Page 55 of Lovers' Dance

“Bloody hell, Matt.” Nathan peered out the glass door at the reporters excitedly hovering around and pulling out their mobiles. “There’ll be more vultures here within the hour.”

Matt had one thing on his mind. He let go of the woman’s arm and held her gaze as he enunciated in crisp, clear words, “Where is Madison?”

She blinked a few times, then broke from her stupor. “I’m Gloria, the receptionist. Please have a seat and I’ll get her for you.” Gloria gestured to the chairs before turning on her heels and running down the corridor. Matt stifled the urge to race after her and, once he’d seen which door she knocked on before entering, he began to pace the nicely decorated reception area. There were pictures of ballerinas in different poses on the cream walls, several potted plants and the receptionist’s desk was covered with pamphlets.

Nathan took a seat and glanced around the open space. “Nicely decorated. I wonder how old this building is.”

Matt rubbed his lower jaw to hide his scowl as he paced. He didn’t care about the building. He needed to see his poppet and, if that woman didn’t return with Madi in the next minute, he would go find her himself.

“Have a seat,” Nathan said to his back. “I’m sure she’ll be out in a few minutes.”

Matt continued to wear a hole in the green carpet and glared in the direction of the corridor. Where was she?

Two minutes later the door down the corridor opened and Gloria walked out, a strained smile on her face. Matt’s eyes narrowed as he saw the person following her. They hurried towards them. On seeing their approach, Nathan stood up and made his way to Matt’s side.

“Matthew Bradley.” He held his hand out to the black man he knew Madi had a crush on.

“Dante Palmer.” Dante shook his hand briefly while eyeing him up.

“Yes, I know who you are. Madi has told me a lot of good things about you.” Matt was a civilised man and this was her close friend. He would try to be friendly, even though his jealous possessiveness raised its head.

Dante smirked, folding his arms and saying drily, “Really? ’Cos she’s never spoken about you.”

An awkward pause developed as they exchanged tense looks. Nathan cleared his throat and stuck his hand out.

“Nathan Walthamstow. Pleased to meet you.”

Dante shook his hand, eyes never leaving Matt’s face. Matt knew in that instant they would never be friends.

“Where’s Madi?” he asked brusquely.

“Currently unavailable,” Dante replied. Gloria tittered under her breath, then walked to her desk.

Matt narrowed his eyes, holding Dante’s challenging gaze, and pasted a polite smile on his face. “Is that so? I’m not leaving here until I speak to her, so I’d suggest you take me to her at once.”

Dante’s mouth tightened into an unhappy line before he shrugged and turned back towards the corridor. “Follow me.”

They trooped down the hallway, stopping at the door with a gold plaque that stated ‘Office’.

Dante opened it up and stepped inside. Matt’s temper rose when he entered behind him and saw the cluttered room devoid of anyone else. He turned to question Dante about it but, before he could open his mouth, Dante walked over to the desk and bent down.

“Sweet cheeks, you’ve got visitors.”

“Go away, Dante.”

Matt looked at Nathan who was wearing a bemused expression on his face, then stared at the desk in the middle of the room. She was under there?

“Come out, Madi,” Dante said.

“No. I’m staying under here until everything goes back to normal. Leave me alone.”

Dante straightened up, shooting Matt a look as if to say, “See, she’s unavailable.”

Matt strode over to the desk. “Poppet, come out from under there. I need to talk to you.”

“Matt? Is that you?” Her voice quivered and Matt felt terrible. She was hiding under a desk. The fault lay on his doorstep. The media wouldn’t be outside if it wasn’t for who he was.

“Who else, poppet? Come out so we can talk.”

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