“As that bastard’s wife? The same man you told me treated you like crap? So what were you doing here with me, Skye? Using me to make him jealous? And what about Vincent? You’re just going to up and leave tonight without telling him anything, after dropping into his life the way you did? Just what kind of sick game are you playing?”
Skye knew if she had to endure Slade’s anger a minute longer she would fall apart and she couldn’t do that. Under no circumstances could she let him know about Wayne’s threats. That way he and Vincent would be safe. “Please leave, Slade. I’ll be out of here as soon as I finish packing. I’m spending the night at a hotel and will be flying out in the morning. I’m sorry if I caused you and Vincent pain. I’m truly sorry.”
Slade stood there and stared at her for a long moment. He then turned and walked out the door, slamming it shut behind him. It was then that Skye dropped down on the sofa and gave way to the tears she’d been holding back.
Slade went across the hall to his own condo and slammed the door shut. Full of an anger so intense, he knew he’d never felt it before, he went into his bedroom and pulled off his jacket and slung it across the bed. The same bed he and Skye had shared Saturday night and practically all day Sunday. The same bed where he’d told her he loved her and she had told him that she loved him as well.
Lies. She had told him nothing but lies. How could he have been taken in by her? How could he let her convince him she was something that she wasn’t? How could he—
Something snapped inside of him. No! He refused to believe she had told him lies. He refused to believe she wasn’t what she’d claimed to be all along. All he had to do was close his eyes to relive the memories of all the times they shared together, everything they did and the conversations they had. Skye was not a phony person. She was a very caring one. There was a reason she was going back to Maine to marry that bastard, and Slade refused to believe it was because it was something she wanted to do. What was she afraid of? Why couldn’t she confide in him and tell him what the hell was going on? Why was she letting the bastard call the shots and meekly following orders? Why?
There was only one way to find out.
Slade turned, retraced his steps, and walked out of the condo. Crossing the hall, he lifted his hand to knock when he picked up the sound of her crying beyond the door. His heart clenched as he silently turned the knob and went in without knocking. She was there, lying across the sofa, weeping like a newborn baby.
He quickly crossed the room to her. “Skye, please tell me what’s going on.”
She jumped up at the sound of his voice and quickly began wiping her eyes. “Why did you come back, Slade? And nothing is going on. I merely changed my mind about things and have decided to return to Maine to marry Wayne.”
“Are your parents forcing you to do this? Are they threatening you in any way?”
She turned away from him, refusing to look at him. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Please leave, Slade. We don’t have anything else to say to each other. I’m sorry, but I want you to leave.”
Her words hurt, but he refused to walk away. “Turn around and look into my face and tell me that you don’t love me, Skye. Tell me your words of love to me were nothing but lies. Do it and then I’ll leave.”
She turned to him, lifted her chin, and met his gaze. “I don’t love…” She couldn’t get that last word out of her mouth. Tears came into her eyes. “Please, Slade. Don’t do this. You have to let me go to keep you and Vincent safe. I couldn’t bear it if anything happened to you.”
He stared at her. “What are you talking about?”
She shook her head. “You have to leave.”
He reached out and pulled her to him. She resisted at first, but when he tugged her into his arms and held her there for a moment, she then clung to him and began sobbing into his shirt. “You have to let me go. You have to.”
He continued to hold her. “I can’t do that, Skye. Letting you go is like losing a piece of my heart. It’s okay. Whatever is wrong, we’ll deal with it. Don’t let that bastard make you a victim. Tell me what he said to you.”
She lifted her tear-stained eyes. “I can’t. Telling you will put you and Vincent in danger.”
Slade frowned. “Is that what he told you? That if you didn’t return to Maine and marry him, something would happen to me and Vincent?”
She dropped her face back in his shirt and nodded. Slade reached up and lifted her chin and saw the fear in her eyes. “Tell me what he said, sweetheart. We’re in this together; always remember that. Tell me.”
Skye sighed deeply before saying, “Wayne gave me a warning tonight. Someone deliberately tried to run you off the road. It was no accident. He told me something would happen.”
Slade thought about what she had said; then anger began consuming him. “And he told you that something would happen to Vincent if you didn’t leave as well?”
She nodded. “Yes, and I can’t let anything happen to either of you. I can’t. You’re going to have to let me go.”
He pulled her tighter into his arms. “That’s not even a possibility, Skye. We’re going to sit down and you’re going to start from the beginning and tell me everything that bastard said, every single word. Then I’ll handle things. No one makes threats against a Madaris and gets away with it.”
“No, I can’t let you get involved, Slade.”
“I’m already involved. Are your parents that desperate for you and Wayne to marry that they would go this far, and place other people’s lives in danger?”
Skye shrugged. “I don’t know if my parents are, but someone is. Wayne said as much. He said someone is paying him a lot of money to keep me under control. It could very well be my parents, but why would they do that?”
Slade sat down on the sofa, then pulled Skye into his lap. “I don’t know, sweetheart. But I want you to start at the beginning and tell me exactly what he said. Then I’ll handle things from here.”
CHAPTER 24
Slade persuaded an emotionally drained Skye to go into the bedroom and lie down while he made a few phone calls. After she had told him every word Wayne had said to her, Slade had held her while she cried in his arms. She just couldn’t understand why Wayne would make the threats he made, and if her parents were involved, then why?
Slade put on a pot of coffee, knowing it wouldn’t take long for the men he had called to arrive. The one thing he had quickly learned while growing up as a Madaris was that in his family you never fought your battles alone, especially those that might have a major impact on the entire family.
He had known just who to call, and he knew they would help him achieve the goal he wanted. He wasn’t worried about the threat made against him, although he got pissed every time he thought about his slight accident tonight being deliberate. What really concerned him was the threat made against Vincent. Bigelow didn’t know the grave mistake he’d made by making a threat against Justin Madaris’ son. Justin was known for his warmth and sensitivity; however, mess with someone he loved and there would be hell to pay.
The coffee had just finished brewing when Slade heard the doorbell. He quickly crossed the room before the sound could awaken Skye. He would have to wake her up soon enough, because he was sure the men would want to talk to her.
He opened the door and the first thing he noticed was that Justin was still in town from attending the senator’s retirement party. Although Justin was holding it in check, Slade could tell his cousin was pretty angry.
Slade stepped aside to let them in. Not surprisingly, it was Clayton who spoke first. “How’s Skye doing?”
Slade inhaled deeply. “She’s okay. I got her to lie down for a while and she dozed off to sleep.”
“That’s good,” Justin said, walking into the center of the living room. “She probably needs her rest.”
“Trask and Alex are on their way, although I didn’t have time to go into any details of what was going on,” Dex Madaris said, taking a seat on the sofa.<
br />
Slade shook his head. He didn’t know of any other man who looked more ready to kick butt at any place or at any time than Dex.
“Where’s Vincent?” Slade asked.
“He’s at Whispering Pines,” Dex answered with a cocky grin on his face. “I’d like to see anyone try to touch him there. Jake and his men would gladly take them apart.”
Slade knew what he meant. Whispering Pines had the look and feel of a fortress. No one got on its lands unless invited by Jake. “What did you tell Vincent?” he asked Justin.
Justin met his gaze. “The truth. And of course he’s worried about Skye. I promised him I’ll make sure she’s okay and I intend to keep my promise.”
At that moment the doorbell sounded again. “That must be Trask and Alex,” Slade said, heading for the door.
It was more than Trask and Alex. Somewhere along the way they had picked up Trevor Grant, a good friend of the Madaris family.
“Jake called,” was the only explanation Trevor gave when he walked in. He glanced around the room. “Okay, what’s going on? All Jake said was to get over here.”
It was Clayton who spoke. “A threat has been made against Vincent’s and Slade’s lives.”
There was a hint of a smile in Trevor’s voice when he asked, “And just what stupid ass would be foolish enough to do such a thing?”
Slade chuckled. Trevor had expressed his sentiments exactly. “A man by the name of Wayne Bigelow,” he spoke up and said. “He’s Skye’s ex-fiancé. It seems it’s more than a mere case of a man wanting to reclaim what he lost. I think he’s getting paid by someone to make sure he marries her and keeps her under control.”
Trask frowned. “Who?”
Slade shrugged. “My guess is her parents.”
“Sheesh,” Trevor said, rubbing his hand down his face. “I’ve heard of people who’re anxious to become the parents of the bride, but aren’t they taking it a little too far?”
“I’d think so,” Alex said, speaking for the first time. “Besides, that doesn’t fit their makeup from that report I did.”
All eyes went to Alex. “What report?” Justin asked.
“Oops,” Alex said, smiling, lowering his head, studying the floor.
All eyes then went to Clayton, who merely smiled and said, “Hey, I told you I wanted to make sure Skye was who she claimed to be, Justin.”
“You had Skye investigated?” Slade asked his cousin incredulously.
Clayton met Slade’s astonished gaze defensively. “Yes. You ought to know I’m nothing like Justin. I don’t take anything or anyone at face value. We had no proof she was who she said she was. However, after I got the report, then I was satisfied she was legit, and no harm was done.” He smiled. “In fact, I think she’s a real classy lady. I doubt you’ll do better, so if I were you, I’d be the one planning a Christmas wedding instead of this Bigelow guy.”
Slade had a very serious look on his face when he said, “Trust me. I’m thinking of doing just that.”
Justin sat down on the chair opposite the sofa. “Okay, Alex, what else were you able to tell from the report about her parents?”
“Not a whole lot, but there’s nothing to indicate they’re the type that will go so far as to pay someone to commit bodily harm just to keep their adult daughter under control. They are pillars of their community, devout Catholics, old money. In fact, I don’t see where they stand to gain anything if Bigelow marries Skye; it’s the other way around. Give me a couple of hours to do more research.”
Alex then turned to Slade. “And how did this guy know about you? Had Skye mentioned you to him?”
Slade shook his head. “She hasn’t spoken with him since she left Maine almost three weeks ago. She thinks he had someone watching her here.”
Trevor nodded. “That’s a good possibility if he was that desperate to make sure she returned to Maine to marry him.”
“He shouldn’t have expected that,” Slade said angrily. “Their engagement ended months ago; but according to Skye, Bigelow refused to accept it, although he was the one to break it. He told her if she went to Dallas to meet Vincent, they would not get married. She went anyway.”
“Called his bluff, did she?” Dex said, smiling. “Gutsy woman. I knew I liked her right away for a reason.”
Trevor sighed. “Okay, it’s time for us to hear Skye’s side of things.”
Slade nodded. “I’ll go wake her.”
Skye glanced around the room at the six men. She had met all of them at different times over the past three weeks; however, all together in one room and at the same time, they looked imposing, larger than life. Slade said they were there to help and had teasingly referred to them as the Madaris Coalition, and in a way she thought that term fit.
They had taken turns asking her questions about Wayne and her parents. Clayton, being the attorney, had asked the majority of the questions, and most of them were pointed, intended to make her think. She had answered each truthfully to the best of her ability and knowledge. Alex, who would smile over at her occasionally, didn’t do much talking but spent a lot of his time jotting stuff down on a notepad.
“I just have a few more questions for you,” Clayton was saying. “About this trust fund you’re to inherit when you turn thirty, can you tell us about it, since it seems greed is the driving factor behind what Wayne Bigelow’s doing?”
Skye nodded. “I didn’t know anything about it until a year and a half ago, about the same time I discovered I was adopted. I think as a way to convince me to give up my interest in finding my biological mother, my parents told me about it and said that I could stand to lose it if I continued on the path I was going.”
Alex glanced up, frowning. “I wonder why they said that. From what I gather, the trust that was set up for you didn’t come with any stipulations like the one that was set up for Bigelow. You’re to receive it upon your thirtieth birthday, no matter what, married or single.”
Skye nodded. “The reason they said it was to keep me in line. They thought they were dangling a carrot in front of me, a carrot I’d want more than finding out about my mother.”
“Were your parents always controlling?” Justin asked quietly. He couldn’t imagine having parents who thought controlling someone the way they had done to Skye was normal. Anything she did had to be acceptable to them.
“To be honest, Justin, I never thought they were controlling. To me it was a way of life. I did what I was told and everything was fine. However, as I got older and became more defiant and wanted to think for myself, that’s when the trouble started between us. My mother thought I was being difficult.”
“And what about your father?”
A smile touched her lips. “I think in a way my father understood; however, he wasn’t strong enough to stand against Mom.”
“How did you meet Bigelow?” Trevor asked.
“My parents introduced us the month after I graduated from college. I was given what I now see as a coming-of-age party. At the end my parents told me that he was the man who’d been chosen for me to marry and that everything had been decided.”
Dex lifted a brow. “Just like that?”
“Yes, and that a wedding would take place sometime before my twenty-eighth birthday.”
No one said anything for a moment; then Alex asked, “What sort of man do you perceive Bigelow to be?”
Skye thought on that question. She’d perceived him to be a lot of things but never one who’d go as far as he’d gone now. “He’s always been arrogant, conceited, and wanted things done his way. He’s an attorney, so I knew he could be cunning when he wanted to be, and he always handled me as the child who was to do what she was told. Like my parents, he would get upset whenever I thought for myself.”
“Was there no one you had in your corner while growing up? No one you could go to and talk to when your parents became overbearing?” asked Justin.
She smiled. “Yes. There was my aunt Karen, who’s my father’s sister. She and I are clo
se. Then on occasion there was Congressman Baines.”
Alex raised a brow. “Congressman Baines?”
“Yes. My father has been his personal accountant for years. While growing up I remember the congressman a lot, since he would always be there at the office whenever I would go in on Saturdays with my father, and we would talk. He would ask me how things were going, was I happy, and that sort of thing.”
“Did you ever go to him to complain about your parents being overbearing?”
She shook her head. “No, I never did. He was a family friend, but I wouldn’t discuss my parents with him that way.”
Trevor then asked the next question. “Because of what happened to Slade tonight, we’re concerned that maybe you’ve been watched since coming to Houston. Have you noticed anyone familiar? Anyone you recognized as someone you knew back in Maine?”
Skye bunched her brows in thought; then after a few moments she said, “No. Other than seeing Congressman Baines and his son, Senator Baines, Saturday night at that party, I don’t recall seeing anyone.”
Alex lifted a brow. “If I recall, I was introduced to the two of them right before Slade arrived, right?”
Skye smiled. “Yes.”
“And then you introduced Slade to them,” Alex said, as if thinking out loud.
“Yes, and soon after that Slade asked me to dance and I don’t recall seeing the congressman or the senator any more that night.”
“Other than those two, can you think of anyone else you might have recognized or who would have recognized you? How about when you and Vincent spent time together? Did you perhaps notice someone always there? The same person?” Trevor asked.
Skye shook her head. “No. I never really paid much attention, but I think if it had been the same person, that would have caught my attention.”
Alex closed the notepad he’d been writing on. “Give me a few hours to check out some things and talk to a few contacts. If we find out the name of Bigelow’s financer, then we can determine why there’s a rush to marry Skye and get her under control.”
Slow Burn (A Madaris Family Novel) Page 23