Page 19 of A Dangerous Proposal

“Won’t they want to talk to you… us?” The odd, surreal situation was making her head hurt. “You shot him. I’m a witness.”

“No,” he said carefully. “Your friend Cami shot him in self-defense after he attacked her..”

“What are you talking about? I saw you! I’m not going to frame my best friend for murder.”

“No one asked you to.”

She could make out his profile under the streetlights as they passed under them, and his nostrils flared as he inhaled a frustrated breath. “By now, your friend has already confessed. It was her idea,” he added, when Madison gasped. “Neither the Blooms nor your friend wanted my presence known any more than I wanted it to be. Someone had to take responsibility.” He chuckled, his jaw relaxing for the first time since they got in the car.

“Since James was already involved in a shooting this week, your friend took matters into her own hands by grabbing the gun and making sure her fingerprints were on the trigger, while James and Declan argued over who was going to get to play white knight. Fucking Blooms,” he muttered. “Because Cami was injured, she can easily claim self-defense—and if that doesn’t work, Declan will handle it.”

“James’s brother?”

Alex grunted.

“I’m not a great liar,” Madison admitted.

“No one will ask you anything. You weren’t there. So don’t give any indication you know anything is wrong if you leave a message.”

That had her sitting forward between the two front seats. “Of course, I was there.”

He came to a red light and twisted to face her. “Do you want police involved in your life right now?” He shot a meaningful look at Jax sleeping in his car seat.

Madison swallowed back the anxiety clawing up her throat.

Oh god.Her lawyer already told her that, as the non-biological parent, she was fighting an uphill battle to keep Jax. If Felix and his lawyer found out he’d almost been harmed because of her job… that she put him in a car without a car seat… with a stranger. Her chest tightened as panic grew.

“Madison.” Alex’s voice was sharp. “You weren’t there. You have nothing to worry about. Everything is under control.”

She wanted to believe him. She really did—but the whole situation seemed too fantastical.

Ignoring the light changing to green in front of them, Alex took her chin between his thumb and forefinger, forcing her frantic gaze to meet his.

“It’s under control.” His intense, icy blue eyes bore into hers. “I promise.”

Her world was falling apart, but inside this car, in this odd bubble with a man she didn’t know… For the first time in a long time, she let herself exhale.

Madison nodded.

“Strong girl.” The tips of Alex’s fingers brushed her chin with a featherlight caress before they returned to the steering wheel.

Madison leaned back and allowed herself to sink against the soft leather. The car slowed a few minutes later as they passed a guard gate, and an automatic electronic arm lifted before they continued into a neighborhood.

The homes were set far apart, one barely visible through the trees to its neighbor. Eventually, they pulled into a driveway, headlights illuminating a giant wrought-iron fence. Alex rolled down his window and pressed his thumb to a slick panel.

“This is your house?”

“My primary residence.”

Her nerves returned full force as Alex parked in the large forecourt of a giant red-brick house lit up from every corner.

Alex opened the back door and began unstrapping Jax.

What was she doing? She didn’t know this man.

“Wait. Let me get him. He’ll be afraid if he wakes up.”

Scrambling to mentally catch up, Madison reached for the toddler, but it was too late. As Alex hooked the diaper bag over his shoulder, Jax’s eyes blinked open.

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