Free Hidden (Marchwood Vampire Series #1) by Shalini Boland Page A

names on the paper were her ancestors and one of them
had actually left her everything he owned. It was nothing less than
a miracle.
    She allowed
herself another small smile and hugged herself excitedly. This was
it, the start of her real life.
    A light knock
on the door interrupted her thoughts and a young woman came in with
a tray. On it was a fancy chicken salad, some funny bread rolls and
some fruit and chocolates. Maddy was starving, she hadn’t realised
how hungry until she’d seen the food. She would speak to Mr
Vasey-Smith after she’d eaten.
    Trevor, Angie
and Ben bustled back into the offices of Hamilton Blythe at 6.20pm.
A secretary showed them back up to the conference room where Maddy
and Mr Vasey-Smith waited. Their cheeks were flushed and they were
laden down with shopping bags.
    ‘ Mads, it was mint!’ Ben said. ‘You should’ve come, you’d’ve
loved it. We saw the Lion King. You’ve got to see it.’
    ‘ It was fantastic, love,’ Angie agreed. ‘Pity you had to stay
here.’
    ‘ That’s okay. Glad it was good.’
    ‘ So,’ said Trevor, rubbing his hands together. ‘What’s the
scores on the doors? We moving to the country? Any decisions been
made or what?’
    Maddy’s nerves kicked in, but Mr Vasey-Smith had assured her
he would handle everything He worked for her now.
    ‘ Yes, a decision has been reached,’ the solicitor answered.
‘Madison has decided she would very much like to move to her new
home in Gloucestershire with Ben.’
    ‘ Nice one, Madison,’ Trevor smiled. ‘Let’s have a butcher’s at
our new place then? Where’s these details?’ He sat down at the
conference table and drummed his fingers on the wooden surface.
Everyone else was still standing.
    ‘ Mr Johnson, Madison and Ben will be moving to Gloucestershire
on their own. There are a couple of trusted retainers there who
will look after all their needs.’
    ‘ Now, hold on a minute …’ Trevor’s smile disappeared and he
stood up again.
    ‘ They’re just a couple of kids!’ Angie said, her face flushed.
‘They need us, we‘re their foster parents.’
    Trevor put a hand on her arm. ‘I’ll handle this, Ange.’ He
turned to the solicitor and pointed to himself with his two
forefingers. ‘ We are their legal guardians and there is no way they are moving
out of our care. Over my dead body, in fact.’
    ‘ Excuse me,’ Madison said. ‘I am still here you
know.’
    ‘ Maddy, this posh bloke is trying to get one over on us.
Thinks because he went to private school, he can treat people like
dirt. Well, we’ve put a roof over your heads for three years and if
you think you can walk out on us now you’ve got a ton of cash in
the bank … well ...’
    ‘ Trevor,’ Maddy replied. ‘It’s my decision, not yours or his.
No one’s trying to get anything over on anyone. I’ve had a pretty
crap life up till now and this is mine and Ben’s chance for a
better life.’
    ‘ Well thanks a lot!’ Angie exclaimed. ‘’Crap life’ is it? Me
and Trevor have tried our best. I know our place isn’t a fancy
house in the country, but at least we took you in and we’ve put up
with a hell of a lot. You’ve been quite a little madam to live
with.’
    ‘ I didn’t mean that ,’ Madison took a deep breath.
‘I meant, I’ve got no real family or place of my own …’
    ‘ Let’s all calm down a bit.’ Mr Vasey-Smith
interrupted.
    ‘ Patronising git,’ Trevor muttered. Vasey-Smith ignored him
and turned to Ben.
    ‘ Ben, there’s a TV next door, would you like to
...’
    ‘ Yeah, that’d be cool.’ Ben leapt towards the door, eager to
be away from the shouting.
    Trevor started
up again. ‘If you try to diddle us on this, we’ll sue you. Those
kids are legally our responsibility and you can’t decide anything
without our say so. I know what’s what! I‘ll sue you, I will!’
    ‘ You could try. But I wouldn’t advise it.’
    A blue vein
pulsed angrily in Trevor’s forehead as he squared up to