by Queen Pen
“Now, for the best part. The dress!” She walked over to the couch where the discarded garment bag was still lying.
She pulled out a knee length gold dress. I had to give it to her, she had great taste, but I felt the need to ask, “why am I getting all dressed up? I’m only going to dinner to appease the Mr. Madden,” I folded my arms over my chest.
Ms. Keddle’s smile dropped a bit as she laid the dress over the back of the couch, “because, Rebel. Mr. Madden would appreciate you getting dressed up for him. He might even give you a bit more freedom if he sees you’re putting in effort. Just trust me on this, okay?”
I sighed and nodded my head, gesturing for her to bring the dress over. She smiled again and happily obliged, “plus, he hasn’t invited a woman to dinner once in the few years I’ve known him.”
She slipped that little tidbit in there as if it should mean something. It didn’t, but then why did my stomach lurch when I processed what she said?
The small table was set for two and looked beautiful. The china glittered against the soft lighting and I had a nagging feeling that Ms. Keddle had something to do with the ambiance. It was so…romantic.
A chill ran up my spine, when I saw Maddey sitting at the table. He was leaned back in the chair with his elbow on the arm of it and his hand supporting his chin. His eyes never left mine as Ms. Keddle escorted me into the dining room. She pulled my chair out for me and then bustled off to the kitchen. I squirmed in my seat under his gaze. He didn’t say anything, so after a few moments, I blurted out the first question that came to mind.
“What did you tell everyone about my not being around?”
He didn’t respond right away. He just continued to stare. If this was how the night was going to go, then I was going to get nowhere, fast. He finally leaned forward and shrugged. “I had one of my guys hack into your phone and send Noella a text that you had an emergency with your dad, so you had to fly back home.”
My jaw dropped. “How did you break into my phone? It’s an iPhone. The FBI couldn’t even hack into an iPhone.”
He shrugged again, “I’m not the FBI.”
My eyes widened and I shook my head. “I need to call them, so they know I’m okay. My dad, too.”
“Have you made any progress with my case?” He asked suddenly. I was going to have to get used to his sudden subject changes.
“No…I’ve been too tired to do much of anything,” I fidgeted under his gaze again. He had a way of looking at me that made me feel like he was seeing more of me than I wanted.
“You mean hungry?” He smirked.
I shifted my gaze away, “that too.”
“I won’t allow you to starve yourself.” He stated.
“You can’t make me not starve myself,” I protested. I didn’t know who Maddey thought he was, but I wasn’t this shy little girl he could boss around. People mistook my niceness and non-confrontational traits for weakness, but I’d been through way too much to not stand up for myself.
“You think I can’t?” He growled back at me. Before I could respond, Ms. Keddle came out with food.
My stomach growled loudly in protest. I glanced up to see Ms. Keddle and Maddey share a knowing look which pissed me off. I had the fleeting thought to refuse the food, but my eyes landed on the golden fried chicken and knew it was game over. I grabbed a piece before she fully set the plates down and took a huge bite. I moaned at how good it tasted and chose to ignore the snicker that escaped Ms. Keddle’s mouth. I rolled my eyes and helped myself to the mac and cheese and greens. Ms. Keddle left the room and it was just Maddey and I once again.
I felt his gaze on me as I ate, but I ignored him as best as I could. I devoured two plates before he spoke, “I wasn’t sure if you’d like soul food.”
“Why wouldn’t I?” I asked defensively because I already knew where this conversation was heading.
“I couldn’t tell if you had any black in you. Your daddy is obviously white. Just wasn’t sure.”
At the mention of my father, I tensed up. “Don’t mention him again.” I said softly.
Maddey shrugged, “I’m just saying.”
“I’m half black and half Italian, but that shouldn’t matter. If it’s good food, I’ll eat it. You don’t have to be Chinese to like Chinese food.” I stated.
He looked at me for a moment before responding, “true.” I nodded and continued to eat as he asked, “so where’s yo mama, then?”
I tensed up again. He sure had a way of taking me out of my comfort zone. “She died after I was born. I never knew her.”
He was silent after that for a long time. We ate in silence and all that could be heard was the clinking of our forks against the plates. When we were both finished, he pushed his plate away and said, “I never knew my birth mother, either. She was a crack head. Left my brother and I at the fire station, when we were babies.”
I was shocked that he told me that and by the look on his face, so was he. I couldn’t get a word out before he changed the subject once again. “What kind of shit do you like doing?”
I was thrown off by the tone of his voice, but I answered anyways, “I love reading. When I’m not reading for school, I love fiction books. I’m a huge Harry Potter fan, but I also love urban fiction. I’m actually pretty boring. I don’t have many other hobbies.”
“You aren’t boring,” he responded. He never ceased to surprise me with what came out of his mouth.
“Thanks,” I said.
Ms. Keddle came back out of the kitchen at that moment. She smiled warmly at us, “do you two want dessert?”
Maddey stared at me, waiting for me to answer. I shook my head, “No, thank you. I’m afraid I’ll get sick if I eat any more.”
“Very well. Are you ready to go back to your room?” She asked.
I nodded again and stood up. I could feel Maddey’s eyes traveling up and down my body. Another chill ran up my spine as I glanced over my shoulder at him. His eyes met mine and he said, “I expect you at dinner every night from now on.”
This time, I was the one to not respond. Instead, I turned back around and followed Ms. Keddle out of the room.
Ten
I
had tossed and turned all night. It wasn’t nightmares that plagued me this time, it was thoughts of Maddey. Memories of my drunken night my first day in Vegas surfaced. Flashes of me laughing and Maddey looking at me with the closest thing to a smile I believed he could muster. Thoughts of our dinner last night and the way he looked at me kept replaying through my mind. I was terrified of Maddey and uncomfortable in his presence, but a small part of me was also intrigued by him and I couldn’t figure out why.
Ms. Keddle came into my room early the next morning and I hadn’t had a wink of sleep. I saw Chip zoom in behind her and I smiled a little. I hadn’t seen him since the day I got here. “Mrs. Rebel! Wake up! We have a surprise for you!”
“Shh, Chip. You weren’t supposed to tell her we had a surprise for her, remember?” Ms. Keddle scolded.
“Sorry, mama,” he said looking down at his shoes.
“Get up, Rebel. We have something to show you,” Ms. Keddle smiled at me.
I got out of bed, happy that my head wasn’t pounding anymore, but I sure was tired. I yawned and stretched as Chip bounced around excitedly and Ms. Keddle idled by patiently waiting for me.
Finally, I was ready to move around, so I looked at Ms. Keddle, “what’s the surprise?”
“I can’t tell you, but I can show you. Chip and I have been running around all morning so we could make it perfect for you.”
“Yeah! We went to a gazillion stores!” Chip chimed in with a grin.
“Is that right?” I grinned back at him and ruffled his afro. Chip laughed and then bounded out of the room as Ms. Keddle and I followed.
“How did you sleep?” She asked.
I shrugged, “not too well. It’s hard to sleep when you don’t know what the next day will bring.”
“Hang in there, Rebel
.” She squeezed my shoulder gently and stopped in front of a door that was a few doors down and across the hall from my room.
“Close your eyes!” Chip demanded.
I looked at Ms. Keddle hesitantly. She nodded, so I sighed and closed my eyes. I felt Chips tiny hand grab my own and tug me forward. We walked a few steps and then stopped. I stood there for a moment wondering if I should open my eyes and before I could ask Chips little voice told me to do just that.
I opened my eyes and gasped. I was standing in the middle of a large room filled with…books. Luken and Cornelius were filling an empty bookshelf with books from boxes that lay on the floor. The far end of the room was made out of windows and we were looking out over the busy roads of Vegas. There were couches and lounge chairs with rugs scattered across the room. There were at least twenty bookshelves against the walls and forming isles in the middle of the room as if it were a true library. I noticed that some of them were empty but there were still more books in here than I could read and that was saying a lot.
“We have more coming from Amazon. They should be here in a few days but we thought this was a good start.” Ms. Keddle said.
“Yeah and you’re in charge of putting them away, too! I’m fuckin tired!” Cornelius exclaimed. Luken laughed and Ms. Keddle glared at him.
I was speechless, but I finally found my voice, “you guys did this for me?”
“We did the physical work, but it was all Mr. Madden’s idea.” Ms. Keddle said.
“Do you like it?” Chip bounced around. I reached out for him and he ran into my arms. He was the sweetest little boy and I needed someone to unleash all this emotion on.
I wrapped him up in a hug and said, “yes, I love it.”
I willed myself not to cry as I took in the smell of new books. My heart leapt excitedly as I wondered which book to read first. I decided I would just pick one at random and work my way around the room.
I glanced over at Luken and Cornelius, “you guys can stop. I don’t mind putting them away.”
“Thank God cuz I’m hungry. Mama Keddle, can you make up some of your famous biscuits and gravy?” Cornelius rubbed his stomach.
As I watched him joke around with Luken and Ms. Keddle, I realized he wasn’t as intimidating as I first thought. He was actually kind of cool and I hated to admit that. I hated that my heart was warming to the people that lived here and worked for Maddey, but most of all, I hated that my heart wasn’t as icy towards Maddey himself as it once was.
Ms. Keddle chuckled, “boy, come on. But you’re helping.”
“Awww shit, I didn’t want to help,” Cornelius complained.
She hit him upside the head and shooed him out of the room as Chip bounded after them squealing that he wanted to help. I giggled as I turned around and noticed that Luken was still in the room.
“I appreciate you helping out with this. This is incredible,” I whispered.
I was kind of shy because I was normally pretty rude towards him and Cornelius. Not intentionally, it was just a difficult situation and I wasn’t always nice towards them even though Luken was nothing but patient with me, laughing it off when I slammed a door in his face or ignored his greetings.
“Yeah, it’s definitely incredible. You must be something special,” he smirked.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
He shook his head and laughed, “I’ve known Maddey damn near my whole life. We grew up in the streets together along with his brother and Cornelius. I’ve never seen him be so attentive to a woman. That’s all I’m saying.”
I shrugged, “he just wants me to win his case for him.”
“Nah, it ain’t that. He wanted your father to win his case, too, and you see how he treated him. It goes deeper than that.”
“I’m sure he’s treated all of his girlfriend’s better than me. He is holding me hostage after all.” I said dismissively.
“Girlfriends? Nah. He ain’t never had one of those. He’s fucked plenty of bitches, but he’s never had a girlfriend,” Luken shrugged and then said, “enjoy your library,” as he walked out of the room.
My stomach twisted at the mention of Maddey having sex with many women, but I shook it off. I looked around the room and couldn’t help the smile that tugged at the corners of my mouth. This room was so beautiful, and I couldn’t wait to dive into one of these books and get lost for a while.
I dashed out of the room so I could grab my blanket from my room. I was surprised to find the hallway empty. It made me wonder if Maddey had told everyone to lighten up on me as well. For a split second I thought about running away but something in my gut ignored that instinct. Instead, I went to my room and grabbed my blanket and then proceeded back to the library. I skimmed my hands along the shelves of books and then stopped at random, pulling the book out and taking it to the closest chair that sat next to the floor to ceiling window and fireplace.
I snuggled in and opened the book which was titled Duchess: A Hood Love Triangle by Kenya Redd. I instantly got engrossed in the streets of Bed Stuy where Duchess and Supreme had major problems, but Chief came in and tore their world up. I was loving me some Chief and I was so enamored by his and Duchesses love that I hadn’t realized that it was lunch time. My stomach growled loudly, causing me to sigh and put the book down. I was almost finished with it, but the ending would have to wait until after lunch.
I got out of the chair and walked towards front of the library but was startled to see Maddey standing by the closest bookshelf. I swear, every time I saw him, he took me by surprise. I couldn’t be sure if I was just that oblivious or if he was as quiet as a mouse everywhere that he went. My legs stuttered when I spotted him, which caused me to trip on the plush carpet. Before I could land face first, Maddey was there breaking my fall. He wrapped his strong arms around me and pulled me upright. My face flushed and my heart beat rapidly as I gazed up at him.
“How long have you been standing there?” I asked, but that wasn’t what I meant to say. What I wanted to say was thank you. Not just for catching me, but for the beautiful library, but I was so startled by his presence and then falling that my mouth decided to blurt the first thing my brain could think of.
He grimaced at me and let me go before taking a step back, “A few minutes.”
I ran my fingers through my hair, sure that I looked a mess. I hadn’t even showered or brushed my teeth yet. “Thank you…for everything. This room is beautiful.”
Maddey shrugged, “I want your stay to be comfortable here.”
“But why? I’m basically being held hostage and I’m here to do a job for you. Why does it matter how comfortable I am?”
“It just does,” he snapped. “Anyways, I wanted to see if you wanted to go for dinner in the club tonight and then hit the smoke lounge. I thought you might want change of scenery or some shit.”
Maddey shrugged his shoulders and then shifted from foot to foot as if he were uncomfortable. Then it dawned on me that he had given me a choice. He probably was uncomfortable because he wasn’t used to asking. He would tell people what he wanted and that was final.
I smiled at him, “I would love that.”
He seemed to relax as he eyed me for a moment before saying, “be ready at seven.”
He turned and walked out the door leaving me in a state of confusion for the feelings that were coursing through me. I proceeded out of the hallway and down to the kitchen, with thoughts of Maddey swarming through my mind.
I had been holed up in the library for most of the day, only stepping out for food and the bathroom. After grabbing lunch, I went back up to the library and dove right back into my book. I finished it in record time and was making good progress on the second part of the series when Ms. Keddle came in and reminded me of my dinner plans with Maddey. I reluctantly laid my book down on the coffee table by the chair I had been occupying all day and followed her into my room. I quickly got ready and before I knew it an hour had passed, and it was seven o’clock, time to meet with Maddey.
<
br /> Ms. Keddle wanted to get me all dressed up again, but I opted to wear some of the clothes I came with. I had on some black skinny jeans with a black tank top and my favorite leopard print fur that I’d gotten on sale at Forever 21. That store and Fashion Nova were my two favorites to shop at because they allowed me to dress like Noella, Briella, Ryder and August, but it was at my own price range. Of course, I wouldn’t need the fur in the Vegas heat, but it was always so cold inside any hotel here, because the air conditioning was always blasting. I could always take it off if I got hot, but I figured I would be alright.
My hair was parted on one side and then slicked back into a low ponytail. I opted for a more natural look with my makeup so I told Ms. Keddle I would do it myself. I threw on some eyeliner and mascara along with some lip gloss and was ready to go.
I walked downstairs, unsure of where to meet Maddey and silently cursing myself for not asking Ms. Keddle before she left my room sulking because I refused her help. Luckily, Maddey was sitting on the bench in the lobby area by the elevators talking on the phone. He noticed me and held a finger up to let me know he would just be a minute longer.
“Bro, I don’t care what they say. We can’t have those scheming ass muthafuckas on our floor, period. Not only do they cause problems with the guests and shit, we have bad blood with them.”
He was quiet for a moment, listening to the person on the other end. I watched him conducting business and it made my cheeks warm. He was so confident in everything that he did. Not to mention, he was looking good as well. A twinge of guilt coursed through me at that last thought. What would daddy think? I shook the thought off and admired his outfit. He had opted for all black as well with a solid black short sleeved button down and black distressed jeans. He had a simple gold chain hanging around his neck and gold diamond earrings in his ears. His tattoos on his arms and neck were on full display as his muscles bulged from under the shirt.