The Cunning

94

I'm dedicating this chapter to @1800-slay to say thank you for your comments <3

*

Jase sat up in bed, his back against the headboard. Daylight spilled in around the sides of the curtain, slices of sunlight cut across the duvet. Madison was asleep in his lap, releasing a gentle whistle with every breath.

He hadn't slept, Peter was on his mind. The red-faced man with his snot, tears, and final pleas for mercy had only taken a small portion of his thoughts. His main concern was where to go from here.

Sam was in the kitchen. He looked up briefly from the newspaper, just long enough to acknowledge Jase.

"Did you tell her?" he asked before clocking the scratch marks down Jase's back. "Never mind." Sam cleared his throat, folding the paper and leaning back in his chair, arms crossed. "Leaving the Madison topic to cool off, what are we doing about Mitch?"

Jase was making himself a coffee. He looked over his shoulder, he'd practically forgotten Mitch existed.

"It's been a few weeks since we've heard anything. It's making me nervous," Sam pressed on. The silence was suspicious, and it didn't look good that someone had attacked Jase and they hadn't retalliated yet.

"He can't hide forever. He'll get impatient with us doing nothing. Let him stew. He'll come to us." It was a lazy response but Sam wouldn't outright call him on it.

"Do you not think we should act before he does?" he asked, slightly irritated with Jase's blasé attitude towards the situation. If they had targetted Jase directly, they wouldn't think twice about coming after him. Jase sipped his coffee, staring over the rim at his friend.

"If I thought acting was the best idea, I'd have done it, wouldn't I?"

Sam bit his tongue.

"I want things to die down. He'll fuck up before we do," Jase assured, aware their current run of events contradicted that.

"Why don't we just kill him?"

"Can't kill anyone when you don't know where they are. Patience, Sammy boy. It's never done me wrong before."

Sam wasn't happy about it, but as always, Jase's word was law. Though it was unlikely Benny would agree so easily if he was there. Jase remained in the kitchen, messaging out for shots to be dropped and ticks to be collected before he left for town.

When he returned, he went straight upstairs. Madison had been awake for a few hours when he entered the bedroom, dropping a pink sparkling bag at the bottom of the bed.

"Happy Birthday," he said. Madison laughed in bewilderment and reached into the gift bag, pulling out a thick book. She brushed her fingers over the glossy title; Dangerous Lady, a Martina Cole novel.

"You didn't have to get me anything," she said, flipping the book over and reading the blurb. As far as she was concerned, taking care of Peter was more than enough. Jase lay on the bed, letting out a deep huff and rubbing his face. The lack of sleep was taking its toll. He blinked several times, grasping milliseconds of rest to ward of the stinging sensation that came with exhaustion.

"I know, but it saves you from being bored all the time."

Madison leaned down and planted a kiss on his rough cheek, the contact sending a ripple of warmth over her.

"Thank you." He hummed in response, distracted. "Is everything okay?"

Jase ran his tongue over his lips, nodding. Having someone to offload on would be a blessing but he couldn't let that someone be Madison. The lines were blurred enough without letting her in on all the ins and outs of the business.

"Yeah, just a lot going on."

Madison frowned. It was strange, now they'd had sex she felt inclined to value his feelings and wellbeing, and not for her personal gain. She had worried this would be the case and only hoped it was somewhat mutual. If it wasn't, mind, she was willing to make herself useful, even if only for his physical needs. If anyone was going to use her body as a weapon, it was her.

"Anything I can help with?" she asked. Jase breathed a small laugh, amused at her for thinking she would be of any use in the house matters. As bright as she was, this was not a game women were cut out to play, you only had to look at the ratio of men to women in positions of power to see that. They let their feelings get in the way, like Lily and Janine for example. Madison wasn't exempt, regardless of the glint in her eyes that suggested otherwise, Harvey was proof of that. He did find her eager-to-please attitude endearing, though, more so since he knew it was real and not a ploy.

He reached up, tucking her hair behind her ear, dragging his fingers down to cup her chin.

"Don't you worry your pretty little head about anything in the house. I'll deal with it."

Madison recognised the tiredness and it ran deeper than the fatigue solved by going back to bed. He was burnt out, it was obvious to anyone that cared to take a closer look which was never a good thing when the job required him to be on his game twenty-four seven. You had to be able to keep a poker face with the company Jase kept. People could take advantage of his downtime, and if it worked in their favour, it would compromise her safety which remained paramount. Whilst he might care about her, there was nothing guaranteed to last in the house, no time to relax.

She needed him to think straight about whatever was bothering him, by any means necessary. She beared an alluring smile, moving to straddle him.

"Maybe I can't help with house matters, but I could help with other things so you can deal with them efficiently..." Her suggestive tone was enough to make Mitch take a backseat, Jase's hands found their place on her waist like a sixth sense.

"Do you think you're ready to go again?" he asked. Last night, she'd bled, only a little but she had admitted to being slightly sore afterwards, despite Jase's slow movements and tenderness. Madison leaned forward, pressing her lips to his, trailing them along his jawline.

"I wasn't talking about that," she replied between kisses. Jase chuckled, confused.

"Then what did you mean?" he asked. She sat back, pulling her hair back into a ponytail.

"There is one thing we didn't try last night." She didn't need to specify, Jase knew what she was alluding to. The idea of her mouth wrapped around him made the blood rush to one area but he was apprehensive. Inexperience usually led to an uncomfortable amount of teeth involved.

"You've never given head before, have you?" he asked. Madison rolled her shoulders.

"No, but i'm sure you can talk me through it."

*

"Jase," Sam banged on the bedroom door, jolting Jase awake. Madison stirred where she was resting on his chest, groaning at the sudden loud noise. Jase rubbed his eyes, it was starting to get dark outside which meant he'd only caught up on a few hours.

"What?" he called, putting his arm behind his head and hoping it wasn't something that would require him to leave the warmth of the bed for at least half an hour. The force of Sam's knocking implied this was unlikely.

"Ollie's being difficult."

Jase rolled his eyes, looking down at Madison.

"No rest for the wicked," she mumbled, eyes still closed as she rolled away from him with a sleepy sigh.

"You're fucking telling me."

Madison lay in the tangled sheets. "I hate it when you leave," she said. Not in the way of missing him but because it left her unguarded, exposed without her human shield. It would do no harm having him think it was because she missed him however, so she didn't clarify. Jase smiled, looping his belt through his jeans.

"I'll be back." He pulled a t-shirt over his head and cupped her chin as he spoke. "I won't be long." He left her with a soft kiss and a bad feeling; her dad had said the same thing.