Perry put his hands up. “No problem. Look, I just thought we could still be friends, but I can see you’re not comfortable with that.”
“I’m not comfortable with it,” Maddie inserted. “Stop blaming other people for your screwup, Perry. You destroyed our friendship and Vik is right, that started a long time ago.”
“But, Maddie...”
She shook her head. “No. We’re over. If you see me at a function, walk the other way because I don’t want to talk to you anymore.”
“We aren’t going to be at the same functions,” he said bitterly.
Maddie didn’t bother to reply. That was Perry’s problem, not hers.
“Are you going to leave, or will you force me to call the police to enforce the restraining order we have against you?”
“I’m leaving,” Perry said quickly, backing out of the alcove.
“We have a restraining order?” Maddie asked Vik.
“Yes.”
“Didn’t I have to sign something for it?”
“No. His malicious intent was in the papers for the world to see. We filed for it on behalf of AIH and its primaries, of which you are one.”
“Oh.”
He looked down at her untouched coffee. “You’re not drinking that.”
She shook her head. “How did you find me?”
“Are you sure you want to know?”
“Yes.”
“The ‘find me’ function on your phone.”
“I turned it off.”
“As long as the battery is in it and holds any charge, the GPS function works.”
“So, if I want privacy, I have to take out the battery. Good to know.”
He had to have looked up her GPS signal right away to have gotten to the coffee shop so quickly. More evidence that she mattered to him in the ways that were truly important.
Her father never would have just dumped his schedule to go running after her mother, or Maddie, certainly.
Vik inhaled, opened his mouth to speak, closed it again and then said, “I would prefer you not do that.”
“Okay.” It was a matter of safety as well, as much as she might prefer to forget that fact. “You came after me.”
“Of course. You were upset. What Jeremy did to you...”
She coughed out a laugh at the rare vulgarity that came out of her husband’s mouth.
Vik put his hand out to her. “Will you come with me now?”
Maddie didn’t hesitate. “Yes.”
“Don’t you want to know where?” Vik asked as she took his hand and let him lead her from the coffee shop.
“I guess I assumed we’d go someplace private.”
Vik’s expression turned hard. “Actually, we’re going back to AIH to confront your father.”
“Together.”
“Yes.”
Implying Vik and Maddie were on one side and Jeremy Archer the other. Nice. If she’d needed proof that she came first with Vik, her father couldn’t have provided a better opportunity.
Which, okay, maybe having the proof was nice, but she wasn’t about to thank Jeremy.
* * *
Her father was in his office when they arrived, Dr. Wilson gone. The PA tried to tell them that Jeremy was in a meeting, but Vik just walked through.
He reached across Jeremy’s desk and ended the call, sending Maddie’s father surging to his feet as he spluttered with annoyance.
Vik waited until her father had gone silent to speak. “Have you ever known me to lie to you?”
Jeremy shook his head, his expression instantly wary.
“Do I bluff?” Vik asked.
“No,” Jeremy said shortly.
“Then you will know I mean every word I say when I tell you that if you attempt to prove Madison incompetent to forestall her giving half her shares to Romi Grayson, I will destroy Archer International Holdings until the very building we are standing in is leveled to the ground.”
“You don’t mean that,” Jeremy said, his voice warbling with emotion for the first time in Maddie’s memory.
She hadn’t even seen him appear this distraught at her mother’s funeral.
There was no give in Vik. Not in his expression. Not in the way he stood, towering over Jeremy’s desk. “We have just established that I do.”
Definitely not in his tone.
Her dad said something else, but Maddie wasn’t listening. Everything inside her had gone still as she had her second major revelation for the day.
“You do love me,” she said to Vik, ignoring her father completely.
That oh-so-serious espresso gaze fixed on her. “You are mine to protect.”
“And to love.” Giddy with joy that could not be tempered even by her father’s machinations, she could hardly help the delight surfing every syllable.