Theirs to Claim | 18+

C h a p t e r 41

"And what exactly have you done for work today, Alec." Madelyn counters, her eyes looking over his shirtless form.

It's clear he's just left our personal gym and has done very little business work so far today.

"This body doesn't come for free, princess." Alec makes a dramatic show of showing his muscles before looping the counter towards Madelyn.

At some point, she had moved beside me, but her body grew stiff as Alec continued to walk right towards her.

I smile because I already know what my friend's intentions are, and the look on Madelyn's face shows she knows it too.

"Wait!" She laughs, her eyes looking for the quickest escape.

"I meant it when I said count me in." Alec teases, taking quick steps towards where the two of us are.

"You're covered in sweat, and I'm willing to bet you stink too." Madelyn laughs, causing me to smile along with her.

Her green eyes look up at me for any kind of support in this, but I just wink at her as she goes to grab my body as a shield.

"Are you kidding? I'm not kissing him for you." I say, pivoting so that Madelyn is now in front of me, Alec extremely close by.

"Traitor." Madelyn lets out an amused mumble under her breath before bolting away.

I watch as Alec follows, moving in to grab her, but he makes the mistake of dropping his guard entirely.

Madelyn sees the opening and manages to catch Alec off balance with a quick bend of the knee, her body dipping away from his before running away with a giggle.

The sound of her laugh truly makes me happy, and I can't remember the last time myself nor Alec have smiled like this.

"No!" Madelyn shrieks as Alec quickly recovers, catching up to her with three long strides.

Her body is picked up by the waist, and naturally, Madelyn's legs wrap around Alec's body for support and balance.

Her arms move over Alec's shoulders as he brings his head down to kiss her, holding her tight despite Madelyn's true claims of him just coming from his long workout.

"Now I'm all gross too." Madelyn's nose wrinkles, her hands playing with Alec's dark curls as her eyes move over to me.

The corners of her eyes are crinkled in happiness, a wide smile across her face.

Fuck, she's gorgeous.

Even that in itself is an understatement.

"I guess I'll just have to clean you up then." Alec plants yet another kiss to her cheek, and I can't help but agree.

Alec's hair is nearly soaked right now and I can't imagine Madelyn wants to spend the rest of the day smelling like someone post workout.

"Go shower." I encourage, stepping away from the counter, "Though, feel free to join me in my office when you're done." I say, giving her a wink as Alec moves to carry her up the stairs and likely to his room.

This is, of course, despite Madelyn's protest that she can walk herself.

I just grin at her stubbornness, knowing Alec is probably going to do all of the cleaning for her too. Though, I doubt she'll have any complaints about that.

Once their muffled conversation fades out completely down the upper hall, I make my way over to my office, making sure to clean up any mafia related work from Madelyn's vision.