Page 128 of Maddox
On my hands and knees, I stare blindly at the wall as he rounds the bed.
“When the police assumed it was me,” I mumble, touching my chest, “she didn’t deny it. She let them think…”
The words are too painful to repeat, and I trail off, bowing my head as Maddox rasps, “Princess…”
My heart hurts to see him standing there, achingly still but I can’t change how he feels, and I don’t want to expose anymore of my pain, which is why I whisper, “Just leave me alone.”
When he doesn’t respond, I lean my head against the mattress behind me, only to open my eyes when he drops to his knees and grabs my chin, forcing me to meet his gaze.
Those deep dark eyes contain emotions I can’t define, that I have no right to understand, and I shiver when he runs his finger along my bottom lip.
When his brows furrow, I suck in a breath, wishing he could see past my supposed affiliation with his enemy to the girl underneath.
At the same time, my throat burns to push him away because my soul aches for his touch and I hate myself for the weakness.
This is why I bat at his hand as he says, “I’m sorry.”
“For what?” I mutter. “My brother or my mom? Or maybe for humiliating me in front of Romeo?”
I feel no victory when his brows slam over his eyes and he pushes to his feet.
Instead, I watch him go with my heart in my throat once more, immune to his rage as he slams his fist against the wall and says, “This is so fucked up.”
Silently I agree, rubbing my chest when he walks away, leaving me alone…again.
A couple of days pass while I exist in a haze of boredom and misery. Romeo is my companion for most of it but occasionally, he leaves, and another brother takes his place.
So far, they’ve only been kind and somewhat standoffish.
I haven’t seen Maddox since he left and Draven hasn’t come by, assuming she knows where I am.
Maddox’s angry words follow me from room to room as I wander and wait for what happens next.
I guess Joey was right. I wish that I had never made the connection between him and the Aces.
Although it wouldn’t have stopped the series of events that brought me here and despite how cold Maddox has become, I can’t regret meeting him.
I know it’s weird but my choice of sleeping arrangements includes Draven’s goth room, a master bedroom that I assume Joker has occupied and Maddox’s old room.
Covered in posters of old cars and skimpily clad chicks, that first night when I felt achingly alone, I wandered in there and fell asleep across the covers.
Ever since, this is where I gravitate back to when I want to be alone.
Luckily, Maddox hasn’t been back to see me hanging out here.
After another challenging game of chess where Romeo beat my assagain, I escape to Maddox’s room.
Who is Maddox? What motivates him?
Since I don’t have anything better to do and these people put me here, I might as well try to find answers.
It won’t change the outcome but maybe it will lessen the ache that has taken up residence in my chest since he left me to my grief with nothing but a pathetic half assed apology.
I know he’s upset. I just don’t knowwhy.
Every time I try to push him from my thoughts, I remember how he brought me home after the incident at the warehouse and cared for me in his way while I fell apart.
He’s lashing out, quite brutally at that but he’s also a protector and somewhere in between those things lies the true Maddox.
