Page 44 of Maddox
Into the awkward silence, Peter turns to Maddox and barks, “Why are you still here?”
Please just go.
It’s all I can think as Maddox steps away from Micah, who sags against the wall with a petulant frown.
Meanwhile Peter turns back to me and says, “I was hoping we could talk.”
There are too many things happening at once, but my brain is screaming to defuse the situation and get the fuck out.
“There’s nothing to say.” I smile stiffly but when I see Maddox studying us from the corner of my eye, I acquiesce and wave toward his car.
Peter turns away with the expectation that I follow as Maddox’s shadow looms over my shoulder, and he says, “What else don’t I know about you, princess?”
The other man looks at me with eyes so pale and cold that I suck in a breath before they both cross the street.
Shit. That was close. Now what? I’m not ashamed of my stepdad and the fact that he’s a cop, or at least I wasn’t before.
“Delaney, what’s going on?” Peter says when he looks back and I’m still frozen on the sidewalk. “Do you know those guys?”
I glance sideways, hiding behind my hair and suppress a shudder when I find Maddox looking back.
I have to get Peter out of here before Maddox does something stupid, like push for no good reason.
I’m pretty sure that has disaster written all over it.
“No, Peter,” I say, turning away from Maddox on the off chance that he can read lips. “What are you doing here?”
Peter touches my arm, but I shy away, and he drops his hand with a sigh. “We’re worried about you. When are you coming home?”
“I’m not…I can’t talk about this right now.” I look awkwardly at Micah, who’s dropped back into the seat, staring at the wall.
Peter frowns following my gaze. He opens his mouth, closes it, and raises a questioning brow just as an alert comes through from the dispatcher.
My limbs tingle with relief at that because the longer we stand here, the more likely a confrontation.
Finally, Peter backs up a step and holds out his hands, palms up, saying, “Fine. Promise you’ll call your mom?”
“Yes, okay. Fine,” I say.
Just go the fuck away. Please.
“You have the number?”
“Yeah, um, yes,” I mumble, and he cocks his head.
“Okay, we love you, you know,” he says softly, and tears prick my eyes.
“I know.”
Once he’s finally in his cruiser, I exhale slowly, staring after him, as he pulls away.
My relief turns to irritation though when Micah says, “Delaney?”
How could I forget that my douche ex-boyfriend was sitting behind me the entire time I faced off against a suspicious biker and a cop. This after he almost caused a damn riot.
“Micah,” I groan. “It’s over. Done.”
With a grimace, he pushes from the table and reaches for me.
