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Maddie’s gone for good. And worst of all, she left believing that she wasn’t worth fighting for.
Hell, even Eli asked me to come to Vegas with them.
Now, the distance our lies put between us feels too wide to ever close. I wish we could have at least tried. I want to ask them both to try even if I have to spend every penny I have on the next flight to Vegas.
When I stalk back through the apartment a piece of folded notebook paper flutters down to the floor. One with my name in Maddie’s handwriting on the front.
Bending down, I pick up the paper and open it.
Jordan,
Thank you for everything. For too many things for me to possibly list in this letter.
I was so lucky to have met you when I was facing the world on my own for the very first time, without a clue where to go or who I even wanted to be.
You helped me learn to love and accept myself, flaws and all. I just wish I hadn’t stopped you from doing the same.
I don’t blame you for wanting me to leave. You were right. It’s for the best, for both of us. My father is nearly as violent as Eli. He’s going to be so angry at me for leaving that I don’t think he could handle meeting you too. And if he hurt you, well, the Savage Kings felt like my family, even though they’re actually yours. They would start a war for you. And while you would be worth every drop of blood spilled, I wouldn’t be. So, please don’t start a war for me.
I wish you all the best.
Love,
Madison
And just like that, with a few paragraphs, she shoots down my whole fucking plan.
23
Maddie
“Are you ready for this?” Eli asks when we walk through one of the back entrances of the casino, my duffle hanging over his shoulder. He’s dressed in a slightly wrinkled black suit with a hole in the calf, but still makes me feel underdressed in my blue tee and black leggings.
“Doesn’t seem like I have a choice now since we’re here,” I point out to him.
Being back in the Vegas heat after leaving the brisk fall weather in Virginia, the only home I have ever known other than Rockland, feels…wrong.
But here I am, about to see my father again for the first time in over a year.
“I haven’t told Dante or security that you’re with me. I doubt they’ll even recognize you since most hotel employees don’t know about you,” Eli explains.
“Right. I called and someone hung up on me,” I tell him. “So, it’ll be a surprise?”
“That’s what you wanted right, for your return to be a huge surprise? It’s a good surprise, Maddie.”
I think he’s trying to make me feel less nervous, but it doesn’t work. My fisted palms are sweaty, nervous to face my intimidating father.
We reach the elevator bank and Eli pushes the button to take us up. Turning back to me, he says, “Dante will be happy to see that you’re alive and safe. That relief will wipe out most of his anger.”
“Most but not all,” I mutter.
“Most but not all,” he agrees. “Just try to think about it from his perspective. How would you feel if, I don’t know,Jordanhad walked out on you one day without a note or even a goodbye, like disappeared from the garage out of the blue. Imagine not knowing where he was going or why he left, wondering for not days but months, more than an entire year, if he was alive or not…”
“I get it,” I huff. “When he went missing it was agonizing, the not knowing part. Should I have left Daddy a note?”
Eli waves his hand in front of him in dismissal. “Nah. Dante knew why you left, even if he hated it. He blamed himself. Remember that fact too when he’s berating you like a child.”
“Can’t wait,” I groan. “I haven’t missed the arguments or his stubbornness.”
