The Formidable

22

"Rebecca, get in. The boss wants to see you," Kieran called from the car outside Callum's house. Rebecca frowned, stubbing out her cigarette under a pink stiletto and hiking her handbag up her shoulder. She said goodbye to Callum who nodded at Kieran from the front door, closing it as Rebecca climbed in the passenger side.

"Am I in trouble?" she asked. Kieran said nothing and she huffed. The drive was silent. When they pulled up to Jase's club, which had been renamed Savages, Rebecca turned to him, her face curled up in confusion. "Why does he want to speak to me here?" Again, Kieran gave no response, cutting the engine and getting out.

Rebecca tottered after him, tutting and puffing over the inconvenience, straight to Jase's office. Sam, Tommy, and Jase were already there, Jase behind his desk, Sam and Tommy either corner by the door. Rebecca rolled her eyes.

"If this is about what I said to Madison, I didn't mean anything by it. It's no secret-" Rebecca clamped her mouth when Jase sent her a steely look.

"Stop talking," he ordered. Rebecca pressed her lips together, further suppressing her words. The silence was unnerving. She couldn't help filling it.

"What's going on?" she asked. To her surprise, Jase answered.

"We're waiting for Madison."

Rebecca cocked her head. Was this some sort of intervention? Jase nodded at the chair across from him. With the mention of Madison, Rebecca relaxed ever so slightly, her shoulders visibly untightening. Jase found this amusing because if she had an ounce of intelligence, she would believe the stories she'd heard about Madison and know few of them were just stories. If there was anyone that should make her palms sweat and the hairs on the back of her neck stand to attention, it was Madison.

"Take a seat," he said. She did, suddenly acutely aware of her hands, not knowing what to do with them. What felt like hours was likely only minutes before Madison walked in. Rebecca dared a glance over her shoulder, regretting it when they locked eyes. Her stomach dropped at the unreadable expression Madison wore.

Everyone's eyes followed Madison as she took her time walking behind the desk, next to Jase, filling the room with her presence. From how calm she was, no one could have guessed what she was planning to do.

"Callum said you were talking about me and Mia in front of other people?" she said finally. Rebecca swallowed.

"I'm sorry-" her jaw fell open with a wilting gasp as her head snapped back at such force, Jase wasn't sure if it was her neck or the gun that cracked. The men stiffened, waiting for Madison to put the gun down before they dared to breathe.

"This is as close to a warning any of you will get. If one of you decides to make the mistake of putting my daughter in danger again, you will meet the same end." She looked at them each in turn and cocked her brow, "Understood?" They quickly mumbled their comprehension and Madison sighed, nodding. "Good. If you don't mind, I'd like to speak to Jase."

"What the hell are you doing?" Jase asked, pulling the top off the brandy bottle and pouring two shorts once the others had cleared out.

"I hope you weren't going to let her go with a slap on the wrist," Madison replied calmly, lifting one of the glasses to her lips. Jase sat back in his chair, his brows twitching.

"Well I wasn't intending on getting my carpet dirty," he muttered.

Madison shot him a glare, she didn't appreciate his joviality. "Jase, I'm going to say this once and only once, if you ever consider letting someone putting our daughter's safety at risk slide, I'll kill you too. I was not in labour for twenty-six hours for your lot to feed her to the wolves."

Jase looked at Rebecca, her body now slumped in the chair, a dark patch over her crotch where her bladder had released its contents.

"Lesson learned. I want to look out for her just as much as you do," he replied, trying not to think about the leather chair the urine was puddling on.

"Then do better. I don't want anyone saying my name, let alone hers," Madison said, pouring another shot.

"After that, I don't think they will," Jase replied, getting to his feet and stepping around to the front of his desk, leaning on the edge. He cocked his head, staring at the lifeless body with wide eyes in front of him. This brought Madison's body count up to two, he'd never seen anyone have such a lack of reaction with such little experience. "You got her right between the eyes," he said, knocking back the brandy.

Jase had Paul's body removed from his office and everything scrubbed, heading back to his apartment with Madison. Mia was asleep in Jase's bed, Lily was waiting in the living room. Jase wasn't sure how he felt about her knowing where he lived.

"You came quick," he said. Lily shrugged.

"I was out," she replied. He hummed, something about her didn't sit right with him and he couldn't place it. Then, he only knew her in the house environment, maybe it was the absence of fear in her eyes when she spoke to him now that he wasn't used to.

Lily said goodbye to Madison, who thanked her for coming on such short notice, Jase watched with narrowed eyes as she left.

"What was that about?" Madison asked. "Lily is safe, trust me. She's had many opportunities to do harm," she assured.

"I'm just being cautious," he replied.

"Well, maybe you should be more suspicious of your own people because they're the only ones that have done anything wrong." He couldn't argue with that. Madison looked around, she hadn't taken much notice when she was sorting Mia out for Lily before heading to the club. Everything was pristine, it looked like a showroom with lots of black leather and glass. Her home was clean but Jase's house made her question if he spent any time there at all. "Why didn't you bring us here instead of the house?"

"I wanted a backup safe place," he said, "only three people know where this place is."

"Sam, Kieran, and?"

"Tommy. And now Lily," he tacked on at the end. Madison pursed her lips. She barely knew Tommy, but if Jase trusted him, she could overlook him.

"So we're safe here?" she asked. Jase shrugged, taking two glass mugs from a cupboard where they stood in the kitchenette.

"You're safe wherever I am." Madison repeated his words in her head but wasn't so sure. Jase appeared to have lost his edge, something he would need for all of this. She needed him to be ruthless and unfeeling.