AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You were only a kid,” I reply, wanting nothing more than to comfort her but allowing her the space she needs.
“You don’t understand. I should have told my mom because, that night, someone saw,” she whispers, and I pull back, stunned by her confession.
“Someone saw you and…?” I question but can’t bring myself to say the words I want to say.
“Yes,” she replies, her eyes filling with new tears.
“Who?” I ask, my rage boiling to the surface.
Madison shakes her head, closing her eyes in defeat. “It was someone who should have saved me because she knew what he was doing the entire time. She saw him taking away my innocence. She heard me calling out for help. But instead of helping me, she closed the door. And the next day, she acted like she didn’t witness a thing.”
“Who was it?” I ask again, my fists clenched in rage. Deep down, I know who, but I need to hear it from Maddy.
“I can’t. I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”
But I can’t let this rest. I need to know who, so I can find both motherfuckers and kill them. “Tell me,” I press, lightly gripping her upper arms and beseeching her to tell me.
The moment I touch her, Madison’s body freezes up, and she yelps in terror. “Please let me go,” she begs, choking on her fear.
I instantly let go when I realize how hard I’m holding her, and she scurries away from me, her back hitting the headboard.
“I’m sorry, Madison,” I remorsefully say, hands raised in surrender. “I would never hurt you. I’m just, I—”
“You’re what? Disgusted? Shocked? Think that I’m sick?” she barks, her cheeks flushed.
“What?” I ask, aghast. “No. How could you even think that?”
“Because that’s what I think of myself!” she replies angrily.
Her hurt has vanished and is now replaced with rage.
“None of this is your fault,” I say again, but she cuts me off, enraged.
“Stop it! It is my fault! I should have screamed. I should have said no. I should have told my mom, but I just couldn’t. After Dad left, she was a broken woman. I couldn’t tell her, her son was—” she says with a repulsed look. “She worked so hard, sacrificing everything to put food on the table, and when she met Sebastian, it stopped. But still, I should have told her.”
Madison covers her face with her hands, and I can see she’s teetering close to the edge.
“I’m disgusting, Dixon. I’m dirty and unclean.” She begins scratching at her flesh, trying to cut away her pain.
“No, you’re not,” I press, placing a palm over her hands as her punishing fingernails are drawing blood.
“Yes, I am!” she bellows, shrugging me off her. “How can you look at me? I’m pathetic.”
Her self-hate upsets me, and I can’t stop myself as I confess, “When I look at you, I see the same Madison I saw the firstmoment I met you—the kind, vulnerable woman I had to know. But now that I know therealyou, I realize you’re not vulnerable. You’re a survivor, and you’re strong.”
“I’m—” she interrupts, but I cut her off.
“You’re the woman I haven’t stopped thinking about since we first met, and you’re the woman I’m falling for,” I conclude, unable to bottle my emotions.
Her mouth pops open, and mine does too, as I was not expecting that last part to slip out. But who am I kidding? Madison has gotten under my skin from the moment I met her, and no other woman has been able to take her place.
Juliet seems like a distant memory, one which I never want to relive because this right here, this is real. It’s gritty, it’s raw, and it’s hard, but it’s everything I want because I want Madison.
“You’re what?” she says, disbelief painting her face.
“You heard me,” I reply, inching closer. “You’ve consumed every part of me.”
“But I’m damaged goods, Dixon,” she says, shaking her head in mistrust.
