When he fails to listen to my pleas, I lift my drenched eyes to the lady cautiously approaching us. “Please stop. He’s all I have. Please don’t take him away from me.” I’m blubbering like an idiot. It can’t be helped. I am truly heartbroken. First, I was rejected by Maddox, and now Max wants to leave me too.
The unchecked tears streaming down my face stop the mousy-haired lady in her tracks. She bounces her eyes between Max and me for several seconds before she eventually notches up her chin. “Promise me you’ll take good care of him.” The wind whipping between us chops up her words, but there’s no doubting what she said. It was as confident as my reply.
“I promise,” I pledge without pause for thought. “I’ll never let him out of my sight.”
She takes a couple of seconds to contemplate the authenticity of my pledge before she eventually spins on her heels and heads back toward the main yard area.
It takes another five minutes for me to convince Max to come home with me, and even then, he leaps in the back seat instead of the passenger seat, proving not even he can’t stand the sight of me right now.
18
Maddox
The warden’s eyes lift to mine when I storm into his office. He remarks about how he thought he’d have to order the guards to drag me out of my first private one-on-one meeting with Demi, but I’m too blinded with anger to take a bite out of the bait he’s dangling in front of me.
Not only did my parents sell their home, the very thing they worked tirelessly for the past thirty years, but Demi’s uncle also has his claws back into her. That doesn’t just break the agreement I made with Col. It wholly fucking up ends it.
I came here to save Demi.
I refuse to stay if my sacrifice was for nothing.
The warden’s mouth itches when I snatch up his phone from the desk, but not a word spills from his lips. He isn’t stupid. I may not pocket a dime for the numerous favors I do for him and Agent Moses, but I make them a fortune. He better remember that when I signal for him to get the fuck out of his office so I can hold my conversation with Ezra in private.
He leaves, albeit hesitantly, then, two seconds later, Ezra answers my call.
“Wallens Ridge now!” When he attempts to fire an objection, my bad mood gets the better of me. “I wasn’t asking, Ezra. You either come to Wallens Ridge now, or I’ll start singing like a fucking canary.”
A deep sigh rustles down the line. “If you do that, I can’t guarantee your family won’t suffer the consequences of your actions.”
“Suffer how, Ezra? Watching their youngest son become an inmate at a maximum-security prison? Selling their family home? Or how about moving to fucking Hopeton? How much worse could it get for them?”
My anger is sideswiped when he mutters, “How does death rate on your scale?” Now that he has my attention, he speaks more calmly. “I know this isn’t something you want to hear right now, Ox, but I need you to be patient. Times are changing. This will all be over soon.”
“It won’t be over until Col is dead.”
My emotions don’t know which way to swing when he replies, “That’s precisely my point.” He lowers his voice to a whisper. “Dimitri is growing impatient. I have a feeling he’s going to act sooner rather than later.”
Months ago, his comment would have given me hope. Today, it fills me with anger. “Dimitri is in another country. He’s all but given up on overtaking his father’s reign.”
I hear Ezra scrub at the five o’clock his jaw holds no matter the time of the day. “Have you not seen Dimitri yet?”
He can’t see me, but I shake my head, too stunned to talk. He’s speaking as if Dimitri is stateside. Agent Moses assured me only last month that he isn’t.
I grip the phone like it’s Agent Moses’s neck when it dawns on me what’s happening. That lying fucking snake hung me out to dry—again.
I can’t wait to return the favor.
Ezra takes my growl as a response to his question. “I thought Dimitri would have stopped by months ago. There have been numerous developments the past six months.”
“Developments I don’t give a flying fuck about unless they affect Demi. Her uncle reneging on our deal affects her!”
His shallow snarl warns me he’s getting close to losing his cool. However, the temperament of his voice remains the same. “Things aren’t exactly as you are seeing them, but if you can give me a couple of hours, I’m sure I can give you a clearer picture of proceedings.”
I’m about to tell him he has an hour, but his next sentence shuts down my anger by immediately replacing it with worry. “While I do that, why don’t you work out who is allowing Demi to dose herself up with oxycodone, because this time, I can guarantee you it isn’t her uncle.”
19
Demi
