Page 112 of A Dangerous Proposal

Madison’s eyes flew open. “Seriously?”

He lifted an eyebrow at her. “Can you think of something better to spend money on than our son?”

Her heart galloped.

Did he just say, ‘our son?’

The way he was looking at her, Madison could tell he was waiting to hear how she’d react to those words. “I’ll…” She had to clear her throat over the sudden thickness. “I’ll call some agencies tomorrow.”

“Good.” He gave a nod of satisfaction. “Now that problem is solved, why don’t you tell me what’s been bothering you the last few days?”

“Nothing’s bothering me.”

Alex’s jaw flexed. “Don’t lie to me. We agreed on honesty.”

Madison blew out a slow breath. She didn’t want to tell him what happened with Felix, so she was honest about something else.

“Sometimes, it feels like I’m barely keeping my head above water. I wonder if I’m even doing any of this right.”

“Any of what?”

“Raising Jax mostly,” she admitted. “I don’t want to give up my job, but I worry I spend too much of my energy on it when I should focus more on him.”

Alex reclined against the couch, studying her. “There are all kinds of moms out there. I don’t think there is a ‘right’ way. The way Jax looks at you…” He shook his head. “He lights up like you are the absolute dead center of his universe. That’s the only evidence I need.”

Madison absorbed his words, and the silence stretched before she asked the question that had been gnawing at her. “Where is your mother? You haven’t really mentioned her.”

Alex lifted the glass to his lips. “She lives in Switzerland. Left not long after my father died. There was nothing here for her anymore.”

“When was the last time you spoke to her?”

“Months ago. We don’t communicate regularly.” He lifted a shoulder as if to say what he’d revealed didn’t affect him. “We were never close. So, believe me when I say that you are an excellent mother.”

He took another sip of his drink and eyed her warily. “Don’t look at me like that. She cared about me in her own way, I’m sure. But my value to her was more about keeping my father’s attention than me. Anatoly Kovalyov was the love of her life.” His mouth curled, and something hard glinted in his eyes. “She was incapable of understanding that she was one of many… a convenience. It worked out for me because Anatoly liked that she adored him.”

Madison went still.

It clicked then—why he was the way he was.

“She used to tell him she loved him over and over and over. She said it like it would suddenly make him leave his wife and family to be with her. I could hear them through the walls. Her tears. The begging. Always the ‘I love you.’ I’m not sure she even realized how much of a threat she made those words sound.”

A shiver ran down Madison’s spine.

“I’ve never said the words, and they’ve never been said to me.”

Alex heard his mother pour them on a man who used her, but never to the child who actually needed to hear them.

A dull pang settled behind her ribs at the realization that she would never hear those words from Alex. But as the pieces fell into place, she thought of all he had done today.

Whether or not Alex recognized it, his actions spoke louder than any declaration ever could.

Chapter Thirty-Four

Alex stepped out of Liev’s car, his mind already inside the house. Madison said Jax was finally on the mend when they’d spoken yesterday. A brief call where she’d sounded exhausted but assured him everything was fine. Jax hadn’t had a fever in over a day. It was shocking how relieved that made him.

He pushed the front door open, locking it behind him as he stepped inside. He slipped off his coat, rolling his shoulders as he moved through the darkened space.

A soft sound broke the silence.

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