Slow Burn (A Madaris Family Novel) Read online

  “No. It sounds like you did a thorough job as usual. I appreciate it, and remember, it’s between the two of us.”

  “I might as well warn you that Christy knows. She was awake that night you called me.”

  “Then just tell her to keep her lips zipped. She’ll do what you say.”

  Alex chuckled. “Oh, like Syneda always does what you say.”

  Clayton frowned. “Don’t be a smart-ass. Just keep your wife quiet. Good-bye, Alex.”

  Skye entered her parents’ home with the weight of doom on her shoulders with what she had to tell them. She had opened the door and made it to the foyer when she heard a sound. She turned and saw Helen, the forty-two-year-old woman who’d been her mother’s personal assistant for the past eight years, coming down the stairs.

  Skye had discovered when she was in her last year of high school that Helen Stone was not only her mother’s personal assistant but her personal spy as well. Unbeknownst to Skye, Helen had kept a log of every boy who’d called her to pass on to her mother. Not only that, although Skye could never actually prove it, she had a feeling that Helen was the one who’d told her mother she was seriously considering attending a college in another town after the woman had eavesdropped on a conversation Skye had with the college admitting office. Since then, she had never trusted the woman.

  “Miss Skye, I didn’t know you were back.”

  Skye didn’t have to wonder how the woman had known she’d gone anywhere. “Yes, I’m back, Helen. Where are my parents?”

  The smile the woman plastered on her face was phony as a three-dollar bill. “They just finished dinner and are in the study drinking their evening wine. Should I let them know you’re here?”

  “No, that’s not necessary. I can do that myself.” Skye walked off feeling the heat of the woman’s stare on her back. There was no doubt about it: Helen was definitely loyal to Edith Barclay.

  Skye entered the room and the first thing she noticed was that her parents were huddled together on the sofa discussing something important, as well as private, since they were whispering. For them to be whispering seemed rather strange. Why would they be talking secretly in their own home? Especially since the only other person around to listen was Skye’s mother’s trusted servant. Or maybe they had learned their lesson from the last time when Skye had arrived unexpectedly and overheard one of their “private” conversations.

  “Hello, Mom and Dad.”

  She watched how they nearly jumped apart, surprised to see her standing in the doorway. “I hope I’m not interrupting anything,” she said.

  Her father immediately stood and walked toward her with a smile on his face. It was sad to think that she could no longer tell if it was real or fake. “Skye, it’s so good having you back. When did you return?”

  “Sunday, like I said I would.”

  Her mother frowned at her after taking a sip of wine. “And you’re just getting around to visiting with us now?”

  Skye’s father quickly glanced back over his shoulder after giving her a hug. “Come on, Edith; I’m sure Skye had a lot to do after she returned.”

  “Thanks, Dad, and I did,” she said, smiling, appreciating her father coming to her defense.

  “Now that that’s all been cleared up, have you seen or talked to Wayne?” her father asked, taking her hand and leading her toward an empty chair in the room.

  Skye frowned as she sat down. She had an idea as to why her father was asking. “Yes, but only briefly. He stopped by the office today to invite me to lunch.”

  That news pleased her mother immensely, if her huge smile was anything to go by. “And over lunch did the two of you work things out?”

  Skye shook her head. “No. In fact, I didn’t go to lunch with him since I was busy and there’s nothing for us to work out, Mom. I’m not marrying Wayne.”

  “Skye, stop being unreasonable,” her father said, and, to Skye’s way of thinking, rather harshly. “The man wants to marry you.”

  “Does it matter to anyone that I don’t want to marry him?” she asked in a bitter tone. She had told her parents her feelings on the matter. Why were they still trying to shove Wayne Bigelow down her throat?

  “Is there a reason you’re so against the idea?” her father asked, pouring another glass of wine like he really needed it. He seemed nervous about something.

  Skye decided to take his odd behavior in to think about later. “Yes, there are plenty of reasons, and I stated them before. Wayne broke our engagement, but it was for the best. A marriage between us would have never worked.”

  “Could you tell us why you feel so strongly about that?” her father tried asking in a calm tone as he went back to sit beside her mother on the sofa.

  Skye looked at both her parents and said, “I don’t love him.”

  She watched her mother roll her eyes and wave her ringed hand when she said, “Skye, women of good breeding learn to love the men they marry.”

  “Well, good breeding or not, I doubt if I’ll ever learn to love Wayne.”

  “How do you know if you don’t try?” her mother all but snapped. “Why are you being so difficult?”

  “And why are the two of you ignoring how I feel and shoving Wayne at me? It’s like the two of you stand to gain something if I marry him.”

  She watched the wineglass almost drop from her father’s hand, sloshing wine over his trousers. Had what she said hit some sort of nerve?

  “Of course we stand to gain something with your marriage to Wayne,” her mother said quickly, handing her husband a linen napkin. “We’ll have the assurance of knowing that you will be taken care of. Your father and I aren’t getting any younger, Skye, and your well-being is important to us.”

  Skye wished she could believe that, but for some reason she felt her well-being had nothing to do with it. It was more of her parents’ grasping at the opportunity to continue to control her life through Wayne. “Well, I appreciate your concern, but I’m a big girl. I can handle myself and make my own decisions about what I want to do.”

  She inhaled deeply before she said, “In fact, I’ve made a decision that I want to tell you about.”

  “And what decision is that?” her father asked gruffly. She could tell he was not finished with their discussion of Wayne.

  “After meeting Vincent, I want to spend more time with him this summer. I can’t very well do that with me living here, so I’ve decided to spend the entire summer in Texas.”

  “What!” her parents exclaimed simultaneously, with shocked looks on their faces.

  Before they could recover, she quickly said, “I’m taking a leave of absence from my job and plan to spend three months in Houston, where Vincent will be working as a student intern for two of his cousins’ company. That way we can get to see each other more.”

  Her father stood after setting his wineglass on the table with a loud thump. She was surprised he hadn’t broken it. A type of rage that Skye had never seen before was on his face. What was wrong with him? She had grown up used to her mother’s dramatics, but never her father’s. “I forbid you to do such a thing,” he all but roared.

  Then her mother stood beside her husband, presenting a united front. “I agree with your father. We forbid it.”

  Skye studied her parents for a moment. She’d known they wouldn’t like her decision, but she never figured it would have them this angry and upset. A part of her was tempted to give in to them as she usually did. But when she saw them look at her expectantly, she knew that was just what they expected her to do.

  But not this time.

  Now that she had spent time with the Madarises, she had seen how a normal family could be, one where dictatorship wasn’t practiced, where a person’s wants and desires were respected. It saddened her to know all that she’d missed while growing up in this household.

  Skye shook her head as she stood, tightening her hand on the purse she held. “I’m sorry my news has upset the two of you, but I won’t cancel my plans because of y
ou. Spending the summer in Houston is important to me and it’s something that I want to do. It’s something that I will do, whether I have your support or not.”

  “And you will turn your back on us?” her father asked angrily.

  “Dad, it’s not turning my back on you and Mom; it’s finding myself, doing something that I want for a change, something that will make me happy. Why can’t you and Mom understand that? Why can’t you see that I deserve to have some happiness in my life?”

  Her father snorted derisively. “All we see is how ungrateful you are for what we’ve given you. And until you come to your senses, we’d rather that you not visit us.”

  Skye knew she was probably standing there looking as if someone had slapped her or had even gone so far as to throw an ice-cold bucket of water in her face. “You are cutting off our relationship because I won’t bend to your will?” she asked, getting angry at the very thought that yes, that’s what they were doing.

  “If that’s the way you see it, then I guess that’s what it is,” her father responded while her mother stood by his side nodding her head in agreement. “We want you to remain here and start planning your wedding to Wayne again. And until you do that, we prefer not to see you.”

  Skye inhaled deeply as she stared at her parents. “Remember, this was your decision and not mine.”

  She turned and walked out of the room and, moments later, out of the house. And she didn’t look back.

  Wayne removed the phone from so close to his ear when the loud voice nearly yelled right into it. After a few seconds, he returned it to his ear.

  “When you think about it,” he said when he was able to get a word in, “her spending time in Houston might not be a bad thing. Skye is all caught up with this brother she’s found. The last thing she’ll think about is finding out the identity of her father. In that case, you don’t have anything to worry about.”

  “I want to be certain of that,” the party on the other line snapped. “Did you ever see a copy of the report from the private investigator that she hired?”

  “No.”

  “I want a copy of it and I don’t care how you get it. I want to make sure there’s nothing in it that will make her start wondering about anything.”

  “Okay, I’ll get a copy.”

  “And I think while she’s in Texas you should visit her a few times. Perhaps if she believes that you care about her building a relationship with her brother and are supportive, she will soften up toward you some.”

  “Maybe,” he said stubbornly, not really caring if Skye softened up toward him or not. He glanced over at the naked woman sleeping beside him. Sex between them had been good as usual, but then he wasn’t a person who let good sex rule his mind. Nor was he a person who liked being taken for granted. He had no intentions of sitting around and waiting for Skye to come to her senses. He’d gotten pretty pissed earlier that night when he had arrived at her place and the security guard had outright refused to grant him entrance up to her apartment.

  “There’s no maybe about it. I want it done. You have a lot to gain if things go down as planned. I wouldn’t screw up now if I were you. Do you understand?”

  Wayne frowned. “Yes, I understand. Completely.”

  CHAPTER 13

  Slade stood, almost incapable of breathing, while watching Skye come down the escalator to the baggage claims area. As soon as her feet hit the floor she saw him and smiled and began moving in his direction. Emotions filled his chest as he began walking forward to meet her.

  He had been surprised at the phone call he’d received from her a little less than a week ago. He hadn’t asked any questions; he’d just listened. She wanted to take him up on both offers, and after he assured her there wouldn’t be any problems with it, she had quickly ended the call. Since that night he had wondered what had driven her to make the decisions she had. He had heard the gloom in her voice and wondered the reason for it. But when he saw her in the flesh, the reason didn’t matter. She was here now and he would make sure he kept that smile in her eyes.

  Over the past couple of weeks he had thought of her often and had refused to try to figure out the why of it. The important thing was that he had thought of her. And just like she felt she needed time to spend with Vincent, Slade felt that he needed time to spend with her. Time to sort out all these emotions he was feeling and why the closer he got to her the more his chest felt like it was about to burst.

  She was wearing a pair of jeans and a pretty red top and she looked good, sexy in a prissy sort of way. And the twisted curls on her head had a copper glow that seemed to highlight the beauty of her face. The more he saw her in jeans, the more he liked it. By the end of the summer he would have converted her into a full-fledged cowgirl, leather boots and all.

  She was only a few feet away and a shiver ran down his spine. He ignored all the other people walking quickly by, either going to catch their flights or there to meet their loved ones. His mind was concentrated on one person, one particular woman.

  The moment he was able to reach out and touch her, he wrapped both his arms around her and lifted her off her feet. “Hello, Slade,” she said, smiling down at him.

  At that moment he wasn’t able to force his mouth to work for a response. The only thing he was compelled to do with his mouth was join it with hers in a kiss. The first thought that ran through his mind the moment their lips touched was that he needed this. He needed to hold her in his arms this way, semi-suspended in air, while his mouth devoured hers. And the way her tongue latched onto his quickened his pulse.

  When he became aware of a few whistles and catcalls, he thought it was time they ended things. Besides, they both needed to breathe in much-needed air. “That was some welcome, Slade,” she said, smiling up at him, when he had placed her back on her feet.

  He smiled. “You liked it?”

  She chuckled. “Yes, I liked it.”

  “Good.” As he took her hand in his they moved toward the area where her luggage was located.

  “I have three bags,” she turned to him to say.

  He lifted a teasing brow. “I thought you traveled light.”

  She grinned. “I’m going to be here all summer, Slade.”

  He nodded as he pulled the three bags that she pointed out to him off the carousel. She didn’t have to remind him about how long she would be staying. He was looking forward to every day she would be there. “There’re a lot of activities planned for you beginning this weekend. Vincent is anxious for everyone to meet you, so Justin’s brother Dex and his wife, Caitlin, have a dinner party planned tomorrow night in your honor in their home.”

  “That’s very kind of them.”

  He winked at her. “Hey, haven’t you figured out by now that the Madarises are kind people? And before you ask about Vincent, he’ll be arriving tomorrow. Justin and Lorren are flying him in,” he said, leading her out of the terminal toward the parking lot.

  She nodded, recalling that Justin and his brothers shared ownership of a private plane, a Cessna.

  “You know what that means, don’t you?”

  Slade’s question recaptured her attention. She glanced over at him. “No, what does it mean?”

  He smiled at her before leaning forward and placing a kiss on her forehead. “It means, Skye Barclay, that I’ll have you all to myself for an entire day and a half. What do you think of that?”

  At that moment Skye felt her pressure spike up sky-high and she really couldn’t think at all.

  “Slade, this place is beautiful,” Skye said. And she really meant it. The condo he had offered her to use was more than she had imagined. Fully furnished, the place was huge and located on the twenty-fifth floor. The building appeared like a tower that overlooked a beautiful park with a spectacular view of a pond that connected to the Madaris Office Park. He’d said he and Blade had named the park Laverne Square in honor of their great-grandmother.

  The view outside the window was incredible, and looking out of it, Skye could s
ee the fifteen-story office structure—the Madaris Building. Below it stood a smaller tower surrounded by numerous shops, restaurants, banks, boutiques, and several other professional offices, as well as a movie theater. Everything she saw had been designed and built by Slade and Blade, the owners and CEOs of the Madaris Construction Company. If this was a testimony of their work, then the two men should be proud of their accomplishments.

  She turned around to look at Slade. He hadn’t moved from leaning against the closed door. On the ride from the airport he had kept the conversation light, occasionally pointing out various landmarks and places of interest they’d passed.

  Even during the ride up to the condo in the elevator she had tried to keep her breathing normal, especially whenever he planted those dark eyes on her. From the moment she’d first seen him at the airport, her heart hadn’t acted normal. He had been easy to spot in the mass crowds of people. He had stood out, tall, lean, and unbearably handsome, wearing a pair of jeans, a dark jacket that emphasized the muscular breadth of his shoulders, and a pair of leather boots.

  She hadn’t forgotten how good he looked; she just hadn’t expected the shock of seeing him, as gorgeous as he wanted to be, too brutal to her senses, so raw to her nerves. But what had almost made her drool when she’d seen him was the way he always looked wearing a Stetson on his head. Totally magnificent. Completely Texan. Provocatively male. That was how he looked now.

  She was so glad he had kissed her when he’d seen her. A part of her would have been disappointed if he hadn’t. When it came to kissing, they seemed to enjoy it immensely when they were doing it to each other.

  She watched as he eased away from the door and began walking toward her, removing his Stetson and tossing it on a nearby table. No man, she thought, other than Slade Madaris, could look this good just walking. There was something about his confident stride that could totally block out her senses. There was nothing arrogant and conceited about him. What you saw was what you got, and what she was seeing, the closer he got, sent a frisson of heat down her spine, playing havoc on her peace of mind and staggering her senses.