Page 15 of Heartless

“At your services.” He raised his glass for a toast. “I’m a little disappointed, though.”

“Why?”

“If she’s an employee, I can’t fuck her.”

I shook my head at him. “I know you’re not picky when it comes to pussy, but come on.”

“What?” Ryan tilted his head. “You can’t deny she’s hot.”

“She’s a menace.”

“It doesn’t really matter now, does it? If she’s an employee, she’s off limits.”

“Trust me, man. You’re better off.”

We drank another round of bourbon, and Ryan left. He didn’t live on the property and he had a life outside of The Gemstone. Unlike me.

Left to my own devices, my mind started obsessing over every little detail that could go wrong with Madison Hartley being here. The more I thought about it, the more I convinced myself that Ryan’s idea was the only option.

Around midnight, I sat down to write an email to Katie and ask her to draft Madison’s contract. Before I sent it though, I deleted it and drafted the papers myself, then emailed them to the lawyer. It was after one a.m. when I took my phone, opened my contacts list, and started writing Madison’s name. I still had her number from the last time she called me more than a year ago. My thumb lingered over her name, but I decided against calling. I texted instead.

Me: Can you come to The Gem tomorrow?

Texting a woman I hated and who hated me in the middle of the night? I felt like an idiot. She was probably asleep and even if she wasn’t, why would she answer? She would just show up unannounced, happy to mess up my entire day.

I went to the bedroom, left my phone on the nightstand and started taking my clothes off. I needed a long shower to wash off the long day.And if the hot shower didn’t put me into sleeping mode, I could go out in the gardens for a walk.

As I was walking through the bathroom door, I heard my phone ping with a message. It had to be Madison, since no one texted me in the middle of the night. Not Ryan. Not even Jessica.

I contemplated ignoring the message until after I showered, but I was too curious of what her answer might be, so I turned around and walked over to the night stand.

Madison: When?

Me: Ten?

Her answer came a second later.

Madison: Okay.

Was that it? Okay? After I tried to bribe her to take Annie elsewhere, then threatened to make her life miserable if she stayed here?

I didn’t know what to write back, so I just left the conversation and took a shower.

Sleep wasn’t on my cards that night. I walked around the gardens for hours, then went back, took another shower, this time a cold one, and got ready for work.

That had become a routine for me in the past few years. I spent one sleepless night just to fall asleep on the couch in my suit the next evening.

About nine hours after I texted Madison, I was standing in the garden, close to the main building, scanning the lobby through the floor to ceiling windows. She appeared at ten o’clock, an energetic bounce to her steps and determination written all over her face, like she had an entire plan on how to kick my ass before noon. It was a good thing I had just finished my third coffee of the day.

“Good morning,” she offered a hand to Katie, ignoring me. “Your boss didn’t introduce us yesterday. I’m Madison. I was quite close withMr. Wilson’s previous assistant. If you are anything like her, I’m sure we will get along just fine.”

“If you are trying to push my buttons, it’s working,” I said, my tone flat. “You can stop now.”

“You’re so easy to rattle, it’s not even fun,” she pouted, and I caught myself staring at her mouth. Her red lipstick made her lips look…

I shook my head and cleared my throat, forcing my gaze to meet Madison’s. “Katie,” I extended my hand in my PA’s direction and nothing happened. Then I glanced at her. She just blinked, confused. “The papers.”

“Oh. Yes. Sorry.” She slapped the contract in my hand and I faced Madison again.

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