Page 84 of A Dangerous Proposal

“Don’t be stupid.”

Liev shrugged. “I don’t blame you. If she were my?—”

“Blood or not, I will spill yours all over these fucking stones if you finish that sentence,” Alex snarled, wishing they didn’t have an audience.

Liev laughed loudly. “I’m just messing with you. You were over here being all broody. I thought I’d remind you of what a lucky bastard you are.”

“Are you drunk?” Alex’s blood was still pumping hot in his ears, but he took a breath in an effort to calm down.

“Not yet.” Liev chuckled again. “Why don’t you just admit it?”

“Admit what?”

Liev shot him a knowing look. “You wanted her, and you found the perfect excuse to have her.”

Alex finally tore his gaze from where it had returned to watching Madison, and he pinned Liev with a flinty glare. “If you want to keep your tongue, I suggest you shut the fuck up.”

His cousin smirked, clearly unbothered. “You’ve always had a soft spot for women. And she’s amom who clearly loves her kid…”

Alex’s jaw tightened. “Liev.”

“I’m just saying… It was probably inevitable. So don’t fight it.” Liev lifted his hands in mock surrender.

Alex downed the rest of his drink, ignoring the way his body hummed with tension.

“You care about her,” Liev continued. “Fuck, you had me following her for months. I heard what happened at the club. All your bristly attitude lately, all this bullshit you keep spewing. You’re trying to convince yourself that this is about keeping Mikhail happy. Admit you’re obsessed with her. It won’t kill you.”

It might.

Liev patted Alex’s chest, his expression sobering. “It’s okay to let yourself be happy, Alex. She’s given you what you’ve always wanted.”

Alex scoffed to hide how his cousin’s words affected him. “And what’s that?”

“A family.”

The words hit Alex like a punch to the ribs.

Ignoring Liev, he joined Madison where she stood in the garden with Cami and James, sipping a glass of champagne.

Alex slipped behind her, resting a hand against the warm skin at the small of her back before pressing a brief kiss on her cheek. “Angel.”

She tensed for the barest moment, but when she turned to face him, her lips twitched, amusement flickering in her blue eyes. “Charming.”

James Bloom exhaled sharply, his expression tight with barely concealed irritation. Alex was well aware that James hated being at Alex’s house, and it gave him a perverse pleasure that the man was forced to be there because he was in love with his own wife. Alex wasn’t thrilled to have James there either, but their wives were best friends and business partners, so both of them would have to get used to occasionally seeing each other.

Plus, it was just so easy to aggravate the man. How could he resist that kind of fun?

Alex let the moment stretch before casually asking, “How’s Declan?”

James’s jaw ticked. “Recovering.”

Alex nodded, his thumb absently brushing down Madison’s spine. She was so soft.

“Good. Tell him to rest up. He owes me a lot of favors, and I plan on collecting. Poor form to try to die to get out of settling up.”

James grunted, clearly restraining himself from saying something rude.

Cami, however, watched the exchange with barely hidden amusement. “You’re enjoying this.”

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