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“She could be dead because of that decision, Cade. She could be gone, because you chose not to help her,” I gasp, my body reeling with shock.
He steps closer to me. “You, out of all people, know what it’s like to help someone, over and over, even when that person is toxic and eventually, one day, you just fuckin’ give up. Do not judge me, Addison, when you let your mother die on the ground in front of you.”
I slap him.
It comes from somewhere deep in my soul.
The anger that I feel right now at his comment makes me want to scream.
I did watch my mother die, but my mother allowed me to be raped, beaten, tormented and treated like a dog my entire life. Yes, Cade’s sister was selfish, but she didn’t fucking put him through that. The fact that he’d use my past against me hurts more than anything he could ever say or do.
My eyes burn with unshed tears.
“Fuck, sugar,” he begins, but I put a hand up.
“How dare you,” I whisper, my voice barely there. “You have no right. My situation is entirely different, and you know it. Yes, Clara was selfish, but she was engulfed with trauma. She thought Darth was her happy ending. You can’t blame her for that, but to justify your actions by using mine, you should be ashamed of yourself.”
His eyes are filled with regret, but my emotions are too heightened to care.
“I didn’t mean that. You know I didn’t fuckin’ mean it.”
“Yet you said it,” I say, shaking my head. “I’m done playing by your rules. If you don’t want to help her, fine, I’ll go back to doing it myself. I wanted to give you the chance to work with me, to free yourself from a past that still haunts you, but rather than admit it and help, you’d rather throw my past in my face. You have issues that run deep, and if you’re not willing to let me in, then I’m done here.”
Turning, I walk away, my body aching from the sex, my heart broken from his comment and my mind slowly shutting down, just the way it is accustomed to.
It hurts.
It all fucking hurts.
13
Addison
“Want to tell me what’s goin’ on?”
Standing in Jackson’s kitchen, I turn when he comes in the front door, tossing his jacket down, his green eyes zoning in on my tear-streaked face. I guess he figured out something was up, considering Cade would have been throwing down back at the club. How he knew I was here, I don’t know.
“How did you know I’d be here?” I croak.
“Because you always come here and raid my fridge when you’re upset.”
Wait? I do?
Shit. I do.
I guess it’s some kind of comfort, or maybe it’s that Jackson is my safe place and I’m always hoping he’ll be here. After all, he is my father, and we missed out on so many years of him being able to play that part.
“Want to tell me why Cade is at the club, breakin’ shit and refusin’ to talk to me or better yet, why my daughter is in here, cryin’ her fuckin’ eyes out?”
My bottom lip trembles.
“Fuck’s sake, darlin’, come here.”
Opening his arms, I rush in, and he closes them around me, warm and safe, a place I wish I had growing up. If Jackson was in my life, maybe things would be very different now. Maybe I wouldn’t be so god damned broken all the time.
“Tell me what’s goin’ on.”
So, I do, I tell him everything, including what Cade said.
