I take a step back when he shouts, “How did you make sure of it, Demi? Did you just take his word for it? Or better yet, did you ask him to pinkie promise that he won’t hurt you again.”
I’m stunned by how swiftly our conversation went from sexually intense to dangerously volatile, but it won’t stop me from telling him how much of a dick he is being. “You’re being an ass—”
His glare cuts me off more than his shouted words. “And you’re acting like an idiot! I came to this fucking hellhole so you could be free, and what do you do the instant your wings canfinallyexpand? You run straight back to him.”
“For you!” I fire back, my voice as loud as his. “The sale of your parents’ house with the two hundred thousand you put away wasn’t close to the amount he requested to get you out of here. We needed more!”
I realize my error when Maddox chokes out, “What? My parents sold their home?” When he reads the truth in my eyes, he asks, “Why, Demi? Why would you let them do that?”
Mindful my hole has already been dug, I set to work on taking down those closest to me. It is another horrible Petretti trait. “It was Caidyn’s idea.”
I didn’t realize a heart could be broken by a growl until now. “You dragged him into this after I specifically asked you not to?”
“No,” I deny with a shake of my head. “You asked me to keep him out of thismonthsafter he got involved. He has been a part of it since you were sentenced.”
Maddox stares me dead set in the eyes. “Then why didn’t you tell me back then that I was too late?”
I try to answer him. My lips twitch, but not a word spills from my mouth.
My silence maims him more than anything I could have said. “Because you chose to lie.”
I drag my hand under my nose before lifting my chin. “Yes, but not because I wanted to hurt you. I was trying to stop you from being hurt.”
“By lying to me.” The disgusted mask I was anticipating earlier slips over his face before my very eyes. “Shows how well you know me, doesn’t it?” When I step closer to him, he cuts me off by slicing his hand through the air. “Don’t, Demi… I just…fuck!”
His nostrils flare as he sucks in some big breaths. It isn’t like him not to show restraint when he’s angry, but siding with criminals wasn’t on his dossier only months ago either. He’s worked up, and for once, he’s finally taking it out on the person deserving of his wrath.
Once he has the redness on his face settled, he locks his eyes with mine. The pain in them cuts through me like a knife. “Where are they living?”
I don’t want to answer him, but I must. “In Hopeton.”
“Hopeton,” he mutters to himself. “Of course they are.”
His laugh doesn’t belong to a sane man. It’s unhinged and brimming with danger that becomes undeniable when I interrupt his request for the guards to bring Caidyn to our secret room. “Caidyn isn’t here. He’s at home because he is unwell.”
When he rakes his fingers through his hair, I grab his wrist, afraid his anger will pluck his head bald. My heart falls from my ribcage when he pulls away from me like my touch scorched his skin.
“I need a minute to wrap my head around this. I can’t do that with you right there,” he mutters under his breath when he spots the tears burning my eyes. “It’s just…” This is the first time I’m grateful for our lack of communicating skills. If he had finished his sentence, I’m reasonably sure he would have ended our relationship.
“Okay. I’ll go.”
I snatch up my purse from the floor before making a beeline for the door. A sob escapes my lips when Maddox seizes my wrist before I make it halfway out. He doesn’t beg me to stay or tell me he loves me. He places a single kiss on the top of my head because even while angry, he can’t risk leaving what could be our last goodbye unsaid.
“Goodbye,” I mumble on a sob before I race for the exit.
I’m so eager for fresh air, I push past the guards who usually guide my walk, then sprint down the corridors. I make it to the front entrance in a record-breaking twenty seconds, and I dash across the dusty lot even faster than that.
My speed is so brutal, the movements of my feet are too fast for me to keep up with. I stumble in my stilettos, re-jarring the ankle I hurt when I fell in a pothole. I doubt it’s sprained, but it hurts enough not even Caidyn could give me hell for requesting some form of pain relief.
“Come on, Max,” I say to him when I reach the fence line, shocked he has his back facing me. My knees are cut up from the gravel, and tears are streaming down my face. He should be on high alert.
At the same time I discover the reason for Max’s ignorance, the lady he’s staring at in the yard of Wallens Ridge spots his watch. Dark strands of hair fall into her face when she adjusts her line of sight to make sure she isn’t mistaking what she is seeing.
“Max?” she murmurs loud enough for me to hear before she pushes off her feet to head toward the fence line.
Panicked that I’m about to lose everything I’ve ever loved sees me snatching up Max’s lead and dragging him toward Caidyn’s Jeep.
“Come on, Max,please. It’s time to go,” I beg when he pulls me in the opposite direction I want him to go. “Don’t you want that big burger I promised you? You won’t find that here. She can’t give you that.” I know I’m reflecting my anguish onto the unknown lady, but beggars can’t be choosers. “Please, Max.”
