for the opportunity, but there are some things that are more important to me right now."
Alex didn't bother to say goodbye. He left the office at a dead run.
Angus smiled to himself. "Ah-h, laddie, you've finally learned."
* * *
Loud incessant hammering rudely woke her, and after mastering the threat of morning sickness, Madison went downstairs, silently complaining that it was just too dang early for house repairs. Although the place desperately needed them. She'd been gone for days, working hard, dragging herself in late last night after caring for a widower's children. She understood their pain, and her only comfort was that after trying to soothe their heartache and keeping them fed and moderately happy, their grandmother was with them now.
Claire looked up from the paper, then rose to pour her a cup of coffee. "Decaf."
Madison made a face, then sipped, wincing when the hammering started again. And the voices.
"Now, son, you got to level that first," her daddy said from somewhere close by.
"Sure, Davis, give me a hand? It's been a while."
The mug faltered in her hand, her heart pounding wildly as she stepped out onto the porch as Alex came around the side of the house with her father. Both men wore jeans and T-shirts, already sweating from the morning heat, and she tried not to notice Alex's smile. Or how much it hurt just to look at him. "I'm gonna kill Kat."
Every cell in Alex's body leaped to life, and he swore he could stand there for the rest of his life, just staring at her. Barefoot, wearing cut-off jeans and a Kappa Delta T-shirt, she never looked more beautiful. And unreceptive. "Actually, I blackmailed her." He laid the plank on the step and positioned it, his hand trembling a bit. He was so excited to see her, it took every ounce of willpower not to drag her into his arms and kiss the daylights out of her. "But she didn't give you up. I didn't know sorority pacts were so binding." He checked the level, not mentioning that Kat had given him a couple of hints.
GOING … GOING … WED! Page 13
