Her Titans by Genevieve Jasper
Atlas
24
I wake up late on Sunday morning and try to extract myself from the tangle of limbs, leaving a space next to Madelaine that Max quickly moves into.
“What’s up?” she asks, having been woken by the jostling.
“Nothing, baby. I have to get going for lunch,” I tell her, stopping at the end of the bed.
“Oh my God, how did we sleep so late?”
“I guess we all needed the rest. What are your plans for today?”
“Don’t think I have any,” she says, sitting up and rubbing at her face.
“Do you want to come with me?”
Her eyes widen slightly, but she tries to hide it.
“They’re not scary, I promise.”
“I don’t know, it seems like a big step.”
“Step towards what? You’re definitely stuck with us anyway, whether you come to lunch or not.”
She rolls her eyes at that. “How long do I have to get ready?”
“I can give you half an hour, tops, but it’s only casual.”
She thinks about it, a small frown appearing on her brow.
“If you come, I’ll tell you our surprise,” I taunt her.
“Hey,” Quinn mumbles sleepily, “that’s not fair.”
Her eyes light up though, and she jumps up to the end of the bed, giving me a quick peck. Walking over to the bathroom, she stops in the doorway and looks back at us. “Anyone want to give me a hand?”
Quinn is suddenly way more awake than he was thirty seconds ago and leaps out of bed, running for the door. He’s on the same side as the bathroom so he beats Max, slamming the door shut in his face. Madelaine laughs and then squeals from behind the door.
“I’m blaming you for that,” Max grumbles, flopping back into bed.
Madelaine surprises me by meeting me in the open area exactly half an hour later. She looks stunning, even dressed down in an olive green T-shirt and black cropped jeans. A pair of Vans leaves her way shorter than me, with her hair loose and a fresh face.
“You look amazing,” I tell her and she smiles her thanks.
“You look pretty great, too. I never get to see you dressed casual.”
“You don’t like the suits?”
“Oh, I love the suits, but I love the casual too. Pretty much anything you wear. I’m kind of pissed I didn’t get to really appreciate the tactical gear,” she says, her serious expression making me grin.
“You ready to go?”
“Do I get to know the surprise now?” she asks, practically bouncing on the spot.
I laugh at her excitement. “Is that the only reason you’re coming?”
“No, I can’t wait to grill your mum about baby Atlas,” she teases. She stands on tiptoes and gives me a soft kiss. “I’m ready.”
I take her hand and we walk to the car, like an average couple going home to meet the parents.
The whole journey we chat and laugh and I’m so glad we get time to enjoy this. The guys and I spent a long time yesterday discussing everything going on and we decided we can’t let Madelaine live her life waiting for the shit to hit the fan. Leighton has gone to ground, but we have the entire team as well as the Vipers looking for him. We couldn’t drag Madelaine into that, so we’re moving on as best we can. Yes, she’ll still have a shitload of security at work and Jeremy will take her everywhere, but she needs some normalcy. We want to enjoy our time with Madelaine, and enjoy being happy. That’s why we came up with our surprise.
A few minutes out from my parents’ house, I decide to let Madelaine in on it.
“So, your surprise...”
She whips her head around to face me with glittering eyes.
“We thought we’d take you away for a break.”
“Just us four?” she asks eagerly. My chest swells at how easily she includes all of us. It doesn’t cross her mind that we would go away without the other two, and yet she gives us all couple alone-time, effortlessly. I nod, and she grins widely. “When do we go? I’ll have to book it off work.”
“It’s already sorted, we go tomorrow,” I tell her. “Quinn spoke to Jason, you’ve just handed over all of our plans early so it seemed a good time for a break. He was absolutely fine with it.” I thought she might give us grief for sorting her time off without consulting her, but she seems pleased.
“Where are we going?”
“To the beach.”
“I love the beach!” she exclaims, jigging in her seat.
I chuckle at her childlike excitement. “We go tomorrow and come back Friday. Five days of sun, sea and us.” Hopefully sun, anyway. The weather is so temperamental here, but it’s supposed to be good this week.
“Oh my God, I’m so excited!” she says through a huge grin. This is the Madelaine we wanted to get back, carefree and full of happiness. We pull up and she leans over, kissing me passionately.
“I definitely should’ve told you this while we were still in bed,” I murmur against her lips.
She laughs and pulls away, letting herself out of the car. I adjust myself and follow her out, leading her through the front door. I can see her taking in the house as we enter. It’s quaint and double-fronted, the same place we grew up in. It has a small farmhouse vibe, natural wood furniture everywhere that’s older than me but well cared for. My parents have always refused to move, even if we can afford for them to live anywhere now.
“Hey, Mum,” I call through to the kitchen as we walk down the hall.
“Hey, darling,” she replies, not turning from the stove. “Your dad’s in the garden.”
“Okay. Mum, this is Madelaine.”
My mum drops her spoon into the sauce she’s stirring and whips around, shock clear on her face. She stares open-mouthed for a few seconds, and Madelaine looks up at me with a hesitant look on her face.
“Don’t mind her, she’ll come to in a second. She’s not used to me bringing girls back,” I explain.
“Not used to?! You’ve never, ever done it, and when you finally do I don’t even get any notice?” she chides, whipping me with the tea towel that sits over her shoulder.
Madelaine chuckles as I dodge out of the way of my mum’s assault.
“And she’s so gorgeous, too. Wow!”
“Thank you,” Madelaine says, shuffling slightly.
“Madelaine, this is my mum, Emily.”
“Lovely to meet you.” She offers her hand, which my mum promptly ignores, crushing her to her chest in a hug.
“You too, dear, you too.” She gives me an arched brow over Madelaine’s shoulder and I just shrug. I know what a big deal this is, but I didn’t want to scare Madelaine out of coming.
“Can I have her back now? We’re going to say hi to Dad.”
She lets her go, and I lead Madelaine out the back door into their garden. “Hey, Dad.”
“Hi, son,” he says, turning from his rose bushes to shake my hand.
“This is Madelaine.”
He does a double-take as he sees her standing next to me but recovers well. “What a beauty you are, Madelaine!”
“Thank you, sir. It’s nice to meet you.” I’m sure her cheeks are flaming under her tan complexion. Madelaine doesn’t take compliments well, she always thinks people are overreacting to be nice.
“Please, it’s Cole.”
She smiles in return.
“Have you given her the tour?”
“Not yet, we only just got here.”
“Well, get it done before Wade gets here. He’s bringing the whole brood.”
I mock-salute him and we turn back to the house. I’m sure Madelaine would survive without knowing every inch of my parents’ house, but I won’t hear the end of it if I don’t show her around.
“Who’s Wade?” she asks as we go back through the kitchen and down the hallway to the front door.
“My brother.”
“What?! Do I know anything about you?” she jokes.
“You know what counts,” I reply, and I mean it. “But he’s 15 years older than me, he moved away for his job when I was 6. We’re not really that close. I only see him occasionally, and it’s normally here at Sunday lunch.”
“Who’s the brood?”
“His wife and two kids.”
She doesn’t say much more as I show her around the dining room to the left of the front door and the living room to the right. We head up the stairs straight opposite that lead to three bedrooms and a bathroom.
“Have they kept it as some kind of shrine?” she asks in awe as we go into a bedroom decorated for a little boy.
“No,” I laugh, “this is where Wade’s kids stay.”
“Oh, obviously.” She sounds distracted.
“You okay?”
“Yeah, I’m good. Just preparing myself to meet your entire family in one sitting,” she tells me with a pointed look. “I’m not great with kids.”
“Baptism of fire? Plus, I know they’ll all love you. How could they not? The kids’ opinions have no gravitas with us,” I joke.
She rolls her eyes but the corners of her lips lift, albeit reluctantly.
“I’ll make it up to you,” I promise.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” I grasp her head, running my hands through her hair. “And I don’t offer that a lot.”
She puts her hands over my wrists and I pull her into a kiss full of heat and promise. She rises on her tiptoes and I loop one arm around her waist, pulling her into me. Just as I’m genuinely considering spreading her out on a child’s bed, the front door opens downstairs to a cacophony of noise and she pulls away from me, lips plump and eyes sparkling.
“What do you do to me?” she asks, and I ask myself the same thing about her, having to adjust myself for the second time in half an hour.
We head downstairs and I introduce her to everyone else before we sit down for lunch. As soon as everyone is seated and served, Mum starts up with the questions.
“So, Madelaine, how did you two meet?”
“We were at a club, and I offered to buy him a drink.”
“Wow, ballsy lady! I like it,” Dad says, approval shining from him.
I roll my eyes at my ego going down the drain but say nothing. I may run a gang, but good luck to me trying to rein my parents in. Madelaine doesn’t seem bothered, either.
“What is it you do?” Mum continues.
“I’m an architect.”
“So, brains, too! How long have you been together?”
Madelaine shifts in her seat as she thinks of how to answer.
“Not long, Mum, only a couple of weeks,” I jump in.
“Have you met the other two yet? Like three peas in a pod they are.”
Madelaine shoots me a look, but Mum launching into her story saves her from having to answer. “They’ve been best friends since they were little, you know. Couldn’t keep them away from each other. I think Quincy stayed here every weekend for about six months at one point, and after Max’s mum passed, he was here all the time, too. Never any trouble, any of them. Polite as you like, always helping around the house. Sometimes I feel like they’re all my sons. We’re so proud of how well they’re doing now with their businesses. You must bring them round again soon,” she directs at me.
“Max was here last weekend, Mum. I didn’t bring them today because the house would’ve been overrun.”
When my mum is happy we’ve eaten our own body weight in food, we manage to make our escape. Madelaine is grinning at me while I get behind the wheel, settled into her own seat already.
“What?”
“You’re a mummy’s boy,” she says, full of glee.
“I am not,” I protest, trying hard to hold on to my fierce Titan image. It’s hopeless though. This woman has me wrapped around her little finger.
“You so are,” she insists.
I reach over and tickle her ribs. “Oh, you think that’s funny, do you?” She tries to wriggle away from me but is confined in the small space, laughing and spluttering.
“Okay, okay,” she says, calling a ceasefire.
“Did you enjoy yourself?” I ask her when I’ve pulled away from the house and we’re on our way home.
“Yeah. It was so interesting to find out about your childhood.”
“It was pretty great, to be fair.”
“How do you go from angelic blonde-haired boy to leader of the Titans?” she asks, sounding genuinely curious.
I shrug as I think it through. “It was never a conscious thing. Max and Quinn had completely different upbringings to me and dealt with way more shit than I ever had to. Things escalate when you’re trying to survive, and where they go, I go.”
She seems satisfied with that answer and we drive in quiet for a bit as she ponders everything she’s learnt this afternoon, gazing out the window.
“Have you got to rush back?” she asks after a while. I shake my head at her. “Can we pop into the city? We should have time before the shops shut, I need to grab a few things.”
“Sure.”
We spend the last hour of the shops’ opening hours grabbing bits for our week away. Madelaine didn’t take her cards to lunch so I take the very rare opportunity to treat her and also throw in some extras that I’m dying to see her in, most of the silk and lace variety.
When we get back, the guys are in the living room about to start a movie.
“How was lunch?” Quinn asks.
“Great, everyone is lovely. Emily said next week you both have to go, no excuses.”
They laugh at her message delivery and Max reaches out, grabbing her hand and dragging her down to sit in his lap.
“This is a movie from the list, so the rule is you have to sit with me.”
“Oh, really?” she chuckles.
“But the sequel isn't on there, so that's my turn,” Quinn adds.
She grins over at him and settles down with Max. I throw myself on the couch with them all, where we stay all evening.