My SOS is interrupted by the roar of my cousin, “Take Roxanne to her room!” Dimitri is standing beside Maddox and me, so more than my ears ring from his shouted words. My bones jump out of their skin as well.
When the tablet in Dimitri’s hand dings, he thrusts it into Smith’s chest before he races outside. Rocco screams Roxanne’s nickname at the same time Dimitri pole drives Officer Daniel Packwood to the ground. He throws his fists in his face like I wanted to when he returned to take my official statement after a prolonged breather, then he lowers them to his body.
I’m blocked from seeing what happens next when Maddox steps into my line of sight. “Let’s go. Me and you. Let’s leave now.”
“W-What?” I stammer out, confident I must have suffered a brain injury during my assault. He couldn’t have said what I thought he did, surely.
I realize there’s nothing wrong with my hearing when Maddox nudges his head to an overstuffed gym bag at our left. Rocco has a favorite brand. He uses the same one for every delivery, which means the extra padding in this one exposes it’s brimming with Benjamin Franklins.
“We’ll go to Mexico. My family loves it there. I’m sure they’ll join us as soon as it’s safe for them to do so.”
“Madd—”
“Please, Demi. I thought I could live without you, but I’m no longer convinced. I can’t give you up. You’re the reason I breathe. I exist through you.”
“Maddox…” I should say more. I just can’t. The love projecting through his eyes has rendered me speechless. It’s so powerful, so strong. It has me convinced we’re invincible.
“O-Okay.” With how cloudy my head is, I should take more than a second to deliberate. Regretfully, love makes you foolish. “Why not.”
“Yes,” Maddox double-checks, his smile one I’ll never forget.
I briskly nod. It rattles my brain against my skull, but no amount of dizziness can hinder the crispness of my reply, “Yes.”
After kissing me ever so gently, Maddox snatches up the gym bag full of cash under a side table, curls his hand around mine, then hightails it to the back entrance. Max follows us through the first two rooms before he overtakes the reins.
Since everyone’s focus is on Dimitri killing a man with his bare hands in front of dozens of his colleagues, we make it to Rocco’s Buick undetected.
“Put on your belt,” Maddox demands after tossing the gym bag into the back seat Max’s large frame is hogging.
While I do as requested, he does the same for Max. He weaves the seat belt through Max’s studded collar before knotting it to a bolt usually reserved to secure baby seats.
Once he’s confident Max is safely buckled in, he slips behind the steering wheel before he peels off the steering wheel’s column cover. My brows furrow when the connection of two wires brings Rocco’s car to life.
“H-How do you know how to hotwire a car?” I have a stern talk with my brain to get with the program. I thought my stutter was because I was scared. Maddox’s presence reveals that isn’t the case. I always feel the safest when I am with him.
Maddox throws the gearstick into first and slowly guides Rocco’s car toward a back, more tree-lined exit before he swings his eyes to me. “It isn’t as you’re thinking.” His smile would have you convinced we’re not in the process of undertaking numerous felonies. “When our parents went out of town, they took their car keys with them. Saint googled, Caidyn kept watch, and I zapped myself with wires to ensure our infamous Walsh parties had the beverages necessary for a horny bunch of teens.”
It’s ridiculous for me to feel jealous. He’s gone to the end of the earth for me, he can’t prove his loyalty any more than that, but I’d be lying if I said the faintest scorn wasn’t being felt.
“God, I’ve missed this,” Maddox says a couple of miles later. He gauges Max’s response in the rearview mirror before he slips his hand onto my thigh. My unwarranted jealousy is pushed aside when he sighs in relief to Max only protesting with the faintest whimper. He’s finally learned Maddox isn’t the enemy. “At one stage, I was beginning to wonder if we’d ever do this again.”
“M-me too,” I agree before rolling my eyes. The pain it rockets through my head is so intense, it almost has me bending in two.
“Are you okay?” Maddox asks, his pace slowing.
I nod even though I feel seconds from barfing. “I’m fine.” I point to the intersection coming up. “Take a right at the end. My u-uncle has a private airstrip not too far from here. He doesn’t own the aircrafts, so the pilots negotiate with anyone for the r-right number of greenbacks.”
“Dem—”
“I’m fine. I am.” I breathe out slowly before adding, “Get me out of here, then we can worry about my head in private.” When he continues peering at me, I beg, “Please, Maddox. If you’re c-caught, this will be so much worse.”
When I choke on my words, he accepts the begs of a desperate woman. “Okay. Just promise me you’re okay.”
“I am. I promise you.”
He takes a moment to gauge the authenticity of my reply before he signals to turn right. I can see in his eyes that he doesn’t believe me, but he also knows now is not the time to bicker about my stubbornness.
Over the next ten minutes, I guide him through the backstreets of Erkinsvale. Ravenshoe, Hopeton, and Erkinsvale are wedged together like a triangle. Erkinsvale and Hopeton are the fatter, lower half, and Ravenshoe is the tip. My uncle controls Hopeton and a majority of Erkinsvale, and if he has it his way, Ravenshoe will soon follow.
