Page 135 of Maddox
There’s no doubt he does because why else would he call the woman Red? However, she’s affiliated with Delaney’s dad, who’s running from the Aces.
Does that mean he knows Ice, too?
Despite the anger festering in my soul, it still hit hard when Pops demanded that Delaney call her mom. I tried to defuse the situation, but it didn’t go as expected, to say the least.
I don’t truly understand Delaney’s relationship with the woman, but I do know that she wouldn’t be here if she could trust her.
The fucked-up reality is that I’m pretty sure she shouldn’t trust us either and the notion creates a greater hole in my chest.
However, I said my vows a long time ago and my loyalty to my brothers comes first.
I’ve made peace with living in this world of risk and at times lawlessness but, how do I reconcile why we formed this club—revenge for the innocent—while using an innocent girl to find a dangerous man?
We’re the silent shadows roaming these hills at night. We don’t hurt others unless they come for us, but we can’t bypass the chance to end a decade’s long feud for one person.
The cute little cheerleader who I should have walked right past weeks ago, sits inside my childhood home, her veins thick with the evil that killed my mother.
She’s an innocent, this is I know but how can I look into those wide blue-gray eyes and not see my mom, laid out on that fucking porch like a broken doll?
I can’t and this is our chance. I’m not going to waste it wondering about shit I can’t change.
She’s here. The link to the man who brutally murdered my mother sits beyond that door, which is why I rise and re-enterthe house, stopping before Delaney, who’s still seated at the table and staring at the wall.
Her silky dark hair slides over her shoulder when she turns her head and my chest clenches brutally when those eyes meet mine.
“Maybe I should let you go,” I muse. “You’re more trouble than you’re worth.”
The words are hollow but fucking true and I feel no victory, when she tilts her head and whispers, “But…?”
Clenching my jaw, I look away from those fucking eyes that slay me every time. Once again, my fingers itch to feel those silken strands of hair but I can’t touch her, especially when I know this is our chance and we can’t…
When I don’t respond, her lips lift in a bitter smile, and she slashes her hand through the air. “You stand here judging me for shit I have no control over while you’re using me to find a grown ass man.”
The truth tears at the thin veneer of my justifications but she doesn’t fucking get it. Those men are animals and we’re protecting her from their savagery—the Shadow Fucking Saints—mortal enemies ofherfamily.
“You think we should let him go?” I sneer. “Ice? The fucking animal who rapes and murders women? My fucking mother…”
When her eyes widen, I lock my jaw because it wasn’t my intention to tell her more than she already knew.
It’s not her fucking business, especially because she’s kin to that filth.
Judging by her wide eyes, I guess I’ve shocked her into silence and with a groan, I brush past her, muttering, “Don’t worry, when we have what we want, you can fucking leave.”
Fucking pain in my ass.
I never talk about Mom…ever.
This pint-sized little troublemaker keeps pushing me though and if she’s not careful she’s going to see the devil writhing below my skin.
Of course, she follows me into the kitchen, and I throw out my arm when she says, “I’m so–”
“No! Don’t fucking say it. Yourwhatevermeans shit to me.”
When her lower lip wobbles, I turn away.Let it go, Mad, she ain’t nothing but the enemy, except…fuck.
Opening my mouth to do something stupid like apologize, I’m forestalled when she says, stiffly, “I need some clothes.”
“What?” I rasp, shaking my head. Are we really going to talk about fucking clothes?
