Becoming Maddie (The Casterhouse series Book 1) (32 page)

At that word she could feel Aiden getting tense next to her and the Detective going on alert and paying more attention to her words. He even stopped writing.

“About four weeks ago I was coming home from work and I thought I was being followed.” Maddie whispered staring at the floor. “I never saw anything but I was sure there was someone there. So sure I ran the last street to my building.”

“Did you even see anyone following you?” The Detective asked watching her closely.

“No.” Maddie said her voice certain. “I never saw anybody. I…I just knew that there was somebody there.”

Aiden squeezed her side and spoke up.

“I was waiting for her outside her flat. Maddie had come running up the stairs scared.” Aiden confirmed. “Her neighbour, Sarah Clarkson, was there and saw it too. When she let Marvin, her husky, out of her flat he went running down the stairs as if he was after someone. He then came back and never left her side for the rest of the day.”

Miller nodded and started writing at twice the speed of before.

“Does the dog often run off by himself?” Miller asked without lifting his head from his notes.

“No, that dog is scarily well trained and would never leave Maddie unless he thought there was danger that he could get.” Aiden replied telling nothing but the truth.

Miller kept writing and then turned around to nod to one of the police officers in uniform to come towards him.

“Do you know what room number Mrs Masters was staying in?” Miller asked.

Maddie shook her head and gave more of her weight to Aiden. He didn’t even react to it and she loved that. Her man was strong enough to take her weight so easily and didn’t mind when she gave it to him. If anything he liked that she lent on him.

“14. I booked the room.” Aiden said.

The Detective nodded and gave orders to the officer to go and check out room 14 at the Casterfield Inn. He did all of this still writing. Maddie wanted to know what he was thinking but at the same time she really didn’t. If he told her she could maybe be more informed, if she didn’t…well then she could stay in ignorant bliss.

“You can go and see Mrs Masters now but I might want to ask you more questions at a later date.” Miller ordered finally looking up at her. “Okay?”

Maddie nodded straight away and looked up at Aiden. She wanted to go into her friend’s room now but could sense that Aiden had more questions.

“Go ahead Ruby.” Aiden said giving her a kiss on her nose. “I am going to ask a couple questions then I will be in too.”

Looking up at him she knew he was doing what he felt he needed to do to protect her. If anything important came out of these questions that she needed to know he would tell her. Maddie trusted him.

Tilting her head back she waited until he bent down and kissed her lips before she whispered.

“Okay baby, see you in there.” Turning to the Detective she gave him a little smile. “It was nice to meet you Detective Miller.”

He gave Maddie a chin lift before watching her walk away. She could feel both the men watching her walk to the room but it didn’t stop her from taking several big breaths to prepare himself before walking in.

Maddie knew what she would find and seeing her friend with several lines and cables coming from different parts of her body, some hooked up to machines others drips, she still had to fight the tears that rushed to her eyes.

Jean’s face was swollen and from the way she was laying Maddie knew that her ribs hurt. One of her arms was in a cast and there were bruises all over her body that showed that this had not been a quick attack by Charles but a long strung out one. It was meant to bring the most pain to Jean as he could and for Charles…the most enjoyment.

“Oh honey I am so sorry.” Maddie breathed before she walked further into the room.

Jean’s eyes blinked several times before focusing on her. When they did the panic spread across her face and she tried to move in the bed.

“You should stay still.” Maddie said softly walking round the bed to take the hand that was not in a cast. “It will hurt less that way.”

“Run.” Jean croaked out in reply.

Maddie frowned looking at her injured friend. She did not like where this was going. Fear, desperation and regret flooded her body and she found herself gripping Jean’s hand a little tighter.

Jean squeezed back so hard it hurt but Maddie never took her eyes away from her friends face.

“You need to run.” Jean croaked again. “He is coming for you Maddie. Charles is coming for you.
Run
!”

Chapter 25

Staring at herself in the mirror, Maddie groaned slightly at the bags under her eyes. Not to mention the puffiness from all the crying. Last night had definitely not been an easy night. Even after they had gotten home and back into bed sleep had not come. Instead they had just laid holding each other in the dark not saying anything.

Maddie knew that Aiden would want to talk about her not telling him straight away about the call and Charles being on the run. She also knew that he didn’t talk about it then because he felt she had had enough stuff thrown at her yesterday and could do with just being held. Maddie had needed a little break from it all.

Aiden, after all, was the best man she knew so he gave Maddie the break she needed.

Now though it was Saturday, the morning after the night before, and she was struggling to get herself ready to go and watching him coach The Big Bears. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to go, she loved watching him coach, it was just that she didn’t have a huge amount of energy.

Taking a deep breath she promised herself that she would have a lovely afternoon nap when she got back from the park. Maybe Aiden could join her. Before she even realised what she was doing a smile spread across her face. If Aiden joined her in bed they would be napping but only after some really fun stuff happened first.

“Maddie.” Aiden called from the living room.

“Just be a minute.” She replied.

Quickly grabbing a bobble she shoved her wet hair up into a ponytail and gave the make-up a skip. Maddie was just going to rock the long night look. The fresh air out side would help.

Leaving the bathroom she went to get her trainers from next to the front door, moving back to the sofa she sat and started to put them on.

“We can go and see Jean after the game if you want?” Aiden said putting a filled thermos on the coffee table.

Looking at it while she finished her right shoe she gave a half smile. Aiden was just as tired as her and was making sure that they would have enough fuel to get through the day. Mostly she loved that he did this even though he wasn’t a hundred percent happy with her.

“She said she didn’t want us to come around till after tea.” Maddie answered.

Moving to her left shoe, Maddie pushed Marvin away from her feet. There had always been a fascination with laces, for him, or maybe it was her tying them. She used to think it was because he thought he was going for a walk but then she caught him playing with her laces when she took her shoes off at night.

Marvin was really well trained but annoying her while she did up her shoes was something she could not break him of.

“Enough Marv, you are coming too.” Maddie huffed at her dog as again he tried to attack her laces, hands and even feet.

Pushing him away again, Maddie finally managed to get it tied. Looking up she caught Aiden looking at her with a soft look on his face. Her heart melted a little and she found herself wanting to go to him and have him wrap her safe in his arms.

“What’s that look for?” She asked softly.

Aiden shook his head as if he couldn’t believe what he was thinking. Putting the thermos to his mouth he took a long sip before looking at her again. The soft look still there.

“I don’t know how I can be annoyed at you but still think how fuckin cute you are when you talk to your dog.” He muttered.

Although she could tell that he really was annoyed with her, Maddie could still feel her heart swelling inside herself at his words. They would get over this tiny bump and she would never do anything again to rock the boat.

“Not just that but you have had next to no sleep, you are wearing no make-up and have just chucked you hair up but I still want to take you back into the bedroom.” Aiden carried on running a hand down his face.

This time his words made her pulse kick up and her nipples harden. How can Aiden simply talking about taking her to bed make her react like that? It wasn’t even like he was talking really explicate to her either.

“Fuck.” Aiden breathed. “Now I can see on your face just how much you would like that too. We have no time so you need to get your jacket on and get out this flat before I make us really late and disappoint a lot of kids.”

Maddie took a deep breath. She really did want him to take her back to bed but there was no way she was going to let either of them disappoint those little boys & girls. So quickly jumping to her feet she went to get her jacket.

Next time she would have to start getting ready earlier so that there would be time to get naked before they left.

As they were just going to the park and it was cold Maddie had dressed for comfort. Semi worn jeans with a tight, short white t-shirt on with a comfy red hoody on over the top. The sleeves on the jumper went right down over her hands and had little holes for her to put her thumbs through. She put on a short back jacket on top with a red scarf. There was a red wool hat as well but decided that would be a bit of over kill. She wanted to support The Big Bears but didn’t want to go to over the top with the red support.

Walking out the room she found Aiden stood at the door putting Marvin’s lead on. He had already put the muzzle on the dog.

“He bite someone?” Aiden asked her as she walked towards them checking she had her phone and keys.

“No.” Maddie said looking around for her bag, she really was bad at putting things down and never finding them again. “People just look at me and Marvin like he is going to bite them so I think it makes people feel better seeing that he couldn’t even if he wanted too.”

Changing directions she veered into the kitchen because she spotted her bag hanging from the back of a chair. Having picked it up and checked that it had everything she needed, including doggie bags, she turned to the door and froze. Aiden was crouched down taking Marvin’s muzzle off again. The husky looked up at Aiden with is tongue hanging out, tail wagging and if she wasn’t wrong, which she wasn’t, giving her man a huge doggy smile.

What was he doing?

“Aiden we have to go?” Maddie said walking towards him frowning.

Once the muzzle was off he walked past her and into the kitchen where he opened the bin and put the muzzle in. All cool and relaxed he walked back to her and picked up the dogs lead again and took her hand as he opened the front door.

“Wait.” Maddie gasped stopping them from moving out of the flat. “What the hell did you just do?”

Aiden looked down at her and raised an eyebrow. Cool as a cucumber.

“I put his muzzle in the bin.” He replied as if it was really clear what he had done.

Which of course it was but they both knew that wasn’t what she was really asking.

“Why?” She said trying not to get annoyed even though it was bubbling under the surface.

Maddie knew that she was in love with an Alpha male but when he made choices that she should be involved in without asking her it drove her crazy. Reminding herself that that was the only real flaw he had she took a deep breath and waited for his reply. She didn’t have to wait long.

“You shouldn’t put a muzzle on a dogs that doesn’t bite just because you are worried about what other people think.” Aiden said smoothly then ruined it by saying, “Fuck them.”

Looking up at him then down at her dog, who was confused as to why they were not walking out of the flat, Maddie had to admit he did have a point. Although she really did hate it when people looked at Marvin like he was a danger to them and she was crazy for owning him.

Fingers came under her chin and tilted her head back to look at Aiden. Moving his hand from under her chin Aiden slid it round her neck to pull her a little closer to him.

“If they want to pre-judge Marvin then that is their loss for not getting to know him. If they want to think that he will bite because he has the power to do it then more fool them for letting a small handful of dogs ruin all of them.” Aiden stated looking her straight in the eye.

He was right, Maddie shouldn’t make her husky do something he hates just to make people feel better if they were the ones with the problem.

Nodding up at Aiden she said,

“Okay but next time you say that to me before you do something about it.” Maddie demanded giving in on the muzzle but not on this point.

It wasn’t like she was asking too much. It also wasn’t her pulling rank by saying Marvin is her dog because he was, but Aiden was more than okay to change things that concerned him. Maddie just wanted to talk things through with him before something happened. It might not seem like a big thing to him but for her, Marvin had always worn a muzzle when they went out to crowded areas.

Plus she had lived a life for too many years having no say in anything at all. Maddie never wanted to go back to that. Even if Aiden was nothing like Charles.

“I need to have a say in things Aiden.” Maddie pleaded now.

Leaning down and kissing her nose, Aiden gave her his serious face. Yep, he knew what she was thinking about and where in the past that had come from.

“Sounds fair Ruby.” He said. “I am not him. This proves it. You say we need to talk about things before something happens that’s fine. For me though I need you to understand where I am coming from too. I would never do something big without talking to you but I am not going to discuss everything with you before I do it. Know this though, anytime I do something and you want to know why, I will explain. Anytime. Okay?”

Pure Aiden. He saw something that was bothering her and fixed it.

“Yeah baby, that’s fine with me.” Maddie replied smiling up at him.

Going on her tiptoes she kissed him long and sweet. Thanking him for understanding.

With that they started to walk out the door, hand in hand with Marvin trotting in front smelling everything, She was actually really pleased the muzzle was gone.

That hadn’t been too hard. Maddie smiled to herself. Being brave enough to talk to him and having him sort it. Plus he got to explain why Marvin shouldn’t wear the muzzle and they agreed.

“It also means if that bastard Ex gets anywhere near you, Marvin can bite the fuck out of him.” Aiden remarked as they made their way down the stairs.

Oh boy, Maddie thought.

* * * * * * * *

Cheering from the side-lines with Sarah, John and Rosie had lifted Maddie’s tiredness. Feeling not only their excitement but that of the crowds of fellow parents and friends made it hard to not get caught up in the mood. It was difficult to tell which bit of the game she actually enjoyed the most.

First, it might have been getting to watch Aiden work with the children on his team. The way he cheered for every player, shouted instructions or made sure that even if they had missed a goal it didn’t matter because they had time to do more. If they lost there was next time as well. Maddie loved watching the way he talked to them and listened when they talked. If she was honest it made her womb happy that he seemed to enjoy being with them as much as they enjoyed being with him.

Did he want children? It was not something that they had talked about yet. Maddie added it to her mental to-do list.

Second, it might have been watching John get to cheer on Ethan. Although that could be that she enjoyed seeing Ethan’s face every time his Dad cheered him on. Maddie could tell that it meant a pretty big thing to John to be able to join in with the other parents and watch just how good his son was at playing ball. She could also tell that he was sucking it all in so that he would have it with him for those long weeks when he couldn’t be there.

Maddie had always thought it must be hard for Sarah and the kids having John being a solider but she had never really thought about what it must be like for John to miss these moments. She knew the family talked on the phone as often as John could make it happen but to hear about his football must be hard because it was nothing like what it was in person. Besides when your son was into football it was normally something that Father and son would do together. Sarah could read the bitter sweetness on her husband’s face too so stood with her arms wrapped around his waist cheering with him.

Ethan was loving having his Dad there shouting for him to kick to this person or ‘good shot son’. Then when he scored the first person he turned to look at was John. Not his coach or his mother but his Dad. Checking that he had seen it, wanting his Dad to be proud of him. Maybe Ethan, with his child like sixth sense, knew that his Dad needed this a little more than he did.

Thirdly, watching Rosie’s little face as she saw Aiden and Maddie walking towards her with Marvin in tow. That little girl loved her canine friend. She would often come round to Maddie and Aiden’s to play with the husky and in turn she had the dog’s total love, affection and loyalty. So Rosie’s face may have lit up at the sight of the dog but Marvin’s tale was wagging double speed at the sight of her.

Lastly it was just the being there as a whole. Maddie couldn’t help but think how pleased she was that she had dragged herself out of bed to come to the game. She needed it. The reminder that this was what she had built. This was what she was not going to let Charles take away from her. This was what she had managed to open herself up to. Maddie couldn’t let him take this away from her.