Chapter 25
Chapter Twenty-Five
MADISON
T he past few days have been the best of my life. I loved having my family here, getting to know everyone. My mom hit it off with Crystal and Victoria, and Paul and my father were like long-lost friends. They even made plans to go golfing together in a few weeks. My heart is filled with so much love and happiness having everything come full circle.
I haven’t thought of Thomas all week. I’m too consumed with enjoying time with my family. My brothers love it here. Although Austin is about to graduate from college with a degree in business finance he was intrigued by the club. Ethan, on the other hand, is fully committed to convincing Mom to let him join.
The club threw him a surprise birthday party. My family and I were completely surprised. Jonah arranged that as well. The party was tame compared to what I have witnessed being here. That is until my parents went home for the night. As soon as they left, Blade and Torch had a group of strippers come down from their club.
Ethan was like a fox in a hen house. The guys sat him in the middle of the room so he could receive a lap dance from not one, not two, but three strippers. That moment only solidified his determination to join the club. Austin rooted Ethan on while laughing but I had to cover my eyes. My baby brother had tits and vaginas all over him and he looked like there was no other place he’d rather be.
He tried talking me into letting him have a beer but I refused him immediately. Mom and Dad would kill me if he came home drunk. They were already nervous enough about leaving him there. Jonah and I promised to keep an eye on him. If Mom ever finds out about the strippers, I will plead the fifth. I knew nothing.
The best part of this holiday was watching Jonah reconnect with my family. He and my brothers played video games like they used to. He watched the game with my dad while Mom cooked and occasionally snuck in the kitchen to steal a piece of food. Everything was exactly like it should have been all these years.
I’m devastated that it's come to an end, but I know it won't be the last time. My parents plan on visiting a lot now that Ethan has graduated and they have a bit more freedom.
I’m currently standing at the terminal with Jonah behind me. His arms wrap me in a cocoon as I cry my eyes out. I just said goodbye to my family. I knew it would be hard, but with each step that they took, I felt like someone was ripping my heart out.
Three years is a long time to have been away from them and five days wasn’t enough time having them back. I keep telling myself it’s only temporary because it is. Jonah let me know this morning that now that the holiday was over, they would finally be going after Thomas. I hope all this is over by Christmas. I don’t want to put my life on hold for any longer than I already have.
“Come on, baby. Let’s get home.”
I nod and wipe my tears. Jonah slings his arm over my shoulders and leads me out of the airport. Once Jonah pulls out of the parking garage, he takes my hand and lays it in his lap. “You know we’ll see them soon, Maddy. If I have to take you home every month, I will.”
I smile over at my sweet man. He’ll do anything to make sure I’m happy and I couldn’t ask for anything more. Leaning over the console, I give him a kiss on the cheek.
“And that’s one of the reasons why I love you.”
Jonah smiles and turns his focus back on the road. I turn up the radio and we sing in awful unison all the way home. Jonah and I are probably the worst singers in history but when it’s just us, we don’t care. We let loose and hit every terrible note.
Jonah balls his hand into a fist and brings it to my mouth, pretending it’s a microphone. “Come on, baby. Let me hear it.”
I giggle and do my best Ariana Grande impersonation. The high note I tried to hit should have cracked the glass surrounding us. Jonah winces and we fall into a fit of laughter.
By the time we pull through the gates, my mood has lifted immensely. I can’t keep the smile off my face. This man of mine will never let me stay down. He will always lift my spirits.
“The girls are together at Cara’s place. Did you want to go over there or head up to our room?” Jonah asks as we approach the clubhouse.
I haven’t spent too much time with the girls since Thanksgiving. I miss them. They are the first group of women to genuinely accept me. After twenty-eight years of being the black sheep, I’ve found of group of women who are just as cooky as me.
“I want to visit the ladies for a little bit. I haven’t really seen them since Ethan’s birthday party.”
He nods and takes me back to Cara’s. Before I hop out of the truck, I lean over and give him a kiss that makes me want to hop over the console and straddle him. Jonah breaks the kiss with a growl.
“Go, Maddy, before I say the hell with girl time and fuck you instead.”
I giggle and peck his lips for good measure then hop out. As I walk up the stairs, I could have sworn I heard something coming from the woods. I pause, waiting to see if I would hear it again. When I don’t, I shrug it off.
“Hello, ladies,” I say, walking into the living room.
The ladies turn around with beaming smiles, welcoming me into the room. We sit and catch up for a while. I’m refilling my glass of wine when I notice Cara looking at her phone with a deep scowl.
“What’s going on?” I ask.
I’m instantly on alert. With Thomas as a problem, you never know what to expect.
“I don’t know exactly. I keep getting alerts from the cameras on the west wing. I know Duke and Daisy are doing a perimeter sweep right now, but they never retrace their steps unless there’s a problem.”
She picks up the remote and turns the television on, switching the channels. Just when I’m about to ask what she’s doing, the security cameras come up. She flips through the cameras until we see exactly what was triggering them.
Will and Tech are in the middle of a heated argument.
“ I’m not doing this with you anymore. I’m tired of being your dirty secret. If you don’t want the guys knowing about you, that’s your business, but I will not hide who I am for you or anyone else. I want a man that isn’t ashamed to claim me to his friends !” Will hisses.
Wait. What?
I look around the room and the girls look as equally stunned as me. Tech’s gay? I knew I saw something between them after girls' night at the bar, but I didn’t think this. Holy hell, Will landed himself a fine piece of man. I would never say this to Jonah, but Tech is hot. I’m happily taken with my man, but I do have eyes.
“ What exactly are you saying, Will ?” Tech growls.
“ I’m saying that if you aren’t ready step up, then maybe it’s time somebody else does !” he shouts.
Tech wraps his hand around the back of Will’s neck and he pulls him flush against his body. Their noses touch as Tech chest rises and falls with heavy pants, as if he’s trying to control himself.
“ Get this through your head. You. Are. Mine ,” he snarls before smashing his lips against Will’s.
Will melts the second Tech’s lips are on his. He places his hands on Tech’s shoulders and holds on tight. Tech keeps a hand on Will’s neck and the other goes to his ass as he grinds himself against Will.
Will moans and Tech growls, biting at Will’s lips. He pushes Will against a tree. His hand moves from Will’s ass to the front of his jeans and unbuttons them.
Cara quickly turns off the television. She drops the remote like it’s on fire as we all sit there in shocked silence.
I have no words. I mean, what is there to say?
“Holy shit, that was hot,” Cara mutters.
Well, I guess there’s that. We nod collectively because that was indeed hot. Will and Tech together will break a lot of female hearts.
“Wait a damn second. Is that what you meant that day?” Bianca asks Cara. She looks at Sara and Sofia who are squirming in their seats.
“What do you mean?” Cara asks innocently.
“Oh, you know. It’s not our secret to tell ,” Bianca says with air quotes.
Cara rolls her eyes with a small smile. “We suspected but we weren’t sure. Even if I did know for certain, I wouldn’t say anything. Clearly, Tech isn’t ready to come out.”
“Yeah, I understand that. But, how in the hell are we going to look them in the eyes after what we just saw?” Bianca asks.
We all burst into giggles at the thought. Yeah, I think I’m going to avoid those two for a while. Things are certainly getting interesting around here.
“Maddy, you have a patient in room three,” Kim says as she takes a seat at the nursing station beside me.
“Okay.” I’m not even ten minutes into my shift, but this is how it goes in the emergency room. I grab the chart out of her hands and head down to room three. When I enter the room, my mouth goes dry. Sitting at the end of the gurney is one of Thomas’s goons. I’ve dodged him many times over the years. Before I can run back out of the room, another one comes up behind me and places his hand over my mouth and cages me in.
The man on the bed doesn’t say a word. He stands, clicks a few buttons on his phone, and turns it to me. My heart beats rapidly in my chest. I look up and watch a sinister smile stretch across his lips. He nods at the man behind me, and he releases me.
“Please, what do you want? I’ll do anything. Just don’t hurt her. Please.”
“Thomas is done playing games with you. I want you to go to the nurses’ station, leave your phone and personal belongings. If you tell anyone what is going on, we will kill her. You have exactly three minutes to meet us in the stairwell.”
I nod and they walk out of the room. I rush to the nurses’ station and try to think of a plan. It has to be quick. I now have two and a half minutes. I spot a blank piece of paper and envelope on the desk and grab it. Doc is in surgery right now. By the time he gets this, I’ll be long gone, but it’s my only hope. I write the only thing I can think of that will explain why I’m leaving so suddenly.
He has my mom.
I fold the paper and put it in the envelope. Kimberly walks up as I’m putting my phone in the drawer. “Can you give this to Doc when he gets out of surgery? It’s urgent. I have to leave because of a family emergency.”
Kim frowns and places a hand on my shoulder. “Are you alright?”
I will myself to stay calm. I don’t need her to alert anybody. Not until I get to my mother. Oh, God. Does Dad know he has her?
Shit. I have to go.
“I’m fine. Just make sure he gets this.”
I rush off before she can say anything else. When I enter the stairwell, the goons smirk and start walking down the steps. They don’t turn around to make sure I’m following. They know they’ve got me. I’ll do anything they say in this moment.
We make it out the door and there’s an SUV waiting. My heart races as I think of what’s headed my way. I barely got myself together the last time he raped me. I don’t know if I’ll recover this time. He has my mom. I won’t let that monster hurt her, so I get in.
As we drive, there’s only one thing on my mind.
Jonah, please hurry.