Page 9 of Madison

When the connection closed, more like it had been severed, he sat there on the couch thinking about what his mother was doing, second-guessing herself about the way she’d raised them. They were perfectly good men, and because of the way—Madison wondered if it was Layla who had said that to her, and now she was upset with herself.

Now, too angry again to do any napping, he got up and found that he’d heard from the realtor already. She’d sent him four files that he could go through at his leisure. It wasn’t until that moment that he realized just how late it was. Pissed off more, he slammed his computer down, wondering why someone, Ms. Jefferson was up at four in the morning answering e-mails from him.

Striding to his bedroom, he ripped off his clothing, tearing the zipper out of his pants, thinking of taking a shower. But the water wasn’t coming out the way that it should have been. Trying the other faucets in the apartment, he realized that he was indeed without water. Reaching for his phone, he leaped back from it when it rang just then.

“What the fuck are you doing?” He asked whomever it was who they were. “Layla. I’m trying to work here, and you being pissed off at everyone you think about is keeping me from working well at my job.”

“How do you know that it’s me making you bad at your job? Maybe you were never good at it in the first place.” He knew that was cruel of him to say, but before he could take it back, even if that was what he had been planning to do, she spoke to him.

“You’re right. How stupid of me to think that it’s something to do with you that I’ve had to pause several times at my job when you were having a temper tantrum. I shall, from this day forward, not contact you at all.” He said she was being childish. “Am I? Who is pissed off because his mother took him to task? Or that you’ve had your nap interrupted? Poor baby. Did you want me to send you a binky? Do you have a favorite blankie that you can’t find?” The pause was just enough for him to get his anger ready to lash out at her, but she spoke again. “Grow up, you arrogant ass hole. The world does not move to your satisfaction. I’m working here instead of whining about how others are treating me.”

He felt like the connection, this time with a phone, had been severed. This time, too, like the first time, he thought that it wasn’t his fault that he was angry. Madison wondered what she was doing in her so called job. It certainly could be that much of a job by the way that she lived.

The place that she lived in was hardly much more than a couple of rooms with windows. The furniture, too, wasn’t all that much if he remembered correctly. When he landed atop her, he could still feel her breasts as they were—it occurred to him that, at some point, he’d gotten off track. That was her fault, too.

Gathering up his files after printing them off for himself, Madison was determined that he wasn’t going to think about anyone for the rest of the day. Mother fuckers, all of them. Getting into his car, never one to purchase himself a new vehicle unless his current car was broken beyond repair, he drove to the first of the four houses that he’d been given. The two that he’d found and another two that she had sent him.

Madison didn’t bother pulling all the way into the first house. It was too dark. The sun was fully up now, and it still looked like the house was something from a horror movie. But then he thought it would suit that woman to a tee.

The next two houses he decided were much too small for her. She would want bigger. And other than going to his brother’s house and asking him to move out of his, he did hope that the last one would do for her. He’d wasted enough time on this job, and he had more important things to do.

As it so happened, there was an open house going on at the house. He’d never been to one of them, but he’d read about them on line. The house, this one, as a matter of fact, would be spruced up just to have some sucker pay too much for the place because it looked nice. He knew better than to fall for that trick.

Getting out of his car, he ambled his way around the place. The yard was massive. There was a large fenced off area in the back where he could see a bunch of kids having fun. The pool was covered up but lifting one corner of the cover up, he could see that it was a large underground one. Even when he was inspecting the filtration system as well as the outside spigots, Madison thought perhaps he’d found himself a good home. He knew that he’d been looking for someplace to get Layla out of his way, but the more he looked around, the more in love with it he fell.

Entering the front door, he was impressed with the wooden grand staircase that was in front of him. Also the beautiful tiled floors that led right up to them. To his left, there was an expansive library. A large couch was there as well. He thought it was called a fainting couch and had to immediately turn away, seeing Layla draped over the thing for him.

To the right, he saw that it was a sitting room. Going into the room, he was annoyed that there were other people walking around his house. There were floor to ceiling doors that were opened to the nice weather they were having. A garden area was just out of the room, making the entire room look twice as large. He could almost see a Christmas tree in the corner of one of the doors with a dozen or so kids waiting for their wrapped presents.

“Mr. Walsh?” He turned, trying not to snarl at the woman who was speaking to him, and had to brace himself for whatever she might be telling him. “I’m Ms. Jefferson. I had hoped that you’d come by this house. It’s a lovely home and suited to someone that has a great deal of things going on with their lives.”

“How much? I won’t pay any more for it than I think is a good price.” She looked taken aback, but she kept the smile, a tight one now on her face. “Also, I won’t be suckered into paying for a nice house and then finding out that it has everything under the sun wrong with it. I will not allow you or anyone to swindle me out of my money. Do I make myself perfectly clear?”

When his head snapped back, he realized two things at once. He’d been slapped by a stranger, and she’d walked away from him without allowing him to tell her off. But when he looked around the room he was in, there were several people in the room with him, and two of them had their phones out. No doubt looking for something that would make them the next sensation. Whatever that might be.

Leaving, the house now spoiled for him, he made his way to the car. When it didn’t start right away, he was within seconds of tossing the fucker into the nicely arranged flower bed next to where he’d parked.

Once it started, he made his way to the bank. He was going to buy the sucker now, and he didn’t want to hear a thing about how he’d been mean to the woman. Christ, was everyone sensitive nowadays.

He decided that he needed to chill a bit before someone removed his head for him. Taking several deep breaths, he was reasonably sure that he could talk to the banker and not have to scream at anyone. Just as he was being called to the banker’s office, he knew that someone had called the man about his justifiable behavior at the house. The man was about as short and nasty as the other woman had been when he was at the house.

“The house is for sale, yes, but we have other offers on it from the open house. I’m sorry, Mr. Walsh, but you’ll have to bid on it as the others have been.” He didn’t think that he was the least bit sorry but didn’t point it out to him. Right now, there is a bidding war on, so to speak, between three people, not including you. If you’d like to buy the house, you’ll have to—”

“One million.” The banker looked so startled that he was sure that he’d not expected that. “And if I need to go more, I will. I need…want that house.”

“Obviously. I will, if you could wait a moment, call Liza and tell her that I have a bid for the home.” He left him in the office as he went to make the call. There was a phone on his desk and Madison couldn’t figure out why he had to be all secretive or something. Just as he was ready to get up and leave, he returned. “I’ve put in your bid, sir. I’m sorry to say, but the others are considering their options. I won’t have an answer for you until the end of the day.”

Nodding, he got up to leave. When the man, he had no idea what his name was, cleared his throat. It was then that he realized that the man was a lion shifter. Not that it bothered him all the much, but when he let a little of his beast go, Madison, even though he was a much larger dragon, had him taking several steps back. “If you ever talk to my wife like that again, I will rip your head off while you’re down. Good day, sir.”

With a quick glance at the name plate on the desk, he saw that he was dealing with Mr. Donald Jefferson. Leaving the room before he said something that might well lose his chances at the house, he left the office. Christ, oh mighty. Nothing was going his way.

Chapter 2

“Hi, Doc Layla. I fell again.” She knew better than that, and she was reasonably sure that he understood that she didn’t believe him. Kyle Anderson had been in the emergency room four times in the last two months. All of the reasons for his wounds was that he’d fallen. “My daddy said I wasn’t to have you do anything that would save my life. But that you were to just fix me up so that I can get home to my chores.”

Deciding something then, she sat down on the little chair that was in the little room that she and Kyle were in. Thinking about what to say without getting either of them in trouble, she put her hand out, and Kyle put his much smaller, bruised-up hand into hers.

“I need you to tell me the truth. Please. I think I really know what is going on at your home, but I can’t help you, and I will until I know the truth.” He nodded and then looked around the room. “Where is your dad now? Work? No, that can’t be it. I don’t think he’s worked at all for a long time.”

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