22. Marcus
Marcus
Madison had locked herself in Dean’s bedroom for most of the evening, and up until an hour ago, we were both just chilling in front of the TV, giving her space before Dean randomly got up and prowled his ass away to check on her.
When she didn’t kick him out after the first five minutes of invading her alone time, I assumed she had finally relaxed from her eventful day with Chyler, which seemed to have put her in a slightly more sour mood than we initially expected.
Insistent knocking at the door caught my attention, and I hopped over the back of the couch to answer.
It was well past eleven, and neither Dean nor I ordered anything for delivery, so I wasn’t sure who would be out this late at night, much less at our apartment.
Unlocking the deadbolt, I pulled the door open, and my eyes flared wide as I gawked at the one fucking person who shouldn’t be here regardless of the time.
“You’re not supposed to be here, Amber ,” I mumbled, hoping I was the only one to hear the knocking in the first place. If Dean were to find out—
“Where is he?” She rushed out desperately, attempting to peer around me and into the apartment.
I blocked her as best I could, not wanting Amber to have any more access than she already had. Her stubborn ass could stay out in the hall for all I cared. She wasn’t coming inside.
“Not here.” I shrugged, my tone cool and casual as I tightened my grip on the door’s handle in case she decided to make a break for it.
“Bullshit. I saw his bike and your car outside; he has to be here—”
“Regardless of what you saw, you’re not coming in.” I barked, uncaring of her emotional state, pulling the door closer to my body and hindering even more of her already obstructed view.
“Get out of my goddamn way, Marcus.” She snarled, baring her teeth and slamming her palms against the door, trying her hardest to force it open.
Bodyweight alone, I wasn’t about to budge from my position.
“He’s not yours anymore.” I taunted, unable to control myself. “You screwed up so fucking badly that he finally found the balls to throw your ass to the curb and move the fuck on.” And I was still so fucking proud of him for it.
“Fuck you, Marcus!” She screamed, taking a swing at my face, claws and all.
I arched back, her fist just barely missing the tip of my nose, before a stern, questioning voice called out from behind me.
“What’s going on?” Fuck…
“Dean!” Amber squealed, her high-pitched sound catching me off guard as she shoved her small frame past me and into our apartment.
When I rapidly turned around to grab hold of her, I found Dean standing where the kitchen met the hallway, his arms crossed over his chest in a dominant stance.
He glared daggers at Amber, stopping her from approaching any further.
“What are you doing here, Amber?” Dean inquired, his voice harder than steel.
I didn’t expect him to be this cold towards her, and I had never seen him this intimidating towards a woman, but it was fitting after everything they had been through, and I was proud as fuck right now.
This version of Dean was significantly better than having him soft-hearted and ready to run right back into her egotistical fucking arms.
I smirked at his attitude, leaning back against the door as I mirrored his position and watched the two of them attempt to sort their shit out— always here for the drama .
“What do you mean, what am I doing here ? I’m here for you. Isn’t that obvious?” Amber huffed, being as overly dramatic as possible. Man, she was fucking annoying. Sometimes I wondered if she was a paid actress with how often she pretended to give a shit.
“I broke up with you. Have you forgotten that already?” Dean raised his voice and narrowed his eyes on her, his cool demeanor slipping the longer she stood there.
“You can’t be serious, Dean.” Amber rushed towards him, raising her hands to cup his cheeks. “Baby, you love m—”
“Loved. Not anymore, and I’m not your baby . Now get the fuck out of my home.” Dean refused to let her finish talking, his hands gripping her wrists as he stopped her from touching his face.
I could see the disgust and anger in his eyes, her true colors finally beaming right up at him, near blinding.
“It’s been less than a month.” She laughed softly, tilting her head innocently and still missing the point. “There’s no way you are over me already. How could you be?” The fucking audacity of this bi—
“Babe…” Oh, double fuck…
A groggy voice carried from the end of the dark hallway, and I swear to fucking god my heart stopped in my chest—pretty sure Dean’s did as well.
“What’s with all the shouting?” Madison yawned as she stepped into the light, stopping at Dean’s side wearing— of-fucking-course —nothing but his T-shirt.
Fucking great. Let’s just set the entire fucking apartment on fire while we’re at it.
“And who the fuck is she?” Amber barked, and I cringed before pushing myself off the door, already fully aware of where this confrontation was going, and it wasn’t going to end well… for anyone.
“Excuse me?” Madison scoffed, arching her brow and twisting her lips as she narrowed her eyes on Amber. She examined her from top to bottom before resting a hand on Dean’s shoulder, a silent gesture.
Amber took a long step back as Madison closed the gap between her and Dean, pressing her body up against him until his hand could touch the front of her thigh without even moving.
She was so fucking hot like this. I could feel myself growing hard just watching Madison stake her claim on him.
“Dean, what the fuck is this? How could you—” Amber’s brows knotted as she pressed a hand to her chest at the betrayal before her eyes—which wasn’t a betrayal at all, but she sure as fuck knew how to put on a good show— again, the Oscar goes to...
“How could I… what?” Dean cocked his head to the side as he bit down on his bottom lip, daring her to speak the words I already knew he was thinking.
At that exact moment, Amber lost her shit. As her nails dug into her palms, ready to draw blood, she started screaming like an unhinged banshee.
“Get your slutty hand off of my fucking boyfriend!”
And we just just took a trip from delusional to fucking insane within a matter of minutes.
“Amber—”
“No, let her talk.” Madison smiled smugly, patting Dean’s bicep as she slid in front of him, her body not losing contact with his.
“ Boyfriend ?” She crossed her arms over her chest as she lightly bit the tip of her tongue.
“So you’re the girl who manipulated and tried to fix my Dean.
” Her emphasis on the word hinted at the fury I could see building within her cloudy eyes as she made slow, calculated steps toward Amber.
Madison was a lioness on the prowl for her next attack, and Amber was looking like a pretty easy target, considering how skinny she was.
I swallowed, preparing to intervene in whatever crazy fucking shit was about to go down between the two of them.
This wouldn’t be remotely close to a catfight—a cat versus a tiny finch at best.
“I didn’t manipulate hi—”
“Maybe not from your perspective, but you didn’t treat him right either because if you did, he would still be with you instead of me.”
“And who the fuck are you to tell me what I did and didn’t do? You’re nothing more than some used-up, trashy homewrecker. A fucking cradle-robbing whore.” Oh, fuck.
I shut my eyes and pressed my lips together, releasing a tense sigh as I dragged a hand down my face.
Shouldn’t have fucking gone there, Amber…
When I blinked my eyes open, I stared across the room at Dean, who still hadn’t moved—not even shifting an inch to step between the two .
He looked as if he didn’t give a fuck what Madison would do to Amber, given the chance, and quite frankly—it scared the shit out of me.
Dean wouldn’t let Madison kill Amber, would he? … Would he?!
“Dean?” I called over to him, holding my hands out wide in a solemn gesture, asking him what the fuck he was waiting for.
A single shrug was all he gave in response, his expression remaining cold and uncaring for the bitch he had once claimed to love.
I sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of my nose between my thumb and index finger.
This is great, just… fucking great. The abusive ex is about to be unalived by the unhinged and incredibly hot lover. Didn’t see this on my annual bingo card.
Madison’s sadistic giggles filled the extended silence as I watched her eyes darken, cocking her head to the side right before snapping her hand out to wrap around Amber’s throat.
“Jesus—” I startled as Madison pulled a one-eighty and slammed Amber against the nearest wall with a feral snarl.
Dean wasted no time charging forward to wrap his hand around Madison’s forearm to stop her from going through with whatever she had planned for Amber.
“Mads—”
“I’m sorry, honey, I didn’t catch that last part. I’m a what?” Madison cooed with a malevolent smirk, paying no attention to Dean or his failed attempt to stop her .
I could hear Amber’s choked-out wheezes the harder Madison squeezed her throat as I stood by, trying to think of what the fuck I could do.
Why wasn’t Dean doing anything more?
“What’s that? Whore got your tongue?” Madison raised her brow before pulling Amber off the wall and slamming her back against it, the plaster cracking from the force as a whimper broke past her lips.
“Darling, stop,” Dean implored, tightening his grip on Madison’s arm and preventing her from slamming Amber a third time as his free hand wrapped around her waist. “She isn’t worth it.”
Madison’s eyes flicked to Dean’s over her shoulder, grip unchanged and demeanor unforgiving.
We both knew she was capable of killing Amber without an ounce of remorse. So why was I frozen where I stood, unable to step in? Did I somewhat want Madison to get rid of her?
“All she’ll do is continue to hurt others. She doesn’t believe she did anything wrong, and the next man that crosses her path will suffer the same abuse you once did.” Madison’s voice broke with the strain of holding Amber in place. “Just because it wasn’t physical doesn’t make it any better…”
And two wrongs didn’t make a right, but fuck if the idea of watching Madison end Amber for Dean’s sake wasn’t poetic justice…
I mean, it was true; Amber never physically harmed or abused Dean, at least from what I gathered—nothing compared to what Adrian had done to Madison .
Adrian … All the pieces suddenly fell into place. She’s not only doing this for Dean but for herself. Ridding the Earth from another version of Adrian.
Amber struggled in Madison’s grasp, clawing and flailing her hands as she fought for air. Her eyes flicked to Dean, pleading, begging for him to stop Madison and force her to let her go—to save her.
Dean glanced over his shoulder at me, and I found myself in the same fucking position as him, wondering what the fuck to do.
Do we stop Madison or let her take her anger out on Amber, killing her right here and now?
“Fuck…” I heard Dean sigh a curse before releasing his hold on Madison and stepping aside.
I didn’t question him. I should have, but I didn’t.
This was Dean’s decision—his fucking choice, and I would support him regardless of the outcome.
I may have hated the self-centered bitch, but I never wished her dead.
Dean, apparently, felt otherwise.
Amber whimpered again as she witnessed him stepping away before reconnecting her watery eyes with the woman who was about to end her life.
“I’m going to make myself clear.” Madison stepped into Amber, her voice hollow yet full of malice.
“You’re going to die, not because you insulted me—and honestly, I’ve been called far worse—but because you dared to manipulate and hurt the one man you never fucking deserved in the first place. My. Fucking. Man .”
Amber’s eyes slowly rolled to the back of her head, her strangled gasps turning silent as the last breaths of air left her lungs. She released Madison’s wrist, arms dropping to her sides as the life left her body altogether.
What. The. Fuck…
Did we seriously just stand by and watch Madison fucking murder someone?
“Dean.” I breathed as my eyes shifted to meet his, and I swallowed the bile that burned the back of my throat.
Dean just shook his head as he sucked in a breath, his hands fisted tightly at his side. I could see them shaking from the strain.
Madison released Amber, her body falling to the floor, nothing more than a limp rag doll. She then angled her head to speak over her shoulder in my direction.
“A lesson in what happens to anyone who so much as attempts to touch what’s mine.
” She growled before stepping over Amber’s lifeless body and sauntering her way back down the hall to Dean’s bedroom.
“Boys care to join me? I promise I won’t bite…
too hard.” Her lustful voice echoed towards us, sending a chill down my spine.
“Dude…” I blew out a low whistle and sighed as I approached Dean, who was still staring at Amber’s lifeless body.
My gaze drifted down the hall to where Madison made her exit before looking back at Dean, both of us sliding our hands into our pockets .
We didn’t exchange a single word while we stood there, unable to comprehend what we had just witnessed—both of us judging our moral compasses and struggling to decide where to go from here.
I caught a glimmer of defiance in his eyes before Dean turned on his heel and stalked toward his bedroom, leaving me alone to rationalize even further.
“Fuck it,” I breathed out in answer before biting my cheek and following after him.
I guess we’re both going to hell tonight.
C'est la fucking vie.