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Thor (Sinful Warriors MC #4) Chapter 9 30%
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Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

MADISON

“ N o bite, Duke,” a soft voice says beside me. I don’t even remember falling asleep. This mattress feels like a cloud. I haven’t slept this good in years. Knowing I didn’t have to worry about Thomas had my body instantly relaxing the minute I laid down last night.

A rumbling growl has me popping my eyes open immediately. As soon as I set sights on what caused the growl, my entire body freezes. Two enormous Great Danes are standing over me. They’re baring their teeth while examining me like I’m their next meal. Liam is in between them, watching me with curious eyes. He doesn’t seem the least bit scared of the snarling animals.

What are the odds of me running from Thomas just to be eaten by two dogs who look they could swallow me whole. I want to scream for help but I’m afraid it might set them off and make them attack.

“Who you?”

He tilts his head to the side, examining me, but not like the dogs. His stare is out of curiosity.

“M-Madison.”

The dogs growl again. I guess they don’t like me talking to Liam. One of the dogs who has on a blue collar begins to sniff me. My body goes rigid, and I don’t move. Not even an inch. I don’t know what this dog eats to be this big, but I do not want to become his next meal.

I glance to the right and notice my bathroom door is open. Just as I’m about to make a run for it, my bedroom door opens up. “Duke, Daisy, and Liam, get your butts out of here.”

Cara stands in the doorway with her hands on her hips, sending a heated stare at the three of them. Both dogs plop down on their butt with a whine while Liam looks over to his mother with puppy-dog eyes.

“Who she?”

“That’s Madison, our new houseguest who has probably been traumatized.”

Liam walks over to his mother with raised arms. Cara swiftly picks him up, placing him on her hip. “Sorry, Mama.”

Cara places a kiss on his cheek. She stares at her son, her eyes full of love. “It’s okay, baby, but you can’t just come into people’s room while they’re sleeping. Okay?” He nods and lays his head on her shoulder. Cara then turns her attention to the dogs. “You two, out. Madison’s probably scared to death because of you two.”

As if the dogs understand every word she just said, they both whine and hang their heads in shame as they shuffle out the door. Once they’re gone from sight, I breathe. Cara cheeks twitch as if she is trying not to laugh. This isn’t funny. I thought I was seriously about to be their breakfast.

“Sorry about that. I probably should have told you about the dogs. Ever since I had the triplets, they’ve become even more protective which I didn’t think was possible. They probably wanted to know who the stranger under the same roof as their little humans was.”

“It’s okay. Geez, what do you feed them to be that big?”

“They’re on a raw meat diet. Normally I mix in some raw eggs, vegetables, quail eggs, oats, and ultra oil.”

“Good to know. Now I know what to feed my dog if I ever want him to be the size of a mountain lion.”

Cara snorts and shakes her head. “Breakfast will be ready in about twenty minutes. I want to talk to you about some things when you come down.”

“Okay, cool. Just let me take a shower and I’ll be down.”

Cara nods and shuts the door behind her as she leaves. Getting up, I walk over to the dresser and grab a pair of jeans and cami for the day. While in the shower, I think over how dinner went last night. The guys are hilarious. They spent the night teasing Thor and threatening to steal me away. That almost got of few of his brothers a punch to the face.

I don’t know if anything will happen between us. I would be lying if I said I didn’t feel anything for him. After all these years, I could never tell myself I didn’t love him. Even after I thought he betrayed me. The kind of love Jonah and I shared doesn’t go away. It’s branded in my heart. I couldn’t let go of him no matter how much I wanted to. I tried to tell myself I hated him for what he did, but ultimately, my heart wouldn’t let him go.

Now that I know the full truth, everything I had bottled away over the years has come rushing back to the surface. I don’t know if I should act on my feelings or ignore them. I don’t even know how Jonah feels about me. He probably sees me as tainted after what Thomas did.

Instantly, I want to smack myself for even thinking that. Last night I saw the pieces of the Jonah I fell in love with. He was carefree, loving, and being the jokester he always was. After ending my shower, I dry off and finish getting ready. I head downstairs and the smells coming from the kitchen make me quicken my steps.

I come to a sudden halt when I see Jonah at the breakfast table feeding Chase in his highchair. When he looks up at me, his face breaks into a bright smile that has my tummy swirling. I’ve been around him for twenty-four hours and already he has me swooning for him like he did when I was thirteen.

I am in so much trouble here.

Chase smacks his hands down on the tray when Jonah doesn’t feed him another scoop of his baby food. Turning back to Chase, he chuckles. “Okay, okay. You don’t have to get all testy with me. One day you’ll meet a woman who makes you forget everything just by just looking at her.”

He whispers the last part, but I hear it. Again, my stomach flips at his words. Viper is sitting at the head of the table while Cara is placing platters in the middle. “I hope you’re hungry. We’ve got French toast, eggs, sausage, bacon, and fruit.”

On cue, my stomach growls and I can feel the heat rushing to my cheeks. God, that’s embarrassing. I haven’t had too much of an appetite over the years but something about this place brings a shield of peace I haven’t had in a long time.

“I’ll take that as a yes.” Cara giggles. “Come on and take a seat. We’ll talk after breakfast.” I take a seat across from Jonah. We began piling our plates and I help make Khai’s plate since he’s sitting next to me. The triplets have booster seats strapped to the dining room chairs, making it easy for them to eat at the big table.

After a few minutes of silence and eating, Jonah clears his throat. “Madison, one of my brothers works at the hospital not too far from here and he said they have a temporary position opening up in the emergency room. He wanted to know if you were interested.”

“That would be great! I really don’t want to sit around until this is handled. Work takes my mind off things.”

“Okay. He said if you wanted it, you would start next week. I’ll let him know.” Jonah whips out his phone and shoots off a text. The rest of breakfast goes by with small talk and watching Jonah with the kids. I always wondered what kind of father he would be and now I know he would be the absolute best.

Once breakfast is over, a man and woman walk into the room. The guy is absolutely gorgeous. I know men don’t like to called that, but he is. The woman he’s with is also very pretty. Is it something in the water here? Everyone looks like they should be models.

“Madison, this is Will and Nova. Will is the children’s nanny and Nova helps keep the family’s houses clean.”

They both reach out their hands and I shake them. When Will grabs my hand, he smiles wide and reveals the dimples in his cheeks. “You are absolutely stunning. You must tell me what your skin routine is.” He winks at me and a nervous laugh bubbles out of me at his compliment.

He’s asking for my skin regimen when it really should be the other way around. His skin is flawless. He puts the term “smooth as a baby’s bottom” to shame.

“Oh, don’t act coy with me, sweetheart. You must know you’re a looker.”

I know I’m blushing because his smile widens. “It’s not being coy, Will. It’s being humble. Not everyone walks around saying how beautiful they are,” Nova retorts.

“But if God made me this jaw-dropping gorgeous, he must have wanted me to brag about it,” he fires back.

I can’t stop the giggle that comes out of me. He isn’t modest at all. Normally people like that annoy me, but with him, you can tell he’s not being snobby about it. Nova rolls her eyes with a smile and begins taking dishes to the sink.

“Okay, Will, I need you to take the kids to the playroom. I have some things to discuss with Madison. I promise to let you get her into some trouble on another day,” Cara says.

Will throws his arms around Cara’s neck from behind while kissing the top of her head. “Best boss ever!” he cheers. My mouth drops open and everyone laughs.

“I promise it’ll be the good kind of trouble. Will makes one hell of a margarita.”

“You drink with your employees?”

Geez, I sound so judgmental, but I didn’t mean it that way. I was only curious. Luckily, it looks like Cara didn’t take offense at all because she grins at me.

“I don’t see them as my employees. They spend just as much time around my kids as I do. They’re family.”

Wow. That was unexpected but so sweet. I can tell Cara meant every word of it. Will smiles at her as he begins ushering the triplets to the playroom while he carries Chase on his hip. Once they’re gone, Cara asks me to follow her. Viper and Thor get up and trail us to the living room.

As I sit down, I notice a laptop on the coffee table. Cara grabs it and hands it to me. I look at her in complete confusion.

“Thor told us yesterday that you haven’t seen your family in years. This laptop is secure in every way. I own a security and tech shop. The firewalls and security system I have on that laptop are the best of the best. No one would even come close to hacking it. I shipped one just like it to your parents overnight. They should have received it by now. I left a note inside the box instructing them how to use the laptop. You can video call them as much as you like and not worry about cutting your time short. I know it’s not the same as seeing them but?—”

I don’t allow Cara to finish. I rush off the couch and wrap her in a tight hug. My tears flow uncontrollably. The thought of seeing my parents and brothers is indescribable. The burner phone I use is as old-school as you can get. It doesn’t receive pictures or allow video call options.

“Thank you. This means everything to me. Thank you.”

When I pull away, I wipe my face, but the tears just keep going. Jonah brings me flush against him, holding me tight as I cry. “It’s no problem at all, Madison. If you need anything while you’re here, just let us know. I have to head to the clubhouse. I have work to do but I’ll see you later for dinner,” Cara tells me. After Viper and Cara leave Jonah pulls away to look down at me. I miss the feel of his arms in an instant.

“I’m going to head to the clubhouse for a few hours to give you some privacy.”

“You’ll come back, right?”

Jonah palms my face and places a soft kiss on my cheek. “Wild horses couldn’t keep me away, Maddy.” He turns and walks out the door. I’m left standing in the living room feeling like a big pile of mush. A decade later and the man still has the power to make me melt.

After a few moments of standing there, I head up the stairs and plop down on my bed. My hands tremble as I open the laptop and power it on. After the laptop is completely powered up, I notice a tab on the home screen that reads family . I double click the icon and a window opens. When the first ring comes through, I jump. I don’t know why I’m so nervous. These are my parents. I talk to them every day but somehow this feels different.

By the third ring, the camera cuts to my mom and dad who are smiling with tears streaming down their faces.

“Mom. Dad,” I croak.

“Oh, my sweet girl. It’s so good to see your face. H-how did…” Mom’s voice breaks with a sob.

“Jonah’s best friend owns a tech shop, and she supplied the laptops for us to safely talk without worrying about he who must not be named trying to trace the calls.”

“Baby girl, we miss you so much. Did Jonah say when you would be able to come home?” my dad asks.

“No. He and his brothers are working on it though.” As soon as I finish the sentence, I know I just said too much.

“Brothers? I thought Jonah was an only child.” Mom’s head tilts in confusion. When I don’t answer, she narrows her eyes and I know I have to come clean. She’ll hunt me down if I don’t.

“Well… you see…”

“Madison, what did you do?”

“What I had to. I found out that Jonah joined a motorcycle club when he left all those years ago.”

Mom and Dad gasp with a look of disbelief and shock. “And you went there? Alone? Madison, what were you thinking? Do you have any idea how dangerous that is?!” Dad barks at me.

I know he doesn’t mean to yell so I try not to let it get to me. “Dad, it was just as dangerous as being on the run from that man. I couldn’t do it anymore. So, if coming to a motorcycle club was my only way to be free of him, I would do it a million times over. Quite frankly, these men aren’t at all what I was expecting. They’ve all been very welcoming and genuine with me.”

“Madison, no. I see the look in your eyes. It’s the same look you had when you came home from the park after meeting Jonah for the first time. Please don’t tell me you’re falling for him again.”

My mom seems completely terrified at the thought. I won’t deny it because my parents are human lie detectors when it comes to their children. The connection I have with Jonah is intense. I know my parents want me to leave Jonah in the past, but I can't. He’s always been the one. I just hope they can accept that.

“Things are different now that I know Jonah had nothing to do with what happened. There’s only one person to blame for everything that’s happened and it isn’t Jonah.”

“Madison, honey, use your head. He’s part of a motorcycle gang. I’ve never been around one before, but I can only imagine the kind of things that go on there. You have to?—”

“Dad, I don’t want to spend all this time talking about Jonah and his club. Where are my brothers? Last time I saw them, they were little men. I can only imagine how grown up they are now.”

My parents sigh but drop the subject and call my brothers into the room. More tears are shed as I catch up with my siblings. Hours go by and we laugh, joke, and tease each other like we used to. As I end the call, I promise to call first thing in the morning. It seems like the more time I spend here the lighter I feel.

I can only hope that Jonah and the club can get Thomas out of my life for good.

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