Madame (Salacious Players' Club, #6)

by Sara Cate

Eden and I are standing frozen as he gazes back and forth between us. Did he see all that? Did he hear all of that?

When he sees the raw emotion on our faces, he reaches both of his hands out, one for her and one for me. Then he softly says, “Let’s get out of here.”

As jealous as I was to hear about it, they needed their moment to be about them, not my voyeuristic gaze.

Eden and Jade were electric together. Far more than I expected. Nothing with them is ever soft or sweet. That was a full-out battle, and from the looks of it, they both won.

I’m far more concerned with what I heard after the sex. Jade confessed her feelings, and Eden pushed her away. Or did she?

“Yes, I do,” she replies quietly. “I thought I could push everyone out, but I’ve realized I was pulling you in at the same time. And that wasn’t fair to either of you.”

“Things got worse gradually. I can’t pinpoint a single day when it became a nightmare. Slowly, over time, shoves became slaps. Slaps became punches. Instead of yanking me by my hair or grabbing my wrist, he started choking me until I thought I’d die or throwing me down the stairs.”

“I was always so good at staying on my birth control because he was on top of me about it. He never wanted me to get pregnant. He claimed it was because we didn’t have the money to support another person, but I think it was because he was afraid I’d have someone to love. That I’d love that baby more than him.

“And I didn’t mean to, but I ran out of the pink pills, so I just took the white ones I had stashed up from skipping them every month. I don’t know why I did it. It was stupid of me because I didn’t want to get pregnant. And then it had gone on so long that I couldn’t bear to tell him. I could have easily gone up to the clinic and gotten more for free, but I didn’t.

I’m glad he’s dead. If he weren’t, I’d gladly kill him.

“You saved yourself, Eden. And you saved him. Don’t discredit yourself. You did that.”

“Maybe it was because you didn’t feel so alone anymore,”

“It doesn’t matter why. All that matters is that you did it.”

“Well, after that, I met Ronan, and he gave me a place to stay until after Jack was born. I kept Jack a secret to protect him. I filed for a restraining order, and then I just…disappeared. A couple of years ago, I did some digging and found out he got himself killed in a drunk driving accident.”

“Wait…is Eden St. Claire your real name?” Jade asks, lifting her head from Eden’s shoulder.

“It is now. This is who I am. I’m not that woman anymore. Who I was matters. I believe that, but I like to think she died so we could live. I may not have been born Eden...

“Well, we love you, Eden. Regardless of what your name is or what happened to you,”

“It’s been just me and Jack for so long. I was too afraid to bring anyone around him. I just wanted to keep him safe.”

“But you can take a break now. We’ve got you.”

I’m glad things between me and Eden didn’t work out the first time, only for us to find our way back together with Jade. Everything feels right now. We are more complete than we were before.

“Let’s take Jack to an amusement park,” Jade says excitedly. Eden lifts her head and looks at her. “An amusement park?”

“Yeah, he likes rides, right?” Eden shrugs. “We’ve never been.” Jade’s jaw drops. “Then we have to take him!”

“Yes. I would really like that.”

He and Clay are on a ride that spins far too much for my or Jade’s liking. So she and I are sitting on the bench near the ride’s exit, enjoying the sound of my son having so much fun.

Clay, who looks like he’s been through the spin cycle. “Can we ride it again?” Jack says with a shriek. Clay winces, which makes Jade and I laugh.

“What’s wrong? Can’t handle another turn on the Spin-o-Matic?”

“All of us,” he adds. “I want all of us to come back.”

Clay and I end up next to each other, and Jade and Jack are on the other side.

He grabs her hand with a big cheesy smile, squeezing it excitedly as she smiles at him. The sight of them together makes the inside of my chest warm.

But when the Ferris wheel reaches the top, and Jack burrows himself under Jade’s arm in fear, I watch the way she holds him tight, comforting him when the seat rocks.

Clay runs his fingers through Jack’s hair and leans down to place a kiss on his forehead.

Then we pause at the entrance as we both notice Jade curled up on the couch, fast asleep.

“I can walk,” she says groggily. “I know you can,” he replies. “But I like holding you.” She glares at him. “Put me down.”

“I’m going to take her home,” Clay says before looking at me. And I realize that he’s telling me this for a reason. Because he’s afraid I might be jealous of them being alone together.

“I can’t wait. Can we practice on him?” “What did I do?” He puts his hands up and stares at her with confusion.

“Oh my God, I’m so excited,” she says after pulling away.

But do Clay and I still have things to get over? Because right now, he looks as afraid as I am.

“Will you knock it off? I’m trying to work.” “What’s wrong? Is this distracting you?”

“You’re not interrupting,” Hunter replies, then he glances back at his husband. “Drake was just attempting to make my workday more difficult.” “Successfully,” Drake replies.

“Actually, I was hoping to talk to both of you.”

Their brows arch in unison as they glance at me with curiosity. “It’s…personal,” I add, which only makes their expressions intensify.

“Two…someones.”

“Ahh…” Drake replies, now clearly interested in what I’m getting at.

“And you want our advice on being in a poly relationship?” Hunter replies, alwa...

Of course, he knows how it feels. It was just two years ago that he joined his best friend’s marriage with Hunter’s wife, Isabel.

“Unfortunately,” Hunter replies with a scowl. He was never much for conversation, so I imagine he has as many hurdles as I do.

“Make sure you spend time with each of them on your own, too,” Drake adds. “And then even more time all together as the three of you. That’s a big relationship to take care of.”

“Do you ever get jealous?” I ask, afraid I’m opening a can of worms they might no...

“Jealous isn’t the right word,” Hunter replies. “What Drake and Isabel have is different than what Isabel and I have or what Drake and I have together. I’m never jealous of that. In fact, I love to see wha...

“We have the same relationship problems as everyone e...