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He sped the machine up.
She went from walking to a faster pace, until eventually, she was full-out running. This, fortunately, didn’t last, as she told him to stop.
Holding on to the handlebars of the treadmill, she tried to catch her breath. “I’m sorry,” she said.
“Why are you apologizing?”
“I can’t do it.”
“No one expects you to be perfect on your first day. I pushed you a little. That’s all. Come on, let’s take it easy. I’m thinking some weight lifts.”
That didn’t sound like a good idea.
It wasn’t.
He got her on some kind of machine. She was too busy trying not to panic to hear the name of the machine, but he got her to sit down, and then using her feet, she had no choice but to lift the weights. She couldn’t handle it.
“No, no, I need, there has to be something a little easier. I don’t know, like swimming? Can I just do some swimming?” she asked.
“Er, yeah, sure, of course. We can do the swimming routine. Do you have a swimsuit?”
Maddie groaned. “I’m going to die.”
“We have some,” he said.
“Oh, please, in my size?” she asked.
“Yes, we have them in a lot of different sizes.” He helped her off the machine and she swore she was never lifting weights again.
He walked back toward the women’s changing room, and there was a closet. She waited as he entered, and seconds later, he came out with two different swimsuits. One was a full-piece, the second was a two-piece.
She opted for a full-piece.
Everything inside her was screaming for her to run back to her apartment, to be safe, but she didn’t. She changed into the one-piece bathing suit and went out to where Jase was waiting.
Chapter Seventeen
Bull had seen Maddie running alongside that piece-of-shit gym person. He didn’t know his name, but he’d seen him around. Some of the women from the club frequented his gym, and he heard them talking about him.
When they came back, walking and talking, Bull tensed up, and Pat grabbed his arm. He didn’t even realize he’d been about to intervene until his man stopped him.
“Don’t. You don’t know who’s watching. You’re doing this to protect her.”
Maddie had looked at him though. Those gorgeous brown eyes had filled with tears as she glanced at him.
Damn it.
William’s information had been accurate. Vito’s Crew had been taken over by Julio, and with what he found out about that man, letting Maddie go until he solved this was the best solution for both of them. But that didn’t stop him fucking aching for her.
He’d told Pat he intended to end things, but in his heart, he wasn’t fucking over. Pat had told him he was going to need to break her heart. Grant was there as well and had agreed. Bull had known the only way to hurt Maddie, to show it was over, was to hurt her where she was weakest.
Bull loved her curves. He fucking craved them, and he’d called her names that left a bitter taste in his mouth. Not just in his mouth, but deep in his fucking soul.
It had been over a week, and he couldn’t even stay at his house. There were too many memories with Maddie. He hadn’t wanted Maddie to be alone, which was why he’d picked the diner to end things with her.
Beatrice and Carl didn’t know the truth of their breakup, but at least he’d given the older couple a chance to be near their daughter. Maddie had no clue that the people she lived with before were her adoptive parents. How Beatrice had gotten pregnant at a young age with Carl’s baby, and they’d been too young. The truth was that the young couple had been manipulated by two old nasty pieces of work who had no right having kids.
Maddie deserved more.
With her close to her real parents, there was a chance of Maddie being happy.
Seeing her today, he knew she was falling apart.
“I need a minute,” Bull said.
He pulled out of Pat’s hold and went to his office. Closing the door, he grabbed his cell phone.
Pat, with his connections to the military, had been able to get some surveillance equipment. When Maddie had been busy at the gym, Pat had gone in covertly and installed several security cameras into her room.
He’d given Bull the codes and the apps to view them on a separate phone. No one knew what he saw. This was between him and Pat.
Bull clicked on the cameras, and it showed her entering her apartment. She leaned against the door.
“It’s fine. I’m fine.”
For the past week, it was the same mantra he heard. That and tears. Maddie had cried so fucking hard. It broke his heart because he was the cause.
Each tear would be paid for in Vito blood. He would see the end of the fucking cartel in his life. They had taken the piss out of him for the last time.
