Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 107115 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 428(@250wpm)___ 357(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107115 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 428(@250wpm)___ 357(@300wpm)
When he cast a pointed glance down at his arm, she followed suit, shocked to realize she was clutching him like a desperate little girl. He wasn’t just ripping out her heart but her sense of security, her future.
Her soul.
“I trusted you. You told me to.”
“You’ve really got to stop believing everything you hear, honey.”
Todd laughed long and loud. The sound echoed in her ears and made her stomach churn as Matt turned away, headed down the hall, paused to talk to Ethan at his bedroom door, then appeared again with his duffel.
Matt was leaving? With this woman? Right now? It didn’t seem possible. This had to be some mistake, some ploy. Something. After everything, it didn’t seem possible that he would say such horrible things and walk out on her.
Madison scrambled for something to say or do. Then she remembered their silent language. She found his stare on her, seeming to dissect her, then grazed her fingertips over her temple. I’m thinking of you.
He blinked, looked away, and curled Graciela against his side again as if he didn’t understand or care at all.
His rejection stunned Madison mute. Oh, god…
“We’re out of here,” Matt told Todd. “Nice doing business with you.”
“Oh, it’s been a pleasure,” her husband assured as he followed Matt to the entrance. Then he spit in Matt’s face. “Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.”
Before Matt could retaliate, Todd slammed the slab between them. The sound rang in her ears like a death knell, telling Madison that Matt and all hope for their love was gone. He’d lied. He’d deceived her. He’d used her. He’d given her up for money and a more beautiful woman.
He was just like every other man.
Madison no longer cared where she was or that she was probably giving Todd supreme satisfaction. She fell to her knees, sobbing for all she’d lost, especially her hope for a future and a father for her unborn baby.
Moments later, Nash lifted her to her feet and wrapped her in his comforting arms. She wilted against him, no longer having the will to go on. She didn’t even stop to ask why or how he was in Todd’s apartment, helping her gather up the pieces of her shattered heart. She didn’t care. And when her knees buckled, her vision closed in, and darkness came for her, she welcomed it.
August 17
Eleven agonizing days later, Matt stole through the muggy night toward the rendezvous point, utilizing the private entrance on the side of the retail building and ascending the stairs. Ethan waited, tense and alert, by the enclosed front door.
Matt let the kid into the too-white apartment, turned off the burglar alarm, and locked up behind him. “You got information?”
“Hello to you, too. You’re late,” Ethan quipped.
“Hi. I’ve been running down clues. It’s a shit show. My contact is talking and cobbling information together, but it’s a lot to wade through, and it’s taking longer than either of us thought. I’m fucking tired.” Matt hadn’t slept more than a handful of hours each night since leaving Madison for worrying about her and their baby. His composure was shot. “So I’d appreciate an answer to my question.”
“Yeah, I have updates. But you’re not going to like them.”
At least the kid had something since Matt needed every crumb of information he could get his hands on. But first things first. The not knowing was killing him. “How is she?”
“Madison? Pale. Withdrawn. She tries to put on a happy face when we watch movies, but…” Ethan shook his head. “The good news is, she isn’t shutting herself in her room anymore. And the minute Todd gets in her grill, she gives it right back. I love that she’s refusing to take his bullshit and won’t give him an ounce of her power.”
That made Matt damn proud. “But…?”
“Morning sickness finally set in. She looks green when she first gets up. The nausea lasts until ten or eleven. I went through this with my stepmom during her first pregnancy, so I help Madison walk, make sure she gets plenty of water…and steer her clear of Todd’s surveillance if she needs to puke.”
Matt hated that he wasn’t the one helping her, and he tried not to resent that the kid got to spend his days with the woman he loved. She was protected; that was most important. “Does Todd have any inkling about Madison’s morning sickness?”
“Nah, he’s not getting up much before noon. She usually feels fine by then. And since you’re not around to fuck her into oblivion and stir the pot, Todd is getting bored. He finally went out earlier tonight. Apparently, his little friends have missed him at their frequent hookers-and-blow meetings.”
“Good to hear Toddhole is back to his contemptible self,” Matt quipped. He should get to the point since Ethan had to be back at the apartment in just under an hour to relieve Nash of duty, but the worry wrenching Matt’s gut wouldn’t let him. “You want coffee before we get into this?”