All Chapters of THE GUARDIAN'S BRIDE: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

CHAPTER 22: Are you sure?The music in the club was a throbbing unbearable mess—a pulsing nuisance that rattled my bones. It was the kind of place that I avoided like a disease—chaotic, loud, crowded, full of false freedom, moral decay and cheap perfume.When the guard that I employed to watch over Madelyn after that hospital fiasco informed me that she headed to the club with a friend that I had never heard off— I remembered what happened in her room the last time, and knew what might possibly happen.I was right. We arrived just as the scene unfolded. The club’s lights flickering like a thousand nervous pulses irritated me. But before I could move forward to find them in the sea of people, I spotted them immediately—Madelyn, her head resting on her friend's shoulder while the latter helped lead her out, bracing her like a crutch. Madelyn saw me first. Her eyes widened. And she stiffened. Her friend noticed it, and said something to her. And I saw her lips move like she said my na

CHAPTER 24: Just what we want to doLenny had been gone for a while.I paced the room anxiously, my phone in hand as I was constantly checking the time. From what I learned from the internet, there was a specific time window one had to take the pills before one could be at risk of a possible pregnancy. The soft thud of my bare feet against the hardwood floor was the only sound in the silent room. My heart was racing—not from the aftermath of what had happened last night, but from what it could result in, and what I was about to do.Biting anxiously at my nail, I kept glancing at the door, willing it to open with Lenny walking in with the pills. A scared part of me felt like the door might swing open any second, and instead of Lenny—Zachary would walk in, piercing me with those cold eyes, seeing everything. Knowing everything.I wasn't ready for that.The knock came softly, and I hurried to open it.Lenny stood there, holding a small paper bag tightly in her fist. Her face flushed and

CHAPTER 26: And when it's all over?The city was quiet beneath the heavy gray clouds. A storm was on the way. One of those very violent summer ones that stirred up more than just dust and leaves. Just like the unexpected storm that had been stirring alien thoughts in my head all morning.I stood by the expansive window of my office from the 42nd floor, staring at the city skyline, hands tucked in the pockets of my slacks. The morning coffee that my secretary had brought in a few minutes ago was still untouched on my desk behind me.The events of last night still clung to me like a scent I couldn’t shake.Madelyn had taken the first step towards intimacy. And she had been a virgin. That was unexpected given her past relationship with Vance, and the five years she spent in Lyon.I never saw it coming. That detail hadn’t been part of my calculations. And I was a man who always calculated. Everything and every action was accounted for. I never allowed room for surprises. Yet her tremblin

CHAPTER 28: I'm not old“Pinch me.”“What?” I was trying to control my laughter at the dramatics and theatrics that Lenny had been displaying for the past five minutes.“I need to know that I'm not dreaming,” she said, pinching her cheeks.She had been that way since she saw her offer letter from Zachary. She was being dramatic about it after she shoved her application letter in his face barely hours after he offered to give her a job."Are you sure I'm not hallucinating, Mads? Zachary Blackwood offered me a job." She said dramatically, throwing herself on the floor like she was in a drama scene. I was excited too. I laughed, twirling my coffee cup, and grinning like a kid who’d won a prize she didn’t even enter for. I didn't have to lose Lenny’s company.I smiled widely, though my insides still felt like jelly. "You make it sound like a miracle."She quickly scrambled up from the floor."Madeline Grace Blackwood, It's a nightmare being among the unemployed population.”I giggled. L

CHAPTER 30: Was that a smile Zachary Blackwood?The hour was late, but light still bled from under her bedroom door. I knocked, and soon heard her voice, low and soft, usher me in. I stepped into the half lit room and my gaze immediately fell on her. Madelyn was sitting on the edge of the bed, black silk robe loosely tied, hair damp from a shower. She had a hair brush in her hand. Her eyes flicked up at me briefly, then she looked away.“We need to talk,” I said, closing the door behind me.She didn't look at me as she resumed combing her hair. “About?”I crossed the room, moving closer to her with unhurried steps. “Mary,” I replied, twisting the wedding band on my ring finger. “I'm aware you saw her earlier.”Her jaw tensed. “She already complained to you. Makes me nostalgic of the days when she reports to you about my school performance.” She scoffed dryly. “I guess some things never change.”“The sarcasm does not help, Madelyn.”She suddenly dropped the brush and turned to me, a c