Learning To Fly (Fated Love Book 1) (4 page)

“You know he isn’t going to leave us in peace until we talk to him, right?”
 

“I know, darlin’, but now you know, and you heard it from me. I can live with whatever tall tale he tries to spin to you where he comes out of this looking like roses. Phones can be put on silent and ignored. I want to know more about my Maddie. My cousin can go back to the shadows where he belongs.”
 

I couldn’t help but grin at that. “I think he will have his hands full with Ellie. Thinking about it now, they really do deserve each other.”
 

He chuckled and wrapped his arms tighter around me.
 

“Then let’s leave them to their own misery, and we will just sit back and let karma do its worst.”
 

“Sounds good to me.” I grinned and curled into him more and relaxed. Who knew what would happen next. For now, I was going to relax here and enjoy the quiet.

She came back. When security called and said Maddison was on her way to the bus, I was shocked. I honestly thought someone would have beaten me to telling her everything and made me look like an asshole. Maddison was smart, though. She had listened to her instincts and came back to hear me out. She wasn’t turned away by the fact I was related to the ex who broke her heart and destroyed her friendship. I loved that she wasn’t about to let him rule her life like that.
 

I got some sick satisfaction in Maddie telling me she wanted join me on tour for a little bit. All my free time would be spent with her, so she would get to see more than just the backstage in venues. Maddie also accepted an offer to come work with us. She showed me some of the photos she had taken over the course of the weekend, so once I got back to the States, I was going to talk to the record company about how to get her on board. I tried to ignore the part of my brain telling me my reasons for doing this were purely selfish, but how could I not want to keep her close to me?
 

I was doing this for her too though. She would not only work with my tour but others in the label as well. Her name would be big. I would have her for three months while we got all that sorted out. I was trying to busy myself with things that would stop me from remembering that at the end of the two weeks, I had to leave her here and go back. Could Josh get to her after I left and get inside her head? I cursed myself for thinking that. She was smarter than that. To be sure though, I decided to go and pay a visit to my cousin before I left. Maddie had some stuff she wanted to take care of, so on our way to the Hunter Valley where we would be hiding out for a couple of days, we were going to stop in and take care of it.
 

“Are you okay, Morgan?” I nodded at her.
 

“I’m fine, darlin’.”
 

She nodded and lay back against me and kept watching her movie. We were driving most of the day tomorrow so we opted to stay in and watch movies and rest up today. I was more than fine with that. Maddie had told all the people who mattered that she was turning her phone off for a few days and would be in touch soon. Josh was trying harder than ever to get to her. It shouldn't have surprised me though. He was like this growing up. He always had to be the first to get everything between him and his siblings. He was so competitive even when he didn’t need to be. Ali and Lucas were so laid back whereas he was uptight. When Aunt Katie and Uncle Paul divorced, the kids got to choose where they wanted to be. Paul and Josh were the same person almost. That's who Josh took after. In so many ways. No one was upset when they both moved out to Australia.
 

Lucas and I grew closer after that. He became a little brother to me
,
and I looked out for him. After he got into a fight and had the crap kicked out of him when someone jumped him from behind, Lucas started to work out a lot. When I made it big, he wanted to be the one who looked out for me.  He became my head of security and my shadow. Ali had chosen fashion. She always did have her own style about her. She moved to New York with her mom and started her own label. Now she traveled all over the world promoting it and had done quite well for herself. Paul tried to make contact with her when Ali began to have her name plastered everywhere, but she wasn't interested in talking to him.
 

Neither Lucas nor Ali had much to do with Josh after he and Paul left. He had walked out on them so they were keeping that door firmly closed. He was just interested in Ali’s money and her newfound fame. When Paul got locked away for insider trading, Josh tried crawling to me for sympathy and asked me to convince Ali and Lucas to talk to him. Again, it fell on deaf ears because although I did tell them, they still didn’t care. He had made his bed.
 

“You’re thinking about him aren’t you?”
 

“Hmm?” I looked down at Maddie whose eyes were still on the movie.
 

“You’re thinking about Josh. I can feel you tensing up.” She looked up at me and I let out a small sigh.
 

“Not so much him as my whole family. I honestly thought we had seen the back of him. He is a snake though. He will always find his way back in.” I watched as Maddie shifted and leaned on her elbow to watch me.
 

“I couldn’t care if I never saw him again, Morgan. You don’t have to either. How long has it been now?”
 

I let out a breath as I tried to remember the last time I saw him.
 

“Going on ten years now. Ali was ten when their dad left. Lucas was fifteen.” When I looked at Maddie, she had a confused look on her face.
 

“You do know of his brother and sister, don't you?” Maddie shook her head no and I shook my head.
 

“He has a sister, Ali, who just turned twenty-one and Lucas, you would have seen him hanging around me like a shadow, is his brother and is about to turn twenty-six. When Paul, their dad, and Aunt Katie divorced, Ali and Lucas stayed with Katie, and Josh went with Paul.” Maddie shifted and sat up. I watched as she chewed on her lip. “Maddie?” She turned and looked at me.
 

“He said his parents were dead, and he was an only child. I never met his dad, so I never even thought to question it...” She ran her hand through her hair and pulled her knees to her chest, resting her chin on her knees. “I was so stupid.”
 

“Hey now. Don’t you be saying shit like that.” I moved to sit in front of her and made her look at me. “He wouldn’t admit he moved here with his dad because that would mean he would have to admit the apple didn’t fall far from the tree with his cheatin’. Not to mention the fact Paul is behind bars now, so you wouldn't have crossed paths with him.” She nodded softly and dropped her head again. Wrapping my arms around her, I closed my eyes and kept her close to me. I was gonna kill him for this. I was going to wrap my hands around his throat and choke the life out of him. End her pain for good.
 

“Morgan… wanna loosen your grip babe?”
 

“Sorry.” I relaxed my arms a little and sighed. I needed to talk to Lucas. I wouldn’t put it past Josh to try to get to us through him. Pulling Maddie into my arms, I kept her close as she curled back into me.
 

“Let's just forget about him. He isn’t about to ruin our afternoon.”
 

“I’ll do my best darlin’. Though, with you around, I am sure to be able to find myself distracted.” I said as Maddie lifted her head with a grin spreading across her face.
 

“Oh, really now? Well, I don’t know if you would count this as a distraction but...” She leaned forward, and I closed my eyes as her lips pressed against mine. A small groan escaped me, and I nodded.
 

“Yeah that would count as a distraction gorgeous, but damn if it’s not the best kind.” I murmured softly against her lips as my hands moved down to rest on her hips. Shifting on the bed and rolling her onto her back, I moved my lips harder against hers and deepened the kiss. The way her lips moved against mine and the way her body fit against mine was perfect. Running my lips along her jawline and down to her neck, I brushed lightly over her neck before moving back to her lips.
 

The way Maddie shifted beneath me was her telling me she wanted more. Her arms wrapped around my neck as I ran my hand down her thigh to rest against her ass. A soft squeal left her lips as I pulled her closer to me. Maddie wrapped her legs around my waist, allowing me to rest between her thighs. Another low groan escaped me as she began to rock her hips against mine. I tightened my grip on her ass.  

“Careful, darlin', or this will go a different way than what I had planned.” I pulled back and looked down at her as her cheeks flushed red. I pressed my lips softly against hers and pulled back. “I want to take my time and savor every inch of that perfect body. You think you can be patient, baby?”
 

“God, no.” She giggled, and I bent down to kiss her again.
 

“Well, we are just gonna have to show you some then aren’t we?” I pulled back a little and sat her up. I pulled her tank top up and over her head. I laid her back down and moved my lips down her neck and kissed the skin softly. I placed soft kisses along her chest but just as I reached the valley of her breasts, I heard a banging on the door. Dropping my head with a groan, I shook my head and pulled my attention back to Maddie. Everyone else could wait right now. As my hands moved up her back, I undid the clasp on her bra. I pulled it off and dropped it down with her shirt. I trailed my lips along her breasts and left soft kisses along her skin. I looked up at her.
 

She had her eyes closed as her back arched urging me to continue. Wrapping my lips around her breast, I flicked my tongue over her nipple and swirled it in circles. Moving my attention to the left breast, I made sure they both got the attention they deserved. Once her breathing started to change, my lips curled into a smirk and I moved my lips down her body placing soft kisses down to her hips. Pulling back to undo her shorts, the banging on the door continued only it was getting louder and louder.

“MORGAN! Open up! We have a situation! Get your ass out here now!” I looked down at Maddie and she nodded and slumped back against the bed.
Fuck!
Someone was about to die right now.
 

“I’ll make it up to ya in a minute, darlin’.” I kissed her softly and got up off the bed. I closed the door behind me and moved to open the door of the bus. Staring down at Lucas, I saw a trail of blood. “What the fuck happened to you?” I pulled him onto the bus and sat him down on the couch. His face was white as a ghost as he looked up at me.

“It’s Josh… He is coming for you.”

I should have known months ago when Ellie first told me she was going to Queensland with Maddison that the weekend was going to fuck everything up. I thought for sure Ellie being with me would end their friendship forever, but no, Maddison just had to go and be the saint she always thought she was. Sure, they weren’t as close as Maddison and Jasmine were, but they were driving up together. That had to mend some fences, didn’t it? No, it just caused more pain for Maddison. When they got there, Ellie called me and told me Maddison wasn’t coming home. She had grown tired of watching Ellie and I and had decided to put her past behind her and travel. Maddison was always a dreamer. I knew by the end of the weekend she would come home and ask her old boss for her job back. She was never one for sticking things out to the end.
 

When Ellie returned to the camp drunk out of her mind and screeching about Maddison hooking up with Morgan Young, my heart stopped. My own fucking cousin and my ex. Sure, I knew he was going to be in Australia but never in a million years did I think he would find her. The next morning, I was on the first flight out of here. I had to be there. I needed to bring Maddison home where she belonged. If it had really happened, then Morgan could offer her the life I never did, and yeah, I just couldn't have that. Maddison was mine even when she wasn’t. She would stay here and drown in the sorrow I encased her life in. Her dreams would remain just that. Dreams.
 

Touching down on the Gold Coast, I hired a car and drove to the middle of nowhere. Why these girls insisted on doing this was beyond me. It wasn’t Ellie or Jasmine’s style. I called Ellie when I got there because Maddison hadn’t picked up her phone and Morgan wasn’t answering his. I was hoping Ellie had done what I asked her to do and kept Maddison with her but when I found Jasmine and Ellie and no sign of Maddison told me she’d failed. Such a simple thing and the idiot couldn’t do it. I had gotten the hysterics to stop long enough for Ellie to tell me she had pissed off Maddison who reacted by hitting Ellie. This didn’t surprise me. Maddison had a fiery temper.
 

“Jas, where are Morgan and Maddison?” Jasmine wasn’t my biggest fan but I didn’t lose sleep over that. She had picked Maddison’s side in the break up. That again wasn't a surprise. They had been friends for so long. Neither of them could be in the same room with me and not glare at me. While she narrowed her eyes at me, she helped Ellie get cleaned up and continued to ignore me. “I asked you a question Jasmine!” My voice rose, and she didn’t flinch. I guess having a dad who beat on your mother every night would make you void of any reaction.