26. Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Six
C hance
I whoosh out a breath as I tear through the night to Maddie’s villa. I know the last thing she wants is to see me, but I have to try. I can’t let her leave without making up somehow.
I turn down the lane that leads to her home and ease off on the gas. The car slows to a crawl and stops in front of the wooden home. The light is on inside.
An exhale falls from my lips. The deja vu is heavy. Except for the absence of flowers, it’s like the last time.
This time, I don’t dawdle. There’s no time to waste. Best to get over with the rejection quickly.
I climb out and march up the walkway, then I stop at the door. I knock once.
There’s no answer, so I knock again. She doesn’t answer.
Has she seen me through a window and decided she doesn’t want to talk?
I push away the hurt that fists around my heart. “Maddie, we have to talk.”
It’s completely silent. No shuffling, no rustling.
Is she even in?
I turn the lock. It doesn’t give. Proud that she’s still careful about her safety, I round the house.
The back is possibly locked too, but I try it anyway. And it opens.
My brows draw down. She should be more careful than this.
Just so I don’t spook her by creeping, I stop at the door and call out her name. The villa isn’t tiny, but it’s cozy enough that sound travels easily. She should have heard me by now.
Worried now, I make my way into her home. “Maddie?”
There’s no answer. She’s not here.
Where would she be then?
I glance around and my eyes fall on her phone. If she left her phone that means she’s close by.
I step back out into the night and look up. The hotel resort stands bright at night.
She’s in the garden. Our spot.
Certainty crests in my chest.
I hurry back to the car. Is she there because she misses me? Wants to connect to what we shared?
A lump forms in my throat. That means she feels something. She may be angry, but she doesn’t hate me. At the very least.
I can work with that.
I tear into the hotel parking lot and hop out of the car. Guests mill around leisurely. I hurry past them earning some scathing looks, but they roll off my back.
I’m here for her, no one else matters.
My heart thuds in my chest as I hurry to the inner garden. With every step, I know I’m right. She’s here.
It just seems natural to come back here after everything we’ve been through in the past weeks.
I race to a stop at the entrance. My chest heaves, my eyes taking everything in. It takes a few moments for my eyes to adjust to the dim light, but once they do, my shoulders fall.
No one’s here.
The fountain bubbles, the crickets chirp, and the breeze sings through the trees. Everything is as it was that first night aside from Maddie.
I guess I don’t know her as well as I thought.
I drop into a bench and bury my face in my hands. Look at me, acting like a lovesick fool. There’s no our spot . It’s a stupid garden and I’m—
I squint. Right next to the fountain, the grass is disturbed. I’m off the bench in a second and crouched close to the spot.
The lawn looks distressed as if feet dragged on it.
I blink against the thoughts forming in my head, but they persist.
“Maddie,” I breathe her name.
She was here and something must have happened.
I stand and look around. There are no clues apart from a torn-up lawn. I’m being foolish playing detective, looking around for clues.
But she’s never been truly safe here. The security team watched her, but what if for some reason they missed her and someone got to her first?
Anger surges in my chest. I hurry out of the enclosure and look left and right on the main path.
Which way would they have gone? Then my gaze snags on a blue piece of cloth hanging onto a thorny shrub. It’s in the opposite direction from where I came.
I hurry to it and squat, picking up the cloth. It’s jagged as if ripped off from a larger piece. I rub it between my fingers. Soft and flimsy like the ones Maddie favors.
They have her.
I resist the urge to break down. She needs me.
Pulling in deep breaths, I take my phone out and dial the head of the security team. “Where is she?”
“She’s at home. We’ve been watching and—”
“No, idiot,” I grate. “She’s gone.”
“No, can’t be. We’ve been monitoring. You’re the last to go to the front door—”
“The back door! Were you watching the goddamn back door?”
He doesn’t answer.
“Come to the hotel. Someone has taken her. I’m going to follow the trail I’ve found. Stay close to your phone. I’ll update you on what I find.”
I end the call and start on the path. It’s steep and plunges into darkness. I hurry along, not caring.
Maddie is in danger. That’s all that rings in my head. Over and over. I failed her once before, I can’t fail her again.
The path ends and I fall into an open field. I look around. I’ve lost her—
Hushed sounds reach me. Across the field, hidden in the night, there’s a car and four people hurrying over to it.
Even in the dark, I can tell it’s her.
I quickly call the head of security and update him on my findings, then I take off running. I draw nearer and my heart shatters.
They have Maddie by her upper arms and they’re pushing her into the car. Her mouth is gagged and all she can do is scream muffled sounds.
The back passenger door opens and they push her toward it. She wedges her feet on the sides of the door, resisting.
“Fuck, Maddie! Just let them put you in the damn car,” a voice says. “There’s no use struggling. No one is out here to help you. You’ll only hurt yourself.”
Somehow, her gag dislodges and she yells. “Fuck you, Todd! And fuck this! I’m not going with you.”
Pride swells my chest at her defiance. But also anger as I hear who’s behind all of this. Her ex. The man she told off. He wants her against her will? What kind of sick bastard does that?
I don’t delay for a second longer. I’m on them in two long steps.
Before they can make sense of the fifth person among them, I grab one of the men who has his hands on Maddie. I hold him back by his collar and yank him backward.
He doesn’t expect the force since he’s so focused on manhandling Maddie. His feet give way and he drops a few feet away, dropping her.
The other man curses and holds onto her. “Who the fuck are you?”
My answer is a punch to his nose. It’s absorbed by the cloth mask covering his face, but he still staggers from the force. Maddie takes advantage of this, raises her leg, and comes down on his foot.
He yells and lets her go.
She runs into me. “Chance, you’re here.” Her eyes search my face as if she can’t believe it.
I spare a second to hold her close, assuring myself she’s alive and well. If she wasn’t... I push away those thoughts. Now’s not the time. “Run.”
She looks back at the men struggling up and her ex watching us with narrowed eyes, his chest heaving. “I can’t leave you. They have a gun.”
“Go, now!” I push her behind me and don’t look back, eyes on the men. “Leave, Maddie.”
I only breathe again when I hear her footsteps recede.
The three men snarl at me.
“You’re making a mistake, buddy,” the ex, Todd, says.
“No,” my voice is chilly like the wind now whistling around us. “It’s you who has made a mistake.”
Even though they’re three against me, his face shutters with fear. What a wimp. He was never worthy of Maddie.
The first masked man comes for me. He’s the one I dragged off Maddie. He’s still strong and fast and I’m only able to evade two out of his three punches.
The one that gets me in my stomach makes me double over. Todd’s jeers pull me back up. I retaliate with a punch of my own.
The force of it vibrates in my arm as my fist collides with the man’s jaw.
He staggers backward. I don’t let him recover as I kick his midsection.
He sprawls on the ground and the next masked man takes his place.
This one flashes a savage grin and moves in before I’m prepared.
He clips me in the jaw and my head flips back.
Maddie’s cry fills the night. I glance up to see Todd looking her way. Wanting to go get her? Not when I’m here.
Though aches and pains are working through my system, I push them back. I catch a few hits but eventually immobilize the man. He’s flat on the ground. The other man stirs, but they are not my business. Not right now.
I race across the field and catch Todd just as he’s nearly on Maddie. I tighten my arm around his neck in a chokehold. He strains and scratches at my arm.
“Maddie…” he gasps.
“Don’t speak to her.” I tighten my hold. “You will never have her.”
He kicks back, but I evade his flimsy attempts.
Maddie watches us. Then her eyes widen as she looks behind me. “Chance, watch out!”
A force slams into me almost immediately. My hand loosens and I’m forced to let go. I turn around to see one of the masked men with a gun pointed at my head.
Behind him, Todd is bent over retching. “Kill him. Kill the bastard and get the girl.”
“We have our orders. No murders.” He looks behind me to Maddie. “Come with us and no one has to die.”
“She’s not coming with you,” I say.
The gun clicks ominously.
“Chance.” Maddie’s voice trembles behind me. “Maybe I can just—”
The sounds of cars tearing toward us end the conversation. We all turn as headlights spotlight us.
Help is here.
Before the men can make sense of what’s happening, I run for Maddie, carrying her out of the way. The cars don’t stop heading for the masked men.
The gun starts to go off at the car, but it’s useless. One man realizes this and starts to run, but the car slams into him and his buddy and they fall to the ground.
It’s satisfying, but there’s one left.
I turn just in time to see Todd heading for us, an ugly look on his face and a war cry spilling from his lips.
The fucking fool.
I push Maddie to the side and press my fingers to my palm. Just when Todd is close enough, I raise my hand and punch him in the nose. He tumbles to the grass unceremoniously.
I stare at him as the security team hops out of the car. Some rush to the men while the leader comes to me.
I raise a hand to halt his apologies. There’s no use now. What’s done is done. “Get all you need to know out of them and clean up this mess.”
Maddie comes to stand next to me. “Todd says my former company contracted him to bring me back.”
“Really?” I eye her. “Then it’s over for them.” To the man, I say, “Get to it now.”
Once he leaves, I allow myself to face Maddie. Her eyes look strained underneath the moonlight.
“Oh, Maddie.” I tug her into my arms and she lays her head on my chest. “It’s over.”
Her hands wrap around my midsection. “I was so scared.”
“Shhh.” I rub up and down her back, breathing in the sweet fragrance of her hair, feeling her warmth. “You’re alright. Everyone who had a hand in this will get their due recompense, I promise.”
Finally, Maddie stops shaking and takes a step back. “Thank you for this.” Her eyes meet mine.
I know there’s a but coming and it crushes me.
“But I’m leaving.”
“No.”
“You can’t keep me here,” she says.
Of course, I can’t. If I force her, I’d be no different from the men that harassed her tonight. So I go with the only card I have left to play.
“We had a deal and it ends on Monday. It’s not over yet. You have to keep your word.”
Her eyes stray into the dark, her eyelids blinking rapidly. She can’t deny it. I’ve got her—but only until Monday.
The unpleasantness tightens my chest. I don’t want that to eclipse the short time we have left. “Let me take you to your villa.”
Her gaze meets mine, soft and vulnerable. “Okay.”
I throw one last glance over my shoulder to see the team putting the men in the car. Soon enough, we’d know all we need to and then it’s payback time.
Maddie is quiet on the ride back. When we stop in front of her villa, she gets out. She walks stiffly up the walkway. I climb out too.
She rounds the house and enters through the backdoor, nearly shutting the door in my face.
I catch the door with one arm and follow her anyway.
She heads to her room. “Don’t you have somewhere to be?”
I don’t like the way her voice sounds like she’s barely holding in tears. “I want to make sure you’re fine.”
“I am,” she snaps.
Her tone doesn’t deter me. She walks into her room and I catch the door, closing in behind me. Then I come to a stop.
“I promise I’m—” Her eyes meet my face and follow to where my gaze is fixed.
Her clothes are piled up in her half-closed suitcase. She’s already packed?
My eyes connect with hers.
She shakes her head quickly. “It’s not what you’re thinking. I…”
“You were going to leave without telling me?” Does she hate me that much?
Her lips tremble.
Even if I’m never going to keep her, I want this moment. I close the space between us and cup her face, looking into her eyes. Her gaze drops to my mouth.
I give into the feeling and dip to take her lips. She receives my kiss with a soft moan, her hands going into my hair. She’s kissing me like it’s the last time and my heart breaks into a million pieces. But I push away that hurt and focus on what she’s giving.
I kiss her lips slowly, savoring her taste. Wanting to feel more of her, I trace her arm, but then she winces. Frowning, I withdraw and my eyes fall on the reddened spot.
Anger squeezes my chest. Must have been where they held her.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there soon enough.”
“You came. That’s all that matters,” she whispers, then her brows furrow. “How did you know where to find me?”
“I came to see you and you weren’t here. So I guessed you must have been in the garden by the fountain.”
I expect her to smile but she frowns. “You have to go.” She pushes against my shoulder.
She doesn’t want to settle what’s wrong between us. That much is obvious. I don’t bring it up.
“We’re still on for dinner tomorrow night?” I ask.
She firms her lips and nods. “And we have to break up.”
I meet her eyes. She means every word.
It was over anyway.
“Fine, we will.”
“You won’t back out this time.”
I swallow. “I won’t.”
I have no idea why she manages to look more hurt. It’s what she wants, isn’t it?
“Good.” She presses out a smile. “Goodnight.”
And just like that, I’m dismissed.