Page 53 of A Dangerous Proposal

He rolled his eyes. “Overdose. Whatever.”

“Youare responsible,” Madison hissed at him, her control slipping away at his callous words. “You are the one who got her hooked on drugs and then made her do god knows what so you wouldn’t hurt her.”

Felix leaned further so that his face was only inches from hers as he dropped his voice to a low hiss. “Your sister wasn’t a saint. She was a greedy bitch just like you, trying to get one over on my father-in-law and me. If you aren’t careful, you’ll end up just like her.”

Madison tasted blood as she bit down on her tongue. Her hands clenched tightly at her sides.

If you hit him, you will be the one to lose—Jax will be the one to lose.

Her blood boiled, and Madison thought her ribs might crack from the pounding of her heart. Thankfully, a baby laugh caught her attention, and she saw Mary approaching with Jax on her hip.

The sight sucked some of the anger out, and Felix immediately adopted a friendly expression.

“Sorry that took so long,” Mary said with an apologetic smile. “Little man had a blowout.”

Madison forced herself to smile, her arms immediately reaching for her son.

“No problem,” she murmured, keeping her eyes off Felix as she pulled her purse higher on her shoulder and reached for the diaper bag Mary held.

Mary’s eyes widened. “Wow. That’s a beautiful purse.”

“Thank you. It was my sister’s.” Madison glared at Felix.

“Really? What a small world. It looks just like my cousin’s work. Doesn’t it, babe?” She looked up at Felix with an odd expression.

“I don’t know,” he mumbled, his cheeks flushing a little.

“I’m surprised, though. Jamie’s pieces are usually…” Mary’s eyes flicked from the purse to Madison, her expression harder than before. “Expensive. I wonder where she and Opal could have crossed paths.”

Madison’s cheeks ached with the effort it took to hold her smile.Bitch. “I found it in her things.”

“Did you hold on to a lot of her things?”

Opal was not a subject Madison ever wanted to discuss with these people, and while Mary didn’t strike her as the sharpest tack in the box, there didn’t seem to be any malice in her.

“Yes, for Jax.”

Mary smiled sweetly while Felix glowered.

“See you next time, Madison.” He snarled and then slammed the door. Jax flinched at the sudden noise but was quickly distracted when she blew a raspberry into his neck.

Jax’s laughter erupted, high and sweet, the sound instantly melting some of the tension coiled inside her. Madison tightened her arms around him, holding his little body against hers as his tiny fingers clutched at her sweater. Madison pressed soft kisses against his cheek, inhaling the warm, familiar scent of baby shampoo and graham crackers.

“I missed you so much, buddy. Did you miss me?” He bounced happily in her arms.

Jax’s pediatrician had said that he would most likely need to work with a speech therapist at some point. His verbal skills were delayed, possibly because of his mother’s drug use early in her pregnancy, but Madison knew Jax understood a lot more of what was happening around him than the doctor believed.

Jax babbled in response, his chubby hands patting at her cheeks before gripping the loose strands of her hair. Madison winced as his little fingers tangled, but she didn’t free herself. Instead, she kissed the top of his head as she walked to her car.

But as she strapped him in his seat and slid behind the wheel, her agitation returned. Something about that entire exchange with Felix and Mary was nagging at her. She was missing something, and Madison had a feeling it was important.

Those few minutes had let her know, whatever mask he wore for his new wife and family, Felix hadn’t changed.

Chapter Seventeen

Alex glanced up from the reports spread across his desk when his phone vibrated against the wood, his cousin’s name highlighted on the screen. He wasn’t expecting a call, which meant it was either bad news or Liev was being annoying because he was bored again.

“What is it?”

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