The Legacy series: The Love series, the Wrapped series, and the Burning Souls series.

by Mj Fields

  ���That���s great, does she call often?���

  ���Yep, she���ll call right before I go to bed tonight.���

  ���Hmm that���s nice, London.���

  Brody and Emma looked at each other with concern in their eyes and Maddox noticed, ���I will not make trouble for her.���

  ���We didn���t think you would, Maddox.���

  ���Then what is with the look?��� Maddox was getting frustrated.

  ���This, right here is your home. You need to be happy here.���

  ���I am.���

  Maddox ate in silence. When everyone was finished he and London cleared the table and washed dishes, with a little help from Lexington.

  Maddox was in London���s bedroom waiting to read to her when her phone rang. She was still in the bathroom, so he answered it. ���Hello.���

  ���Oh I���m sorry I must have the wrong number.���

  ���Harper?���

  ���Who is this?��� her voice had softened.

  ���It���s Maddox, Harper. London is in the bathroom.���

  ���Okay I���ll call her another������

  ���No, please stay on the phone��� she���ll be here any minute. She would be upset if she didn���t hear from you.���

  ���Ok.���

  They sat in silence for what seemed like ages.

  Maddox cleared his throat, ���How have you been?���

  ���Fine.��� Her answer was quick and short.

  ���Good, that���s very good to hear.���

  ���Why?���

  ���Why is it good that you���re fine?���

  ���Never mind.���

  ���No, I think I can handle answering that question.���

  ���I would prefer you didn���t.���

  ���Harper, please don���t be angry at me anymore.���

  ���I���m not, I just feel like this is a waste of time.���

  ���Well we sort of are wasting time aren���t we?��� Maddox smiled, and she heard it in his voice. She did not reply or hang up, ���Harper, Jazz is getting better.���

  ���That���s great Maddox.���

  ���Yes I think so as well. She is actually pleasant to be around.���

  ���Well I���m happy for both of you.���

  ���Why then did you say it like that?���

  ���Please let London know I called. She can call me back any������

  ���What just happened, Harper?���

  ���Maddox, nothing just happened, okay? Absolutely nothing. I am happy for you both. I don���t know what more you want me to say.���

  ���Anything Harper��� say anything. It���s just really good to hear your voice.��� Again she did not answer.

  ���I���ll stop talking now again I am,��� the phone went dead, ���Are you there Harper? Harper are you������ Maddox looked at the phone and read call ended, ���FUCK!���

  ���That���s a bad word,��� London walked in and bounced on the bed.

  ���Sorry.���

  ���She is mad at you?���

  ���Yes.���

  ���You will be okay, Maddox. Just give it time.���

  ���I certainly don���t deserve her kindness or yours.���

  ���Of course you do. I love you.���

  ���I love you more,��� Maddox smiled at her.

  ���Not true,��� he tickled her and she laughed, ���Not possible!��� he tickled her more, ���NOT EVEN CLOSE!���

  Brody walked in and chuckled, ���Lexington is asleep, or was.���

  Maddox sat up and smiled, ���Sorry, Dad.���

  Brody hugged them both and walked out the door. London grabbed her phone and dialed it. She held the phone to her ear and held Maddox���s hand.

  ���Hello,��� Harper answered.

  ���Do you have a cold?���

  ���Well hello, London.���

  ���Sorry I missed your call I was in the bathroom.���

  ���That���s alright, how was your week?���

  ���It���s better now.���

  ���Why is that?���

  ���Well my brother is here, and I am on the phone with you. I���m just happy.���

  ���I am glad you are happy.���

  ���Cool. So the holidays are coming up. You live close now; can you come to Thanksgiving and Christmas?���

  ���I won’t be able to for Thanksgiving. I have a fundraiser the day before. I am pretty sure I���ll be tired.���

  ���What kind of fundraiser?���

  ���Raising money for WHO, a concert actually.���

  ���Oh that���s sounds like fun. Who���s playing?��� London looked at Maddox and raised her eyebrows.

  ���I am not in charge of that, but I don���t think it���s anyone really popular.���

  ���So that���s next week?���

  ���Yes.���

  ���We should plan something for Christmas.���

  ���We will see okay? If not, maybe something when I am done here.���

  ���When will you be done with your internship?���

  ���The beginning of March. And then I have to find a real job,��� Harper laughed.

  ���I bet you will be good at whatever you do.���

  ���Aw thanks London— you are very sweet.���

  ���So are you. I miss you.���

  ���I miss you as much.���

  ���I love you.���

  ���I love you as much.���

  Maddox laid in his room looking at the ceiling, wishing he did not pick today to try the whole sobriety thing. He knew Emma and Brody had not restocked the wine cellar since the last time he was home, and he sure as hell was not going to lie around trying to fall asleep when he knew it would not happen. He jumped out of bed and threw on his sweatshirt and a pair of jeans. He grabbed his keys and snuck down the stairs and out the back door. He drove down to the waterfront and hopped out of his car and locked it with the remote. And walked to the spot he had first performed with T. He sat with his hood up and drank a glass of wine and watched some street performers. They were pretty good. He had a few more glasses, and the group took a break.

  ���Hey man, are you Maddox Hines?��� the guitarist asked Maddox.

  ���Yeah, but not tonight. Tonight I am just like you,��� Maddox shook his hand.

  ���Cool, wanna go catch a buzz?���

  ���Sounds wonderful,��� Maddox drank his glass and stood up and followed him.

  Maddox woke to someone tapping on his car window. He sat up confused and high as the moon. He unrolled the window and laughed. ���Mr. Hines, can you please step out of the car?���

  ���I sure can try, what is the problem officer?���

  ���Your car in the ditch for starters.���

  ���Oh shit, I must have fallen asleep.���

  The officer put him in the back of the car, and Maddox laughed, ���Silly question but are you taking me back home?���

  ���You could have killed yourself or someone else tonight.���

  ���I honestly drank a couple glasses of wine and I probably should not be tellin
g you this, but off the record I took a couple hits of some pot. This has never happened before.���

  ���Was it your own?���

  ���Nah.���

  ���That���s pretty stupid.���

  ���I know.���

  The police officer called a tow truck and they waited on the side of the road. ���Maddox, I���m going to take you home. I don���t feel real good about this either, you can���t do shit like this. You could have killed someone. I���m going to say you swerved to miss an animal. This is your one get out of jail free card. I swear to the Lord himself if I hear of this happening again I���ll make sure you don���t get away with it.���

  Maddox woke the next morning to Brody pacing at the foot of his bed. ���Good morning,��� Maddox sat up and rubbed his eyes.

  ���It���s noon, Maddox!��� Brody was trying to keep his cool. ���You are all over the news.���

  ���Okay, I can explain.���

  ���Do not bullshit me!���

  ���I won���t.���

  Maddox told Brody exactly what had happened; leaving out that the kid was in a band. He knew his father���s temper, and he knew if he were to tell him Brody would end up in jail.

  When he walked down the stairs London looked up and then turned away from him and walked outside.

  He followed her. ���You���re mad at me?���

  ���Were you drinking?��� Maddox brows knit together, and he let out a frustrated breath. ���You said you loved me right?��� he nodded, ���You lied and I do not want to talk to you anymore.��� London walked towards the house, and he grabbed her arm.

  ���I do love you, London.���

  ���Do you remember hearing about my daddy, Maddox? He loved me enough to stop doing this kind of thing. But I sure remember how bad it hurt when he was doing it. It felt like SHIT, Maddox!���

  ���Shit is a bad word, London,��� Maddox forced a smile.

  ���I don���t care. Why don���t you just leave if you don���t love us enough to be here? Just leave!���

  London ran in the house crying, and Maddox stood outside feeling as if he may do the same.

  Emma grabbed London���s arm when she ran in, ���What just happened out there?���

  ���I told him he was like Daddy was, and that he doesn���t love us, and that he should leave!���

  Brody dropped the plate he was holding, and Emma looked at him, ���Go Brody.���

  ���London he is not like daddy okay? He has had a really bad start to life but he is getting better,��� Emma held her as she cried.

  ���No, he is not getting better, he is just here less! He doesn���t love us, he loves her!���

  ���London, I want you to really think about how you would feel if he left right now okay?���

  ���I would feel the same as I always do! Scared he won���t come back! Scared he will get hurt or die like everyone else!���

  Emma pulled her tight and held her as she sobbed.

  Brody and Maddox had heard everything she had said. Maddox had not moved from the place she had left him standing.

  ���I think I need help, Dad,��� Maddox whispered.

  ���I���ll do whatever you need,��� Brody wrapped his arm around his shoulder and they stood looking at the garden listening to London cry.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Switzerland

  Harper sat in the bay window of her third floor apartment overlooking the lake in Geneva, Switzerland. It was a quiet and practical place to live. She was half a mile from the train station that took her to work every morning. She was about 200 yards from a lake that she often sat by on weekend mornings feeding the ducks. The apartment itself was completely white with a spacious open floor plan. It came furnished and had around the clock security and staff that was willing to take care of anything she asked of them, which was not much. She was sure her father paid them dearly for it each month.

  She wrapped her gray cardigan around herself in response to the chill in the air and laughed to herself when she realized it was outside, not in her apartment. At times she was annoyed by the luxurious living conditions she was surrounded by and wished her parents had given into the flat she desperately wanted in the heart of the city. In light of recent findings, she was happy they did not allow it. The quiet calm and peace of this place was what she needed now, and she knew it. A place to sit and look over the lake. A place she did not look down on the streets and see lovers strolling arm in arm. A place to get over Maddox so she could be the person she needed to be for the next phase of her life. Talking to London was normally so comforting. She looked forward to hearing her talk about Lexington and her schooling. The love in her voice was like a hundred hugs. But two days after the last conversation she was already getting nervous about her weekly call. Her only distraction would come in the form of her unexpected new closest friend and confidant Blake James.

  Harper had taken her internship in Switzerland with complete confidence that she would not know anyone. She was looking forward to it. She would be working for an organization that helped fund some of the programs her family had run since before she was born. It was not what she had planned for her future to be, not even close, but things had changed. She knew she would need them more than ever, and as much as she needed them, both her parents would need to be very involved with the next phase in her life. When she walked into the meeting room that morning weeks ago she was not feeling well. She was homesick and disgusted by the photos and reports popping up all over the internet about Maddox and the band members of MASS. They were inseparable. Every night at a different restaurant or club with photos of Maddox laughing and smiling with them. The blondes name was Ally; she knew it because she had read it. She and Maddox seemed very close. Even Jazz seemed to like her. When she saw the picture of the two of them in Germany singing at a pub and later dancing close, she knew he was falling for her just like he had fallen for Harper. She looked up when the head of the internship program introduced their newest doctor, Blake James. He did not look at her. He introduced himself and talked about his schooling and then about the foundation he had worked for every summer that had lead him to leave his surgical rotation in order to pursue what he was passionate about. When they broke for lunch, she found him.

  ���Did they put you up to this?��� Harper snapped at him.

  ���No, it just kind of happened.��� Blake did not look at her, he looked over her, ���No one needs to know who your parents are if that���s what you are worried about. We can just pretend we don���t know each other.���

  ���Fine,��� she walked away and didn���t talk to him for a week.

  As fate had it, they were put on the same committee for the upcoming Giving Thanks fundraiser. They had worked together for three months now side by side. He was the head of their committee, her boss. She worked her ass off for him. He demanded no less from her or anyone else. He walked into their weekly meetings in his tailored suits and perfectly polished shoes. His hair always in place and his face shaved. He did not look like the boy that she had pushed into the pond or whose shoulders she sat on at her graduation party and he certainly did not act like him. It took her two weeks to figure out who it was that he reminded her of and when she finally did, it was in the middle of a presentation he was giving to the committee, herself, and twelve other interns. She laughed out loud and then quickly covered her mouth. Everyone in the room gasped, and she looked up at him with her blue eyes wide. She saw a glimpse of the boy he was back then at the pond before he disappeared under the mask. As soon as he dismissed them she stood quickly.

  His voice boomed, ���Harper, a moment please.�
����

  She felt like she was being called to the Principal’s office for the first time in her life.

  When the room was empty he looked at her, ���Do you care to tell me what was so funny?��� She looked at him with his arms crossed over his chest and laughed again. He looked at her confused and embarrassed which made her laugh more and cover her mouth, ���Are you drunk?���

  ���No,��� she wiped her tears away caused by laughter. It had been the first time she had laughed in months.

  ���Spill it,��� he scowled.

  ���Your pants are undone,��� she smiled, and he looked down quickly. He looked up at her and shook his head no. ���Fine, I have been trying to figure out who the new super in control, no emotions to be seen, Dr. Badass you reminded me of.���

  ���Care to share?��� he raised an eyebrow.

  ���My Dad,��� she smiled.

  ���Are you homesick, Harper?��� his face seemed softer.

  ���I think so.���

  ���I���m sorry.���

  ���I should be the one apologizing. See you around Dr. James.���

  A week later she became ill with some sort of killer bug and called him to inform him she would not be able to come in. His voice mail picked up, and she left a message. Three hours later he was at her door with chicken noodle soup, crackers, and ginger ale. She threw up on his feet and he laughed, and she started to cry.

  When he had cleaned himself up he walked out of the bathroom looking sadly at her. It took only a few seconds for her to realize why. He sat next to her on the white couch, barefoot, in his boxers, and his crisp white dress shirt. He called the apartments concierge, and within an hour he had sweatpants, socks, a sweatshirt, and three comedies delivered. They spent the entire weekend on the couch curled up under blankets talking about the work he and she had both done that drew them to this place and time.

  The doorbell rang bringing her back to the here and now. Blake used his key to get in. ���Good morning,��� he smiled and gave her a quick hug, ���How is everyone?���

  ���That depends, did you bring me nusstorte?���

  ���Yes and some schokoladenpretzel���s.���