CHAPTER NINE
Maddie
It didn’t take much convincing to get Kenzie into the tub after helping her take off her sodden clothes.
I sat in the quiet bathroom, listening to the water splash as the little girl played with her toys, seeming quite content after such a harrowing experience.
Me?
I was still shaking. Maybe not on the outside, I was too well trained for that. But my insides quivered as I wondered what I should do next.
Why had I been so stupid?
I knew why.
I was used to having my every need taken care of. Walking away from a bag had never been a problem in the past. Someone would simply get it for me. I didn’t question it.
I needed to be more conscious in the future. I dropped my face in my hands.
Future.
While the word had seemed exciting only a short while ago, it seemed daunting and oppressive now. In my small purse, I had exactly one thousand, four dollars, and sixty-two cents. The rest of the cash my mother had given me was in the duffle, along with the jewels that were supposed to have made my transition easy.
What would one thousand and four dollars buy me here in New York? I’d already spent over a hundred dollars on taxi rides alone, and my gyro and water had been nearly eleven dollars.
What did a loaf of bread cost? Cheese? An apple? I had no idea.
I’d never gone food shopping before. Sure, I might have picked up a piece of fruit while wandering through a market, but someone else in my entourage would have paid for it.
And clothes? I literally had only the shirt on my back. Where would I purchase even the basics I would need? And how much would that cost?
“Why are you sad?”
I dropped my hands and sat up straighter on my perch on the side of the tub. Forcing a smile, I gazed down at the little girl. “I’m just tired. I’ve had very little sleep.”
In fact, I hadn’t slept since the night before last. I’d been too wired and nervous to sleep on the plane.
“Do you need a nap?”
The very thought of it made me yawn, and I smiled. “I think I do.”
As if it was contagious, Kenzie yawned too, then I yawned again, and soon, we were both laughing. “You can sleep in my room if you want,” the little girl offered. “Or there’s an extra bedroom that nobody ever sleeps in. My bedroom is prettier.”
“It is very pretty,” I said. I’d seen it when we’d gotten Kenzie a change of clothes from the walk-in closet. “Are pink and purple your favorite colors?”
Her eyes went wide. “It sure is.”
I smiled at the way she made pink and purple seem like one color. “I like pink and purple too, and green. I love green because it reminds me of the grass and the trees.”
Kenzie frowned. “I got grass stains on my purple shorts when I fell. Do you think it will come out?”
Another thing I’d never had to do, but I remembered following my nanny around, watching her and the other servants do things. Once, I’d begged to pour the detergent into the giant machine in the laundry room, and Marta, the woman in charge of washing had let me.
“Oh dear,” she’d said, pulling one of my summer skirts from the pile. “You have a grass stain…” she winked at me, “again.” Then I’d watched as she used a little brush to scrub the stain with pungent smelling vinegar.
I smiled at the darling girl. I might know more about life than I thought. “If your dad has vinegar, we’ll see if we can scrub it out.”
Her little teeth gleamed. “Scrub a dub dub.”
My smile grew wider. “And speaking of scrub a dub, shall I wash your hair for you?”
She nodded vigorously and turned until she was facing away from me. I looked at the variety of items around me and spotted a large cup. Filling it with water, I poured it over her hair, careful to not let it spill into her eyes, then did it again until every strand was soaked. Picking up some baby shampoo, I inhaled its clean scent as I smoothed it into her hair.
“You’re better at this than my mommy,” Kenzie said. “She always pulls.”
I knew I shouldn’t ask but curiosity was loosening my tongue. “Where is your mommy?”
Kenzie sighed, a long exhale of air. “She’s in California. It’s her turn to be gone.”
I frowned, unsure of what that meant. “I’m sorry.” What else could I say without interrogating the poor child?
She shrugged, both shoulders coming to her ears before falling back down. “Jet hurt Kylian, and so we had to go away with Daddy and come back to New York.”
Jet?
What was Jet? A dog?
And hurt him how? A bite? Was that why Xander seemed to hesitate about bringing in the little white one?
“I’m sorry,” I said again as I puzzled through everything. “Is Kylian okay?”
She nodded, picking up a white plastic pony with a rainbow-colored mane. “He cried and cried, but Daddy said we’d all be okay.” She turned and looked up at me. “How do you say okay the way you did before?”
“Well, there are actually a few ways to say okay in French,” I told her, massaging my fingers on her scalp. “There’s d’accord, or bon, or incroyable.”
“Is that French?”
“Oui.”
She giggled. “Does that mean yes?”
I said it again with an affirmative nod. “Oui.”
“How did you learn French?”
I remembered my tutors holding up cards and making me sit still when I ached to be outside. “I learned in France, of course.”
She giggled again and started washing the mane of the horse. “Is France pretty?”
I closed my eyes and pictured the Mediterranean. The Eiffel Tower. The field of grapes. “Oui. It is very beautiful.”
She looked up at me, her blue eyes much lighter than my own. “But you live in New York now?”
“Yes. Yes, I do.”
She nodded. “That’s good. Does your Mommy and Daddy live here too?”
The question was like a punch in my stomach. “No.”
Those baby blues flashed again. “Where do they live?”
How could I lie to such innocence? I sidestepped the question instead. “They are both gone.”
She frowned. “Gone where? California?”
Emotion clogged my throat, and I was saved from answering by a deep voice. “Are you playing twenty questions, Kenz?”
Kenzie laughed. “No, a hundred ones. A thousand million gagillion ones.”
I felt him approach me from behind. In response, goose bumps raised on my arms and my nipples hardened in my bra. “We should rinse your hair,” I said and began to fill the cup.
“The faucet pulls out into a spray nozzle,” Xander said from beside me now. He leaned over me and pulled, and indeed, it uncoiled in his hand.
I was frozen.
His presence. His scent. It was all so overwhelming.
Then he touched me, a hand on my shoulder. “Are you okay?”
“It’s da-ac-core, Daddy.” Kenzie looked at me and rolled her eyes. “He doesn’t know France.”
The spell was broken when I laughed. Beside me, Xander laughed too and joined me on the side of the tub.
“Let’s get you rinsed,” I said and held out my hand for the sprayer.
“Are you sure?” Xander asked, his dark eyes gazing into mine. “I can take over. The police are gone.”
I smiled. “I don’t mind.”
Careful not to touch him, I took the sprayer from his hand and turned on the water. When the temperature was right, I rinsed Kenzie’s hair then her body as she stood.
Xander held out a towel for her to step into when we were all done.
“You have to spray this in my hair or it’ll get all tangled.”
Kenzie handed me a leave-in conditioner and I did as she said, combing it through until the dark locks shone against the white towel.
She insisted on getting dressed by herself, leaving me to drain the water in the tub and place all the little toys in the mesh bag where I’d spotted her removing them earlier.
Even though I’d never done these types of chores before, it felt oddly natural at the same time. Turning the water back on, I rinsed the sides of the tub and the bag of toys, simply because it seemed like the right thing to do.
When I stood, I was startled to find Xander still standing there. I’d just assumed he’d followed Kenzie from the bathroom.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you.”
I pushed my glasses higher onto my nose and swept my bangs across my forehead. “I’m just a little jumpy, I guess.”
He nodded. “And rightfully so. You’ve had a long day.”
I swiped my palms down my jeans. “As have you.”
“Maddie…” He frowned and ran his hand through his dark hair. “I’m sorry, what is Maddie short for?”
I very nearly said Madeleina but remembered my new identity just as my mouth opened. “Madalyn.”
He smiled, his dark gaze exploring my every feature. “That feels more right.”
I frowned, then realized I was standing too straight. I forced myself to relax into a more slouchy position. “How so?”
“I’m not sure, but for some reason, you don’t feel like a Maddie to me. May I call you Madalyn?”
Very slowly, I nodded. “Of course.”
He took a step closer to me. It was a small one, but it seemed like he completely filled the space between us. “What will you do now, Madalyn?”
My name was like a caress, and I crossed my arms over my chest in case my nipples decided to take on a life of their own again. I dropped my gaze to the spot where his throat disappeared into his shirt. “I… I’m honestly not sure.”
“Then stay here.” At first, I wasn’t sure if I heard him right, and my startled gaze leapt to his face. He said it again. “Stay here.”
I took a step backward, and my shoe skidded on drops of water on the floor. Before I could even catch myself, he was there, his hands around my upper arms. When I was steady, they fell slowly to his sides.
“I have four bedrooms here, and you’re welcome to stay in the guest room.”
I licked my lips, and his gaze followed the sweep of my tongue. “I can’t take your charity.”
His voice lowered, picking up speed. “Please. It’s not charity. I can give you room and board, and work if you want it. With the kids here now, I’ll need help with them, and they seem to have connected to you quickly.”
“I… I…”
“You saved my child, Madalyn. You risked yourself, and you lost your possessions in the process. Please…” His tone became urgent, and he was so close, his sandalwood and citrus scent a near caress on its own. “For a while. Only as long as you choose. But please let me replace what you lost. Let me make sure you’re safe for at least tonight.”
It was the perfect solution, I knew.
The place where he lived was like a fortress, and my money worries would be eliminated for now. I could stay a short time, learn the city from this vantage point before setting off on my own. And he could be right… it appeared as if he did need help with the children. Not that I had any experience of such things, but I’d had nannies. I could surely mimic them.
I gazed into his eyes, searched for evil there.
And when I found none, I slowly nodded. “Thank you. I accept.”
He seemed so relieved, so glad, so… what? I dropped my eyes to the opening of his shirt again.
“Clothes.” The word was like a blurt, and the breath it came on warmed my face.
“Pardon?”
“You’ll need clothes.” His gaze fell down to my shoes and back up to my face. “Do you have anything in New York? Anything in storage while you were away? Anything you left with family or friends?”
My throat tightened. “No. I have nothing.”
At least that was the truth. I had nothing at all.
“I’ll give you money to go shopping.”
I pressed my hands against my thighs to keep them from shaking. “You mean go back out there?” I hadn’t meant to sound so scared. So desperate.
He shook his head and pushed a hand through his hair before running it down his cheek, his fingers raking through his thick beard. “No, of course not.” He thought for a moment. “I have an idea.”
“What…?”
But he didn’t clue me in. He turned and left without another word, and I slowly followed in his sandalwood and citrus wake to find him picking a phone up off a table.
He punched the screen. “Joyce, I need someone to go shopping for me.” I went to the window and gazed out onto Central Park while he answered questions and gave instructions. “Madalyn, what size do you wear?”
I blinked at him. I didn’t know. All my clothes were custom-made.
“I… I…” He frowned and cocked his head at me as I furiously tried to remember the last time I’d looked at a fashion magazine and wanted to purchase something from the rack. “Thirty-four.”
His frown grew deeper, and his eyes swept down my small frame. “I don’t think so.”
Dear heavens. That was the European size. What was the American conversion? “I…”
His eyes seemed to darken as he next spoke. “Joyce, please have the shopper come here for measurements.” He paused for a moment, listening. “Yes, dinner would be appreciated. Thank you.”
He slowly lowered the phone away from his ear. “Are you alright?”
Was I? I didn’t know. I wasn’t prepared for any of this.
I smiled. “Yes. I’m sorry. I’ve not slept in many hours, and other than a few bites of that sandwich, I’ve had nothing to eat. My…” I couldn’t think of the word, so I held my fists up in front of me, “the hormone that…” I jabbed at the air.
“Adrenaline?” he filled in for me with a smile.
“Yes, I think my adrenaline rush has gone, and I’m tired now.”
I was talking too much. My accent getting thicker.
He quirked a brow. “How long were you in France?”
I lifted my chin. “Two and a half years.” Then I forced myself to laugh. “Don’t worry, I pick up accents easily. I’ll probably be speaking like a New Yorker in a week.”
He gave me a sultry look. “How’s yous doin’?”
I blinked at him again, not understanding something I should clearly understand, so I laughed. “Yes. I’s doin’ well.”
He laughed, and it was a beautiful, masculine sound that did something funny to my insides.
When the sound had died, we stood there gazing at one another, and I wasn’t sure of what to say next.
He extended his hand, light from the windows reflecting off his eyes. “Welcome to my family, Madalyn. Let me show you your room.”