by Ravenna Tate
“Harper and Liane are staying behind to run Ace’s and Emmett’s companies in their absence,” said Viggo.
“So are Rissa, Valerie, Blair, and Emma,” said Dominic.
“How long do you all expect to be in Central?” asked Madison.
“Until we stop The Madeline Project,” said Viggo. “There’s no point in returning home if we can’t do that.”
A nasty shiver ran down her back at the finality of those words, but at the same time she realized something. He’d asked her to come with him. That meant he had no intention of leaving her behind.
“And as for the other women,” said Angela, “Sela can’t leave her dance studio right now. Julianne is coming later after she finishes up a project, so she can be there for the exclusive story once the program is stopped. Nadine is unsure whether she wants to see Addison in that role. She said she’d travel to Central if he asked her to a later date, but for now she’s staying NorthWest.”
“They have backups ready to take over their operations if the wives and fiancées decide to travel to Central after all,” said Dominic. “Blaine, Viggo and myself have already put people in charge of our companies while we’re away”
“It sounds like the twelve of you have everything figured out.”
“Not everything,” said Viggo. “My personal preference is to let the hackers and their associates sit there and rot until we find Dave. The others want information now.”
“I’m with Viggo on this,” said Dominic, “except for one point. I want first crack at Rob Marin. If that little weasel knows more than we’ve found out already, I’m the one who wants to get that out of him.”
“Why is that?” asked Madison.
He and Angela exchanged a quick glance that Madison couldn’t interpret, and left her wondering what secrets these three held.
“Let’s just say I have firsthand experience dealing with people like Rob, and leave it at that.”
The conversation moved onto other things, and once Dominic and Angela left, Madison asked Viggo about Dominic’s cryptic comment.
“It’s not my secret to tell.” He studied her carefully for a few seconds. Madison was used to the scrutiny by now, but she braced herself because it usually meant a probing question was coming up. “Will you come to Central with us?”
“What about my work?”
“Bring your laptop. We’ll have time to do work-related things while there.”
“Do you really have no idea how long we’ll be there?”
“We’ll be there until the job is done, Madison. We weren’t exaggerating about that.”
If she stayed behind, she might never see him again. The fact that he wanted her with him was almost better than hearing him say the three little words back to her because this was likely the deepest commitment he’d ever made to any woman. If she truly loved him, she’d be crazy to stay behind. Not only that, but she wanted to be part of this, and this was her big chance.
“Yes. I want to come with you.”
The relief that filled his face nearly stopped her heart. She’d fallen so hard and fast for this man, and that wasn’t a surprise. But to know he had fallen for her, too, whether or not he verbalized that fact, sent a rush of happiness through her she’d never felt before. No matter the outcome of this mission in Central, she’d be with Viggo. And that’s exactly where Madison wanted to be.
Chapter Fifteen
The next two weeks flew by in a whirlwind of preparations. Viggo kept Madison in the loop on everything, and they still spent as much time together as before. Living in the same apartment with him was a lot easier than she’d imagined it would be. She had her own space when she needed it, but most of the time she was content to be at his side.
If he didn’t like having her around all the time, he certainly didn’t show it. If anything, she felt closer to him now. He referred to the place as “theirs”. He also began texting her every day to ask if she wanted anything special for dinner that evening, instead of simply making the decision himself. They ate breakfast together before walking to work, and on days when he didn’t have meetings, he’d eat lunch with her in her office or his.
They made love almost every night, and Madison couldn’t get enough of Viggo in bed. She’d always wondered whether the great sex at first would become boring or routine as time wore on, but it hadn’t. It only got better as she became more comfortable with him.
The Sunday afternoon following her first full week of officially living with him, they spent the afternoon working side by side, sitting on his bed, in the nude. When she joked about making sure the cameras on their laptops weren’t on, he told her he’d rigged hers so it would turn on at random intervals, but give no indication it had done so. He also assured her he had it set up to broadcast the video to all the Weathermen.
“Pretty sure most of them, plus their wives and fiancées, have seen your boobs several times today already.”
His tone of voice and facial expressions were so convincing that she spent two hours trying to uncover the software in her machine, with a piece of paper taped over the camera the entire time. Finally he confessed he’d only been teasing her, and she punched his arm, hard.
He grinned, then put her laptop on the bed next to his, both of them still open, and pinned her down while she yelled and squealed in delight. He ground his cock against her pussy, pushing her so close to the edge of an orgasm she was still moaning loudly and begging him to fuck her when a video call came through from Ace.
Viggo scrambled to put something on while Madison rolled off the bed and sprinted for the bedroom where she kept all her clothes. By the time she returned, Viggo was on a call with all the Weathermen, and she still wasn’t sure if Ace had seen them earlier.
She had shrugged on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, while Viggo was in sweats and a shirt. He motioned her over, and after listening for a few moments, it no longer mattered if their sex game had been broadcast to Ace when he had first called Viggo. She was stunned by what she heard on the call. This shit had just become real.
****
Viggo could barely contain his excitement. “When will Dave be at the warehouse?”
“Tomorrow,” said Ace. “How soon can you get here?”
“I’ll make the travel arrangements as soon as we end this call.”
“Is Madison still coming with you?” asked Dominic.
“Yes. Is Angela?”
“She is. Stay on the call when we’re done, and we’ll make sure the four of us can travel together.”
The call ended, and once Viggo and Dominic took care of the travel arrangements, he glanced toward Madison. “Sorry about the short notice.”
“It’s okay. I’ll go and pack right now.”
She rose and turned to walk away, but he caught her arm and pulled her onto his lap. “Hang on a minute. Are you sure you’re okay with all this?”
“Are you kidding? This is the most exciting thing I’ve ever done. What do you suppose Ralph and Bonnie will make of it once they hear?”
“I have no idea, but I’m sure we’ll eventually find out. Maybe not from Ralph, but Bonnie has a big mouth. I’m sure she’ll have something to say about this.”
“Do you think either of them will make trouble?”
“We don’t care if they do. This is none of their business. Bonnie no longer works for HCS, and Ralph is a small fish. He’s stuck in a field office with nothing to do because he fucked up in Central.”
“What?”
Her surprise was genuine. Viggo had always wondered if she knew why Ralph worked in a satellite office instead of in Central. “He fucked up a major investigation when he worked for HCS in Central. His management level was three steps higher than it is now. This was not only a demotion, but a punishment.”
Her pretty eyes gleamed with amusement. “I had no idea. But how did you discover this?”
He grinned. “I told you we have contacts at HCS. Based on what you recorded, we know that Bonnie has been the one
feeding information about what we’re doing in the warehouse to Ralph. He likely thinks he can get back in his former supervisor’s good graces if he rats us out. What he doesn’t know is that we have the okay from the director of HCS to do this.”
“Does anyone else at HCS actually know that?”
“I doubt it. You can understand why they wouldn’t want to put something like that in the employee newsletter. All Ralph will do is make more trouble for himself if he says anything. And if they push to know where he got the information, he might even lose his job for discussing confidential information with an ex-employee.”
“Well, I won’t feel guilty over that. He brought this on himself.”
“He did indeed, and I’m glad to hear you won’t feel guilty over it. Ralph started down this road a long time ago.”
She shook her head. “Is there anyone the twelve of you can’t influence? I am curious about one thing, though. How did Bonnie find out about the warehouse to begin with? That wasn’t on the recording.”
“We suspect Dave mentioned it before they had their falling out. He and Bonnie used to be close, but all that changed once the article surfaced. We have plenty of questions to ask him, including why he wrote it.”
“Any theories on that?”
Viggo had more than a few, but nothing he was ready to share with anyone, including Madison. “Not yet.”
****
The train ride to Central took just over twenty-two hours, and the four of them spent it in a large compartment taking turns napping in between the work they did. The twelve Weathermen were trying to come up with word tracks to use when speaking with the hackers and their associates. They wanted to present a unified front, and didn’t want to risk one or more of the men and women using what they perceived as a soft spot or weakness, in an effort to confuse the others or cast doubt on what they’d found so far.
Blaine, Dominic, and Viggo would be the last three to arrive, and the other nine had already sent the group their suggestions for various scenarios. Blaine was traveling from NorthCentral and would arrive before Dominic and Viggo did, but the three had agreed to work on the scripts during their journeys.
Viggo would much rather have spent the time in a private compartment with Madison, but she had understood, telling him she knew this was far too important. She spent most of the journey talking to Angela, who brought Madison up to speed on everything that had occurred toward their pursuit of the hackers in the past seven and a half years.
Before they left, he and Dominic had discussed how much to tell Madison. Dominic had settled the matter with one question. He’d grinned and asked Viggo, “Do you love her?”
Viggo hadn’t been able to fool his best friend. He begged Dominic not to say anything, even to Angela. “I haven’t told her yet. I’m not sure I will.”
Dominic had laughed. “Suit yourself, but you’re an idiot if you keep this from her. Viggo Ingram in love. Man. I never thought it would happen. Never.”
“That makes two of us.”
“Are you unhappy?”
“Hell no, and that’s what bothers me so much.”
Dominic clapped him on the back. “Enjoy it. She’s a great girl. Angela loves her already. She won’t hurt you.”
“I know. I can tell.”
“Then stop being a dick and tell her.”
That was easy for Dominic to say. Angela knew his sordid past, and she still loved him. Nothing that happened in Central would change that. But when Madison saw Viggo Ingram in action—when she saw firsthand the power and influence he and his friends actually had—she’d probably hop the next train and go home.
Their hotel was close to HCS headquarters, but the warehouse was about a half hour away on foot. They had done that on purpose in case anyone got wind of this and tried to follow them. Julianne was the only reporter they were allowing inside the warehouse, and she had promised not to send anything to her editor until this was resolved one way or the other.
Viggo and Madison had a suite across the hall from Dominic’s and Angela’s, and the four agreed to get some rest before heading over to the warehouse later that afternoon. Once Viggo checked in with the other Weathermen and let them know their plans, he and Madison lay down together. She was asleep almost instantly, and while Viggo desperately wanted to make love to her, he knew it was right to let her rest. She’d need it for the task ahead. They both would.
He pulled her closer and inhaled her scent, wishing he’d met her a long time ago. Of course, she was eighteen years younger than he was, and meeting her even ten years earlier would have made their relationship an impossibility. No. He’d met her at exactly the right time in his life. A time when he needed a woman like Madison to help him realize what was truly important.
He listened to her breathing for a few moments, the sound and rhythm now as familiar as his own, and then he leaned close to her ear and whispered. “I love you, Madison.” She didn’t stir, but then he hadn’t expected her to. He’d been doing the same thing almost every night for two weeks straight, always making sure first that she was asleep.
Coward. Yes, he was. A big one. Dominic was right. If he told the others how he felt about Madison they’d all tell him the same thing. Well, perhaps Blaine wouldn’t, but the other ten certainly would. They’d tell him to get his head out of his ass and tell Madison that he loved her.
When this was over. He’d wait until then. To tell her now wasn’t fair.
Why not, coward?
Fuck. He had no clue why not. It was a stupid thing to say under any circumstances. There was no such thing as the perfect time to tell someone you loved them. If you felt it, you should say it. You should shout it to the world. She’d been afraid to tell him, yet she had done so. To not return the sentiment was cruel and cowardly.
Viggo pulled her tighter against his body and closed his eyes. He needed sleep. When they woke, he’d feel better about all this. And then he’d decide what to do.
Chapter Sixteen
Madison felt like she should be looking over her shoulder the entire time she, Viggo, Angela, and Dominic made their way toward the warehouse. They’d eaten a quick meal at the hotel, and Dominic had assured them there would be plenty of food and drinks available once they were at the warehouse. From the way he and Viggo talked about this adventure, it sounded like the twelve of them had planned a reunion, not an interrogation.
Once they arrived, she eyed the burly men loitering around the entrance to a four-story building. From all outward appearances, the building was empty and had been for some time. The men looked as if they had no place to be, and were simply standing in front of an abandoned building, having a long chat.
They obviously recognized Viggo and Dominic, because one of them gave each man a quick nod. As the four made their way around to the back of the building through a narrow alley, Madison gripped Viggo’s hand tighter. She glanced over her shoulder to find one of the men watching them, his dark eyes full of boredom.
She’d ask Viggo later who they were. Right now, it was all she could do to keep her food down. Her heart raced and her palms grew damp as Dominic opened a metal door. They stepped inside, and Madison inhaled the smell of old wood and something metallic she couldn’t quite place. Licking her lips and swallowing several times didn’t dim the taste.
“We’re meeting the others on the top floor,” said Dominic.
He led them to a freight elevator. Madison eyed it, and wondered whether at least one of them should take the stairs, just in case the thing broke down and the others were trapped inside. Someone would need to go and find help.
Viggo must have sensed her hesitation, because he gave her hand a squeeze and smiled at her in a way that made her feel like he was trying to calm a frightened child. “It’s safe.”
She didn’t answer. Instead she got in with the others and held her breath while Dominic operated the controls. She didn’t completely exhale until the doors opened on the fourth floor.
Blaine Parker was wait
ing for them. She recognized him from his pictures online, but they didn’t do him justice. The man was gorgeous, with blond hair that hung to his shoulders like Viggo’s did when he wore it loose, and crisp blue eyes that looked right into her soul.
“At last.” He took her hands. “Finally, I meet the infamous Madison Overton. The woman who has brought Viggo Ingram to his knees.”
“Shut the fuck up.” Viggo sounded more amused than annoyed, and Madison knew she was blushing, but there was no way to stop it.
Blaine winked at her. “I have no clue what you see in him. If you change your mind about him while you’re here in Central, I’d be happy to show you around NorthCentral as soon as this is over.”
“When this is over,” said Dominic, “we’re either going to the surface again, or you’ll be dead in less than three years.”
Madison shivered at Dominic’s words.
Blaine shrugged. “Either way, I’d love to spend more time with Madison.”
Viggo pulled her hands out of Blaine’s grasp. “Keep your hands off what doesn’t belong to you.”
Blaine raised his brows. “She belongs to you? Something you want to tell the rest of us, then?”
“Knock it off,” said Dominic. “Let’s maintain our focus.”
Blaine put up his hands. “Fine with me. Just trying to make the newcomer feel welcome.”
Viggo gave him a droll look. “Show us where the others are.”
Blaine gave her another wink, then turned around. “This way.”
Viggo glanced down at her, a question in his eyes. She smiled in response because she had no clue what he was trying to ask her. Blaine’s attention was flattering, but his words also brought back the reality that she’d told Viggo more than two weeks ago she had fallen in love with him, and he hadn’t said one word about it since.
Would she ever hear those words back from him? She knew he cared for her. His entire demeanor had changed in the past month. He’d gone from sexy but aloof to attentive and possessive, but not to the point she felt he was trying to control her every move or thought. She had come to rely on him for companionship and comfort, but he’d shown her that he needed the same from her.