Taste of Passion (Madaris Novels) (29 page)

Syneda chuckled as she added, “However, I think Farley might be a tad unhappy since he was looking forward to facing off with you in the courtroom, Mac.”

Mackenzie rolled her eyes and heaved a disgusted sigh. “Lewis Farley is the last person on my mind right now. As the foundation’s attorney I’m going to try and convince Mr. Coroni that the least he can do is pay their legal fees out of the proceeds. And I also intend to work on his conscience a little bit.”

Clayton chuckled. “For some reason I still think there’s a lot more to this than what we know.”

Alex nodded, glanced around the room at everyone, and said, “I agree and I plan to dig a little further.”

Luke held the phone from his ear a minute and released a deep sigh before putting it back in place. His great grandmother had heard he wouldn’t be coming home to QT’s graduation celebration and was giving him one blistering scolding.

“Yes, Mama Laverne, I hear what you’re saying but I just got back,” he injected the moment he was able to get in a word. “And if I want to be in shape for the rodeo in Reno next month I’m going to have to get a lot of practice time. QT knows how proud I am of him and that I’d be there if I could.”

A moment passed and he stood there in his kitchen holding the phone while she gave her spiel of how her days were numbered and it was the duty of her grands and great-grands to make sure they availed themselves of every golden opportunity to be with her while they could.

“I’m coming home in a few weeks, I promise,” he said, hating that what she was saying was getting to him when he knew she’d probably be around well into the hundreds. But still, she knew how to play him like a fine-tuned guitar, because no matter what, he loved the old gal. She had a phenomenal strength and a firm dedication to her family. And like him, she could be stubborn when it suited her and this was one of those times. She just wouldn’t let up. She was digging into him big-time.

Knowing he had to get off the phone before she had him agreeing to catch the next flight out to Houston, he took his finger and began tapping the receiver of the phone. “Oh, what’s that noise? Sounds like we’re getting a bad connection. I better go. And don’t forget, you’ll see me in a couple of weeks. Love you. Goodbye.”

He then hung up the phone and heaved a deep breath. Boy, she had been on a roll and he couldn’t help but wonder what that was about. Knowing no one, not even her six living sons, had ever possessed the ability to figure her out, he decided to let it go.

He glanced around the room, glad to be back at his place for a spell. The next rodeo would be the one in Reno, and as he’d told his great-grandmother he needed plenty of practice time. This little condo here in Abilene was ideal. He also owned a condo in Houston, the one he considered his primary residence although he was seldom there. A few years ago Uncle Jake and his three older cousins, Justin, Dex, and Clayton, had gotten together in a business venture to put up the fifteen-story Madaris Building, which included not only the building but also an entire business park comprising numerous shops, restaurants, banks, boutiques, professional offices, and a movie theater. Keeping it all in the family, they had hired Slade and Blade’s company to handle the project, all the way from the design to the construction. The result had been breathtaking and he had been one of the first to invest by purchasing one of the condos that overlooked the office park.

Thinking about his condo in Houston made him miss being home. There was nothing to beat a family gathering of Madarises. It would be good to see everyone and show them that he was doing fine and was all in one piece. But now was not the time, especially since Mac would be attending the event.

He had talked to Clayton a few days ago and he’d told him the outcome of the Whitedyer case and how the old man had cunningly settled out of court. A part of Luke got
pissed that anyone could be so devious, and he thought of all the hard work Mac had put into the case, doing what she could to make sure the old coot didn’t lose his home when he had every intention of settling out of court anyway, as soon as the right price came along. “Damn.”

He glanced at clock on his stove. It was still early and he was hungry. He decided to drive into town for a pizza. Getting back on a bull would be hard work and he needed to make sure he had strength to endure.

Blade reached over to the nightstand and picked up his cell phone, careful not to wake up the woman whose bed he was in, Tina or Nina, hell, he wasn’t sure at the moment. He only recalled that she could work her body like nobody else.

He clicked on his phone. “Yes,” he answered in a low voice.

“Blade, this is your great-grandmother. I need you to get Luke home.”

Blade raised a concerned brow and quickly sat up in bed. His heart began racing. “Why? What’s wrong? What’s happened?”

“Nothing has happened. I just need him here on Saturday for QT’s party. I talked to him yesterday and he said he won’t be making it.”

Blade inhaled deeply to calm down once he realized there was no emergency. “And he has a good reason for not coming. He has a rodeo he’s training for and—”

“I don’t care about his rodeo. I need to see him, to make sure he’s okay. Either he comes here or I’m going there and I want you to be my escort when I do.”

“What!”

He glanced over at the woman, Tina or Nina, who had opened her eyes and was glaring at him. Evidently, she wasn’t a morning person. That was understandable since it was barely the crack of dawn. What was his great-grandmother doing up so early anyway?

He held his hand over his cell phone and said in a low
tone, “Sorry,” to the woman in bed. “This is a business call that I need to take in private,” he added, before easing his naked body out of bed and making it to Tina’s or Nina’s bathroom, closing the door behind him and frowning deeply as he leaned back against it.

“Didn’t Luke tell you that he’s okay?” Blade asked. Jeeze, he could just imagine taking his great-grandmother to visit Luke.
Luke would kill me
. According to Luke the last time she visited she had done a little bit of house-cleaning and had thrown out all his
Playboy
magazines . . . among other things. And she wanted
him
to take her? Heaven help him.

He cleared his throat. “Mama Laverne, there’s no need for you to go all the way to Abilene to check on Luke. He might not be coming home this weekend but I’m sure he’ll be here in a few weeks.”

“No, I want to see him this weekend. You, Luke, and Slade are as tight as some of those jeans you like seeing your girlfriends wear, so I’m sure one of you can convince Luke of the wisdom of letting me see for myself that he’s all right. Otherwise, you and I will pay him a visit. Just clear your calendar because we’ll be gone for a week. Goodbye.”

She then hung up the phone. He was left scowling and wondering, among other things, how she knew that he liked seeing women in tight jeans.

Mackenzie smiled when she glanced across the kitchen table at the man who had surprised her and shown up for breakfast. There was no doubt about it, her cousin Ashton Sinclair was an extremely handsome man. All the women in Oklahoma thought so, and had for years, but not a single one of them had managed to grab his interest because the military had been his first love. Now he was Colonel Ashton Sinclair of the United States Marines and had been for years. Like her he was half African American and half Native American, with nut-brown skin, dark
eyes, high chiseled cheekbones, and coal-black hair that flowed freely around his shoulders. He was also tall, probably about six-four or more.

And he was happily married to Netherland, the woman he had picked out as his mate for life, and the two of them had triplets, three adorable yet rambunctious four-year-old sons. Identical and the spitting image of their father. There was no doubt in her mind that Hunter, Brody, and Wolf Sinclair would all be heartbreakers one day.

Ashton would always have a special place in her heart, because when she hadn’t been able to take living in Boston with her aunt any longer, he had been the one she could always depend on to keep her world sane. He had been the one who’d footed her college bill until she’d managed to acquire a scholarship for law school, and when she returned to Oklahoma after her breakup with Lawrence, Ashton had been Standfield, De Meglio, and Mahoney’s first client. That was when Mackenzie had acted as his legal representative at the Bachelors Auction. That was also the night she’d met Luke.

She tried not to think about the latter as she took a sip of coffee and watched Ashton eat the breakfast she had prepared. He was hungry and that was good. And his sons whenever they came to visit always had a hearty appetite just like their father.

“Are Nettie and the boys doing okay?” she decided to ask when he placed his fork down to take a sip of his coffee.

He smiled at the mention of his family. “Yes, everyone is doing fine. They were going to come with me, but I told them I was just going to fly in to check on things at the house and fly back out. The boys had a birthday party to go to, Trask and Felicia’s daughter, and Netherland is helping out with the food for QT’s party that’s being held at Whispering Pines this weekend. You are coming, aren’t you?”

She returned his smile. “Yes, I’m coming. I got a call
from Syneda two days ago to confirm that I would be there.”

He nodded. “I had a chance to talk to Clayton and Syneda earlier this week and they told me how that case you were working on turned out. It never ceases to amaze me what some people will do for money.”

She couldn’t help but agree. “Yes, and the sad thing is that I can’t divulge information to my client or anyone based on speculation. Mr. Coroni did agree to pay the foundation’s legal expenses, which was better than nothing, but he still walked away with a lot of money. But then if Whitedyer thought that land was worth that much then who am I to argue.”

Ashton leaned back in his chair and took another sip. “Umm, makes you wonder why they would think it was worth that much.”

Mackenzie raised a brow. “They got Alex wondering the same thing.”

Ashton chuckled. “Hey, if Alex is wondering about it then that’s a good thing. He likes solving puzzles and there is no doubt in my mind that he will solve this one. I take it the authorities never found out who messed up your office or poisoned Jake’s cows.”

She shook her head. “That’s another mystery to be solved but there’s no doubt in my mind that with both Coroni and Whitedyer happy, I will be left alone.”

“Speaking of alone, what happened to your houseguest?”

She shrugged. “Luke got better and moved on. He was in a relay race a few weeks ago out in L.A., and now I assume he’s somewhere practicing for the big rodeo out in Reno next month.”

“I wonder if he’ll be at QT’s graduation party this weekend.”

“No, he won’t be there.”

At the lifting of Ashton’s brows she quickly said, “He told me before he left that he wouldn’t be coming. And I have no reason to think he’ll change his mind.”

And for her sake, that would be the best. Seeing him again and remembering all they had shared and knowing there was no future for them would be hard. She had even thought about not going this weekend on the off chance he had changed his mind, but when she’d spoken to Syneda, she had mentioned the family was a little disappointed that he wouldn’t be coming due to all the practice time he needed to get in. She wondered if that was the real reason. But then he’d told her himself that he wouldn’t be coming the day he’d left here.

“Sir Drake and Trevor told me to tell you hello,” Ashton said, breaking into her thoughts.

A smile touched her lips at the mention of Ashton’s two closest friends. “And how is everyone?”

“They’re all fine. Devin is walking now.”

Mackenzie couldn’t help but smile and shake her head. She could just imagine Sir Drake’s wife, Tori, trying to keep up with ten-month-old Devin as well as Devin’s older brother, three-year-old Deke. Like Sir Drake, Tori was a former marine and CIA agent. “I can imagine how active Deke and Devin are.”

“With three busy beavers of my own, I can just imagine as well. Drake and Tori mentioned they’re going to try for a girl next year. Now that’s really scary.”

She lifted a curious brow. “What?”

“The thought of Sir Drake with a daughter. Can you imagine such a thing?”

Mackenzie couldn’t help but laugh. “Now that you mention it, no, I can’t.”

“So, Luke, what have you been up to?” Blade asked after Luke had placed him on a speaker phone so he could freely move around the kitchen.

Luke, who’d just finished taking a shower, had grabbed a beer out of the refrigerator and was leaning against the kitchen counter. “Nothing much. Spending most of my time trying to get back in shape so I’ll be ready for Reno next month. How’re things going with you?”

“Fine. I just thought I’d check with you one final time on that subject I brought up last month in Oklahoma.”

Luke pulled out a chair at the kitchen table and sat down. He then twisted the top off the bottle and took a pull, licked his lips, and asked, “What subject was that?”

“Mac.”

The beer bottle froze in midair just inches from Luke’s lips. He frowned and set the bottle down on the table with a loud thump. “What about Mac?”