Page 178 of Maddox
When she hands me a pool stick, I say, “I’ve never played before.”
“We can suck together,” she says with a shrug before taking a swig from the bottle that magically appeared in her hand.
When I eye her quietly, she hands it over and I sip from the lip, wincing at the burn. Whiskey is not my drink, I decide while she racks the balls and breaks.
The balls scatter across the faded green felt and between shots of whiskey, we smack them around.
When I shoot too hard and one of them escapes over the table, she drops the stick to the floor and hops onto it.
After joining her, we sit in companionable silence save for the music pulsing through the walls from outside. Eventually, my thoughts bring me around though and I assuage my curiosity, asking, “Why Kidd, Draven?”
She knows what I’m asking. He’s the enemy. She could have chosenanyoneelse, and it would have been easier.
“You know what it’s like to try and date when everyone is afraid of your dad?” she asks.
“Well, my stepdadisa cop,” I say and her lip curls.
“Kidd wasn’t afraid of Pops. He wasn’t afraid of anything.”
“Oh,” I mumble, and we drop into silence again while Kidd’s tortured screams echo in my head.
When a dull throb in my skull follows, I groan. Thankfully, the injury to my knee turned out to be nothing more than a bruise but my body hurts all the same.
Since I can hardly complain, I set it aside when Draven says, “He wanted me to bring you around. He was curious.”
I’m not surprised. I think it all fell together when Draven took me to see Kidd that last time.
Am I angry? No.
What good would that do me? Besides, she’s suffering more now than anything I could ever do to her.
“We were going to run away together,” she whispers, and I eye her sideways.
“Did you love him?”
“I thought…well, I hoped I could.”
Her voice quavers but I keep my expression steady because I know Draven would hate for me to point out the weakness.
I am curious though. Was she that willing to escape her dad by running away with a guy that shethoughtshe could one day love?
My curiosity fades when I hear footsteps approach, noting the way Draven stiffens when Romeo rounds the corner.
His eyes land on her before sliding to mine and I wonder about the furrow to his brow as he stops before us and says, “We have your car.”
My gaze drops to his hand where he’s holding my backpack, and I bow my head. This is what I’ve been dreading. I don’t want to answer more questions, and I know if they saw any of what we left behind…
Shaking my head, I whisper, “What did you see?”
“See?” Romeo says and Maddox pushes him aside, his solemn dark eyes meeting mine.
“What did you see?” I croak and he reaches for me but when he clears his throat and drops his eyes, I slap at his hands. “What? What did yousee?”
“Delaney…” Maddox rasps before we turn when someone says beyond the door, “Fucker was burnt to a crisp.”
Beside me, Draven goes rigid before she slips from the table and walks away. Frozen, I watch as Romeo takes off after her before Maddox touches my cheek and I sag into his arms.
I thought…I hoped. Clawing at my throat, I gasp out a strangled breath, crying, “No.”
