Precarious Possessions (Maxwell Investigations) (6 page)

Crispin turned his eyes and glared at his father.
“Will you please stop encouraging this
madness?”
he requested in the same manner.
“She already believes I sent him with Dylan to get him away from her.”

“You
mean to say you didn’t?”

Crispin looked at Lacey and saw that she was watching both
him and Victor. “What’s wrong, Honey?” he asked.

“You and Grandpa are talking about me,” she answered. When
Crispin blinked at her, she continued. “You two aren’t saying anything out
loud, but you look mean and he looks like he wants to laugh.”

Victor did laugh then. She may be young but Lacey was smart.
“Yes, we were discussing you, my dear,” he said moving to sit next to her in
the car. “But what your father and I were saying was not meant for you to
hear.”

Lacey looked out of the window and smiled. “There’s the
plane!” she cried out happily. As they pulled around the tarmac, she closed her
eyes tightly.

Victor and Crispin looked at each other as Lacey mentally
reached out to Antonio. “Did you know she could do that?” Victor asked in a
whisper.

Crispin shook his head. He tried to slide into
Lacey’s
mind and was met with a wall of bubble gum and
rainbows. The simple frown he wore turned into a livid scowl as his wife came
down from the jet.
“Did you know she has
mental walls this strong?”
he asked Dylan.

“Yes,
and I was meaning to talk with you about that,”
Dylan
replied. She turned to the jet and waited for Troy and Leigh to exit.
“Antonio taught her how to block things
mentally. He’s also the reason why Madison has such good shields.”

Crispin opened the door and quickly climbed out of the limo.
“I don’t give a rat’s ass about what he
taught Madison. I don’t want him in my daughter’s mind.”

Lacey giggled and jumped out of the car after her father.
“Tony!” she called running to the group departing from the plane.

Antonio smiled and knelt down to accept the girl’s hug.
“Cariña, don’t you look beautiful,” he smiled lifting her up into his arms.

“See, I’m wearing a matching flower too,” Lacey said
wrapping her arms around his throat.

Dylan looked at the pair and raised an eyebrow. “Don’t I get
a hello and hug too?” she asked.

Lacey laughed as Antonio lowered her to the ground. “Hi
Mommy,” she chimed giving Dylan a hug as well. “Did you have fun in
California?” she asked. Before Dylan could answer, Lacey turned back to
Antonio. “You didn’t go to Disneyland without me, did you?”

Antonio covered his heart with his hand and shook his head.
“You are my princess,” he answered with a grin. “Ariel and those others are
nothing to me.”

Lacey gushed for a moment. She really was going to marry him
someday. She then turned her attention to the two strangers standing behind
them all. “Hello. My name is Lacey Smith-Solomon, Crown Princess of the
Vampires.
Who, may I ask, are you?”

Troy smiled at the little girl. Just by the way the men
around her were standing, she had them all eating out of her hand. He bowed at
the waist and gently took her hand. “It is very nice to meet you, Princess. My
name is Troy Davenport. Apparently I’m the heir of the Werewolf Pack here on the
East Coast,” he answered kissing her hand.

Lacey looked into Troy’s eyes for a
moment.
She then smiled. “My cousins have eyes like yours,” she
said conspiratorially. “But they’re puppies. Do you know them?”

Victor laughed as Dylan and Crispin looked at the little
girl horrified. “Yes my dear. Troy is their father. Please stop calling the
boys puppies. It’s bad form.”

Troy straightened and looked at the reigning Vampire Royals.
“Dylan told me some of the situation,” he said seriously. “Thank you for coming
to get me.”

All of the amusement left Victor’s face as he looked at
Troy. He could tell that the boy had the makings of a fine Alpha, but that did
not mean he would be able to handle Madison. “If you had not left, then this
situation would never have occurred,” he said coldly. “We are not doing you a
favor.”

Troy frowned. “Then what are you doing?”

“Getting you to clean up your mess.”

Madison sat in front of her large TV and looked at her boys.
Alex stayed with them until after dinner and she hadn’t seen Casper since
lunch. There were
times when that was
just as well.
They were her boys. While they had plenty of male role models, there were times
Madison wanted them all to herself.

Times like now.

They were happily getting ready to watch her play her
violin. Ever since she was pregnant, classical music seemed to relax them.
Watching their faces while she methodically tuned her instrument was a joy. And
she had a feeling that they would both want to learn to play.

Just as she was about to put her bow to the strings, the
doorbell rang. Madison frowned and looked at both Kayin and Aiden. “Did you
boys invite anyone over?” she asked playfully.

Kayin jumped to his feet. “Lacey!” he cheered.

Madison caught him as he started to race to the door. She
made him look at her and frowned. “You don’t answer the door,” she said
sternly.

Aiden climbed onto the back of the sofa and looked out of
the window. “Grandfather!” he cheered when he saw Victor and Crispin climb out
of the limo.

The frown on Madison’s face deepened. Victor had a key to
the door and wouldn’t be caught dead ringing the doorbell. She went to the door
and pulled it open. Her heart nearly stopped when she saw the golden eyes that
haunted her for the past 4 years. “Son of a bitch,” she whispered.

Troy gave her a rueful smile. “My mother is actually human,”
he said lowly.

Madison slowly nodded. “I’ll keep that in mind,” she
breathed. Before he could say anything else, Madison closed the door in his
face. She leaned her back against the solid oak and took a slow breath. “This
isn’t happening,” she said to herself.

Kayin and Aiden looked at each other as Casper came down the
stairs. They giggled and laughed as Madison ran her hands through her hair.
“Mommy’s in trouble,” Kayin cooed.

Casper frowned as he took in the scene. “What’s going on?”
he asked.

Aiden leaned on his brother. “Mommy closed the door on
Grandfather’s friend,” he said simply.

Casper’s frown deepened. His father was never known for
bringing people around his family. And since the twins had the potential to be
powerful Mages as well as Wolves, Victor made sure to keep the visitors down to
relatives. He looked at Madison’s worried face as she looked at the boys.
“
Madi
?”

She straightened and moved away from the door. “Damned back
stabbing bloodsuckers,” she mumbled.

The echo of Transmutation magic rang through the house and a
small door appeared inside the larger one. Madison’s lips pressed together as
Lacey came into her house. “Hi Aunt Madison,” she chimed. The little girl then
turned to the adults with her. “See, I told you she’d let me in.”

Madison shook her head and walked through her home. They
even convinced the child to turn on her. And with the twins half-worshipping
the little princess, they would happily listen to whatever she said.
“You’re babysitting,”
she mentally sent
to Casper.

Casper could only sigh as he heard the back door slam. He
turned to Lacey and shrugged before opening the front door. His eyes locked on
the strange man that always seemed to plague Madison’s mind. “So, it’s you,” he
said distastefully.

Crispin frowned over Troy’s shoulder. “Let’s not do this
now,” he said sharply.

Troy fought a growl. With the moon rising and his mate being
so near, he couldn’t trust himself not to hurt the man in front of him.

Casper scoffed as he read Troy’s mind. “You could try Mutt.”

Just as Troy was about to take a step forward, Kayin and
Aiden stepped in front of him. The sight of the boys made him freeze. They both
had fair complexions and short cinnamon colored hair. They also had Madison’s
cupid bow lips and his golden eyes. But what really caught his attention was
the look of absolute rebellion he didn’t know if they got from him, or their
mother.

One of the boys stepped forward and sniffed at Troy’s hand.
“He smells like
Grandpup
,” the little boy said to his
brother.

“Aiden,” Dylan said moving into the house. “This is Troy.”

Kayin stayed next to Lacey and folded his arms. “Mommy can
take him,” he said, completely ignoring his aunt.

Troy frowned at both boys. He would have to correct their
assumption later. Right now, he had to find Madison and reconcile with her.
“Which way did your mother go?” he asked.

Kayin was a perfect replica of Madison as he took
Lacey’s
hand. “Come play,” he said about to walk away.

Lacey put her hands on her hips and frowned. “You better say
you’re sorry,” she demanded. When Kayin looked at her, she pointed at Troy.
“He’s your daddy. And if he makes Aunt Madison marry him, he’ll ship you to a
kennel if you’re rude to him.”

Troy fought a smile as the little diva put her foot down. He
slowly inhaled and instantly caught Madison’s scent. He looked down into
Aiden’s upturned face and gently touched his cheek. “I won’t send you guys to a
kennel,” he said lowly.

Aiden smiled and pointed to the back of the house. “You
better be quick. Mommy’s sneaky.”

A muse left Troy as he went to the back door. At least one
of his sons was on his side. He looked over his shoulder and saw Leigh giving
the twins a look of complete adoration. He had a strong feeling she was going
to spoil them if given the chance. “I’ll be back,” he said with a wave.

When Casper started to move forward, Victor put his hand on
Casper’s shoulder. “She chose him,” he told his son.

Casper fought a growl. “He’s not good enough for her.”

Dylan looked at Casper with a raised eyebrow. “Is there
going to be a problem?” she asked coldly.

Crispin wrapped his arms around her waist and glared at his
brother. “Everything’s fine. Right Casper?” he asked in a vicious tone.

The two brothers glared at each other for a long moment.
Casper then rolled his eyes and went to where the boys and Lacey went to sit
down. “Yeah, whatever,” he mumbled.

Dylan looked at Casper with narrowed eyes. There was something
both Crispin and Victor were hiding from her and she would have to figure it
out. She would also have to keep a close eye on Casper. It wouldn’t do for her
to run across the country to find her sister’s baby-daddy, only to have her
brother-in-law screw it up.

* * *
* *

Madison walked through her estate and found herself at the
twin’s tree house. A large part of her was thrilled because of Troy’s return.
But there was another part that was completely livid with her family’s
interference. The rising moon peaked through the trees, reminding her that it
was only the second night of the full moon. “Shit,” she sighed. She climbed up
the small set of stairs and went into the club house.

As her eyes traveled across the shelter Antonio and Donald
built, she felt a restless urge overcome her. She didn’t want to deal with
Troy. He was bound to have questions and she wasn’t sure if he would like her
answers.

The fact that she kept the boys from him for so long had her
moving again. She opened a window box and easily found the blankets and
sleeping bags she stashed out here for the boys. There was no way she was going
to back up to the house. Not with Troy plotting to take her boys. Trying to
distract herself, Madison quickly made herself a sleeping pallet and sat.

It was a few minutes later when she heard the snapping of a
twig. “I know you’re up there,” Troy’s voice called.

She rolled her eyes. For some stupid reason she thought that
maybe Dylan or Victor would come after her. She looked out of the doorway and
saw Troy at the base of the tree. “What are you doing here?”

He looked at her, knowing that if given the chance she would
bolt. “You’re sister’s worried about you,” he said slowly approaching the tree.
“She said that you haven’t been handling the moon well.”

Her eyes narrowed. “I’ve been just fine,” she spat.

Troy climbed the tree and stood toe to toe with Madison. “I
should have to Dennis to fuck off and came back,” he told her. As her eyes
started to widen, he stepped closer. “At first I wanted to apologize to you. I
had a feeling that I bound you to me. But a selfish part of me couldn’t let you
go.”

Madison was slowly backing away from him and it pissed her
off. “So it took you four years to grow balls and come face me?” she taunted.

His golden eyes locked onto her brown ones. “You didn’t
complain about my balls that night,” he said seriously. When she inhaled
sharply, he invaded her personal space again. “And besides, if anyone should be
pissy about our time apart, it should be me.”