Page 110 of Cadence
Panic starts, dissolving all logic as pain explodes across my chest, rips down my arm, and curls over my collarbone. I gasp, struggling to breathe, and my foot slips on the accelerator.
Something’s wrong. Really wrong.
I need to pull over.
A horn blares. Headlights glare through the windshield. The world shifts.
A screech of tires. Metal screams against metal.
A bone-snapping jolt, and the taste of iron.
Blood floods my mouth.
Then…
Nothing.
Still.
Heavy.
Final.
Chapter Forty-Seven
Paige
“Whatdidyoujustcall me?” I repeat, the sound of my voice foreign in my ears as I stare at a frozen Maddox.
“Maddox.” My heart slams in my chest, pulse roaring in my ears. “What did you just call me?”
His jaw works, but nothing comes out. He’s scrambling, the words just out of reach, searching for the least damaging version of the truth. But every second he doesn’t speak feels like a betrayal.
Somewhere behind me, one of the guys—Beau or Eli, I can’t tell who—stands, the sound jarring.
“Paige,” Maddox says finally, stepping toward me. His hand reaches out like I’m something wild and wounded, needing protection. I recoil as pain slices across his face. “It wasn’t… It came out wrong.”
“Came out wrong?” I echo, half-stunned, half-confused, so damn hurt, and praying to God that the name he said isn’t what I think it is. Nothername.
“Let’s just take a second, okay?”
“No,” I snap, shaking my head. “No. You called me Penny.”
Beau clears his throat. “Maybe we should—”
“Don’t you fucking move,” I spit, whirling around so fast it makes my head spin. I jab a finger toward them, and the whole room tilts with the motion. “Not a single one of you leaves this room until I know what the hell is going on.”
Turning back to Maddox, I search his face, trying to make this make sense. His expression is twisted, tormented, and it’s tearing me up inside not knowing.
“Tell me,” I whisper, never needing something so badly in my life. “Tell me why you said that name. Tell me why you’re looking at me like you’ve seen a ghost.”
His eyes flash with guilt, a gnawing, unbearable guilt, and my stomach churns violently. The floor drops out from under me, and I double over slightly, one hand bracing against my stomach as the room starts to close in.
Ifeelit. Deep in my gut, I feel the answer.
Maddox takes another step toward me, his voice full of gravel and regret. “I swear I was going to tell you.”
“Tell me what?”
