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Maddie steps out, thankfully fully dressed in a white tee and leggings. It’s not much, but it covers all the major areas.
“Jordan, can we please talk?” she comes up to us and asks.
I don’t want to talk about any of this shit, but it’s the adult thing to do, so I give her a nod.
“Could you two wait here and send the doc up when she gets here?” I ask the Fulton brothers.
“Sure thing, kid,” Remy says, giving my shoulder a supportive slap.
Colt opens his mouth as if to chime in his opinion, but I hold up my palm to stop him. “Don’t say it. Just don’t, okay? Let me handle it? And I mean me, not my mother, not you. Me.”
“Fine,” he huffs then slips his hands into his jean pockets. With one last glare in Maddie’s direction, the two of us walk back toward the side of the apartment building for privacy.
Finally, Maddie says, “I felt bad about shooting him and Eli knew it, so he sort of took advantage of me. Not like that, but he took advantage of the situation.”
“I know,” I say calmly because I know exactly how convincing the gorgeous bastard can be without even saying a word. “What he said was true. We did a lot of shit while I was his hostage. And none of it was actual torture.”
“So, you...like him?”
“God, no! I fucking hate that asshole,” I tell her, which is sort of true. I hate he didn’t kill me before Maddie found out I had been with him. “But I still want him. Wanted him,” I amend quickly. “And I think you do too, Maddie.”
She shakes her head. “I don’t...”
“You should go back to Vegas,” I blurt out before I pussy out of it. Her face instantly falls, like I’ve hurt her worse than ever, even worse than fooling around with Eli and lying to her.
“You want me to leave?”
“I think it’ll be best if you go. I can’t...I don’t want to start some war with your mob boss father if he finds out you’re here. The Savage Kings shouldn’t be dragged into our shit.”
“You mean I’m not worth the headache.”
“You’ve lied to me, and I’ve lied to you. We’re not really married so there’s no reason for you to stay.”
“No reason? Being in love with you is not reason enough for you to fight to keep me?”
“We’ve both made mistakes,” I remark, trying not to think too long about the words she just said. “And I’m not sure if I canbelieve anything you say. It feels like this past year has all been a lie. And I’m not putting all the blame on you. I haven’t been honest with you either. We’ve both been living a lie, pretending everything was great between us, when we knew it wasn’t.”
“Jordan...please don’t just send me back and pretend I was never here.”
“It’s not just my decision anymore,” I say, throwing the Kings under the bus. “The club will vote, and I don’t think it’ll go your way, not after what Colt and Remy just saw in the apartment. As soon as Colt tells my mom, she’ll be campaigning to put you on the first flight out of town.”
“Your mom has never liked me,” Maddie mutters.
“No, she hasn’t,” I finally admit to her honestly. “And she was right. You are trouble. Too much trouble for anyone to die for, even Eli.”
“Wow,” Maddie whispers. “So, you’re breaking up with me, and sending me home. Did you ever care about me, or was it just an act?”
“Don’t even fucking go there,” I tell her. “You know I cared about you. I worshipped you. But I was doing it for the wrong reasons. I was avoiding the truth about myself. I thought that if I could love you and keep you, then I would never think about being with…anyone else ever again. And I was wrong.”
“So, you don’t want me?”
“It’s not that I don’t want you. You know I do. But I think we’ll both be better off on our own.”
A tear slides down her right cheek and I almost break right then and there and try to take back every word I just said.
“This is exactly why I didn’t tell you who I was, who my father is!” she exclaims. “I knew you would send me back. God, I love you, Jordan. I’ll still love you when I’m in Vegas, thrown back into my prison again. And trust me. I won’t be better off without you.”
“You’ll have Eli,” I remind her, which sends her running back to the apartment in tears. I know it’s a low blow, but I’m hurting so much I took the shot, wanting to hurt her back.
