Ruin Me (Savage Bosses)

Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

M adison

I slammed through the front door of my parents’ home, still reliving Kent’s umpteenth slap to my confidence. That he dared to prove his point by giving me the hottest kiss I’d ever received rankled more because I knew Elsie would gladly sleep with him.

My body had yet to cool off from the inferno he started. Yet another reason for me to hate Kent fucking Luxe.

“Maddy, is that you?” my mother’s voice reminded me I didn’t have the luxury to vent my frustrations. Since I was staying with them until I finished my contract with Kent, I couldn’t act the way I did living by myself.

“Yes, Mommy.” I made my way to the kitchen, where she was wiping the table.

“Do you work this late in D.C.?”

“Sometimes later. Let’s just say there’s always someone doing dirty that needs my finesse.”

“Tsk. While you take care of everybody, who’s taking care of you?”

“All those life skills you and Daddy gave me.” I smiled at my mother as she punched three minutes into the microwave.

Nikita Montgomery had boundless energy. She was a senior partner at Dietz, Simpson, and Montgomery, Douglas’ premier law firm, and she was a hands-on mother. She never missed my competitions or dinner at home; even if it meant returning to the office late at night to work on a case. She set the plate of meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and mustard greens before me. It was pointless to tell her I’d had something at the office; she wouldn’t consider a protein drink proper food.

I forked a mouthful and groaned at what I’d been missing as the flavors hit my tastebuds. “Where’s Daddy?” I finally got around to asking when I was more than halfway done.

“You know that man is downstairs playing God with that miniature town he’s been building since you were in middle school. You should go down and talk to him. He won’t say anything, but he’s been sulking since you returned because he hasn’t had enough one-on-one time with you.”

We shared a smile. Dennis Montgomery hid his softer-than-a-plush-toy interior beneath a gruff exterior when it came to me. He took me moving away for college and deciding to stay away the hardest.

I rose and washed my plate. “I’ll go see him now.” With a kiss to my mom’s cheek, I headed to the basement.

“When you return, I’ll have a glass of wine waiting for you. I want to know what had you slamming through my house like a bull elephant in musth.”

Her reminder brought back my rage from earlier, but I cleared the emotion from my face and nodded.

Downstairs, I watched in silence as my father detailed the shingles of a roof for one of the three-dimensional houses he designed. My father was a master carpenter. Dignitaries and celebrities alike sought after his talent, keeping him busy.

Being exposed to his clients helped me when I began my career while I attained my accelerated law degree at Penn. After my disastrous confession to Kent, I’d busied myself with every distraction under the sun, pouring my broken heart into my studies and later into Madison Consulting.

“I know I’m pretty, but my good looks don’t stop you from greeting your daddy properly.”

I smiled at his unsubtle demand for my affection and ran over to hug him from behind. “Did you miss me?”

“Hmph, what’s to miss? I haven’t seen you in so long I almost forgot I had a daughter.” He laid his work down and patted my forearm before turning and breaking my embrace. “Ah, yes, you look familiar now. Almost like looking in the mirror, you so pretty.”

“Daddy!”

“What? Instead of denying who gave you that good DNA, give me a proper hug.” He pulled me into his arms and wrapped me in his warmth. “Now, how’s my baby girl doing?” He released me to cup my face and study my response.

I shrugged, not wanting to burden him with the stresses from my day. “You know how it is. Working for friends is never easy.”

“Ah, yes. How is Kent doing? Ever since Oyinlola passed, he hasn’t been the same. His old place sits empty, and he rarely comes around anymore.”

“Ife never mentioned that.”

“That’s because he stays there whenever she visits, which is a lot more often than some daughters I know.”

Guilt niggled at me because Kent and the odd chance of seeing him were the reasons I stayed away. If I’d known he spent most of his time in his penthouse, I would have visited more often.

“You’ve added a lot to the city since the last time I saw it.” I changed the subject, unwilling to dwell on my reasons for avoiding my hometown.

He glared at me. “Because it’s grown since you moved away, and I need to update this place with the changes. I can’t afford for Ulysses Murphy to upstage me.” He shifted an entire section of buildings off the original board onto a second cityscape.

A notecard beside the second board labeled the new the city’s name with a date range to reflect the historical time period.

“Ever since Douglas’ First Lady created the Best Little Douglas competition during the annual Spring festival, that old man has been riding my coattails. Except for last year.” Daddy glowered at the altered miniature downtown landscape he was redesigning. “Murphy’s focus on the train routes throughout the city put me in second place for the first time.”

“But Daddy, isn’t the competition only three years old?”

He switched his vexation to me. “And I was going for a three-peat. He broke my winning streak! And I bet it’s because I didn’t update downtown with the fancy new Luxe buildings and the new shopping and eating districts that have popped up over the years.”

I nodded with a fierce frown transforming my face into the formidable version of myself I employed when handling a particularly troublesome crisis. “This means war. Tell me what you need.”

“About time my actual daughter showed up. What I need is a showstopper that will outshine this Mr. Murphy and his moving trains.”

I spent another hour with my father, helping him with his never-ending project like I did as a high schooler. By the time I returned upstairs, I was willing to let the stunt Kent pulled go.

“I know you aren’t thinking about ducking me when this glass has been waiting for you.” My mother stopped me as I planted one foot on the stairs to my room.

“Why would I avoid the most cutthroat litigator in Colorado?” I said, reversing course and dropping onto the couch beside her. “I bet you sent me to Dad just so I would be calm enough for you to rile me up again.”

“Guilty as charged. Now, spill. Something’s bothering you and your father’s calming presence isn’t the cure, but your mama’s advice sure is.”

I laughed, although she’d never led me astray. After a long sip of the sweet red wine, I sat with my head against the cushion and looked at the ceiling. “I’m facing a situation where I know I should be the bigger person and let things go, but I also know that won’t solve anything.”

“And you can’t give me details because it involves your client?”

I nodded.

“I’m not surprised Kent is on some bullshit. After the mess he pulled, he’s lucky I didn’t wail on his ass like I would have with someone else.”

“Wait.” I straighten in the chair. “Are you telling me he did something to piss you off and he’s still got all his limbs? What happened?”

“It was when Oye died. He was alone. I felt sorry for him, the way he stopped talking to his friends and was barely keeping himself together. So I cooked him some meals. Then one day I came home to find a cooler at the front door. On top was a note with one word: Stop. That’s it. Inside the cooler were all the meals I’d made for him, untouched. You know I haven’t said a nice thing to or about that man since. And your daddy is quick to remind me he was grieving. Hmph!” Nikita drained her glass and refilled it.

“He never apologized?”

“The only person that man has ever said sorry to was Oyi. Maybe Ife, but no one else. I doubt you can get an apology out of him, but you would be the next likely candidate after Ife.”

I stared into my glass. My mother had no idea that I was permanently moved to the last person on earth some years ago.

“But I’m going to tell you, until you get that apology, rake his ass over the hottest coals you can find and make your mama proud.”

“What happened to ‘he’s grieving’?”

“That was eight years ago. Don’t look at me like that. I’ve seen the women who have helped him get over his grief. Tear his ass up, Maddy.”

“Not sure how to do that, if I’m being honest.” I shook my head. The last thing I needed was for my mother to feed the angry flame inside me.

“One thing about Kent is he doesn’t share his toys.”

“Mommy, I’m not a toy.”

“Of course you aren’t.” The weight of her strange stare burrowed beneath my skin.

The one thing I most wanted to do in this moment was avert my gaze, but my mom was a shark when she suspected me of withholding information. My only hope was not to blink first.

Mom exhaled, though suspicion ran strong beneath her glare. “You need to find what he’s fixated on now and take it from him. Better if it’s something you gave him in the first place. I’m getting a vicarious thrill just thinking about how you’ll put him in his place.”

“I’ll think about it.” I kissed her cheek and made my way upstairs.

In bed, I tossed, unable to shut my brain and body off. Time and darkness stoked all the conflicting emotions inside me, forcing me to relive our moment in the penthouse. The one when I felt his kiss to my core. The need inside me burned brightly until he stabbed me with his words. Yet despite my reasonable side telling me to back off and take the higher road, arousal made it impossible for me to sleep.

With a frustrated growl, I threw the covers off my body and retrieved the vibrator I hid inside a discreet throw pillow. I ended my day the way I began; with a small unsatisfactory orgasm and a body so tense my muscles locked into a painful vise. I was near tears from the futility of it all.

Maybe my horrible night was why I woke up the next morning, resolute. I was going to take my mom’s advice and become the toy Kent Luxe didn’t want to share.

As I dressed in a killer skirt suit that clung to my curves, leaving little to the imagination, I decided my best revenge was to make him fall for me, then leave him to wallow in humiliation. Before leaving my room, I added an accessory that I hoped I wouldn’t need to use, but based on the prior day would have to rely on just to make it until I finished work.

I was resolute, but my body was no Iron Woman.