Watch Me (Private Listing #1)

Page 59



But I’m not perfect, and eventually they’ll find that out. Then where will I be?

Alone.

Chapter 19

Movie Night

Seth

By the time I finish washing Madison in the shower, dinner is ready and on the table. Blake went by her apartment earlier and packed everything in her room. We put the boxes in the living room of her suite and figure she can put things away at her leisure.

I left her alone to get dressed. When she emerges, she stands in the doorway to her apartment looking so uncertain. She found a pair of jeans and a t-shirt to wear for dinner. Her feet are bare, toenails painted a light blue.

Her blond hair hangs loose past her shoulders. It has a soft wave in it. Her blue eyes look like she doesn’t know how she fits in here.

I feel bad about fucking her. Not the actual act, but she’s still healing. Her neck and arms are still bruised deeply. We should have waited longer. We could have waited longer. But damn if I don’t want her again already.

Noah walks up to her, and she tips her face up to his as he says something only she can hear. Her smile lights up her face, and I can almost see the invisible threads weaving between them, curling around the two of them and forming a connection I’m not sure will be broken.

He isn’t like the rest of us. Even with the other women, he participated occasionally but never sought them out. He kept to himself. But Madison draws him. He kisses her softly before taking her hand and leading her to the dining room table.

“He’s smitten,” Cooper says next to me with a smirk.

I shake my head and look at him. “And you’re not?”

Cooper smiles and shrugs his shoulders. He’s mostly unreadable, but I’ve seen him looking at her when no one else is watching. We’re all in over our heads with this girl. I wouldn’t call it love just yet, but it’s definitely something more than simply lust.

Blake sets a bowl of pasta on the table. “Dinner’s ready.”

I claim the chair next to Madison and take her hand under the table. She turns and offers me a smile. Her bruises are more noticeable, and I fight off the urge to trace the edges of them. I want to erase them and take away her pain. The one on her cheek is a little swollen today.

She’s so young and fragile.

If I’d been the one to walk in on the roommate and her boyfriend hurting Madison, I would have killed them. Painted the walls with their blood for daring to touch her. It’s not rational, but they tried to take someone who’s mine. Who’s ours. They hurt her and meant to do a lot more harm.

When she told the police what happened and what they’d said, I had to clench my fist to stop myself from doing everything within my power to find and end them. But that wouldn’t have helped Madison.

She needs us here with her. She squeezes my hand and turns to look over the food.

Blake can cook when needed. One of his go-to dishes is pasta with garlic and butter, with vegetables and chicken mixed in, paired with garlic toast and a good salad. Cooper brings out a bottle of white wine.

“None for Madison.”

She turns to me with a frown.

“Not until you’re off the meds,” I explain.

She nods. Noah goes to the fridge. He brings back a root beer and pours it into her glass. She grins at him, and I furrow my brow.

“She told me she always loved root beer growing up, so I figured she’d like one.” Noah shrugs like he didn’t just say something I didn’t know about her. Her hand comes up and touches his arm as he pours. He smiles down at her.

Unfortunately, her throat doesn’t allow her to talk with us, so I won’t learn more of her secrets tonight. I want them all. I want to know everything about her. Even the things she hides from herself.

We pass around the wine and the food until everyone has a full plate. We dig in.

Madison moans and grins with her first bite. I swear Blake’s cheeks grow pink. He held back from her before, wanting to protect us, but I can’t help but wonder if he’s all in now.

“We don’t do much work on the weekends anymore,” Cooper says, putting his wineglass down. “When we first started the company, it seemed like all we did was work. Morning, noon, and night. It was hectic but worth it.”


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