The Formidable

42

Almost a month passed with no news from either party. Though everyone was still on high alert, the dust had settled and everyone returned to a semblance of normality. Or as close to normality as any of them could get.

"How's the little one?" Janine asked, handing Madison a strong coffee. Five of them were gathered in the kitchen. Jase, Kieran, Janine, Sam and Madison. Mia was at Jase's apartment with Lily. Madison didn't like bringing her to the house when they came to visit, something she insisted on doing at least twice a week to feel like a regular person rather than a woman who jumped at her own shadow. Which she had been doing quite frequently recently. The lack of progress had manifested a new fear in her, like she was holding her breath and didn't know when she would be able to take another.

Jase vocalised his discomfort with socialising outside their 'circle of trust' and asserted just enough cautious dominance in telling Madison this. They compromised, Madison's argument being that she needed adult conversations every once in a while and it wasn't like she could have visitors to his apartment. Jase was reassured by Mia's babysitter being someone he knew worked for Mickey. They were never gone longer than two hours.

"She's good. I hardly get a second glance from her these days. All her focus is on Jase," Madison replied, warming her hands on the mug. Jase grinned. He surprised himself at times with how paternal he had become. When Mia cried, it was him she called for, when she was tired she asked him to read her a bed time story, and the second he got in from the club each day, she'd drop whatever toy had her attention and run straight into his arms. If people thought he was soft when he was looking out for Madison, they'd have a field day if they saw how he was now.

"She's going to cause a lot of trouble with boys with a dad like you," Janine said, nodding in Jase's direction. He smiled, unable to help himself when the conversation turned to his daughter.

"They'll stay away from her if they know what's good for them," he replied.

"I don't think it's Jase they have to watch out for," Kieran joked, implying Madison was the more fearsome force to be reckoned with. To an extent, he was right. She had noticed over the years that she had grown colder, and Jase had done the opposite. Though, he wouldn't be dismissed as useless or too nice for his own good any time soon. When push came to shove, he was more than capable of behaving accordingly.

"Oh fuck off, I shot him right in the head!" Tommy shouted at the television in the living room. The game had clearly gotten the better of him because a few minutes later, he left the house in a huff.

"I feel like a daughter with both your genes won't need her parents to scare any boys. She'll be more than capable of doing that herself," Sam said.

"She'll know how to pick locks and shoot guns by the time she's ten," Jase said jovially but Madison was shaking her head.

"She will be kept well away from all of that. And until she's a lot older, she will have no idea about anything that has ever happened concerning the lucrative businesses and the circumstances surrounding our involvement with one another." She knew he wasn't being serious, but the defensiveness leapt from her before she could think about it. Madison wanted Mia's childhood to be the polar opposite of her own and so far, she wasn't succeeding.

"So what will you tell her when she asks how you met?" Kieran questioned. Madison shrugged, sitting back in her chair and folding her arms.

"The truth, we met in the shop I worked at."

Jase laughed. "And what about when she asks why there are no pictures of me with her when she was a baby?" he asked.

"I'll tell her you were in prison or something. It won't be hard to keep her in the dark until she's old enough to understand. Even then, there's no reason we need to tell her everything," Madison replied.