Page 102 of Lovers' Dance: Vol. 2

Matt continued, simply because his obvious frustration was a source of hilarity to her. He wanted to see her smile. “Am I grumpy, poppet?”

Madi bit her lower lip, fighting a chuckle.

He brushed past her, tossing over his shoulder, “And you know exactlywhyI get grumpy.”

The sound of her laughter as he walked out the living room was music to his ears…

“Jamal, we’re leaving now.” Madi warned her cousin as she stuck her head around the door of the snug. “I’ll send Uncle David home from the hospital, make sure he eats. Jenny should get back from classes an hour after he arrives. Remind her to put the washing – in fact,youput the washing in.”

“Will do.” Jamal replied. “I’ll be there in about five, maybe six hours. Did you eat, Madi? I didn’t see you eat and you know your ass is scrawny.”

Matt, standing out of Jamal’s view, gave his wife an eloquent look. He’d been on her case about it too.

“I’ll get something later. Bye.” She grabbed Matt’s hand and tugged him forward, eager to return to her aunt’s sick bed. Ryan was already parked out front waiting to ferry them to the hospital.

“You do know I have no qualms about force-feeding you,” Matt advised as they left the house. “I’m much bigger and stronger, poppet. You wouldn’t stand a chance.”

She snorted in derision and quickened her pace down the drive. “I’ll eat later, Matt. Come on.”

Ryan stood outside the vehicle, immediately opening up the door on their approach. Matt gave him a curt nod in greeting then followed Madi into the back of the Range Rover. The short trip to the hospital was silent, as every other trip they’d made. He covered her hands with his, stopping her in the act of fiercely scratching her pinkie finger.

The peel from his coat pocket barely tore her attention from the scenery outside the window. Matt doubted she was actually focusing on anything other than her thoughts. That worried, faraway expression seemed to have taken up permanent residence on her face.

He fished his mobile out. “Hello,”

“Matt, it’s Nathan. How are you? Is Madi’s aunt any better?”

Matt glanced at his wife. “No improvement unfortunately. How’s everything? Is Adam handling the busin-”

“Yes, yes,” Nathan cut him off tersely. “Everything’s fine on thebusiness front. Look, that’s not why I called, mate. There’s been a development.”

Matt stiffened, not liking the tone of his friend’s voice. “What is it?”

Madi turned to look at him, picking up on the tension. He smiled at her and she resumed looking out the window.

“I just wanted to give you a heads up, but it seems some rag has caught wind of your trip to the States and the reason behind it. The story is due out tomorrow. Fingers crossed the American media doesn’t take much of an interest in it.”

“How?” Matt couldn’t keep the anger out his voice and again Madi turned to him. He sent her another quick smile while smoothing his features into a relaxed one.

“I honestly have no idea, and it’s winding me right up! Look, don’t take this the wrong way but I’m beginning to think the source is coming from someone on Madi’s end. I mean, let’s approach this logically. Prior to your relationship with her, the media could only speculate about your personal life. And they bloody well knew not to print anything or run the risk of litigation. After the incident with the Norwegian model you made sure they got nothing. Now they seem to know everything, and in a short space of time too.”

Matt digested that bit of unsavoury news with a bitter twist creasing his lips. “It would appear you might be right,” He released her hand and pressed it over her jiggling leg. She was a bundle of nerves and she needed sleep. Matt returned to his conversation. “I’ll have someone look into it once things calm down on this end.”

“Good,” Nathan’s relief was audible. “The wife’s been on my case, Matt. She wants to know how Madi’s holding up and my brief responses aren’t satisfactory. Bella will probably be calling you herself sometime.”

Matt chuckled. “I’ll let Madi know about her concern and we’ll talk once we know where things stand on this end. How is Bella?”

“Pregnant,” Nathan grumbled. “And driving me around the bend. Look, I must dash, your father’s in the office today and I’m due in a meeting- bollocks! I’m late.”

Matt shook his head at the immediate dial tone ringing in his ear before putting the mobile away. Surreptitiously he observed his wife, wondering which bastard within the circle of her associates could be feeding the media details of their private life. It had to be someone close to her. On recollection, it had been a two daytimespan when the story about their engagement broke. The notification of their wedding happenedwhilethey were still on honeymoon. Again he silently thanked Nathan’s father for the role he played in keeping the furore to a minimum.

Matt did a quick elimination of the most obvious suspect. Dante Palmer. As much as he disliked the man, he knew he would never deliberately do anything to hurt Madi. In fact, Palmer had previously made it known he despised the media attention Madi was on the receiving end of.

Maybe someone working for her, which was feasible. Someone in a position to perhaps garnish personal details about their life in her everyday interaction with the staff. A low grunt fell from him. This was exactly why he chastised her about not maintaining a strict professional line when dealing with her employees. She ran her dance company as if it was one big happy family; had proudly stated the fact to him on numerous occasions. He would get to the bottom of this then make her implement ironclad non-disclosure contracts for every member of her staff. This lackadaisical, allegedly close-knit nonsense had to stop. Madi needed to realize one shouldn’t blur the lines set between employer and employees.

“You’re frowning.” she said, face still turned towards the window.

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