Page 33 of A Dangerous Proposal

Gerry’s gaze was pinging back and forth between them like he was watching a tennis match. When neither spoke again, he exploded. “Who’s Alex Kovalyov? Is he hot?” He immediately pulled out his phone, tapping quickly on the screen.

“Madison…” Cami sounded disapproving, and while Madison knew her friend was looking out for her, something about it made her defensive.

What if Iwashaving a torrid fling with him? Would that be so bad?

Yes, Madison. It would. He’s involved with organized crime and murdered someone in front of you.

To save us!Her brain argued back at itself.

He said he wasn’t involved in his brother’s business.

“Madison, he’s…”

Madison rubbed her temple. “It’s flowers. He must have seen the announcement about our contract. It’s not a big deal.”

“At least a thousand dollars’ worth of flowers,” Gerry pointed out unhelpfully, still swiping on his phone.

“Have you seen him since…” Cami’s words trailed off and her gaze darted to Gerry. They hadn’t told the receptionist what really happened the afternoon Cami was attacked.

“No.”

“Fuck me!” Gerry’s exclamation startled both of them as he shoved his phone at them. “Is that him?”

Displayed clearly on the screen was a picture of Alex in a black suit, walking to a dark SUV.

“Uh yeah, Madison. You should definitely hit that.” His brow wrinkled as he took the phone back, oblivious to the tension in the room. “And he’s loaded. It says here he is the chairman of some gigantic business.”

He looked up at Cami with a frown. “I don’t get it. What’s the problem?”

“There’s no problem,” Madison said, scooping the arrangement into her arms and heading for her office. Cami followed, not done with the conversation, closing the door behind her.

“He’s a walking red flag, Madison.”

“No, he’s not. He’s not perfect but?—”

“He shot someone in the head and then made a joke.” Cami gaped at her.

“He saved our lives,” Madison pointed out.

Cami cocked her head, a curious expression on her face. “Okay, so killing someone isn’t a red flag for you. This is starting to make sense?—”

“He’s just someone I met. Men are the last thing on my list of priorities right now, so can we drop it? I have more important things to worry about right now.”

“I’m sorry, Mads. I was just…” Cami looked torn, but she swallowed whatever she was going to say.

Inhaling, she pasted on one of her signature sunny smiles, but there was no hiding the worry in her eyes. “Do you want to come over to my place for New Year’s Eve?”

The sympathy in her friend’s eyes had her fear and anxiety over the holiday rushing back. Thoughts of Alex and his flowers banished from her mind.

Madison shook her head but didn’t risk speaking, worried she might start crying. Emotion swamped her, as it did every time she thought about how Felix and his wife had been awarded overnight visitations with Jax. New Year’s Eve would be the first.

It was all happening so fast.Toofast.

She’d worked in the family court system as a social worker, and the speed at which things were progressing was unheard of. Madison suspected that Felix’s new father-in-law, a wealthy senator currently running for re-election, had a hand in the almost completely one-sided rapid judgments.

Her attorney had dismissed her worry as paranoia, and let her know in no uncertain terms that the fact the court had jumped so quickly from unsupervised afternoon visitation to overnights, showed which way the judge was leaning.

“You should prepare yourself.”

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